Bunless Cheddar Burger

Cheese! Glorious Cheese! Remember those commercials? I posted a clip from YouTube at the bottom of this post so you can live it again and again. 

Side note: The video description says the commercial came out in 1987. Wow. Now I feel old! 

Anyhoo- Since we've gone off bread and sugar and anything that makes life worth living, I decided to make burgers. Bunless burgers. Waah, waah waaaaahhh!

Actually, they were really good. It's not the bun that makes the burger folks. Just wrap that bad boy up in some lettuce and move on. It's really good. 

I mixed some fresh herbs and garlic and of course cheese and bam! It was a dang good burger if I say so myself. 

What you'll need:

1lb LEAN ground beef

1 egg

2 cloves mince garlic

1 tbsp onion powder

5 basil leaves

3 tbsp grated or shredded parmesan cheese

A few slices of SUPER SHARP cheddar

Your fixins' we topped our with a beautiful locally grown tomato and some Marie's Yogurt Blue Cheese Dressing purchased on the cheap at Publix. 

Fire up your grill and let's get to business of making burgers. 

Combine your first six ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands. 

Place on your grill. I used our George Foreman Grill with removable plates. I love George. 

Once your burgers have reached their (well your) desired cooking temperature place your cheese slices across like an x and let melt a  little. 

Top with all your favorites and wrap in lettuce. 

Look! Burgers even excite those with no teeth to eat them!

Freezer Cooking- A time saving dream

Back in the day when I first started reporting for a living I would spend a couple hours on a Sunday afternoon cooking two weeks worth of meals. I would turn on the stereo and dance in the hot kitchen while I made 10 casseroles to stuff in the freezer.

Back then I was driving 90 minutes one way to work and had no time to cook. I had not time to sleep, or breathe or do anything else! Compaired to having a baby that was a breeze! Just kidding.... sort of.

Anywhoo- I have started freezer cooking again, but my new version is, make one for now, save one for later.

Tonight we are having a chicken, corn, brocoli casserole. So, I just made extra. (This is a great way so stretch chicken leftovers, by the way.)

I have also put a beef and penne bake (will post that recipe later)...

...and baked oatmeal in my feezer this week.

What about you?

Chicken casserole:

What you'll need:

1 chicken breasts or 2 cups shredded chicken

1 to 2 pkgs. frozen broccoli

12 ounces cream of chicken soup (homemade recipe here.) (One can will do also. Girl, you don't have time to make soup!)

6 oz. grated cheese (any type)

4 cups cooked rice

1 bag corn

Preheat oven to 350-

Cook chicken until tender. Cut up chicken. 

In a greased pan combine rice, chicken, veggies and soup. Mix it all together. Sprinkle top with cheese and bake 30 minutes. No, you don't have to thaw the veggies.

The leftovers challenge part 2: Pulled Pork Pizza with Homemade Whole Wheat Crust

It's day two of the leftovers challenge and we're still cooking - pun intended. My pork tacos were a big hit with hubs and got the bearded thumb of approval.

Now on to day 2. Pulled Pork Pizza. Pizza is one of my favorite things to make because a few ingredients go a long way. I make leftovers pizza all the time when I have 1/3 of an onion, a little bit of chicken and some cheese leftover. You can get a lot for your dollar with a pizza. Plus, homemade crusts are delicious and costs less than $1 to make.

Let's start with our crust. It's so easy.*Note. This will make 2 crusts. You can store one in the fridge for up to a week or stick it in the freezer for later.

What you'll need:

Print crust recipe

1 cup all-purpose flour (preferably unbleached, but whatever you have works)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp yeast

1 tsp olive oil

1 cup HOT water (but not boiling)

1 extra cup flour the pan

Preheat your oven to 350.

In a bowl combine your flour, yeast, oil and water. 

Then mix.

You won't need to knead the dough. *snickers at need to knead.

Cover in a dark, damp rag and let sit for about 20 minutes. It will need to double in bulk.

After your dough has doubled you will want to flour your pan directly and roll the dough flat. I use an old glass bottle. No need for fancy equipment.

Stick that crust in the oven for 10 minutes. It will come out golden and delicious. You can even top it with herbs and grated parm before you put it in the oven if you want to make it extra special. I highly reccomend this step.

Okay, step 2 our toppings.

I used about a 2 cups shredded pork, two sliced Roma tomatoes, some various herbs, 1/4 onion, Romano cheese and bbq sauce from a bottle. (Later this week I will attempt to make my own.)

Layer your toppings on your crust and place back in the oven for 20 minutes at 350. The end.

 

Prosciutto and Kale with Orzo

Kale! Kale! Kale! It's not just for making chips and soup no one wants to eat. I was sure of that. I had half a bag of kale left over last week and since I am now living a waste not want not lifestyle I really didn't want it to go to waste.

So I thought and I walked around my kitchen and I pulled everything out of my cabinets and then it came to me! One of my favorite things to make is a pizza with caramelized onions and prosciutto. The salty and the sweet are incredible together.

What if I took my favorite elements of the pizza and made pasta I could throw in some baby bella mushrooms and the kale and the meaty baby bella and the bitter kale would balance each other. Right? Yes!

What you'll need:

Prosciutto a 3 0z package (I got mine on sale at Publix for $3.99)

1 medium size sweet onion

2 Roma tomatoes

4 cups Kale (it cooks down)

1 carton baby bella mushrooms (regular white button mushrooms or canned mushrooms could work too)

Garlic (duh) 3 cloves or one tbsp minced.

Orzo

Get your Orzo going according to the instructions.

Heat up your oven for 350 and placed your Prosciutto in a greased cookie sheet. You will cook the Prosciutto in the oven for 8 minutes until it renders. (Becomes crispy.)

Break it into pieces and place in a serving bowl.

Heat up your skillet over a medium heat and drizzle with olive oil. Add your chopped onion. It will take 30 minutes to properly caramelize. (But that's not quick? I know. I didn't say this would be fast.)

Add your minced garlic once the carmelzation process seems good and almost done.

Chop up your tomatoes and place it in a bowl with the Prosciutto.

Add your kale and mushrooms to the skillet with the onions and cook for about 5 minutes. You don't want the leaves mushy.

Once your orzo is finished put it in the bowl with the Prosciutto and tomatoes.

Add the onion, Kale, mushroom mixture to the orzo and mix everything together. This is a really good mix of flavors. Believe me.

Print this recipe

Mama and Baby cook: Panko Crusted Tilapia Taco

 Print this recipe

Want to feed your entire family (4) for less than $10? Of course you do. Try this amazing Tilapia Taco. It's sweet. It's spicy. It's wonderful!

Five4FiveMeals.com presents a cooking show where I show you how to cook a meal for a family of four for less than $5 a person.

Today we make Panko Crusted Tilapia Tacos. This recipe yields 8 small tacos and costs less than $2.00 per person.

What you'll need:

Taco:

Four 4 oz Tilapia filets
1 cup Panko Crumbs
1 tbsp dried cilantro
1 tbsp lemon pepper
Tortillas
1/2 cup cheese

Peanut Sauce:
4 tbsp creamy Peanut Butter
4 tbs hot water
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice

Pico De Gallo:
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 sweet onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
heaping table spoon garlic, minced

Preheat your oven to 350.

Taco:

Mix the panco, cilantro and lemon pepper. Wet your fish and press into the taco. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Pico De Gallo: Mix tomato, onion, cilantro, 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, 1 jalapeno seeded and minced, garlic. Place in fridge.

Peanut sauce: Using a jar, scoop in 4 tbsp peanut butter, add 4 tbsp hot water, brown sugar and lemon juice and shake (with the lid on of course). It will be the consistency of salad dressing so you will need to refrigerate for 20 - 30 minutes.

Place the fish on your tortilla and cover with peanut sauce and pico de gallo and a little cheese.

Idiot proof shrimp

Need a dinner in a hurry that is sure to please? Try idiot proof shrimp! There are only three ingredients (four if you count olive oil, which you shouldn't).

My mother makes something similar and I pulled this together one night when cooking for my husband for "date night." (When you have an infant date night usually means you just eat off the good china.)

What you'll need:

A pound of shrimp (pealed and deveined)

1 cup white wine

4 tbs (1/4 cup) minced garlic

I love the look of the oil mixed with the wine.

Warm up a little olive oil over a medium heat. Add in the shrimp. Once they have just started to turn pink pour over the wine and add the garlic. Be sure you continue to keep everything moving in the pan or else the garlic will burn and be gross.

After the shrimp are good and pink remove from heat and serve immeidatly. This is great over pasta or paired with a salad. And if you want to finish off the wine you cooked the shrimp in, have at it!