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!

Garlicy oven roasted corn on the cob

Is there anything better in the summer than fresh corn on the cob? Maybe water melon? Maybe. 

I was looking for a new way to cook corn on the cob this weekend and I think I found it. It was amazing, it was delicious. It made me weep. (Not really.)

Also, it combined all of my husbands favorite things, butter, garlic and corn.

What you'll need:

Four ears of corn, shucked

2 Tbsp melted butter

4 tbsp minced garlic

That is all.

Preheat your oven to 350.

Drizzle the butter over the corn.

Rub with garlic.

Roast in oven for 30 minutes.

That's it. You're done.

Homemade yogurt- easier than it sounds

I love yogurt. My baby loves yogurt. We all scream for yogurt! Okay, we don't scream. It's not like it's Ben and Jerry's but whatever.

We have been eating so much yogurt that it gets expensive. Also, it has a lot of sugar in it. So I decided to make my own, plain yogurt.

It turned out pretty good and I was able to make a gallon for around $4.50! That saves me $.07 an ounce, or 50 percent off. Yes. I did the math. I love saving money that much. Of course, if I hadn't used organic milk and starter yogurt it would have been cheaper.

What you'll need:

A crock pot

1 gallon 2 percent or whole milk 

1 cup plain yogurt (you need it for the cultures)

Jars, etc. for freezing

Turn your crock pot on HIGH and pour all the milk into it. (I lost my crock pot, so my mother gave me her old one. The lid broke so now I use aluminum foil. It's a bootleg crock pot.)

Let it sit for 2 hours, until it reaches a boil. Then take that weird membrane off the top and throw it out.

Once it has boiled and killed off all the germs, let it cool down until it is about 115 degrees. Add your cup of yogurt. (Note: If you are using whole milk you do not need the powdered milk.)

Then cover your crock pot with a towel and stick it in a place where it won't be deserved. Some people stick it in their oven. I just put it on the counter and left it alone.

About 8 hours later I had yogurt!! If you want a thicker yogurt you can strain it through a cheese cloth or coffee filter.

I poured mine into Ball jars and stuck what I didn't need now into the freezer.

Save a cup of your homemade yogurt and freeze it so you have the cultures later. 

If you liked this recipe and you want more DIY ideas, then you really should check out Romance on a Dime. Betsy hosts a great Tuesday link up with lots of projects.

Three ingredient energy bar

I love Larabars. I love, love, love them. But I don't love paying for them. On a good day they are $1 a piece and I am just too cheap for that.

I scoured the internet looking for recipes and I found several. But some of them turned out too sticky and some of them turned out too crumby. So I just kept playing till I found a take on a recipe I liked.

What I love about this recipe is that there is nothing in this that will hurt you. No sugar, nothing processed, nothing you can't pronounce. And even better it only cost me about $3.00 to make 10 bars!

What you'll need:

1 cup almonds

10 oz. pitted dates

1/4 cup cherries

1/4 cup flax seed (OPTIONAL!)

Food processor or blender.

Throw the almonds (and flaxseed if you're using it) in your blender and process them in to small pieces. 

Next drop in your cherries and dates and blend them all together.

Then dump them in a pan and grab a handful and make a little ball.

Flatten and shape that ball into a rectangle. This should yield 10. Should- depending on how big or small you make them.

Store in fridge. Or you can even freeze them for later. Just wrap them all indiviudally in plastic wrap.

Two ingredient peach frozen yogurt

The peaches are here! The peaches are here! Alabama's glorious plump peaches have finally arrived.

I lived in Georgia for six years, and while it is known as the peach state, have you ever had a Chilton County peach? I think Alabama is edging you out Georgia!

The Chilton County peaches came rolling in to town this week. Baby boy and I went to the farmer's market and loaded up.

Last night I pealed them, pitted them and put them in the blender to make two ingredient frozen yogurt!

What you'll need:

About two cups pealed peaches (you can use frozen or canned)

Two cups vanilla yogurt. I used Stonyfield.

Put your peaches in the blender or food processor until they are liquid like.

Add your yogurt. Then blend some more.

Place in a freezer safe container and let chill for about two hours.

It is so good. I ate it for breakfast!

Spinach and Bacon Ziti

Want a quick meal? Yeah, me too. We all do. Sometimes coming up with dinner, cooking that dinner and getting it on the table is exhausting. How many times have you stood at your refrigerator's open door at 5:30 p.m. just waiting for dinner to materialize? 

This recipe is easy and fast and you probably have most of the ingredients. 

What you'll need:

One package bacon rendered in the oven (cook for 10 minutes at 400)
Two cups cooked whole wheat Penne
2 - 4 diced tomatoes
1 bag baby spinach 
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups mozzarella cheese 
some grated parmesan cheese
A smidge olive oil
1 package baby bella mushrooms

Heat up your electric skillet to 350 and warm the olive oil. Add your tomatoes and mushrooms and garlic. Let them cook for a few minutes. Add your bacon and then your pasta and basil. Add your spinach and cheese, cover and let cook for 10 minutes. 

If you don't have an electric skillet use a skillet on the stove, then before you add your cheese transfer to a baking dish, add cheese and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

How to Caramelize onions

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I love cooked onions. They aren't something I always appreciated. It wasn't until I learned the slow are of caramelization. It's so time consuming, but so worth it.

The process is long because the sugars in the onions have to breakdown, thus caramelizing. You could speed up the process by adding brown sugar, but this is the real way to do it.

What you'll need:

An onion 

Some olive oil

A good frying pan

Slice the onion in strips.

Tip: Slice your onion, removing the root, tip and skin and save these parts in a plastic bag in your freezer for use in future broths.

Coat your pan with olive oil and throw them in the pan.

Cover with the lid of the pan and let cook 30 - 60 minutes, stirring every few minutes to prevent sticking.

No, this isn't apples, it is caramelized onions!

Apple Stuffed Roast Chicken

What you'll need:
A Chicken - About 5 pounds
One large apple
1/2 bulb of garlic
16 oz Bag of carrots
Spicy Brown Mustard
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt

Preheat your oven to 375. Sprinkle EVOO in your pan.
Remove all skin and fat from the outside of the chicken. Rinse the bird. If the chicken came with giblets you can throw them out. Line your pan with carrots.
Stuff apple, onion and garlic. If there is any leftover apple, onion or garlic, throw them in the bottom of the pan.
Rub the bird with mustard and oil. Sprinkle with salt. Cover with aluminum foil and roast for 2 hours. (That's 20 minutes per pound plus 20 minutes.)

Salad:
A bag of rinsed spinach
2 oranges
Basil
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Gorgonzola Cheese

Throw the spinach in the bowl. Cut the peal off your oranges and squeeze any left over orange from the peal over the spinach. Add your orange segments.
Sprinkle spinach with 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar.
Place in fridge to chill. Once you're ready to serve add your cheese.

Don't forget to hop over to Romance on a Dime for Take it On Tuesday. Betsy is the best!

The leftovers challenge part 3: Pork "Fried" Rice

We are in day three of our leftovers challenge and I think we are doing okay. Tomorrow I might run screaming through the cotton field if I have to look at anymore pork, but today we are plowing through. Day three- Pork Fried Rice!

This seems so first thought, and I guess it is. When my husband came home and saw what I was making he said, "I thought you should make this." Great minds think alike, and so do ours. ;) See what I did there?

This was simple, it required little time or effort and there was no actual frying involved.

Let's get started.

What you'll need:

2 -3 cups shredded pork

1/2 cup oyster sauce (this is cheap and found at most grocery stores on the exotic food aisle.)

2 cups cooked rice

1 - 16 ounce bag frozen peas (I bought mine at the Dollar Tree. Yup, we're cheap.)

2 cups chopped carrots

1/2 onion

2 greased skillets

Grease a skillet and saute your onions and carrots over a medium heat. Don't crowd the pan or it won't get done.

In a separate greased skillet add your cooked rice. We used brown. (Only $.15 a serving.) Add your oyster sauce to the rice and let and stir it all in so that the rice is thoroughly coated.

Add your pork, carrots and onions to the rice and dump in the peas. Yes, the peas will add a little bit of moisture as they thaw, this is okay.

Once everything is hot, mixed and ready serve it up!

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.