Cream Cheese and Poblano Stuffed Turkey Burgers

There is a great group of girls that I belong to and there is a bi-weekly recipe swap and I decided to join in the fun!! I've never joined them before and I once I saw that they were doing burger I knew I had to do so!

I love burgers!! I don't make them at home near enough. In fact, when we lived in Greenville the people at a local burger joint knew us by name and which number we would order. It also helped that they had some killer onion rings.

This swap I had the blog Becoming Pigzilla (love the name!). The only thing I changed from the original was subbing a poblano pepper instead of jalapeno. Mainly because no one in my family like heat.

For turkey burgers, these were actually very moist and flavorful! It also is a great way to get my burger fix but with less calories!

Cream Cheese and Poblano Stuffed Turkey Burgers

recipe adapted from this recipe at Becoming Pigzilla

8 oz. light cream cheese, softened

1 poblano pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4 tbsp. worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

1 lb. lean ground turkey

Preheat your grill.

 In a bowl, combine the ground turkey, pepper, onion, salt and pepper, and worcestershire sauce together until well combined.

Divide the mixture into 8 equal parts and make each into a large flat patty, being cautious not to over work the turkey.  Add a small spoonful of the cream cheese to 4 patties.  Take the remaining 4 patties and sandwich the others with the filling, tightly pinching the edges to seal in the cream cheese.

Grill over well heated grill until cooked. 

Serve with buns of your choice and toppings.

Enjoy!

Rosemary Bread

This is what happens to bread when it stays out in my house too long. I can't get pictures of the full loaf!!

But seriously, It's really good bread! I have a bread maker that I don't use far enough and with the heat we have been having it has been a great thing to us!

I love that I can throw everything into a bucket and then in a few hours have fresh baked bread.

This Rosemary Bread is actually for What's Baking for June which is hosted by JBean Cuisine.

The bread was very flavorful and reminded me of something that you would find at an Italian restaurant. Obviously, you can tell by the pictures that we liked it!

Hopefully there will be more bread this summer especially with Cameron coming to visit soon!!

Rosemary Bread

adapted this recipe at All Recipes

1 cup water 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 tablespoon dried rosemary 2 1/2 cups bread flour 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select white bread cycle; press Start.

Weekly Menu Plan

I have to say that I am definitely looking forward to this week! Summer produce is in full swing and I am going to take advantage of it. My sister and I took Cole out to a local Amish Farmers Market yesterday and picked up tons of produce and some cookies for a great price!

Sunday-- ate out :)-- Roger wanted Chinese food

Monday-- Zucchini Cups

Tuesday---Crispy Parmesan Tilapia with Roasted Caprese Salad

Wednesday-- Chicken Gyros with sweet potato fries

Thursday--- pancakes and bacon

Friday--will probably pick up a $5 pizza on the way home :)


We actually bought a new car today as well!!

It was totally unplanned but we had been looking for something bigger and were able to get what we wanted! It's a Taurus X by the way and we can't wait to be able to fit everyone in the car comfortably now! I was previously driving a Pontiac Vibe which I LOVED but it was a small car.

I hope everyone has a great week!!

Summer Vegetable Gratin

Happy First Day of Summer!

I don't know if we can really say that it though. It has already felt like summer here way before it should have. But that's OK too. 

This is another recipe from my mom.

You see if there was one thing I DIDN'T get from my mom, it would be her cooking skills (or lack thereof maybe?). I can remember many times for dinner having (you are going to die when you hear this!):

 Fried Spam, 

Fried Eggs,

 and canned biscuits

 (which we called wop biscuits because you had to WOP them on the counter to open them.)

 (Maybe one day I will have the courage to tell you about my husband's first Thanksgiving with us :))

Anyway, I have no clue where she found this recipe but we make it every summer over and over again.

And the only reason this can be called a gratin is because of the cheese and butter. Even though I didn't use much and I even used light! (Thank you Wikipedia!)

Summer Vegetable Gratin

recipe from my mom

1 medium Zucchini

2 small Yellow Squash

2 medium Tomatoes

1 medium Onion

1 cup Shredded Cheese

3 tbsp. Butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice all vegetables about 1/4 inch think and place in pan overlapping.

Top vegetables with butter and then with the cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Linked to

Thursday's Treasures at Chocolate, Chocolate and more Chocolate

Weekly Menu Plan

Happy Father's Day to all of the Fathers out there!! (and single moms as well who have to do both jobs!) 

I'm hopefully getting Cameron at the end of the week for the rest of the summer, depending on his baseball schedule. He has been nominated for All Stars and finds out if he makes the team this week!

Sunday-- tonight we are grilling out!

Monday-- leftovers-- there is a ton of food in the fridge that needs to be eaten!

Tuesday-- Grilled Chicken Pasta Salad

Wednesday-- Hot Dogs and sweet potato fries

Thursday-- I have a dinner meeting- Roger will have Coley

Friday-- hopefully getting Cam!

Saturday-- eating at Roger's restaurant

Recipe Do Over-- Perfect Party Cake

Perfect. Party. Cake. This definitely sums up this cake. 

I have always wanted to have a white cake recipe in my folder of things that could always be made. I thought that I had found an okay recipe and had used it a couple of times even though I wasn't 100% about it. 

This was my birthday cake.

My birthday cake for as long as I can remember has always been white on white. White cake with white frosting. And this cake reminds of me of my birthday cake. But WAY better!

Light and airy. Great flavor. Not crumbly and a texture almost like angel food cake. 

This recipe is my recipe do-over for my 30 by 30 list. I changed the recipe and actually followed the directions! (sometimes I'm not 100% at doing this!) The first cake was too dry and didn't have much flavor and now I have  a cake with flavor and a wonderful texture as well!

With help from Frigidaire, you can help with your own do-over. To prevent dishwasher do-overs, Frigidaire® is stepping in with its new Gallery® Dishwasher featuring the OrbitClean^TM Wash Arm, ensuring dishes are cleaned right the first time. Frigidaire® invites you to visitFacebook.com/Frigidaire and submit a moment you'd like to do over. Whether it's a bad first date or a vacation gone wrong, Frigidaire® will help cover the costs for one lucky visitor to win the ultimate do-over. And, for each do-over submitted, Frigidaire® will donate $1 to Save the Children. 

(I know of a date do-over I would LOVE to submit!! Do you!?!?!?)

***This post was sponsored by Frigidaire. When you share your own do-over moment at Facebook.com/Frigidaire, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children's U.S. programs. Plus, Frigidaire will help cover the costs for one lucky visitor to win the ultimate do-over.***

Perfect Party Cake

Adapted from Ezra Pound Cake who adapted From Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”

Makes 12 to 14 servings

Cake: 
• 2 1/4 CUP CAKE FLOUR
• 1 TABLESPOON BAKING POWDER
• 1/2 TEASPOON SALT
• 1 1/4 CUPS BUTTERMILK
• 4 LARGE EGG WHITES
• 1 1/2 CUPS SUGAR
• 2 TEASPOONS GRATED LEMON ZEST
• 1 STICK UNSALTED BUTTER, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
• 1/2 TEASPOON PURE LEMON EXTRACT

Buttercream: 
• 1 CUP SUGAR
• 4 LARGE EGG WHITES
• 3 STICKS UNSALTED BUTTER, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
• 1/4 CUP FRESH LEMON JUICE (FROM 2 LARGE LEMONS)
• 1 TEASPOON PURE VANILLA EXTRACT

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.
2. For the Cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl. (I thought that steps one and two were almost easy enough to skip and then went back to re-do them because it did really help when getting the cake batter together.)
4. Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.
5. Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one-third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.
6. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.
7. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
8. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)
9. For the Buttercream: Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or other large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat.
10. Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.
11. Once all the butter is in, beat the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6 to 10 minutes. During this time, the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.
12. To Assemble the Cake: Using a sharp, serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper. Spread it with one third of the buttercream. Repeat again with next cake layers and buttercream. I added fresh strawberries into the layers as well. 

Cream Puffs

One day last weekend I got the urge to make Cream Puffs. I have no idea what made me get this urge but at the same time I'm glad that I did.

I had never made Pate a Choix before and I am  really surprised how easy it was as well as how fast it is!

 I think the hardest part was sticking the dough into the mixer! 

I will be honest though. Not all of them "puffed" as one would think they should. I did pipe them out and I should have piped more dough to create a bigger shell. I made them about golf ball size and definitely should have made them bigger! They did create a great shell and hollow base for the custard.

I also didn't create a "normal custard."

 I love the custard filling in these cupcakes and decided to fill the puffs with it. 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!!

Cream Puffs
Pate a Choix from this recipe at Food Network
Vanilla Custard from this recipe from Southern Living

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 3/4 stick butter (6 tablespoons)
• 1 tablespoon sugar plus 1/8 teaspoon salt (for sweet)
• 1 teaspoon salt (for savory)
• 5 3/4 ounces flour
• 1 cup eggs, about 4 large eggs and 2 whites
• **Vanilla Custard, see below

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Boil water, butter, and salt or sugar. Add flour and remove from heat. Work mixture together and return to heat. Continue working the mixture until all flour is incorporated and dough forms a ball. 

Transfer mixture into bowl of a standing mixer and let cool for 3 or 4 minutes.

 With mixer on stir or lowest speed add eggs, 1 at a time, making sure the first egg is completely incorporated before continuing. Once all eggs have been added and the mixture is smooth put dough into piping bag fitted with a round tip

. Pipe immediately into golf ball-size shapes, 2 inches apart onto parchment lined sheet pans. 

Cook for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees F and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden brown. 

Once they are removed from the oven pierce with a paring knife immediately to release steam. (When I was doing this, my husband looked at me like I was stupid-- but I said I was following the directions and he stated that he had never seen anyone do this before.)


Fill with desired custard.

*Vanilla Bean Custard recipe*

2 1/2 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

2 egg yolks (I used the leftover yolks from the dough)

2 tsp. vanilla bean paste OR 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Whisk Together first 4 ingredients in a 3 quart sauce pan. Cook over medium-heat, whisking constantly, for 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla bean paste. Cover (I cover with saran wrap) and chill for 3 hours.

Our Garden

We are extremely last minute people. We decided to buy some plants on a whim Memorial Day weekend and have them planted. There are 3 tomato plants, 2 cherry tomato plants, 2 roma tomato plants, 1 squash, 4 green bell pepper, and 1 cucumber plant. We also have Cilantro and Basil.

I normally kill everything I put my finger on so I will be surprised to see what happens!

Weekly Menu Plan

This week will be a little odd only because we are going to be hitting up Riverbend quite a bit.You pay $32 for a pin that gets you into 8 nights of greats acts. Eric Church was phenomenal Friday night. I have loved him since I first heard him at Riverbend about 6 years. He played all the songs we wanted to hear too which is always a plus! The Band Perry plays on Wednesday, Goo Goo Dolls on Friday, and then Lauren Alaina on Saturday (which is always firework night as well!).

I'm also attempting to make things healthier around here. Day  by day. Little by Little. My best friend and I had a huge heart to heart Friday night and she is going to help me and keep me motivated as well. She knows all the reasons I want to lose weight and how much I want to lose. I'm going to be joining Weight Watchers in the next few days as well. I need some accountability in my life! And I'm happy to have support and loving friends and family to help me as well!



Caribbean Jerk Salmon Bowl

Santa Fe Grilled Chicken Salad

Skinny Greek burger

Grilled Chicken and other Grilled veggies

Taco night-- this will probably be Wednesday since it will be quick to make and put up before we head to the festival

Friday-- we will eat out again-- probably eat somewhere before we get there so things like Chicken on a Stick and Corn Dogs won't tempt us!

Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

Banana. Chocolate. Peanut butter. All whirled together in one great drink.

This month's Crazy Cooking Challenge is Fruit Smoothies!!!

Now, I'm not much of a fruit smoothie person. I like fruit. Love it actually but I don't really care for it together and then having it as a drink is even less appealing to me.

However, this was a smoothie everyone is my house liked. Which made me think maybe they would like more combinations of them as well! 

I made this Coley friendly by using Almond Milk instead of regular cow's milk.We've kept him dairy free for about 15 months now. He's not allergic to milk but there is something within the protein that makes him sick after prolonged exposure to it so we just don't give it to him!

Banana Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie

recipe adapted from this recipe at Eat Good 4 Life

yield: 2 servings

1 cup chocolate almond milk

one handful of ice

1 tbsp. peanut butter

1 tbsp. dark chocolate chips

1 banana, frozen

Blend all ingredients together to desired consistency. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

That's right folks. Another Birthday in the Boys household!

(I actually started planning Cole's Birthday over the weekend and he is super excited about birthdays now because he get's a Lightening McQueen birthday!)

And we are going to celebrate-- a gift from me to you anyway!

(thank you google images for the gift card image)

I love me some Target so we are going to do a birthday giveaway of a $31 gift card to Target to honor me turning 31! 

All you have to do is leave a comment. 

(And an email address would be great as well so I can contact you if you win.)

This will go until Sunday. (6/10/2012* Midnight)

This is open to US and Canada. 

Yup, I will ship to Canadians. They deserve Target love too!
This gift card is paid for by me :) and sponsored by me :)

Wordless Wednesday

Baked Onion Rings

Yet another thing that I absolutely love. Onion Rings. In fact, I had some last night. Not these though. I'm trying to get in everything I want to splurge on before I join weight watchers this weekend! 

These onion rings we made with these burgers and I was super surprised at how crispy they were to be baked! The original recipe called for baked potato chips but some of the comments said they were using panko so I Used panko.  I think I might try them with baked potato chips at some point but panko was more accessible. 

And yes, I am going to join Weight Watchers. I have reached a point where I am unhappy with how I look and I want to be happy to be in a picture with my boys! With the potato chips, these would be 6 points plus per serving but the panko may change that points structure too.

Baked Onion Rings
recipe adapted from this recipe at Food Network




Ingredients:

• Cooking spray
• 4 cups panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 cup lowfat buttermilk
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1 to 2 large Vidalia onions, peeled
• 
  

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Spray a baking sheet slightly with oil and set aside. 

Place panko in a bowl along with seasoning salt.

In another bowl, combine buttermilk, 2 tablespoons of flour, salt and pepper and set aside. 

Slice onions into 1/2-inch circles and separate into rings, keeping only large, whole rings (reserve rest of onions for other uses). You should come out with about 12 to 14 rings.

Place the remaining flour in a sealable plastic bag, then add onions, and shake to coat. 

Dip onions 1 at a time into the buttermilk mixture, then dip into panko crumbs and place on baking sheet.

 Spray canola oil evenly over rings and bake for 20 minutes, or until coating is crisp. Season with salt, to taste, and serve immediately.

Weekly Menu Plan

Woohoo!!! It's my birthday week!!! 

And even though we have already celebrated a little bit (my coworkers through a surprise party for me and another birthday girl on Friday!), I'm ready to celebrate some more!!! Not only that but it is the start of Riverbend this week!

Sunday-- grilling Chicken-- it's already marinating too!

Monday-- Taco Salad

Tuesday--  Crockpot Lemon Chicken

Wednesday-- Chicken and Spinach Enchiladas-- I'm going to half this and use greek yogurt instead of sour cream

Thursday-- my birthday!!!!! going out to eat

Friday-- Riverbend starts-- Eric Church plays tonight!! eating at the festival

Saturday-- Chicken Parmesan Pasta and Salad