The BEST Burger Ever!

This just may be the yummiest burger I've ever had. This recipe makes 3 - 1/3lb. burgers...

Ingredients:
1# lean (93% or more) ground beef
1/4 C chopped red onion
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1/8 - 1/4 C ketchup (eyeball it)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3 slices American cheese
3 strips bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
Tone's Canadian Steak Seasoning (found at Sam's, not sure where else?)
Burger toppings and buns

1. Put beef, onion, garlic, ketchup, salt & pepper in a bowl and mix well but gently. I use my hands.
2. Divide into 6 portions and make 6 (about 1/4") patties. Place on waxed paper so you can pick them up easily.
3. Fold cheese slices into quarters (or if patties are large enough, no need to fold) and place on 3 of the patties.
4. Top cheese with bacon and remaining patties.
5. Seal the edges together well and lightly sprinkle with steak seasoning.
6. Cook on a hot grill to desired doneness!

Note: For extra tastiness, toast your buns with a little garlic butter (mix softened butter - the real stuff, not margarine - with a dash of garlic powder and a little salt).

Onion & Pepper Smothered Round Steak

This is an Emeril recipe, slightly altered, that is super easy for days you just don't have time to spend in the kitchen!

Ingredients:
2 1/4 lbs thin top round steak, sliced into 1/4" strips
1 1/2 T Emeril's Essence
1/4 C vegetable oil
3 T all-purpose flour
2 C chicken broth
1 onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I used ground red pepper and it turned out a little HOT!)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 T freshly chopped parsley
White rice for serving

1. Combine flour and Essence in a bowl and toss meat to coat.
2. Heat oil in large cast iron or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Brown meat, in batches, until browned on all sides. Return all meat to the skillet.
3. Add chicken broth and stir, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pan.
4. Add onions and peppers, salt, cayenne & pepper. Cook, stirring frequently for 6-8 min, until veggies are wilted then let simmer, uncovered, for about an hour (while you go do something else!) or until meat is very tender and gravy is thickened. ***Don't forget to start your rice!
5. Add parsley and serve over white rice.

Leslie's Chicken Scallopine

This is a Giada-inspired recipe. If you ever watch her show on Food Network, you know her Italian is delicious!! I put my own spin on this one simply because this is what I had on hand, but it turned out delicious! Served with a salad, this is a very quick and healthy meal. Hope you enjoy...

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets (or 3 larger breasts, cut in half) *place them each in a large ziplock and pound them thin with a mallet, but not to the point of falling apart!
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), a couple turns of the pan, just enough to coat
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Half a small red onion, thinly sliced (6-8 silces or so)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 C white wine
Half a red bell pepper, sliced and cut into thirds
1/4 C or so light cream (if you prefer a reduced fat meal, otherwise heavy cream works too!)
Parsley for garnish if you wish, roughly chopped

1. Heat EVOO in a large stainless steel, heavy skillet (this browns better than a teflon pan) over medium heat.
2. Salt and pepper each piece of chicken and place in the hot pan. Cook for several minutes on each side, until just cooked through. Timing will depend on how thick your chicken is. If you overdo it, the chicken will end up dry!
3. Remove to serving dish and cover with foil to keep warm.
4. Add onion and garlic to pan and gently saute, then deglaze pan with wine.
5. Add bell pepper and just barely simmer until the wine has reduced some... basically until the "alcohol smell" is gone, just a couple minutes.
6. Stir in cream and heat through. Do not simmer or it will seperate.
7. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.

Tired of leftover turkey???

I recently bought a smoked turkey from the FFA kids at school. It was a great deal, but just a obout more than we could stand to eat. SO, I made a turkey noodle casserole for a change of pace. You could easily substitute regular roasted turkey or chicken if that's what you have on hand!

Ingredients:
About 8 oz. "No Yolks" dumplings or your favorite egg noodle
1 T extra virgin olive oil (EVOO - 1 turn of the pan)
3-4 slices bacon or turkey bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
8 oz. white mushrooms, roughly chopped (I buy them pre-washed and sliced for efficiency!)
3 C smoked turkey, cubed
Black pepper
Crushed thyme
1/2 C dry white wine
1 C chicken stock
1/2 C heavy cream (3 turns of the pan)
2 C Gruyere cheese, shredded or grated (about an 8 oz brick) This cheese was hard to find. Kroger's had it in the deli case. It was kinda expensive but worth it. It has a great smoky flavor that went well with the turkey! But you could substitute something else...

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt the water and add your noodles. Cook to al dente.
2. Preheat a large, deep skillet over medium high heat and add EVOO. Brown bacon.
3. Add onion and mushroom to cook about 5 minutes.
4. Add turkey and season with pepper and thyme. (If you're using regular roasted turkey, season to your taste.)
5. Cook another 5 minutes then add wine and deglaze the pan, lifting up the pan drippings and bits.
6. Stir in stock and bring to a bubble then stir in cream and reduce heat to simmer.
7. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
8. When noodles are done, drain and set aside. When meat/sauce is ready, combine with noodles and transfer to a baking dish.
9. Top with the cheese (and bread crumbs if you wish). Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Stir a bit so cheese will finish melting into the noodles.
10. Serve with a chunk of buttered French bread!

Quick Skillet Fried Chicken with Roasted Garlic Rice

I threw this together for dinner tonight and it turned out so good that I thought I'd share! It's a fast and easy dinner for two (but the rice makes enough for 4 so you can always do more chicken or have some for leftovers!)

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed and marinated w/ Italian dressing
About 1/2 C flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
15 or so turns of freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed rosemary
2 T olive oil
1 C long grain white rice (Basmati or Jasmine are my favorite)
1 can Swanson's Roasted Garlic Chicken Broth
1 pat butter

1. Put rice and chicken broth in a small pot with a pat of butter and cook according to package directions.
2. While rice is cooking, blend the flour, garlic powder, pepper, salt & rosemary in a ziplock bag.
3. Heat oil in skillet. Once hot, put chicken in ziplock and coat with flour mixture. Place chicken pieces in hot oil and fry on both sides until cooked through. Remove to paper towels.

That's it! The rice should be done about the same time the chicken is. Serve with your favorite salad and garlic bread. Yummy and healthy!

Chicken Noodle Soup - Oklahoma Style!

Andy calls my chicken noodle "Oklahoma Style"... I always make it for him when he's sick with the homemade noodles my mom always used to make for me. :)

If you are like me, make and store good healthy chicken or turkey stock, and end up w/ 5 or 6 jars in your freezer - here's a good use for it!! So much better than the canned soup and almost as easy.

If you're using your reserved stock for your soup base, get it out now and defrost it. I also chop up extra carrots, celery and onion and freeze them to have on hand as well. So throwing together this yummy soup is super fast. The ingredients listed are approximate so just use whatever you have available (except for the noodle recipe).

You'll need:
About 5 C chicken or turkey stock
3 -4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
A few of each - carrots and celery, chopped
1/3 - 1/2 C or so onion, chopped

1. Start your stock to boil in a good sized pot.
2. Add the chicken, cover and bring just to a boil, then remove from heat. Leave pot covered to allow chicken to finish cooking, about 15 minutes.
3. While chicken is finishing, prepare noodles as follows:

For the noodles, you'll need:
1 1/3 C flour
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 T water
1 T oil

4. In small mixing bowl, combine flour and salt.
5. In separate bowl, whisk together eggs, water and oil then add to flour and blend well.
6. Turn out onto a well floured surface and knead until the dough is not sticky.
7. Roll out to the thickness you'd like your noodles. Roll into a log and cut 1/4" strips. Unroll them, coat well with flour and allow to dry until you're ready to add them to the soup.

NOTE: For creamier soup, use more flour. For waterier (is that a word?) soup, use less.

8. When the chicken is done, remove to a cutting board and strain broth through a fine mesh strainer to remove any chicken "residue" that's floating around. Pour broth back into pot and add veggies. Bring to a light boil.
9. Cut chicken into small pieces - it's really whatever size you prefer.
10. Once broth is rolling, add noodles and allow to simmer for about 10 minutes.
11. Add chicken to heat through and serve!

NOTE: If you don't feel like making a mess with the noodles you can use egg noodles, just cook them right in the broth! But homemade noodles are so very well worth the time!!! :)

The Absolute Easiest "Cobbler" Ever!

This recipe was given to me by my friend, Sara. I just tried it and it's awesome! Note that you can use several combinations of fruit and soda (Sara used blueberries and 7-up) but I'll write what I did. You could even combine different fruits... Be as creative as you want!

16 oz. frozen peaches
1 yellow cake mix
1 can Diet Cream Soda

Preheat oven to 325. In a square baking dish, layer fruit, then cake mix (dry). Pour soda evenly over the top. (No need to even stir!) Cover and bake 20 minutes, then uncover and bake another 40 minutes.

Voila! Super easy!! :)