Sandwiches--not again!!!

We had BLTs for Sunday night supper a few weeks ago. Actually, they were something more like BATTS, as we had bacon, arugula, turkey, tomatoes(and cheese). But I couldn't very well say we had BAT sandwiches could I?

It had been a long, hot day and we just didn't want to heat up the kitchen too much.

The strange thing to me is just how much FUN sandwiches can be when everyone is relaxed and there is a selection of breads, toppings, and CHIPS to be had--even ON the sandwich! :)

I cook my bacon on jelly roll pans on high broil in the oven; doesn't take long. Those who like it extra crispy can stick a strip in the microwave for a few seconds between paper towel layers.

The boy had turkey toasted with bbq and cheese, bacon on the side, please.

No one complained about "sandwiches, again????" this particular time.

It was blessed.

 

:)

Burger Night

We eat homemade burgers. Often. My husband has to have one about once a week--he just is a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy. We have the fortunate circumstance of being able to go visit our beef cows in the field down the road, so I don't feel as badly about the health issues associated with store-bought beef. We know what goes into ours!

We like a good, formal--as in fully dressed--burger. . .lettuce, tomato, pickle, peppers, avocado, mushrooms, cheese--cheddar or pepper jack, ketchup, mayo--spicy or plain, mustard--one of several varieties, BBQ sauce. . . all may make an appearance on our burger board any given night. The challenge is to see how high it can be piled without falling apart.

Rough recipe for burgers(NOT grillable! The mix is a bit slooshy, but cooks up tender and delicious!):
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook or flat beater, combine
1.5-2 lbs. LEAN grass-fed beef
approx. 1 c. plain bread crumbs(freeze bread of choice, run through the food processor, voila! bread crumbs!)Soak the crumbs in just enough milk to moisten them well. You don't want it RUNNY.
1 egg
1/2 tsp. ONION powder(garlic powder leads to indigestion--don't go there)
2T. olive oil(it is very lean beef we use)
1 tsp. yellow or spicy brown prepared mustard
1/2 tsp. liquid smoke(optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. soy sauce--I use low sodium
dash of good red pepper sauce(optional)
I put about 10 grinds of the pepper mill on a fine setting also.

Flip the switch and mix, mix, mix till it is WELL-combined. Spray a large shallow(jelly roll) pan with cooking spray or mist with oil, form patties by hand to slightly larger than a deck of cards with a SLIGHT indentation in the centers, and slap them onto the pan(I usually just kind of make a ball, pop it onto the pan, THEN smoosh it flat, as it's a bit less messy that way--on the size, think about the size of the buns you're using!).

Low broil for 8-10 minutes, flip. Broil again for 5-6 minutes. You can bump to high on the last broil and cut the time if you want a browned burger.

They're delicious. WAYYYY easier than filling the house with mosquitoes to use the grill. Faster, too.
You will barely have time to toast the buns and get the fixins ready before they come out of the oven--be sure to stash them in a covered dish if you're not quite ready to eat yet, so they won't dry out.

Enjoy!

Pasta is for Saturdays

A few weeks ago I ripped several pasta recipes out of a magazine simply because they used fresh ingredients and looked really good.

A few days after that, we were faced once again with the Saturday evening dinner question. It had gotten late, we had to get ready for church the next morning, the kids were hungry from swimming, and we needed to eat FAST.

I remembered having impulsively picked up two yummy cheeses from the grocery early in the week, there were garden-fresh yellow tomatoes on the counter, lemon basil in the herb pot on the porch, and the recipe was hanging on the range hood. Dinner was decided.

I followed the recipe mostly as written, except I used diced yellow tomatoes and tossed in a small yellow squash for the sauce part, subbed linguine for the pasta, and tried goat cheese instead of ricotta. I also seasoned and cooked some chicken tenders in the skillet before making the sauce, chopped the chicken and added it into the mix.

It was SOOO GOOD.

The pictures don't do it justice, but the entire family ate it(which is saying something).
Definitely fits the bill of  "will make again", and it really was only about as much prep as the recipe says(odd for M.S. recipes! lol), including the extras I added.

This was before the sauce was tossed with the pasta and chicken.

What's your Saturday Supper Solution? Do you have a standby old-faithful, or is Saturday your day to branch out and "big cook"?

Keepin' Cool

For a refreshing breakfast or snack on a hot day(and there are plenty of those kind to choose from around here!), you just can't beat smoothies.  Here's a purple pretty I whipped up a couple of weeks back--no true recipe, but roughly a half cup orange juice, half cup yogurt, cup of frozen fruit(this one was a combo of blueberries, grapes and strawberries, I think). Maybe more fruit if you like it thicker. I also added a scoop of protein powder and a vitamin supplement. Hubby didn't know he was drinking his vitamins(but his glass didn't have flowers on it, either!). It didn't have any added sugars, either. The frozen grapes REALLY make it sweet.

What's YOUR favorite healthy hot day refreshment?

Thursday Night Supper

It was rainy today. We had the kids in to see the dentist, and by the time I had driven home in the rain, I was spent. Comfort food, here we come!
The winner tonight: gumbo--with okra, chicken, sausage, and shrimp.

I had to learn to make this myself when we went box-free a few years ago, and it was trial and error for quite awhile, but it has turned into an easy option. I make a dry roux which really cuts back the amount of fat and transforms the gumbo to something you WANT to eat, and so then the significant veggie content actually makes it fairly healthy!

Here in Louisiana sometimes we NEED a piece of fried catfish with our gumbo, health-conscious or no.

We washed it down with start-the-weekend-early celebratory Coke floats, made with caffeine-free Coca-Cola and Bluebell Homemade Vanilla. Yummmmmmmmmmy.(They disappeared before I could think of taking a picture!)

What did YOU have for supper tonight?

I Love Olives!

I opened the fridge in the early hours the day after the all-day, eight-kid playdate, and there they were.
Neatly dispensed and resting in their small square container. . . my best friend's olives.  She had forgotten to take most of her "cold" items with her when she left with her brood the day before, and so I was faced with the difficult decision: do I eat them myself, straight from the box,  do I save them to make something special in hopes my kids don't get to them first, or do I go right ahead and turn them over to the kids for a snack and stop trying to avoid the inevitable?

Then it occurred to me.  I could write a blog. Based on these olives. . . the best of all possible outcomes!

The last three. . . munched while thinking of the possibilities. . .

She also left organic spinach.

:)

I did NOT decide to call this blog "My Best Friend's Spinach". . . (not sure WHY!)

So this will be something of a "food" blog--not meaning each post will have a recipe, as I don't often FOLLOW them. I actually have a love-hate relationship with them. . .though I find them inspiring, they never make it from page to plate unaltered, unpersonalized. Cooking is a VERY personal thing.

So I thought I'd share mine with the world.

Welcome to my odd little corner of the world--my kitchen being the very heart of it.  I hope you don't mind flour on your apron and sugar on the floor--there are children who live and cook and EAT here too...
For goodness' sake! Wipe that sticky spot off the counter before you rest your elbow there!(Trust me on this one!)

 I hope you like to experiment, UNscientifically, because it is impossible to do ANYTHING the same way twice!

I hope you like to have FUN. Because cooking is about more than just filling tummies. . .it's about feeding souls. The first one being YOURS, the cook's. If your soul finds joy in the process, the privilege, and even the perpetuity of meal preparation(the ongoing necessity of it can be daunting, so a girl may as well make it as great as possible, right?) those around your table likely will enjoy it as well--

 They will know that they are LOVED.

And that is the very most important thing.

We'll see how this pans out! Thank you for joining me here!