Kickin Avocado Burger

I love eating hamburgers. There is something about them that I can’t get enough of, and there are so many ways to make them. Here is a great tasting burger that I made the other day, and the sun was finally out. It has a great amount of avocado and the horseradish gives it a nice bite.

 

 

 

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. 95% lean ground sirloin, six thick slices Roma tomato, 2 tbsp Best Food Low Fat Mayo, 8 slices applewood thick cut bacon very crispy, 1/2 cup shredded green leaf lettuce, 2 tsp. extra Hot Beaver brand Horseradish, 4 thick slices of Kerrygold reserved sharp cheddar cheese, 1 large avocado, 2 Oroweat Specialty Crustini Rolls

 

Directions:

1. Cut bacon in half and fry bacon till very crispy

2. Slice cheese, tomato, and lettuce, mash avocado in a bowl.

3. Take ground sirloin and divide it into fourths. pat down in to 4 1/2 in. patties.

4. Toast buns on grill for about a minute or 2.

5. Spread half the avocado on each of the top buns, spread half the horseradish on each bottom bun then spread half the mayo on bottom bun , add the lettuce, tomato, and bacon

6. Toss the burgers on the grill when almost done the way you like it (I did mine pink) add the cheese on top so it can melt stack the patties two by two and add to bun

 

Doubleishly Good Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am sorry it has been a while since I added anything to my blog. It has been a crazy month or so.  I have been working on my first cookbook and I have been working on many new dishes. I have come up with almost 20 new things since my last post.  I have been working on lots of different things lately, and I have to say I have been lazy about writing posts. Today I want to share a cookie dish I came up with while my wife was out of state. After I made these cookies I decided to make a cookie sandwich treat. I thought about those cookie sandwiches that you find in the store and I thought I would really like one. With this, I made my own Monster Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Cookie sandwich.

 

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Ingredients:

¾ cup butter, softened

½ cup Crisco

3/4 tsp. salt

3 large eggs

3 cups flour

1 ½ cups sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

½ cup butterscotch

1  cups milk chocolate chips

3/4 cup Reese’s peanut butter chips

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place everything except the chips and flour in mixer and mix till well blended.

Add flour and blend well.

Mix in chips with spoon.

Spoon about 1  and 1/2 in balls of cookie dough on to cookie an ungreased cookie sheet about 2in apart.

Bake for 13 min. Remove from oven  and remove from cookie sheet immediately placing cookies onto wax paper to cool

 

For cookie Sandwiches

 

two cookies per sandwich

Brand of ice cream: Lovin Scoopful  Strawberry Cheesecake

 

Directions

Make sure the ice cream is soft enough to press down on cookie. Pile the ice cream on 1 in. thick all the way around.

Place cookie on top and fill in any gaps and set in freezer

Chicken Pita Fajita Tacos

Chicken Pita Fajita Tacos

 

Tonight I needed to make something easy. I love tacos and I grew up eating them all the time. I was always a fan of crunchy corn taco shells. We would always make our own, since we didn’t like any of the ones from the store. Homemade shells are always better. We would eat them the same way all the time. I wanted to give a new look and taste  There are so many ways to make them, and here is one of my new takes on the great taco.

Ingredients

Green leaf lettuce

tomatoes

abt. 1 1/4 lbs. chicken breast

1/2 small onion

8 mini sweet peppers

fat free sour cream

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 large lime

1 pkg. McCormick Fajitas Seasoning Mix

Kerrygold Reserved sharp cheddar cheese shredded

2 1/2 small Avocados 1/2 avocado per

1/4 cup water

5 Papa Pita Greek Pita Flat Bread Classic White 7 in.

Directions:

Dice chicken small, dice tomatoes, slice peppers, slice onion 1/4 in. thick then quartered, cut lime in quarters, slice avocado, and slice lettuce.

Sauté chicken, peppers, onion, cumin, , and garlic in non stick pan covered on medium low stirring occasionally until chicken is done abt. 7 min.

Add the seasoning mix, water, a quarter of the lime squeeze well, mix well and let cook until liquid is almost gone stirring occasionally

Scoop into pita flat bread and add toppings as desired.

New Toys

I love having new toys for my kitchen, and I have needed a few things for a while now. There were several I got for Christmas. One of the things I got was a new griddle so I can make more things at once. I hate eating hot food cold, and by the time I get everything done I usually have at least one thing cold. The other item I needed were some new pans. I needed new non stick pans so I can start working on more healthy foods. The new pans are non stick anodized pans. They work great, and I do not have to worry about all the oil that is unnecessary. This next coming week I will be adding a Breville Panini press and grill to my collection.

Hot Dog Night

Tonight was hot dog night. Hot dogs are usually very fatty. There are brands that make healthier hot dogs. Yesterday we bought the new Tostitos Queso Blanco Dip. We decided to put it on our hot dogs instead of using regular cheese. These hot dogs had  mustard, sweet relish, Tostitos Queso Blanco Dip, green onions, and the Hebrew National 97% Fat Free Hot Dogs.  I like lots of toppings on my hot dog.

Grilled Cranberry Turkey Bacon Sandwich

 

 

It can be great having so much food left over from the holidays or anytime for that matter. It provides meals for many days and you can take a break from cooking or come up with new meals with the leftovers. Tonight we had the last of the leftovers from Christmas. I put together a couple of Turkey bacon sandwiches that tasted great.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups cubed turkey

1/4 cup sliced green onions

1/4 cup Best foods low fat mayo

1/2 tsp. McCormick Grill Mate Smokehouse Maple seasoning

1/8 tsp. fresh ground peppercorn

4 slices bacon

4 slices bread

My Cranberry Sauce 

Directions

1. Cut bacon strips in half and fry until extra crispy.

2. Slice green onions and cut turkey into 1/4″ cubes. Mix them together in a bowl with the pepper, mayo, and the McCormick Grill Mate Smokehouse Maple Seasoning.

3. Spread a thin layer of the cranberry sauce on each slice of bread.

4. Put turkey mix on two of the slices of bread. Then put 4 slices of bacon on top of that. Place other slice of bread on top.

5. Cook on George Foreman Grill or Panini press until lightly browned.

Cranberry sauce

Christmas was wonderful and I made many of my own recipes. This year was my first time making homemade cranberry sauce. I wanted my first batch to be my own recipe. Aubrey loves cranberry sauce, any time of the year, canned or fresh. This one is more than good, it is wonderful. The spices and honey work great together and the apple juice gives a nice light flavor that really adds to the dish. This is a gluten free dish.

Ingredients

 24oz. Fresh cranberries

1 ½ cups white sugar

½ cup honey

½ tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

2 cups unfiltered, not from concentrate, no sugar added Apple juice + ¼ more

 Directions

1. Dump everything into a pot and let simmer for 20 min  stirring occasionally uncovered.

2. When it begins to thicken and cranberries start falling apart turn down to low and cook for another 20 min stirring occasionally uncovered.

3. Take off stove and let stand 15 min before serving. Serve warm, it tastes the best right after making it

Note: If you are making it at the same time as dinner do not worry about the extra ¼ cup apple juice. If you are making it the day before add the extra ¼ cup apple juice when heating up the cranberry sauce.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

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Ginger Bread Houses

 

This week Aubrey and I made gingerbread houses with friends. This is the second year I have made real ginger bread houses. I made them many times when I was younger, but I would always use graham crackers and plain frosting. It would take a long time and they never stayed up very well.  We found a fantastic recipe on cooks.com that works great and tastes good as well that we used.

Christmas Treats

 

Yesterday I started my Christmas treats with homemade cherry chocolates, which I love. My favorite cherry chocolates to buy are the Queen Ann, but this year I decided to make homemade cherry chocolates. I like them homemade so much more. Another favorite Christmas treat of mine is Puppy Chow. I grew up eating Puppy chow, but I prefer a more peanut buttery taste. I made Puppy Chow with my own modifications to it. Some may know this treat by the name of Muddy Buddies. I have always known it by Puppy Chow until I got married.