Turkey BLT Burgers and French Fries

I got the inspiration for this from a Rachel Ray recipe but I also thinks she puts to many things in her recipe so I made quite a few changes and developed this on my own. This recipe also uses up the rest of the package of bacon I used to go with my Banana French Toast Bake this morning. This will make 2 servings.

Ingredients:

1 lb of ground turkey

6 slices of bacon cut in half

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 sliced tomato

2 leaves of lettuce

2 medium potatoes
2 hamburger buns
Cooking oil



1. Cook up all your bacon and then chop up 3 slices of bacon into bits and put in a bowl. Shred your mozzarella and add to the bowl. Mix with Turkey. When mixed well shape into 2 patties.

2. Cut up your potatoes in half then each half cut into fries. Heat about half inch of oil in a frying pan. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to another frying pan for you burgers. I just reused my bacon pan for this part to not make to many dishes and since the burgers have bacon in them anyway. I just rinsed out all the grease.

3. Put Burgers in frying pan for about 6 minutes on each side. You do not want any pink in the middle at all and if you have a thermometer the internal temp should read 165. Throw the french fries into the oil and bring to a boil and let boil for about 15 minutes. Toss them for about another 5 minutes then remove to a paper towel and let the excess oil drain off.

4. Toast the hamburger buns under a broiler for a couple minutes then assemble your burgers with bacon lettuce and tomatoes. I put Mayonnaise on mine as well.

Banana French Toast Bake

So this morning I'm doing a breakfast blog, you probably wont get to many of these since I'm never home in the morning to make breakfast except on the weekends. I was planning on cooking this one for dinner but I changed my mind and had time to get it ready last night for breakfast this morning! You prep this one ahead of time and let it sit in the refrigerator over night or all day before your meal. It only takes about 5 minutes to prep before putting in the refrigerator so you can do it right before bed or right before you leave for work. Its super easy!!

The recipe makes a 13x9 inch pan worth but since I'm feeding 2 I cut the recipe in half and put it in a 9x9 inch pan.

Ingredients:

6 slices cinnamon bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 bananas cup into 1/2 inch slices
1/4 cup pecans

Recipe:

1. Spray bottom of a 9x9 baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange bread cubes in baking dish. In large bowl bead eggs, milk, and 1/4 cup of syrup with a whisk, pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

2. Heat oven to 350 degrees, uncover and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown along the edges. Let stand for 7-10 minutes before serving.

3. Meanwhile in a medium microwavable bowl, heat remaining cup of syrup for 1 to 2 minutes stirring ever 30 seconds until warm. Stir in vanilla.

4. Sprinkle banana slices and pecans evenly over bread; drizzle with warmed syrup mixture and enjoy!!

Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders with Home Made Dipping Sauce

 So I got this recipe from Rachael Ray but I changed it a bit. One thing I changed was the dipping sauce I made it her way and did not like it so I remade it!! This recipe was simple and easy to make and took no time at all!! And was super delicious!!

Recipe:
Canola oil for frying
6 chicken tenders
1 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs beaten with a splash of milk
1 1/2 cups plain bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Dressing:
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons orange juice

Directions:
Heat 1 1/2 to 1 inch of oil over medium heat in skillet

Set out 3 shallow bowls place flour in one, eggs and milk in the second one, and bread crumbs, nutmeg and pecans in the third one. Coat tenders in flour then egg then bread crumbs and pecans. Fry until each side is a nice dark brown for about 6-7 minutes then drain excess oil off on a paper towel.

For dressing combine all ingredients and mix well.

Rachael Rays version had many more ingredients but i chose to cut them out. If you are interested in checking her recipe out you can find it here:
Pecan-Crusted Chicken Tenders

Italian Meatball Subs

All day at work I have been thinking about making these yummy Italian meatball subs. It is a new recipe and I have never made it before. Well.... I forgot to look over the recipe last night and when I got home at 6 tonight and went to make them came to the horrible realization that it is a crock pot recipe and takes 5 hours. Well rather than nix the whole idea I decide to improvise and make the sauce in a regular saucepan on the stove and let it simmer for the next hour since Ryan wont be home until then.

I get going making my sauce first because that takes the longest and suddenly realize I used the last onion I have in the pot roast on Sunday...... so well.... lets bypass the onion I say who needs it!!! So I get the sauce started and get going on the meatballs first ingredient eggs... open the fridge to get them out and NO EGGS... well I decide I will just add a bit more bread crumbs to help hold them together. Second ingredient Milk... well used the last of that this morning in my cereal.... hum I think to myself I should just scrap this and get pizza but no the sauce is already made no need to waste it so I will wing the meatballs and if they don't turn out they don't turn out. Lucky for me I have the rest of the ingredients for my meatballs.

I mix the ingredients for the meatballs and cook them, put them in the pot with the sauce to simmer for the remaining time. When Ryan gets home I put the subs together and top with cheese and the end looks great now just to see how it taste or did I totally blow the whole meatball sub fantasy I have been dreaming about all day??


Here is the recipe I ended up making:
Sauce
1 can (15 oz) Tomato Sauce
2 cans (6 oz) Tomato Paste
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup beef broth
1/3 cup water
2 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Meatballs
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage

1. Put all ingredients for sauce in a pot cover on low heat.
2. Mix meatballs and shape into 1 inch balls place on broiler pan. Put in oven or broil for 4 min turn and broil for another 3 minutes.
3. Put meatballs in the sauce and continue to cook on low.
4. When sauce has simmered for about an hour spoon into Italian rolls top with shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and enjoy.

For those of you who would like the real recipe you can find it here:
Italian Meatball Subs

Well they look great but looks can be deceiving.. Ryan says they taste good but he will eat just about anything.... so here goes nothing I am my worst critic so.... They are actually pretty dang good!!! Sauce could have used the onion but its just fine without it!!! So I hope you had a good laugh at my expence tonight!! Enjoy!!

Pot Roast in the Crock Pot

So I get alot of my recipes from Taste of Home and I absolutly love them. Sometimes the recipe looks strange but once you cook it you find that it turns out great!! I have decided that the recipes in Taste of Home are geared for quick and easy prep but the food always turns out great so its always worth a try to test a recipe out.

I have made this recipe once before and it turned out great!!! It only feeds 2-3 with the size of the roast  used but you can always double the recipe:

• 2-2 1/2 lb boneless rump roast
• 5 medium red potatoes quartered
• 2 cups baby carrots
• 1 medium onion quartered
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 packet of dry onion soup mix
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 2 tablespoons garlic chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup of water

1.   Melt butter with 1 tablespoon garlic

 in a skillit and brown all sides of the roast.

2.   Place potatoes, carrots, onions and the rest of

 the garlic with water in the bottom of the crock pot.

3.   Place the roast on top of the veggies.

4.  Mix both soups and basil and pour over the roast.

Cover and cook for 9 - 10 hours on low until the

beef is fork tender. If cooking on high 5 hours.

5. Remove roast from crock pot slice and enjoy!!!

Summer of Ice Creams

So I was thinking this morning that I would like and try to make at least 5 different kinds of  ice cream this summer. So I need your help in choosing the top 5 favorites from this list and as I make them I will post recipes so here is the list let me know you top 5!! Thanks!

• Raspberry sorbet
• Banana peanut butter
• Chocolate chip cookie dough
• Choclate super fudge brownie
• Orange cream dream
• Chocolate reses cup
• Chocolate raspberry
• Tin roof
• Tiramisu
• Mango Sorbet
• Blackberry Sorbet
• Passon fruit ice cream

Saving money at the grocrey store

Well I had people say they would read my blog if I wrote one so here goes nothing!!! Bare with me I have never done this and am not quite sure how exactly to do this. I was thinking for my first post I was not going to do a recipe but how I got to the store and save money and get everything I need for a few weeks of dinners.

There are 3 steps I take before going shopping:
       1. Plan ahead
       2. Make a list
       3. Cupons

1. Plan ahead a few weeks and make a list of meals. This way when your going to the store you know what you want for dinner and what you need to get in order to make it! I usually got threw my magazines and cook books and pick out 10 or so meals that I want to cook for the up coming weeks.

2. Make a shopping list according to your recipes you picked out in step one. Make sure when making your list you write down everything you need to make your dishes. The only exception here would be anything that can not be around the house for more than a few days such as some produce. In this case you know what you need and if you plan when you are going to cook these meals you can stop by the store and get just a few things the day before or the day of. Remember meat can be froze and taken out a day or 3 before you are planning on cooking it and put in the refrigerator to thaw.

Once you get your very detailed shopping list made and get to the store STICK TO IT!!! Impulse shopping will lead to allot of junk food and allot of things that do not fit into your meal plan. I know this is very hard even I cant come out of the store without some impulse buying!

Here is a site with a very good generic shopping list starter and many other lists as well:
www.grocerylists.org

3. There are allot of places to find coupons but one tip I would give when clipping coupons is to stick to your list and don't buy something that you don't really need just because it  has a good coupon. I don't do to much coupon clipping but when I do the Sunday news paper is a great place to get them. Sometimes you will find a store that will double manufacture coupons like Safeway does. If you can find a better deal at a different store that u usually go to and it is worth it to do then shop many different stores.

There is also many different web sites you can go to and find some great coupons:
http://www.coupons.com/
www.shopathome.com
www.couponmom.com
www.redplum.com

Also remember ontop of coupons if you take your cans and bottles back before you do your shopping then you can use your refunds toward your bill!!! I hope this helps someone out there save a little bit of money at the grocery store. I know just doing these small things helps me save a couple hundred dollars a month!!