Cheesy Beef Sliders

Juicy cheeseburgers are the perfect quick dinner and sliders are even faster. Perfect kid food. Perfect weekend sit around the tv cheering on some basketball playoff games. Perfect hurry home from school and sports practice, do your homework and off to church or other weeknight activities and not be late. 

These little cheesy beefy gems are also healthy. You know how I am always trying to make things a bit healthier.... these are packed with nutrients. AND even better the "healthiness" is impossible to detect. This scores high with me and the somewhat picky little smiles in my house. 

This recipe comes from the book the sneaky chef to the rescue. It rightfully boasts that it contains 101 recipes and sneaky tricks for creating healthy meals that kids will love. So far I have tried 2 recipes and both times my oldest CLEARED his plate, AND both times he was eating a vegetable I know he hates with a passion - but had no clue. Seriously amazing. So until his taste buds mature a little bit because truthfully some veggies are unfortunately an acquired taste and have a bitter edge for kids' sweeter taste buds... this little trick will be up my sleeve. This author knows her stuff... here is my adaption of her slider recipe: 

 Cheesy Beef Sliders

Makes at least 12 slider burgers 

Ingredients

1/2 cup of green puree (see recipe below)

1 Tb ketchup

1/4 cup of wheat germ

 1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional - I put it in everything)  
1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1 lb lean ground beef 

12 soft whole wheat dinner rolls

your favorite cheese, sliced - only need 1/2 slice per slider

optional garnishes - lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, mustard, mayo, avocado, more ketchup, ect...

Directions (the easy part): 

1. Mix the first 6 things together in a large bowl. 

2. Grab a large plate and start forming the 12 patties as you can see I didn't grab a large enough plate lol. 

3. Pan fry with a little non cooking spray or olive oil the burgers or grill them inside or outside for about 2-3 minutes each side over medium heat. They are small. I did them inside in a pan and was able to do 5 or 6 at a time. 

4. While the sliders are cooking cut your cheese, slice the garnishes and heat the dinner rolls

5. Serve warm topped with the cheese. Goes really well with watermelon, crunchy veggies and dip, or even a frozen vegetable heated on the stove since no one will be able to tell that there are veggies in their burgers. 

The green puree

So the magic of this burger is the healthy green puree that you are thoroughly mixing into the meat. This is a green 3 vegetable mixture that you are blending together until its so super smooth. The brilliant thing about this, is that if you do have picky kiddos like me, you can make this puree ahead of time. It keeps really well in the fridge and the freezer. Thus you can make sure they don't see you, using the vegetables they think they don't like. See that. Think of these kids and perhaps husbands as overthinking it. We eat with our minds and our eyes first its a survival thing... but in this case its a disservice to getting some cancer fighting, cold butt kicking, energy delivering nutrients that they need to fuel their daily activities. Its good for you too. Us moms need a bit of help from our food too. Trust me if I could live on just coffee I would but yeah it hasn't worked yet. 

So try this:

Steam 2 cups fresh broccoli until tender takes about 10 minutes. In the last 2 minutes add in 1 cup of peas. 

Add the broccoli and peas to a blender and blend for 2-3 minutes. Add 2-3 Tbs of water and 2 cups of fresh baby spinach. Blend on high. Occasionally stop and stir if needed and if necessary use 1-2 Tbs of water.

My Notes:

I used leftover broccoli from the night before to save time. I just planned it that way. Since leftovers are given the evil eye and not one of my kids or husband enjoys leftover veggies it was brilliant. I used regular spinach because thats what I had in my fridge. Whatever you have totally works. I used 2 cups of peas instead of 1. The amount of water is an estimation. Start with 3 Tbs of water in your blender with the veggies and add 1-2 Tbs at a time until your blender has gotten it so smooth there are no chunks at all. Should be absolutely smooth. This puree felt much easier to make than I thought it would be. I have used it for 2 meals so far and figure I can get 2 more out of it. Nice. 

Sassy Sloppy Joes & other fall foods

Happy fall to ya. 

I love this time of the year even when the weather is misbehaving and we are still getting mid to high 90s  and its still hot during the day. Our leaves do change color and drop so we can crunch them on our walks but thats more of a winter thing here in southern az. Something we don't have to wait for is the yummy fall flavors like sweet or tart apples, sweet & earthy squash, grassy fresh zucchini, and of course pumpkin. 

So far this fall I have updated my old apple walnut coffee cake. I usually make it several times during fall and winter but needed something healthier this year. Let me tell you this updated version of apple walnut coffee cake is even better than the original! It's so moist and tasty I had trouble not going back for seconds. So when I calculated the nutritional info I made each serving huge so you could go back for seconds or cut yourself a huge piece to go with your coffee. Its really that good. You're welcome :) 

We've enjoyed some squash and zucchini. This is a good time of year to sneak in those healthy abundant fall veggies plus its easy on the waist and the wallet. Two fall veggie recipes that you should check out are my super tasty Pork & Squash Curry, that I have made twice in the last month and some Amazing Zucchini Cheeseburgers (partially amazing because unless you're tearing apart the burger its not really noticeable & because the zucchini keeps the burger moist and delicious even when cooking the burger to well done). 

The other great thing about fall is all the great comfort food... like these sassy sloppy joes. Its getting dark quicker these days. There's nothing like coming in from a busy day to a filling slightly messy fun meal like sloppy joes. Everyone had them growing up and this slightly sassy version has amazing flavor and is a easy make ahead meal and even freezable. Yup. I made mine on a weekend and served it 2 days later and it was perfect. 

Heres the recipe - enjoy your fall! 

Sassy Sloppy Joes

Serves 3-4 adults (easily doubled) 

adapted from book:

 Don't Panic Dinner's in the Freezer cookbook by Susie Martinez 

1/4 cup onion finely diced 
1/2 Tbs butter, unsalted 
1 lb ground beef
3-4 oz ketchup (I just estimated half of my bottle) 
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup celery finely diced 
1/2 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 Tbs brown sugar
3/4 tsp coco aminos (its what I used in the place of worcestershire sauce)  
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp or so pepper
1/8 - 1/4 tsp dry mustard
4 hamburger buns or large soft round rolls

easy directions:

1. in a medium size skillet with a lid (something with medium high sides makes it easier) sauté the onion in the butter
2. add the ground beef and cook until about half way done
3. drain off excess fat/liquid
4. add in the rest of the ingredients 
5. simmer for 30 minutes covered then its done! 

if making it ahead cool it completely and store in the fridge for 2-4 days. Reheat it slowly until its bubbling and hot with 1/4- 1/2 cup of water. Stir often. Serve with hamburger buns or rolls. 

if freezing cool it completely and put it in a freezer gallon bag flat getting as much air out as possible. If you put a sheet pan on top of it it will freeze flatter and take up less space.  Should be good in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost the day before you need it in the fridge. Reheat it slowly until its bubbling and hot with 1/4- 1/2 cup of water. Stir often. Serve with hamburger buns or rolls. 

if you are serving it that day serve it as soon as it done simmering with hamburger buns or rolls and a fun side like watermelon, corn on the cob, fries, chips, fresh veg or salad. 

Wishing you a happy healthy fall with all the flavors and comforts of the season
Stephanie

Amazing "Rodeo" Cheeseburgers

Howdy. 

Its summer time still, right? I think so at least the warm weather still is screaming summer.   And summer time is the best time for a good burger. Right? Right. This not just a regular burger either. This meaty delight is amazing. I didn't even edit the pic. Theres no filter. All that color, the peeking golden crunchy onion ring, and dark thick cascading ruby colored bbq sauce... 

Hello summer. I guess you aren't so bad. 

I paired it with a veg to kinda balance out some that goodness with the real world. Life. Anyways .... for this burger I would eat 2-3 pounds of steamed veggies if I had to. Life changing-ly flavorful. The only thing that could make it better was if there was bacon on it or it was zero calories. 

And for once in my life I didn't "health-ify" this. Theres no hidden veggies. There's nothing but huge homemade kicked up onion rings, a flavorful seasoning mix in this oversized burger patty, my fav smoky bbq sauce drizzled over the top of 3 crunchy dill pickles, and thick melted slices of medium cheddar cheese on a sesame seed bun. 

P.S. It took less than 25 minutes to pull it together - side dish included. 

Seriously easy. Dangerously easy? 

Possibly. 

Heres how its made: 
Adapted from: Center Cut Cook (amazing blog!) 
Serves 3 with some extra onion rings on the side 

Ingredients: 
1 lb ground beef
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp garlic powder 
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp salt 
3 hamburger buns
6 slices of medium or sharp cheddar cheese 
*6 crunchy onion rings 
Your fav bbq sauce
1 tsp oil
dill pickles (helps cut through the fat of the burger, cheese, onion rings ect..) 


5 Easy Steps
1. Mix the seasonings into the ground beef and form the beef into 3 very large patties
2. Heat up a large flat pan. Drizzle a bit of oil in your pan and cook the patties according to whatever you want. We do medium well or well in my house so it took about 10-12 minutes because these things are huge! 
3. While the burgers are cooking make your onion rings*
4. 3-4 minutes before your burgers are finished cooking put a single slice of cheese on each top so it has time to melt. 
5. Assemble the burgers. Put cheese and bbq sauce on the bottom buns. Then put the delicious burger on top of the cheese. Then layer a couple pickles and crunchy onion rings and another drizzle of sauce over the burger. Top with the bun and dig in! 

* Onion rings in this pic were homemade and its really really easy. Click on over here to get the recipe. Its basically just dredging raw onion slices into egg mixture and then into crumbs and then baking them. If you have ever baked some chicken or used the shake and bake stuff then you can totally do this. The only changes I made to this recipe was I used bbq chips instead of regular potato chips and I halved the recipe. I thought that was totally enough for 3 people. Be advised... she says to only use half of the cracker/chip crumb mixture at a time. Do it. I didn't and the last few onion rings really didn't do well because the mixture was too wet to stick to the surface of the onion. 

Zucchini Hamburger Helper (from scratch)

Howdy. Its hot today. It was hot yesterday. Heating up the kitchen is not something I am fond of in the hot southern Az summer so this 20 minute family favorite is the top of my "go to" summer dinner list. Its healthy, easily flexible use whatever milk product you have, whatever cheese you want, any sort of ground meat, and it always comes out amazingly flavorful and kid friendly. Plus it helps my very sweet husband retain some of his childhood memories of eating the kind from the box because I am not buying the box stuff. 

I heart zucchini. Its my healthy favorite vegetable. Whenever I want to make something healthier I add in zucchini. In the summer, this lovable green vegetable are huge, yummy,  and super cheap. I changed this recipe up from the original by adding in zucchini, more pasta, more cheese, and switching to a whole grain pasta. Check out these meaty and cheesy pics and the recipe below for a great meal.  

Zucchini Hamburger Helper (from Scratch)

Serves 4-5 
Adapted from this really great blog: Farmgirl Gourmet

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (I used 85%) but ground turkey works well too
1 large zucchini or about 2 cups worth, diced into small sized cubes (for kids and husbands)
2 1/2 cups of milk (I used 2%)
2 1/2 cups of hot water
3 cups of whole grain elbow pasta
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 Tbs chili powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
1/4 tsp or a pinch of red pepper flakes
2 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (seriously any kind of great melting cheese is good)

How to make it: 

1. In a deep pan with a lid, start cooking the meat over medium heat. Add a little oil or butter if you need it. 
2. When the meat is almost cooked all the way through add in the zucchini and sauté for a couple minutes breaking up the larger pieces of meat as you go. 
3. When the meat is caramelized and cooked all the way through and the zucchini has a bit of color on it, add in everything else except the cheese. Stir so the spices get evenly distributed.   
4. Bring the pan and contents to a boil, then reduce to the heat to low, cover with a lid, and simmer for 10-12 minutes. t will look super soupy like you added too much liquids but don't worry. It will thicken. Mine was good at 11 minutes. 

Hint: Pasta can be tested to see if its done two ways. You can taste it. Or you can break or cut it open and if there is no white on the inside then it is cooked. 

5. Turn the heat off on the pan when the pasta is cooked to your liking. Stir in the huge mound of yummy cheese and as soon as its melted about 37 seconds later. Serve it up and enjoy! 

Quick Zucchini Asian Beef Bowl

It appears that summer is over. All the familiar and signs of Fall are here. Football preseason has started (yay!), my tv bill (with the nfl ticket) has jumped in price, and my husband and I counting down the days until our fantasy draft. Crazy. Its still over 100 degrees outside, but everything else is saying goodbye to summer. I am always relieved as a mom when summer is over because we have made it another year in Az with the high heat. Its hard living in air-conditioned spaces for a couple months. It starts to feel like you have all become bears living in caves by the end of July. Maybe thats another reason why Autumn is my favorite season. Or maybe I just like the food it brings onto everyones tables..... yummy hearty bowls of food, stews, casseroles, hearty soups, large bowls of pasta with new fall veggies throughout squash, zucchini, pumpkin, and root vegetable staples like potatoes, parsnips, and carrots roasted capturing their natural sugars. So for that....you will need this easy recipe. Its easy and quick enough to fill the most hungry of little stomaches even on a school night, with just enough salty and meaty flavor to perk up the most adult taste buds. 

One of my favorite fall ingredients is zucchini. When I was young I wanted a garden so bad. But to the side of our house there were these "sticker bushes", wild blackberries bushes, that were out of control. Thus no room for a garden, even a small one. But one day my dad decided to remove them. My memory is sketchy here. I don't know if it was all in one day or a weekend. But I do remember being very excited! He was pretty creative in cutting them down and then actually driving over some of them to flatten them, to cut them down easier - as some plants were just as tall as he was. This created a great side yard for us kids to play in. In part of the space, we planted a vegetable garden one year, and had good success. Then the next year, I don't know what happened. We didn't plant anything new. But the zucchini plant still made the biggest zucchinis. I don't even remember watering it much that second or third year but we had zucchini coming out of our ears every fall. I thought it was the most incredible plant ever. To this day, its still a favorite fall vegetable. 

Paring zucchini with beef is easy. They go really well together. I have this chili recipe that uses big chunks of ground beef with lots of zucchini - its really great. But back to this recipe...The sweet salty sauce is so tasty you pour over the zucchini and onion will make the pickiest eater not flinch over the veggies. Veggies? What veggies? See. The zucchini lightens the very meaty dish up a touch without it appearing to be a "healthy" meal. To make it healthier use brown rice. So lets kick off this fall football season with a quick easy bowl of food. Perfect for families with kids, perfect for watching the game, perfect after a long day of work, and amazingly perfect for your budget with an short list of ingredients. 

And the pictures...... the life of a mom with two small kids. I was taking pictures with my phone again. Ugh. But at least you get the idea of what it could look like. I do intend to make this again soon so I will get some better pictures then. Until then make it yourself so you can see how beautiful and simple this dish is - dark rich browns and vibrant green zucchini :)

Quick Zucchini Asian Beef Bowl

Serves 3-4

Adapted from: A reinvented Mom

Prep + Cook time: 15-20 mintues

Ingredients:

3/4 - 1 lb of beef (I used the smaller amount of beef since I have kiddos - but if you are feeding 4 adults I would do the 1 lb or slightly more)

2 small/medium zucchini diced (about 1 1/2 cups - 1 3/4 cup)
1/4 onion diced (approx 1/2 cup)
1 tsp oil, any kind (I used vegetable oil)
2-3 cups of rice, cooked

1/4 cup soy sauce (I used organic)
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 tsp. ginger, grated

optional: roasted or toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Cook your rice in a saucepan if needed. This would be a great way to use leftover rice form another meal. I cooked 1 & 1/2 cups of white rice with 3 cups of water and 2 tsp salt. Took about 15 minutes. 

2. While the rice is cooking, start chopping the veggies. 

3. Over medium heat, in a large skillet, heat the veg oil, and cook together the ground beef, zucchini, and onion. Cook mixture until beef is cooked through. Use a spatula to stir occasionally and keep meat pieces small.  This part took me about 8 minutes. 

4. While rice and beef mixture are cooking, make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients except the sesame seeds with a fork or whisk. 

5. When meat is fully cooked carefully drain any extra oil, fat, or excess water from the zucchini off the meat using a strainer. Put the coconut oil in the pan and put it back on the stove to melt it. Then return the meat and saluted veggies to the pan.

6. Next pour the sauce over the meat mixture and simmer the meat in the sauce for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Keep it warm until the rice is done cooking. 

7. Serve the deliciously sauced meat and veggies over the rice. 

8. Optional: sprinkle sesame seeds over the top of each serving

Enjoy this quick meal

from my az kitchen
Stephanie

Creamy Roast Beef Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Lunch time on Saturdays is usually a family event at my house, but totally dependent upon my little hungry one's nap time. Funny how that works. He doesn't even eat lunch with us but yeah. Sometimes its an early lunch at 11am but can be as late as 2pm. Lately we have been eating a bit early because we have 8 am soccer games to go to and by the time noon comes around everyone is hungry. To break up the monotony I grabbed a fun grilled cheese sandwich idea from pintrest. I heart pintrest. 

So lets chat about this creamy smoky grilled cheese sandwich. This hearty sandwich filled with cheese and roast beef is bursting with flavor! I can't remember the last time I put 1/4 lb of deli meat on a sandwich before. After grilling it, it had some serious weight! And my usual one slice of cheese was upgraded to 8 small slices of cheese with this recipe. What a big difference! But it was so good and I was definately full afterwards. Going to keep this sandwich recipe in my back pocket for camping, hiking, and days that create hungry appetites. The thick bread toasted nicely producing that great crunch everyone person wants when biting into a perfect grilled cheese sandwich. While the crunch contrasted the soft creamy cheese, the unexpected earthy sage, smoky cheese, and tender roast beef all worked in harmony together. Despite the strong favors, the sandwich as a whole, was completely balanced. I was amazed. It was like the first time I put cranberries on my turkey sandwich thinking I was going to ruin it but it so increased the depth of flavors.  I made the recipe more family friendly by cutting out the most time consuming ingredient (caramelized onions) from the original recipe making it an easy lunch idea. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. It creates a memorable lunch! 

The original recipe is from Running to the Kitchen a food blog with great pictures. 

Makes 2 Sandwiches

Cook time approx 5-10 minutes

Ingredients:

4 pieces of good quality whole wheat bread (or your favorite sturdy bread)

butter

a piece of foil

super thinly sliced gouda cheese (4 oz - this was half of a package for me)

1/2 lb of thinly sliced roast beef

1/4 tsp ground sage (divided)

Directions:

1. Heat your pan. I used a indoor cast-iron grill pan. I love the sear marks it gives. 

2. Butter two pieces of bread and lay them butter side down on the warming pan. 

3. Layer the roast beef and cheese on top of both pieces until you have used all the meat and cheese. Make sure the top layer is cheese. 

4. Sprinkle the sage over the top piece of cheese. 

5. Butter the last two pieces of bread and top the sandwiches with them. Butter side up. 

6. Cook for several minutes over medium heat until you see a nice toasted bottom piece of bread. Give it a peek every couple minutes. 

7. Flip and put a heavy pan or plate on top of the sandwiches to finish cooking. This helps the sandwiches to compress and heat all the way through. Sandwiches should be hot and both sides equally toasted. 

Note: Turn down the heat if the bread is getting too dark and use foil if needed in the shape of a tent to capture some of the heat to melt the cheese. 

Serve with raw crunchy veggies, tomato soup, chips, or your favorite lunch time snacks

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezey

Lunch done. 

I need an easy button

Until next time from my Az Kitchen

Beefy Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

That is a very long name for something so ordinary as chili, but I wanted to stress the sweet potato part. Sweet potatoes aren't exactly my favorite vegetable. I dislike them in most things actually. I don't make any sweet potato dish at thanksgiving and the idea of putting marshmallows on them just sounds odd. But this vegetable is a great source of vitamins so its a part of my diet. Thankfully this delicious chili containing the unwelcome vegetable came into my kitchen, turning my taste buds around. It was that good. Even my five year old asked for seconds!

The recipe was based on Stella's recipe. I tweaked it in a couple ways including eliminating half of the sugar because well I don't like cooking with unnecessary sugar. 

Beefy Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

Ingredients:

1/2 lb ground beef
2 Tbs olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 green pepper chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 Tbs chili powder
2 Tbs tomato paste
1/2 Tbs white sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbs all purpose flour
2 cans (14-15 oz) black beans
2 cans (14-15oz) fire roasted tomatoes diced (my favorite)
2 cups of chicken broth homemade or store bought
Shredded cheese (optional)
Sliced avocado (optional)
thinly sliced green onion (optional)
sour cream (optional)
__________ insert your favorite chili topping

Directions

1. In a large pot or dutch oven heat the oil over medium. Saute the garlic, onion, green pepper and sweet potatoes for 7 minutes. 

2. Add in the all the seasonings, flour, and tomato paste. Cook for another minute. (I had to cook mine for about 3-4 minutes since I was using frozen tomato paste). 

3. Cook the meat in a seperate skillet. Should take less than 5-6 minutes.

4. While the meat is cooking add everything else to the chili pot. Then bring it to a boil. When the meat is done add that to the chili pot as well. 

5. Lower the heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

6. Eat :) 

From my Az kitchen to yours

Baked Spaghetti (adapted from the Pioneer Woman)

Hi there. I didn't forget about my blog just took a longer break than intended. I missed you guys. Had some serious stuff on my plate, but I am back now with some great new recipes to share with you. I have been cooking a bunch this last month but also have been eating out more than usual. Its hard to blog when you aren't home to cook or you're too sick to cook.... anyone else's family got hit this spring with some hefty spring colds?  

Pasta. Pasta. Pasta and cheese. We shall not forget about the cheese. Its one of the 10 commandments isn't it? Okay maybe not but it could've been #11 and we just don't know. I added an extra cup to the original recipe figured it was okay since I was cutting back some sugar. Moderation right? (wink). 

My family loves pasta. Spaghetti, mac and cheese, lasagna, chicken and noodle type dishes, tuna casserole with the big wavy egg noodles, and almost everything else. There's just something about noodles that translates into happy, warmth, comfort, and love. Its going to be over 90 degrees at my house today in southern Az - which doesn't usually scream heavy comfort food -  but this is a pioneer woman's recipe so there's no way I was going to wait until fall to try this cheesy, meaty dish! The flavors are typical Italian dried oregano, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and parsley. But it is magic on your fork and in your mouth. My 4 yr old ate seconds cleaning off his plate with his fingers to get every drop! 

This doesn't happen very often. #veryhappymom

My thoughts about cooking this meal. It takes longer than my usual spaghetti recipe by triple the amount of time - but its worth it. Part of the reason for the long cooking time is the recipe has you make the sauce from scratch, slowly developing amazing flavor. Something I wasn't expecting, when I baked the spaghetti, the presentation and feel of the dish changed. It became something I would be more comfortable sharing with company instead of the usual and familiar pile of pasta. This is similar to when I bake mac and cheese with bread crumbs versus just making it creamy on the stove - the usual dish is elevated. I haven't tried it but you could even make it ahead and bake it off the night you want to eat... since this is a cross between spaghetti and a layered casserole. 

baked spaghetti

total cooking/baking time: approx 1 hr 20 minutes 

(50 minutes is inactive either on stove or oven) 
serves 4-6 people

I changed 5 things from the original which can be found here.

ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil
sprinkle of salt and pepper approx 1/2 tsp each
1 Tbs salt (for pasta water) 
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, small diced1 red bell pepper, small diced (same size as the onion)
3 cloves of garlic, smashed, unpeeled and finely chopped
1 - 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 - 14.5 can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
half of box of whole grain spaghetti noodles * I used whole grain angel hair pasta
2 cups of cheddar cheese, grated/shredded
1 cup of mozzarella cheese, grated/shredded 
1/4 cup fresh chopped or 1 Tbs dried parsley (garnish)

directions:

1. Start the meat sauce. Brown the ground meat in the olive oil over medium heat in a fairly large pan with high sides. Should take 4-5 minutes to get that great brown caramelization. 

2. While the meat is browning, wash and chop the onion, garlic, and red pepper. Once the meat is browned add it to the veggies, salt, and pepper to pan. Cook for 9-10 minutes. The veggies should be softened. 

3. To the same pan, then add all of the tomatoes, oregano, and sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. But I didn't stand by my stove. This is hands off time.... you don't need to babysit the thickening sauce. 

4. 5-6 minutes of prep while the sauce is simmering away: 

• Start a pot of boiling water on your stove with salt. 
• Shred or grate your cheese. 
• Pull out a casserole dish for later. I used my glass 1 qt rectangle dish. 
• Chop up your parsley. 
• Cook your pasta, 2 minutes shy of the cooking time suggested on the box. For me the al dente time suggested for whole grain angel hair pasta was 4 minutes so I cooked it for 2 minutes. Last, preheat the oven to 350.

5. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, and set it aside. Sometimes I add a tiny bit of oil, after draining, to make sure it doesn't clump. I didn't do that this time and turned out fine but it did stick together a bit more than I would've liked. 

6. Make the layers: When the sauce is done put 1/3 of it in the bottom of the casserole dish, then add 1/2 of the noodles, then top that with half of the cheddar cheese. Repeat the layers with 1/3 more of sauce, the remaining noodles, and 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese. Top with the remaining sauce and bake for 20 minutes.

7. At the 20 minute mark, carefully pull it out and top the baked spaghetti with all the remaining cheeses. Continue baking for 10 minutes. 

8. Pull it out of the oven. Top the meaty, cheesy, saucy dish with the parsley. Let the food rest for 10 minutes in the pan so you can make slices, neat squares or rectangles with a metal spatula. 

9. Eat and enjoy. I bet you'll want seconds just like my family did! 

Thats all for now. 

Enjoy your spring! 

from my kitchen to yours

Bacon Parmesan Cheeseburgers

Two weeks ago I did a massive shopping trip and baking weekend in hopes of getting through 3 weeks without having to go to the store. We have been super busy and I just wanted to take some of the pressure off. My new years resolution of a more relaxed year with has already plummeted into the dirt. Between my husband's work, college, homework, orchestra, all my son's activities, and my doctors appointments every 3 days, its no wonder I wanted a more relaxed year. Although with all those things already scheduled I think I could've foreseen this resolution not getting far. But it was a nice daydream while it lasted for 3 minutes 27 seconds. 

So... how are your new year's resolutions going? 

Two lessons learned from my big shopping trip are deli sliced cheese gets eaten about the same rate no matter how much I buy (disconcerting), and also that a good chunk of parmesan cheese keeps really well and no one tries to snack on it. I heart cheese of any kind but I knew when I saw this recipe for Bacon Parm Burgers that this would be something tasty that I could shop for in advance and make later. Bacon keeps well in the fridge and freezer, parmesan cheese keeps well, and buns can be frozen then defrosted. Cheers to eating well even not right after you shopped. I will have some more fun ideas in the next week or two with other recipes that work well from your pantry, fridge, and freezer. Stay tuned. 

Note the recipe isn't mine I wish I could take credit for this genius idea. These juicy cheesy burgers were amazingly good! Nevertheless checkout Center Cut Cook blog for some other great ideas. Burgers + weekend = good times. 

Bacon Parm Cheeseburgers

prep + cook time: 20 minutes

serves 3 adults - recipe doubles easily

recipe from Center Cut Cook (wonderful blog)

Ingredients

1 lb of beef

1/4 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbs melted butter

3 pieces of bacon, cooked your fav way
1/2-3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
hamburger buns or rolls
cheseburger fixings: mustard, ketchup, pickles, onions, lettuce, tomato, ect. 

Directions

1- Preheat your grill or bbq

2- Bake up some bacon and set it aside on some paper towels to rest while everything else finishes up. I had some leftover from another meal that I saved. 

3- Melt the butter.

4- Stir together all the seasonings in a small bowl. Scoop out 1/2 tsp of the combined mix and whisk into the butter.

5- Form three large patties with the beef - pushing a thumb indent in the middle of each one so it doesn't form a hill while it cooks. 

6- Season each patty by sprinkling each side with the remaining spices

7- Grill the beef - approx 5-7 minutes over medium for each side or until your meat is cooked to your preference. Be sure to use foil or oil if needed to prevent sticking. Don't press down on the meat to make it cook faster or the natural juices will run out and your burger will dry out. I cooked mine for 4-5 minutes over medium and then flipped them over to the non heated side of the grill for a few minutes with the lid down to make sure the insides were well done and then moved them back over to the flame side to finish up and melt the cheese. LOL we like well done burgers in my family. 

8- Bacon & Cheese: Once the burgers are half way done - top each one with cheese and bacon. My bacon was cold from the fridge so I thought it was a clever way to reheat it and crisp it up. If you are baking bacon fresh for this its up it to you when you put the bacon on. My son didn't like how crispy the bbq made the bacon. I loved the extra crunch and smokier taste that bbq gives food. 

9- Buns: after putting the cheese and/or bacon on the burgers spread the melted seasoned butter over the buns and throw them on a grill or bbq to toast up. Garlic and other Italian flavors really compliment the cheese and bacon well. Your mouth and stomach will rejoice over this flavorful easy dinner.

10- Serve them up with all your fav fixings. I kept mine simple with mustard, ketchup, and pickles.

The obvious and fun sides to any burgers are fries, chips, fresh crunchy veggies, potato salad, any steamed veg, ect. 

Enjoy from my kitchen to yours