Blue Cheese Inside-Out Burgers

INGREDIENTS

1 LB. Lean Ground Beef (or Sirloin)
1 Tbsp. Minced Garlic (or more)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 Cup Blue Cheese Crumbles

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine first four ingredients and divide into four equal parts.
2. Create a ball with 1/4 of the mixture, and then make a whole in the middle. Put a little bit of blue cheese inside, and cover with the hamburger mixture.
3. Press until flattened a bit, and then continue with remaining hamburger mixture.
4. Grill or pan fry hamburger patties until no longer pink in the middle.

Apple Muffins

I made some muffins to take with us on our trip to Jacksonville, AL this weekend. I made two different kinds, but this one came out the best.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar*
1 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup chopped apples

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.


2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.


3. In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.


4. In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.


5. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.

*These were too sweet for me as is, so next time I will probably only use 1/4 cup of sugar. Also, I did use red delicious apples, so if you have granny smith or another tart apple, I would use the 1/2 cup sugar

Yeilds: 9 muffins.

Thai Pizza

Make this. Do it. Now. I'm so mad I didn't take picture! I guess that means I'll be making it again soon!

INGREDIENTS
2 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 pizza crust, unbaked
1/4 cup peanut oil
3 cups mozzarella cheese
4 green onions
1 carrot, pealed, coarsely grated
1/2 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts
Sweet Red Chili Sauce

Chicken
2 tbs. Fish sauce
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup sesame oil
1 large stalk lemon grass, crushed, diced (can substitute lemon zest)
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
2 tbs. Chopped peanuts
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup cilantro
1 tbs. Brown sugar
Marinate (refrigerated) for 0.5 – 8 hours (longer = spicier)
Preheat to 325
Bake for 30-40 minutes, until done
Bring to room temperature
Shred chicken into small pieces

DIRECTIONS

1. Prebake dough according to package directions.
2. Prepare dough by brushing dough with oil and sweet red chili sauce.
3. Top with cheese, leaving a 1/2" rim uncovered
   Spread chicken, green onions, peanuts.
4. Drizzle oil over top
   Bake according to directions for crust.

Jen's Macaroni & Cheese

I made up my own macaroni and cheese recipe after being disappointed with the recipes I was finding online.

INGREDIENTS

16 oz uncooked macaroni, prepared according to package directions
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups warm milk (whole milk ideal, but 2% will work)
1 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup shredded monterey jack

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium sauce pan melt butter over medium-low heat and add flour. Make sure heat is low enough that the flour doesn't clump.
2. Add warm milk, increase heat to medium, and stir until the sauce thickens.
3. When sauce has thickened, remove from heat and stir in cheeses until fully incorporated.
4. Mix with cheese sauce with noodles and serve.

Vegetable Tortellini Soup

Besides making up pasta dishes, I also like to just make up soup recipes as I go along. I made this quickly last night, but obviously, if you can give it time to simmer for an hour or two, it will be even better.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/4 cups Chicken or Vegetable Broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning*
1 cup baby carrots, cut in half
1/2 small onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 1/2 cups cooked tortellini

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium sauce pan add chicken broth, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and poultry seasoning and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer.
2. To soften vegetables if you need dinner quickly, place them in a microwave safe bowl, add 1 tablespoon of water, and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 4 minutes or until tender.
3. Add vegetables and prepared tortellini to soup and simmer for 10 minutes.

*Note: I like to use poultry seasoning because it has many different dried herbs in one bottle. In my small kitchen, anything I can do to save space helps. Of course, you can use any herbs you like.

Cucumber Water

Okay, go ahead, laugh at me. I didn't think to do this until the other day when my mother-in-law and sister-in-law were with us for the holidays. We had a girls night and I made some flavored water for us after we did some yoga. Try it! You'll be surprised.

INGREDIENTS

Cucumber sliced thinly
Ice Water

DIRECTIONS

1. For every glass of ice water, add three thin slices of cucumber.

That's it. Easy peasy and so very tasty.