Overnight Oats

I've had a rocky relationship with oatmeal over the past 6 months. In January I started eating more of it, as a healthy breakfast with some fruit, maybe a little almond butter etc. Then in February when I started the HIIT challenge, I decided to cut out refined grains (but secretly almost all grain-based carbs), as well as oatmeal. I got sucked into the paleo realm of hatin' on grains. Recently, since trying out veganism, I've realized I need the grains to make sure I'm getting enough calories in my diet, so I've re-introduced a lot more whole grains, including oatmeal. Here's a recipe that I tried last night (and this morning) in my quest for delicious breakfast foods.


This recipe is incredibly versatile: Put in it whatever you want, and it will be delicious.


-1/2 cup oats (I use old fashioned, not quick oats)
- 1 cup of liquid (I used unsweetened almond milk)
- 1 small mashed banana
- 1 small diced peach
- 1 Tbsp chia seeds
- cinnamon
- ginger powder
- allspice


Mash up the banana, add the spices and mix around, then add everything else and give it a good mix. Put a cap on whatever container you're using (a re-used jar works great) and place in the fridge overnight.


This was delicious. SO delicious, I didn't take a picture until after it was gone...

Some ideas for easy substitutions or additions of the fruit:

Diced apple

Pumpkin Puree

Par or pre-cooked Quinoa

Blueberries

Raspberries

Blackberries

Mango

Mashed Chickpeas

Of the liquid:

Green Tea

Rice Milk

Soy Milk

Chocolate Almond Milk

Water

Coffee

Coconut Water

Of the spices:

Cocoa powder

Cardamom

Nutmeg

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Add some Stevia

Add a little Turmeric 

Seriously....anything goes.

Another Cleanse...This Time Smoothies!

She wouldn't even look at me. The shame.

I embarked this morning on the Dr. Oz 3-Day Cleanse with my boyfriend by my side. He recently returned home from a week-long tour of east coast breweries, and he was feeling a little "off". Most likely due to the copious amounts of free beer consumed. We had been thinking about doing a smoothie cleanse for a few months, but we didn't have a good strong blender to work with. Low and behold, my mother had her Vitamix out and waiting to be borrowed when I arrived to Deep Creek on Thursday. I told Tom about our good fortune, and we commenced plans for a detox.

Day one: It is 3 pm and I'm a little bit hungry. I'm also really out of it, but it is my first day back at work after a 5 day vacation, so I'm not attributing it all to the cleanse. Also, I frequently eat green smoothies for breakfast, so the only difference for me today is the lunch shake.

I went home at lunch to meet Tom, and we made both the lunch and the snack smoothie (which I have stored in a thermos in the fridge for 4 pm). I'm going to try to go to the gym straight from work, so I don't have too much time before or after the dinner shake to think about food. I realized about a half hour ago that I forgot to add the celery to the lunch shake...probably why it wasn't as terrible as everyone says it is.

Note: I'm also allowing myself coffee during this cleanse (with soy or coconut milk creamer). We're going to modify the drinks as needed, since raspberries are very expensive right now, and I have some frozen blackberries, frozen blueberries, and fresh black cherries ready to use. I personally don't feel I need a cleanse for weight loss purposes, so it's more about testing my strength and stuffing my mouthhole with the healthiest things possible. At least that's my take on it all.

Day 2: Well yesterday I had the snack smoothie with a spoon, and it seriously tasted and felt like I was eating pancake mix. MMMMmmMMMm. It was the breakfast smoothie again, but it was a completely different color. Strange. Last night we had the dinner smoothie...we only added the amount of cayenne for one smoothie although we were making two at once, and we were glad that we made that decision. It was strangely sweet and then SPICY. In an unsettling way. It took at least an hour to choke it all down, double-fisting a glass of water in the other hand. 

This morning we made the breakfast shake subbing fresh black cherries for one cup of raspberries, and frozen strawberries and blackberries for the other cup (since we're doubling the recipe for the two of us we needed 2 cups of raspberries total). I also added a tiny nub of fresh ginger root, some cinnamon, and a little allspice. It was good this morning. I felt pretty full after about 3/4 of it, and drank the rest in the car on the way to work. It's 9:45 and I'm starting to feel some hunger pains (I usually eat a mid morning snack around 10 so my body is programmed to get hungry now). This morning when we woke up we were both ravenous. 

Note: Neither of us are doing the detox tea or baths. Also, Tom didn't up his water intake extraordinarily yesterday, and so he said he's down two lbs since Monday. Probably due to water loss, but still encouraging for him! Yesterday my parents were over to see my roommates, and they made homemade quiches, melon and ham as an appetizer, as well as these little spinach pastries. I wouldn't eat most of that even if I wasn't doing a cleanse, but it all looked SO GOOD. Needless to say, we weren't very social--we made the dinner smoothie, cleaned up, and took it with us downstairs to finish Gasland and to watch Ted to pass the time until bed. 

This was lunch, done the correct way with celery added. It was the weirdest texture ever. As I typed that (with the smoothie sitting on my desk) a co-worker walking by just stopped in her tracks and stared at it. "That really doesn't look very good". I agreed. 

Good luck with this one, stomach.

Day 3: We caved. I have a work dinner tonight, so we were planning on ending today after breakfast shake, but it didn't work out. The celery in the lunch drink yesterday was just too much. We both felt sick and malnourished (which is obviously ridiculous because it was only one day) and all it took was one suggestion from Tom of stopping this "nonsense" and we were planning a Chipotle dinner. How quickly we crumbled in the face of adversity.

Ah, well, you can't win 'em all. 

In conclusion: I have done juice cleanses before, and found them to be very healthy and helpful, if not for actually resetting your system and eliminating toxins, then for testing your willpower and cutting out caffeine for a few days. I think the main issue with the Dr Oz cleanse, for us, was that we were just so hungry. There weren't enough calories (about 1100 a day) to satiate us while still exercising and working full days. We probably also didn't give it enough time: my hormones to signal hunger were still going off at 10 am when I normally eat a snack, and the plan doesn't allow for food at that time. I'm sure I would have adjusted with a few more days of the schedule, but I just wasn't willing to see it through. I failed.

One last note: I think that if I genuinely believed that I needed to make a dietary change, had written out my reasons for the diet, and used the diet to start a new, more healthful dietary lifestyle, things might have been different. I can see how using a radical switch to make modest changes afterwards seem like a bargain could really work for some, and I'm interested to see if and how my professors will approach the subject of cleansing in relation to clinical recommendations. I just personally didn't feel I needed much tweaking of my diet, save the last few days before the cleanse eating lots of desserts since my family-in-law was in town. I also didn't see any ahem *results* from the smoothie cleanse like I saw from the juice cleanse, which is (weirdly) a motivating factor for me. 

Anywhoo...if you decide to do the cleanse, let me know how it goes! I hope you have more strength and determination than my puny will!

Kale-Walnut Pesto, Heirloom tomato, Mozzarella and Water Cress Pizza.

I know. It's a lot to take in. It's also possibly the best pizza I've ever made, and I'm about to share with you how you can stuff it in your mouth hole, too.


The first thing is, you gotta make the pesto.


This recipe makes about 1/3 extra (~ a cup total of pesto), but why don't you cry about it? Put it on everything else in your fridge after you're done eating the entire pizza in one sitting.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of chopped organic raw kale
2 cloves raw organic garlic
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh organic basil
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 teas sea salt

Procedure:

Cook the kale by either submerging it in boiling water for 2 minutes and then putting into an ice bath, or do what I did, and put it in your microwave steamer for two minutes, then run cold water and ice over it. After it's nice and cold and dark green, squeeze it out in your fist until it's dry and pretty packed- about a half cup now.

Add all your ingredients into a processor of some sort with about a half cup of the olive oil. Start pulsing, and slowly pour in the rest of the olive oil. It should be a pretty thick consistency when you're done, so if you're using a nice processor you may need less olive oil than I did with my crappy blender. Bask in the basil-garlic glory of the pesto.


Okay now you're ready for making a pizza. Preheat your grill to as high as it goes for about 10 min. Use a tablespoon of the olive oil on a paper towl to grease the grill before you put the pizza on both times.

Ingredients:

- 1/2 a Wegman's whole grain pizza dough, or any whole-grain pizza dough, this is a good recipe.
- 1/2 cup kale-walnut pesto
- 2 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 small heirloom tomatoes, sliced thinly
- 3/4 cup part skim organic shredded mozzarella
- 3/4 cup water cress, roughly chopped and dried well
- salt, to taste

Procedure:

Make your dough round on a floured surface, and slide onto the grill once it's good and hot. Leave on for about 2 minutes, until you see grill marks on the bottom. You might get some nice puffy pockets, enjoy them.

Remove from the grill, and add toppings to the grilled side. Start with a little olive oil, add the pesto, mozz, tomatoes, a little more mozz, and the watercress.

Slide the whole thing back onto the grill, and decrease the heat slightly to about medium-high. It should take about 5 minutes to finish cooking, but make sure to check the bottom for any burning or flare-ups.

Remove from the grill, let rest for 2 minutes (it's reeaallly hard, but pretty important), drizzle a little more olive oil and salt if needed.

It's really quite good.

Smoothies, Smoothies, Smoothies

I've been drinking fruit and veg smoothies for breakfast most days for the past couple weeks and I can't tout how great I've been feeling enough! I seriously never used to look at breakfast as an opportunity to pack more veggies into my day, but now I feel like my day is less than perfect if I don't get at least two servings before 8 am. I'm sure you all know how to make a smoothie, but do you know how to mask the taste of veggies in one? Here's my general recipe:

1.) Use about 1 to 2 cups of fresh raw leafy greens: spinach, kale, and romaine are my go-to's (Field greens may be too bitter, but test it out if you like them!)

2.) Use about and half cup of a crunchy veg: I do peppers, cucumber, or carrots

3.) Add about 1 cup of almond milk (or coconut milk, coconut water, steeped and cold fruity or green tea, etc.)

Blend until you have a nice, liquid-y puree.

4.) Add some fruit! Stick to about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of fruit--I usually do at least half and apple, a whole banana, and either fresh fruit like strawberries, mango, or peaches, or some frozen fruit like blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Anything works, but stay away from melon because it tends to separate in a weird way...

5.) Depending on your mood you can add extras like herbs such as mint and basil, or fats like almond butter or coconut oil. If you're craving extra sweetness add a little stevia, some dates, or some agave. About 1/4 of the time I add cocoa powder for a chocolate shake.

If you prefer a creamier texture, add cottage cheese, greek yogurt, or kefir to the mix (stick to about 1/2 cup of this and sub it out for, say, banana or the extra dates, almond butter etc. 

These smoothies usually come out to about 200 calories and they're HUGE. Very satisfying and you're already at least 2-3 servings of veg and 2-3 servings of fruit down for your day! Not to mention this is a great option especially if you're trying to lose weight or make muscle gains. 

If your usual breakfast is commercial cereal, and you switch to smoothies, you WILL notice a change. You will notice more energy, better mood, better productivity, and better appetite control. 

Try it. I DARE YOU.

:)

Easy, Light, Vitamin-Packed:Roasted Beet Salad

Last weekend at the farmers market, I picked up a bunch of beets on a whim. I love beets, but I have never tried to prepare them myself before, so I was going out on a limb. Beets are actually quite cheap: they were about $2 for a bunch of 6 small beets with the greens on. Here's how I made a delicious roasted beet salad!

Preheat oven to 425 F

1) Wash and scrub the beets meticulously. I thought I washed mine well, but I tried roasting the tops along with slices of the beets and they were grainy.

2) Cut off the leafy parts to use in salads and smoothies

3) Slice your beets into quarter inch slices, and discard the tops with fibrous roots. I actually cut up the stalks and roasted those, but the branching stalk immediately attached to the beet was very tough and dirty...so just compost those.

4) Toss beets (and about a half a chopped onion) in a few tablespoons of olive oil, a teaspoon of sea salt, and any other herb you'd like (rosemary, thyme, dill, or fennel would all be good).

5) Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes. Turn about mid-way through. You know when they're done when you can easily poke them with a fork (sorta like checking potatoes).

6) Load up a plate, top with a little balsamic vinegar, ANY curd cheese (I used queso fresco, but you could also use feta, goat cheese, etc) and enjoy!

So easy and delicious! I roasted all my beets, and now I have an extra-special topping for my lunch salads this week :)

Healthy(er) Strawberry Coffee Cake

This weekend I'm going to my boyfriend's lakehouse with his family, and so I thought I'd bring a treat to share with the group. Last time I brought a traditional coffee cake (which was BALLIN') but this time, since strawberries are in season, I thought I'd do a more original recipe.

This recipe was adapted from mylittlecelebrations recipe which can be found here.

This recipe has WAY less calories, sugar, and fat then other coffee cake recipes, mostly because of the greek yogurt, which takes place of butter and eggs. You could try subbing applesauce or mashed bananas instead of the butter, as well, but it may not be quite as moist. The whole wheat flour adds a little fiber in place of only using all purpose flour. The topping doesn't have even 1/4 as much butter and sugar as most topping, and is JUST as good because of the spices. Seriously, this recipe is the bomb --if I do say so myself :) and I do. Say so.


Ingredients:

-1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
-3/4 cup whole-wheat flour (divided)
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-3 tbsp. sugar
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 tsp ginger
-1/2 cup rough chopped walnuts
-1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
-2 tbsp softened butter
-3 tbsp virgin coconut oil (divided)
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 cup greek yogurt (plain low or non-fat)
-1 3/4 cup strawberries (chopped to bite size)

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix the all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of the whole-wheat flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the butter, 2 tbsp of coconut oil, and brown sugar. Add and beat eggs in one a at a time. Add and beat in vanilla and yogurt. Consistency will be sort of wet/grainy at this point. Add the dry into the wet in two additions, and stir just until combined. Add your strawberries (make sure you pat them dry) to the (now empty) medium bowl with the remaining 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour and coat all the strawberries. Add the strawberries to the batter and fold in. The batter will be doughy.

In the (now empty again) medium bowl, add the remaining tbsp of coconut oil, ginger, cinnamon, and sugar. Mix well, then add the chopped nuts.Transfer batter to an 8x8 greased baking dish (grease with coconut oil if you have it). There will be extra, so you could try using a larger pan, or just make a separate ramekin for the extra ~cup of batter. Top with the nut and sugar mixture.

Bake for about 35 min. Use a tester in several places-- cooking with raw fruit in batter creates pockets, and watch out for the center!

This recipe makes about 10 servings. Nutrition Facts per serving:

Calories: 291 kCal  Fat: 12 g Carbs: 35 g Sodium: 169 mg Protein: 10 g Sugar: 3 g

Microwave Crazy Cake

On Friday I was hanging out with my (very) pregnant sister and we didn't have any good desserts in the house. SO, being the good sister that I am, I offered to try and make a mug cake for her that I had seen on the interwebs. I used this recipe from sweetlittlebluebird.

We used a mug that we thought was pretty standard, but I think something with a little wider/shallower shape would work best--almost like a soup mug.

I was nervous when we had it in the microwave because it started overflowing, but it didn't get messy it just puffed up and stayed there. We have a pretty new and powerful microwave so we did it for 1 minute and 40 seconds. It was still gooey in the bottom, but any longer and it would have overcooked the top part...that's why I think a shallower-ish mug would be perfect!

Here's the part where you make the depressions:

 And then you fill them with the oil, vanilla, and vinegar:

















Here is Erin enjoying a bite :)

Definitely a quick, good dessert for a hangering preggo.

Quinoa, Feta, Tomato Salad Recipe

Last night I decided I needed to make a big healthy side dish for the salads I take for lunch during the week, so I made a recipe inspired by a greek salad. It's delicious!

This groovy counter is in the kitchen at work :)

Ingredients:
1 Cup Organic Quinoa
2 Cups Low-Sodium Stock (vegetable, beef, chicken, etc.)
1 tsp. Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Onion Powder
1 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp. Lemon Juice

3-4 oz Feta Cheese, small cube
2 Firm Tomatos, chopped
2 Tablespoons of chopped fresh basil

Procedure:
Cook the quinoa as directed on the package, but substitute the broth for water. Let cool. Add olive oil, lemon juice, and spices. Mix well. Fold in the remaining ingredients gently. Voila!

A delicious side dish for the whole week. Feel free to heat this up or eat it cold.

(with no salt) Nutrition for about a 1/2 cup serving

Calories: 123 Sodium:168g Fat: 3g  Carbs: 18g Sugar: 3 g Protein: 6 g

Margarita Night turned to Vodka Cocktail Night: Recipe!

Last night my sisters, myself, my brother-in-law and my Nick got together for fish tacos, guacamole, and margaritas! Such a good time! The fish tacos turned out great, we also had some ground turkey for the hard tacos (throwback!) and some sweet potato fries done two ways (cinnamon/nutmeg route and salt/pepper route).

The margaritas were good, but not very much juice from the 5,000 limes we had. Bummer. So after one margarita each, we went to grapefruit juice/tequila/muddled blackberry cocktails. And then to vodka/berrysoda water/muddled blackberry cocktails. Here is a picture of the last one:

It was very light and refreshing! Here's what you need:

1.5 ounces (1 jigger) Vodka
Berry Sparkling water, about 4 ounces
4 Blackberries
1 tsp. Truvia/sugar/sweetener of your choice


Muddle the blackberries with the sweetener so they release their juice but aren't completely masticated. Add vodka with the berry slurry and stir. Add soda water last. You may want to add some extra sweetener to taste, we like to taste the alcohol (to stay aware of drinking tempo so as to avoid embarrassing slow falls later in the night) (that's a thing that happened to me last weekend).

Calories: 109  Carbs: 6g  Sugar: 1g  Sodium: 1g No fat or protein.

Buns and Core workout and Breakfast

Here is another HIIT workout. I did it last night because I was short on time. After a quick run I did this in my basement and used my 8 lb dumbbells and 10 lb ankle weight belt (for the around the worlds). I only did 2 rounds because of the time, but I liked this one!

This workout was adapted from the "OMG Tight Workout" from Dailyhiit.com

I also wanted to share with you guys something I made this morning that was amazing: Cloud bread peanut butter banana sammies. SO good!

I just toasted the cloud bread in a pan with some coconut oil, then added about 1 tblsp of natural peanut butter and 1/4 a banana. Eat with a fork!

Cloud Bread Review

Okay! So last night I decided to try and make "cloud bread" which is a low-carb bread imitation. I kept seeing it all over Pinterest and health food blogs, so I needed to try it for myself to decide it's real-ness.


I've been avoiding packaged bread for the past several months, and now I'm really starting to miss sammiches, so hopefully this will be good for my lunch today!


Ingredients:

3 eggs, seperated
3  tablespoons of something dairy-based and thick: cottage cheese, yogurt, cream cheese etc. (I used yogurt)
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar (or lemon juice or vinegar as substitutes)
1 tsp of sweetener (my yogurt was sweet so I omitted this)


Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Get out your electric mixer and two large bowls, one glass. Add the yolks of the 3 eggs with the dairy ingredient and sweetener. Mix well. In the (clean) glass bowl, beat whites and tartar until very stiff, about 3 minutes. In 3 equal batches, fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture.

On well greased baking sheet, dollop the mixture into 8-10 equal "buns" about 4-5 inches diameter and an inch thick.

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until they have brown tops and edges. Mine stuck quite a bit to the pans, so if this seems to be the case for you, make sure you use a sturdy metal spatula and loosen them quickly. Let them cool on the sheet completely and then store in an airtight container. They become chewier overnight, and less like meringues.

So I will update after I try to use two of these for a spinach, tomato, and clover sprout sandwich today!


Nutrition (per piece):

Calories: 24  Fat: 1 Carbs: 1 g Sodium: 28g Sugar: 1  These will vary depending on the dairy you choose.


Alright so here's a picture of my lunch:

It looks a little weird...and it was. A little weird. The "bread" didn't really hold up to the weight of the produce. I did have a genius idea, though: Strawberry Shortcake.  Here's my idea: whip up some whip cream, get some fresh strawberries, and douse with a little agave and you'll have a healthy version of strawberry shortcake. Mmmmm

Coconut Oil Candies

Yesterday was very productive! I ate a snack around 4:30 so I wouldn't be hungry while I ran errands after work and went straight to the gym. When I got home it was only 8:00! I like this set-up better then going home, eating dinner, digesting, then working out until 9. So I had time to try out a recipe I've been thinking about AND give myself a pedicure. Awesome.

Coconut Candies

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of Virgin Coconut Oil
12 tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
Agave nectar (to taste)(about 1 tbsp)
Fillings: Natural Peanut butter (about 1 tbsp divided), Caramelized Walnuts, Sea salt, unsweetened Coconut flakes

Procedure:

Melt coconut oil in a Pyrex bowl in the microwave (about a minute). Add cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and nectar. In a non-stick mini muffin pan, drop about 1 tablespoon of the chocolate mixture into 10 places.

Let freeze for 10 minutes.

Add fillings onto the chocolate (now hardened) disks. Cover with another table spoon of chocolate sauce. For the peanutbutter, make sure the chocolate meets the lower half around the circumference so that the candy stays together.

Let set in the refrigerator overnight. They slide out easily because the chocolate shrinks when chilled.

Nutrition per candy (without fillings):
Calories: 60   Carbs: 2 g   Fat: 6 g  Sugar: 2 g

Delicious!

Mango Bleu Chicken Salad

We've definitely been taking advantage of this Spring weather by grilling! On Sunday we grilled burgers (I visited the farm where I used to work in college and got some of their home-grown beef) and fennel, and then last night we grilled chicken and asparagus for a delicious light dinner.


For the salad:

-Boneless, skinless chicken breasts with olive oil and some Montreal Chicken seasoning (or salt and pepper)

-Baby spinach

-1 Mango

-1/4 Red onion

- 2 Tblp. crumbled bleu cheese (we used a gorgonzola)


For the dressing:

-3 tblsp. Olive oil

- 1 tsp. Grey poupon (or some spicy mustard)

- 1 tsp. vinegar (white wine, rice, balsalmic, take your pick)

- 1 tsp. minced garlic

- 1tsp. lemon juice

- salt

-pepper


On the grilled asparagus we put olive oil, salt, pepper, and minced garlic

Procedure:
Mix diced mango with the bleu cheese and onion. Whisk all ingredients for the dressing. Grill your chicken and asparagus (we use the touch method to see if the bounciness is gone to check the chicken). Top the lettuce with chicken, then the mango mixture, and dressing. We also added some chives to the top, but it's not necessary. Devour.

Such a good combination of sweet and salty and bleu-cheesiness. We also had a Sam Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout to go with this meal. I'm not sure it was the best pair, but it was delicious! There was something undefinable about the flavor of this beer. I called it a "smell taste" and Tom said it could have to do with the well water-- it adds such an element of flavor to beer and makes it specific to the brewing area.

picture taken from realfood.co.uk

I should have taken a gazillion pictures, it was so pretty! Alas I was very hungry.

Recipe for Company

Tomorrow my sister is coming over for dinner and a slumber party...who doesn't love a little mid-week slumber party? So it gives me an excuse to cook a lavish dinner :) I picked out a main course of maple mustard short rib bacon burgers. Yes you read it correctly. Here is a picture from the website where I got the recipe (Paleomg.com)

So basically you use the crock pot and cook the short ribs all day in maple mustard concoction (which the recipe wants you to have from a specific vendor, but i'm going to just make my own), then add it in with some ground beef so it sticks together, and cook it like a burger. I think I'm going to sautee some onions and top it with that and greens...possibly a bun if I'm feeling festive that day (probably not since I had lots of processed food last weekend).


For a side dish I think I want to make some simple roasted brussel sprouts with thyme (I have a bunch of thyme left over from last weekend). Maybe I'll throw in some carrots, too.


I also have a bunch of speck, prosciutto, and soppressata and a nice hunk of dubliner that will do just fine for appetizers. I'm very excited to cook something new :)




Review:

Okay so we made these burgers and this is how they turned out: Pretty good. I say only pretty good because there were some difficulties. Since part of the burger is cooked and part is not, it's really hard to a) get the patties to stick together and b) tell when the uncooked part is cooked. We did them on the grill, but it was so windy the flame kept going out. SO we transferred them to the broiler and they turned out nicely...basically by luck because the touch method for doneness was out the window and when we cut to check one it was raw--we didn't want to keep cutting them all in half to check!

 Also, I didn't use the maple mustard sauce, and just made my own, which probably made a difference. Otherwise they were good, esp with bacon, caramelized onions, cheese, tomato, and spinach.

I would do these again, but not for a large group, and on a day when the grill will behave more reasonably.