Chicken Veggie Burgers

It's the beginning of a new year, which means I have all sorts of outlandish goals to eat less meat, healthier meals with more fruits and vegetables, keep the kids more active, maintain my dedication to the gym, etc. I know I'm like 99% of the other people out there...these will all last a good week to 10 days before I give up and say, "screw it - it's mashed potatoes and Twizzlers for dinner!" But, for now, I'm going to go back to planning out nutritious meals.

I decided to make chicken veggie burgers tonight - a recipe I came across a long time ago that's chock full of veggies - and in my haste to get a meal on the table for the kids before they melted down, found nothing to pair it with except curly fries. Okay, so half a decent meal is an okay way to start the year, right? RIGHT?!? The boy enjoys these burgers surprisingly enough, Linds didn't mind hers, and after spitting out the first bite, Luke dipped his in ketchup and licked the ketchup off. I don't think he ingested any of the actual burger, but here's hoping he got a nutrient or two in there.

Chicken Veggie Burgers

Ingredients

1 lb ground chicken

1 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup red pepper

1/4 cup green pepper

1/4 cup red onion

1/4 cup celery

2 T chopped parsley

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 clove garlic, minced

1 T soy sauce

Directions

1. Preheat skillet to medium.
2. Mix all ingredients until just combined.
3. Form into 8 patties.
4. Fry in canola oil (about 4-5 minutes each side).

(Sorry for the raw burger shot - forgot to take one of them cooked.)

Best of 2010 & our contest winner!

Congratulations to Courtney Z. for winning our end of the year contest! She correctly guessed two of the three top meals and wins a 60-minute photography session with Kristina Hall Photography. I'll e-mail you soon to give you details and give you Kristi's information :) Thanks everyone for playing!

And, for the results! I'll count them down, so in third place we have...

Ham & Cheese Loaf!

First, unroll the refrigerated pizza crust on a baking sheet.

Second, lay down some slices of provolone (or your favorite cheese).

Third, place about a dozen slices of ham deli meat down.

Fourth, top with some shredded cheddar cheese (I was out, so I used Mexican cheese).And, last of all, roll the long side up, pinching the seam after it is in roll form.

Tuck ends under and bake for 35 minutes at 350. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

In second place...

Best. Steaks. Ever.

Ingredients
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon concentrated lemon juice (or 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice)
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a large Ziploc bag. Knead bag to mix ingredients.
2. Place steaks inside bag and marinate for up to 8 hours (I did 4 hours and they were perfect).
3. Feel free to use some of the marinade on your veggies - it tastes great! Have I mentioned that?!

and *finally*...our NUMBER ONE most sought after recipe...

Cornbread Enchilada Casserole

Ingredients
1 small can diced green chiles (4 oz i think)
1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
3 to 4 chopped scallions (I used 1/4 cup onion)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn with red & green peppers, drained
1 (10 oz.) can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup egg substitute (I used 2 eggs)
1 (8.5 oz) package corn muffin mix
2 Tblsp chopped roasted red bell pepper
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded Mexican cheese
for garnish - sour cream, fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Place salsa, scallions, chicken, beans, corn, half the chilies, and enchilada sauce into the cooker; stir well. Cover with lid and cook on LOW for 4 hours.
2. Combine the other half of the chiles, corn muffin mix, egg substitute, and chopped red pepper in a bowl. Spoon batter evenly over the bean mixture in the cooker. Cover and cook 1 hour until the crust is done.
3. Sprinkle the cheese over the corn bread, turn off the crockpot and let it sit 5 minutes until the cheese melts. Top each serving with a tablespoon of sour cream and additional cilantro, optional. Makes about 6 servings (unless you're me, then it's like 3...haha!).

I found some of those recipes to be surprising (really? the ham and cheese loaf got that many hits?), but thinking back those were all unanimous hits in our house at one point or another. As we hit 2011 I've been deciding what I want to do with this blog, and I think I'm going to keep it going. I'm trying to incorporate some more vegetarian dishes (which we never have enough of), more fish/seafood meals, and less casserole dishes in favor of more healthy fare (although I won't lie - we'll definitely still have many of them). And as always, if you have inspiration, send it my way...I'm always looking for more :) Happy New Year, dear readers! xoxox

June 18-20 - Weekend Eats

We had yet another jam-packed weekend! It started on Friday with an evening with Critter (my friend, Sarah's son). Since I was on my own with three kids over dinnertime (just until the boy got home), I ordered some Domino's and figured the cooking wouldn't get done anyways.

On Saturday, Linds had her dance recital in the morning - she did such a fantastic job! I am so proud! After the recital, my parents, the boy's parents, and the four of us all went to the Winner's Circle for lunch. I got a gigantic burger and fries, and my god, did it taste good. Here's a photo of the four of us after the recital:

And of course I have to show off Lindsay by herself!

We just snacked for dinner since we ate a later lunch, so no cooking Saturday either.

For Father's Day, we did absolutely nothing! I kept after the boy and he honestly just wanted to have a lazy day at home with no frills or fancy stuff. I decided to make a stromboli for dinner since the boy enjoys that and I don't frequently repeat my dishes - LOL. I've posted it before, but here's the recipe again - simple and delicious!

Stromboli
Ingredients
1 can Pillsbury refrigerated pizza dough
Ham
Salami
Sandwich pepperoni
Heidi Ann swiss cheese
Dijon mustard
Cheddar cheese
Marinara sauce (for dipping)

Directions

1. Unroll the pizza dough and lay flat.
2. Layer meats and cheeses alternately, adding mustard in between a layer.
3. Roll length-wise, pinching the seam and ends closed.
4. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.
5. Let sit 5 minutes before serving.

June 14 - 17

Wow, so not only did I screw up my dates from the last couple posts, but I also have been SO remiss in posting updates. I can't believe I haven't done any of this?!? To say we've been busy is a HUGE understatement (it's been a craaaaazy week), so I think I'm just going to start fresh tomorrow. But, just in case you were interested, here's what we've been eating (I'm going to go backwards):

June 17: Buffalo chicken salads
June 16: French dip sandwiches with au jus
June 15: Takeout from Cheeburger Cheeburger (for my birthday!)
June 14: Frozen pizza (it wasn't delivery...it was DiGiorno!)

The only recipe I have was for the sandwiches, and it is definitely a scrumptious one. Here it is:


French Dip Sandwiches w/ au jus
Ingredients
2 pounds beef roast
1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
1 (12 fluid ounce) bottle of lager
6 French rolls
2 tablespoons butter
Minced onion, garlic powder and Worcestershire sauce to taste

Directions

1. Place roast in a slow cooker. Add the beef broth, onion soup and beer. Season with onion, garlic and Worcestershire sauce. Cook on low setting for 7 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Split French rolls, and spread with butter. Bake 10 minutes, or until heated through.
4. One hour before serving, slice meat on the diagonal, and return to slow cooker for 60 minutes.
5. Place on the rolls. Serve the sauce for dipping.

Sorry for the crappy photo - I remembered to take a photo of Lindsay's after she was half-way finished and only managed to use my cell phone camera.

June 11 - Triple Fresh

Saturday was one of those days from hell with the kiddos (I mean, you name it, we dealt with it!). No one was going to cook after the day we had, so it was Triple Fresh subs for lunch and dinner (we just ordered big ones and pigged out all day).

Catching up...again...

It's been yet another crazy weekend, as we celebrated Luke's birthday on Sunday. Most of the time has been spent preparing for the big party and the work paid off - it was a HUGE success! Everyone seemed to have a great time and Luke had a blast...he's been so worn out from all the excitement that he's slept more than 3 hours already today?!?

As for the past few dinners, I ate at the Sinkhole Saloon in Palmyra with the 10-year reunion planning committee. I had an awesome veggie burrito and chips, and, of course, a bottle of Magic Hat! On Saturday, we ate BBQ pork chops and corn on the cob. Yesterday we spent the day munching on hot dogs, meatballs, chips, pretzels, popcorn and cake. The meatballs were a huge hit, so I want to share the recipe. It's honestly one of the easiest recipes ever!


Meatballs
Ingredients
40 meatballs
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 onion

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and cook in crockpot over low for 4-5 hours.

May 8 - Pork BBQ & Beans

The other week when I made pork tenderloin, the package had two slices in it. While the other one was roasting in the oven, I tossed this one in a crockpot with some Sweet Baby Ray's, shredded it, and then froze it for later. I pulled it out Saturday morning and we ate it on the onion-poppyseed buns from Pepperidge Farms and baked beans. I don't have a recipe because it was literally a two-ingredient mixture (pork and BBQ sauce), but here's what it looked like!

Another Guest Blog!!

My dear friend, Julia, agreed to guest blog on Dining with the Rissers! She, like myself, is a former public relations guru who left it all for the kiddos. We could sit and "talk shop" for hours on end (preferably over a glass or two of wine!) while the kiddos play. We met through the Coatesville MOMS Club, and in the fall, Lindsay and one of her daughters will be in the same preschool at about the same times. We'll have lots of opportunities to enjoy a few cups of coffee and let her 7-month old son and Luke chase each other around the house! Here's what she wrote...

Our family has fallen into pretty regular mealtime traditions. We have a very busy household with three children under the age of five, so designating certain days for particular meals makes a lot of sense. And on the weekends we try to make meals that don't require a lot of fuss. Saturdays, when my hubby is often in charge of the kitchen, we usually have homemade burgers on the grill. Todd is a big guy, from western Pa., and likes his meat and potatoes like the best of them. He's a great cook, too, having managed a restaurant and bar throughout most of his college career. Being the health-conscious mom and wife that I am, I try to make sure we all watch our fat and cholesterol intake.

This week I decided that turkey burgers would be a perfect option, whipped up easily but with a bit of a gourmet twist. With my gentle instruction, he made the patties and then I topped them with roasted red peppers and feta cheese. (Although, the girls ate their burgers sans topping, with the exception of some ketchup and mustard.) Served with a side of sweet potato fries and a nice glass of pinot noir, we had a delicious and healthier version of our regular favorite.

Turkey Burgers
Ingredients
2 1-lb. packages of ground turkey
McCormick onion powder
McCormick Grill Mates Hamburger spice
Roasted red peppers (we got these from a favorite Italian deli my dad goes to in NJ)
Athenos Feta cheese (chunk), from Wegmans, cut into small slices
Alexia Julienne Sweet potato fries, sold in frozen section of Wegmans
Rolls of your choice

Directions

1. Mold ground turkey into patties.
2. Season with onion powder and hamburger spice.
3. Grill over medium heat.
4. Put turkey burger on roll and top with feta.
5. Add roasted red peppers.
6. Serve with sweet potato fries, baked according to directions.

Apr. 20 - Cheeseburgers & Baked Beans

Every spring we start buying the "freezer special" from Hershey's Farm Market - for $59 (my $10 coupon made it $49!), we get:

• 5 lbs. ground chuck
• 4 lbs. country style ribs
• 4 lbs. chicken breasts
• 4 lbs. chicken legs
• 2 lbs. chicken wings
• 2 lbs. pork chops, and
• 2 lbs. sausage

Not too shabby, huh? Everything is individually prepackaged, too, so there's no sorting meat, re-wrapping, etc. I absolutely LOVE it! That meat will last us a good month or two, too, which makes shopping easy. The first thing I always do when we get that package is make hamburgers! Their ground beef is absolutely the best I've ever had and there's nothing like homemade burgers. I have yet to find a frozen pre-made kind that doesn't taste like the crap we used to eat in elementary school!

My burger recipe is super easy and is the perfect "base" for more intricate creations. Sometimes I add chopped up bacon and shredded cheese into the patties for a bacon cheeseburger, other times I've mixed in bleu cheese. Here it is:

Hamburgers
Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs (equiv. to about 1 or 2 slices of bread if you want to make the effort to grate it)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
minced onion and garlic powder to taste

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients until well-formed.
2. Split into 6 even patties

When we make our burgers, we use this awesome little tool my friend, Megan, bought for us. It's a "patty maker set" that you use to form the patties. It makes the burgers flat so that they cook evenly throughout and is so easy to use! Here's a link to the contraption on the right.

Today, I decided to go a little creative and make "stuffed burgers." I split up my beef into six even balls, and then I split each ball in half. I made a patty out of each piece, topped one with shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, and then slapped the other piece on top. I pressed the sides down to create a seam, then grilled it up for about 7 or 8 minutes on each side (we like our burgers medium to medium well). Here they are pre-grilled:

And then after they were cooked, here's how they looked:

Paired with baked beans, it was a fantastic dinner! Oh, and the most important part of the burger - the bun and toppings! I always get the Pepperidge Farms poppyseed and onion rolls (the best bun I've ever had), and topped my burger with bacon, ketchup, mustard and French's fried onions. I love "spring/summer" foods!

Apr. 17 - Big lunch & snacks

Linds was feeling better, so we had a "ladies day" and spent the morning and afternoon at the mall! I realized I had almost nothing that fit for this summer (seeing as I spent last summer in that awkward, post-partum size). Lindsay's idol My friend Sarah and her son, Christian (haha - yes, my daughter worships this woman!) joined us for our excursion and we all shopped 'til we dropped. Mid-way through we grabbed lunch at the Winner's Circle Sports Grille and split a BBQ chicken salad and buffalo chicken wrap with Anna Kournikova sauce (super hot sauce - yum!). It was a fab meal and was the perfect break from our shopping. Since we didn't finish up until 2 p.m. or so, I wasn't too hungry for dinner, and the boy went out with some old high school friends tonight, so he really didn't need to eat either. My food supply is dipping dangerously low, though...looks like I might have a Wegmans trip in my near future!

Apr. 6 - Grilled cheese & broccoli

I think I'm making it slowly back into the land of the living, so I decided to give dinner a whirl. I figured a grilled cheese would probably be safe, so I split one with Luke (who not only gobbled up his half, but also a bowl full of tomato soup!). I didn't do any soup...not sure how the acidity of the tomatoes would work on my tummy...but I also made broccoli. I found a really delish recipe and thought I'd try that. I definitely recommend it - I often get a little tired of plain veggies and enjoy giving them a shot of flavor (with soy sauce, no less...I think it's my new favorite condiment).


Broccoli with Garlic Butter
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup chopped salted cashews

Directions

1. Place the broccoli into a large pot with about 1 inch of water in the bottom. Bring to a boil, and cook for 7 minutes, or until tender but still crisp. Drain, and arrange broccoli on a serving platter.
2. While the broccoli is cooking, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Mix in the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and garlic. 
3. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. 
4. Mix in the cashews, and pour the sauce over the broccoli. Serve immediately.

Mar. 5 - Stromboli

The ham-and-cheese loaf I made before (see Jan. 15) was a smashing success, and I decided to play around with the recipe a little to do something different. I used ham, salami, sandwich pepperoni (bigger slices), Heidi Ann swiss cheese, shredded Mexican cheese, and mustard, and then rolled it all up in the Pillsbury pizza crust. I brushed it with some melted butter and baked it at 350 degrees F for about 35 minutes. Absolute perfection - easy to make and quite tasty, too!

Jan. 15 - Ham & Cheese Loaf

This one was SO easy that I can't believe I haven't made it before! It's a pseudo-stromboli...just ham and cheese rolled up in a refrigerated pizza crust. I took pictures as I went along...

First, unroll the refrigerated pizza crust on a baking sheet.

Second, lay down some slices of provolone (or your favorite cheese).

Third, place about a dozen slices of ham deli meat down.

Fourth, top with some shredded cheddar cheese (I was out, so I used Mexican cheese).And, last of all, roll the long side up, pinching the seam after it is in roll form.

Tuck ends under and bake for 35 minutes at 350. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving. You can use marinara to dip, but we decided to use mustard. I added some broccoli and cheese on the side (can never have too much cheese, huh?). Prep time was about 5 minutes - can't beat that. Enjoy!

Lindsay loved hers!