Homemade Turkey Burgers (& buns!)

So between pizza, and burgers, I know you're thinking the gluten free train has long departed our lives. And you'd be right. I'm not knocking the idea, but it just didn't work for us. (Plus after trying these homemade burger buns, I know I can't ever give gluten up completely!)

But what's a good bun if the burger is dry, or flavorless, right? Well I have the answer there too. I have fallen in love with one turkey burger recipe. It's probably one of 2 recipes that has ever been repeated since our marriage. It's from Cooking Yourself Thin and it is amazing! Full of great chile flavor, and the perfect amount of structure & moisture. (I know "moisture" isn't normally an appetizing word, but I don't have a better word to describe the opposite of dry-ness in a burger)

It's also super simple. 

Just mix 1 lb. lean ground turkey and 1 small can of diced green chiles and 1 egg in a bowl.

(They'll seem super mushy, but they'll cook up great!) 

Divide the mixture into 4 rounds, and cook on an open lean machine, until the bottom edge turns grey. 

Then slowly close the grill (these will lose their shape quickly if you smash them in the grill too early).

They will flatten out some, but that's okay. 

Then put them on your homemade burger buns, with a slice of Muenster cheese, and voila! 

Here is the homemade bun recipe (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Makes 4 buns!

1 large egg (divided)
1 2/3 cups wheat flour
3/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

In a glass measuring cup, combine:
1 cup warm water 
1 1/2 tablespoons warm milk 
1 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/4 tablespoons sugar
Let stand until foamy, about five minutes.
Meanwhile, beat one egg.

In a large bowl, whisk together:
1 2/3 cups wheat flour
3/4 teaspoons salt


Add 1 1/4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs.

Stir in yeast mixture and half the beaten egg until a dough forms.

Scrape dough onto clean, well-floured counter and knead until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes.

Add flour if too sticky, but allow it to remain somewhat sticky.

Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, one to two hours.

Line a baking sheet with wax or parchment paper. 

Divide dough into 4 equal parts.

Gently roll each into a ball and arrange two to three inches apart on baking sheet.

Cover loosely with a towel and let buns rise in a warm place for another half hour.

Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center.

Beat remaining egg with 1/2 tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns.

Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes.

Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

We ate these burgers with these teriyaki sweet potatoes from Budget Bytes.

Goodness, I'm getting hungry again just thinking about them!!

Refrigerator Pizza

I try to plan our weekly menus. I really do. It helps us save money, only buy what we need, helps us to eat healthy, and spend as much time together as possible. 

Last night I had a healthy grilled chicken dinner planned to cook, and then once the love of my life came home from work, I realize... we were having pizza!

I think I've mentioned before how irresistible pizza has become to my husband and me. 

(Luckily he went for a run after he got home, so I had time to whip out a quick pizza dough recipe and change plans completely.)

Since I decided to make pizza on a whim, it was going to have to be a "refrigerator pizza" (meaning the type of pizza toppings I was going to make, was going to be decided by whatever was left over in the refrigerator).

I had already grilled chicken for my planned menu, so I figured that was going to be the main thing on the pizza. We had plenty of cheese or some reason, so then I thought "Stuffed-crust"! Luckily we had barbeque sauce, and bacon. So it was decided. Barbeque chicken & bacon stuffed-crust pizza! (this might have been the best unplanned dinner I have ever made!)

I used this Quick Pizza Dough recipe:

In a medium bowl, dissolve:

1 packet of dry active yeast

1 teaspoon white sugar 

in 1 cup of warm water (110 degrees F) .

Let stand until creamy (10 minutes).

Stir in:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Beat until smooth. 

Let stand 5 min. 

Roll out dough on a floured surface. 

After I had the dough rolled out, I placed it on the greased baking sheet with dough hanging off the edges, as if I were making a pie (a pizza pie).

Then I sprinkled mozzarella cheese around the inside edge of the pan. (Our stuffed-crust didn't turn out like delivery stuffed-crust. I'm thinking there's a trick to it, like they use string cheese or grease the inside of the dough so the cheese doesn't quite get cooked into the dough- as ours did. If any one knows the trick, let me know! This version was still delicious though!)

And then I folded over the edges of the dough. Pressing down the edges, again like pie dough. 

Once that part was finished, I spread the Bulls-eye original barbeque sauce.

Topped with mozzarella and extra sharp cheddar cheeses.

Added 1 grilled chicken breast (cubed).

Last, but definitely not least, bacon pieces (pre-packaged from Publix). 

Baked in the oven at 400 degrees F just long enough for the dough to crisp up, and the cheese to bubble (about 10 min.).

And there it is...

Again... this pizza was sooo good!! Normally unplanned or otherwise "creative" meals don't turn out so well here. But this one will be made again!

Wanna Enchilada?

One of my all-time favorite mexican dishes...enchiladas! Ever since my middle school basketball team celebrate the end of a not-so-winning season at the La Parilla, I've been hooked! This food is the warm, cheesy, carby goodness I've craved my whole life!

This time, since I am learning about cooking, I decided to make my own tortillas for homemade Enchiladas! 

The tortilla recipe is a basic flour tortilla from Joy.

2 Cups Bread Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1 Teaspoon Salt

1/4 cup Butter

3/4 cup hot water (115*F to 130*F)

Mix by hand or on low speed until dough comes together.

Knead by hand or with a dough hook on low until the dough becomes smooth, about 4-6 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll them into balls:

Cover and let sit for 20 minutes.

Roll out each ball of dough into a 6-8 inch round (about 1/8" thick). If one is resistant, set it aside and try the next one. 

Heat a large cast iron (or non-stick) skillet over medium heat. Slide the tortillas into the skillet one by one, cook until brown spots appear (about 30 seconds on the first side, and 15 on the other side).

Now it's time to get creative!!

For the filling I used 1 lb. ground chicken, but you could use shredded chicken, ground turkey or beef, pulled pork, etc. 

I also used:

 1 can of cooked Black beans

 1/2 can of tomato sauce

 Ginger, Red Pepper and Cinnamon to taste

 1 can chopped green chiles

 1/2 can of cooked corn.

Combine all ingredients in a deep skillet, over medium heat.

Once the mixture is heated throughout, (and the meat is cooked) spoon into the middle of each tortilla. Add about a Tbsp. of grated cheese mixture (I used asiago and fontina). Roll up like a burrito, and place with the folded side down in a 9 X 13 glass pan. Pour 1 1/2 cans of tomato sauce into the left over meat filling in the pan. Let simmer for about a minute. Then pour this over the pan of enchiladas. Top with about 2 cups of the same cheese mixture.

Bake at 350*F for about 20 min, or until the cheese is all bubbly!

Serve and enjoy!

(Best news, each enchilada is only about 300 calories, and one will definitely fill you up!)

Writer's Block

So I haven't had time to write in, well, quite a while. The holidays were very busy.

I'm actually not sure I have time to write much but here's a re-cap:

• I made the pumpkin pie, and it was a hit! Though I tried to make two, and messed up the 2nd pie a million times! So I only took one.

• Saw lots of loved ones, and had a blast going to two different Thanksgiving meals as newly weds!

• Got a table and chairs for an early Christmas Present! Our house is looking homier every day it seems!

• We're going to be more intentional about working out/ prayer times/ and eating right.

• The book "A Praying Life" By Paul E. Miller, is really good! I'm almost done, and will give a full book review when I am. But we're going to work on some of the prayer cards it suggests in the book.

• Made homemade honey-wheat bread for sandwhiches, and sundried tomato french bread for hour Italian dinner last night! All of which tasted amazing-- I love bread!

• Got books on crocheting, upholstery, gardening, and yoga. They're on loan from the library, so I only have them for 3 weeks! There's no way I'm going to learn all that I want to from the books before they're do back!

• Had dinner with some new friends! They're our first married couple friends. (not the first friends that are married, but the first couple we met as a couple, if that makes sense) anyways, they go to our church. We have a lot of fun with them, even though they're U(sic)GA fans. :)

• I finally learned how to make the right consistency cookie!

• I made butternut squash / kale casserole (really yummy and gluten free)

• I made butternut squash soup with the other half of the squash (also gluten free)

• I finished one of the scarves for Christmas presents!

WHEW! Okay, that's about all the writing I have in me for today! Hopefully I will learn to manage my time better and incorporate blogging into my life. It's not something that comes natural to me, in fact I've started several blogs in my life and always deleted them within a month. I just haven't been able to get into it. But I decided with this one I wouldn't delete it, and if time went by with nothing written, that was okay. 

Alright, well off to clean my house! After doing all of those things, you can imagine it's a wreck!