Family Favorite Recipe: Greek Lamb Burgers

Frito-Lay has a new line of chips representing different parts of the country.

These chips were inspired by popular American regional cuisine and include:

1.       Northeastern U.S.  -  Lay’s Honey Mustard

2.       Midwestern U.S - Lay’s Creamy Garden Ranch

3.       Northwestern U.S - Lay’s Balsamic Sweet Onion

4.       Southwestern U.S - Lay’s Chipotle Ranch

5.       Southeastern U.S - Lay’s Cajun Herb & Spice

·All of the Lay's Regional Flavored potato chips are made with all natural ingredients and cooked in healthier oils, like corn and sunflower oils, which contain 80% or more of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat - the "good fats." They also contain 0 grams of trans fats per serving!

·There’s also less sodium in them than you might think  -  a 1-oz serving of our Lay’s Regional Flavored potato chips contains less salt than a plain bagel!

I guess I must be a Northern Girl through and through… the two flavors that sound the best to me are the Honey Mustard version (Northeastern) and the Balsamic Sweet Onion (Northwest). I can’t wait to try them.

To help spread the word about their new line of chips, Frito-Lay contracted some bloggers and asked them to share a recipe that offers a “Taste of Home” – some food that is popular in my part of the country. That got me leafing through my collection of recipes, trying to come up with something that says “ Western New York .”

When you think of food from the Buffalo, NY area, the first thing that probably comes to mind is chicken wings. Sorry, no recipe for that in my files. I do very little deep-frying, and my family isn’t into hot & spicy foods.

The next thing I thought of was “Beef on Weck” – Roast Beef on a salt-topped bun with Weber’s horseradish. Hmm… not much of a recipe: warm up some deli roast beef in au jus, toss it on a store-bought bun with some store-bought sauce.

When I was planning meals for this week, I thought of the perfect recipe: my Greek Lamb Burgers. There are some really good Greek restaurants in the Buffalo area, so I developed a liking for souvlaki, Gyros, and marinated lamb. Eating out can get expensive, so I started looking around for a good souvlaki recipe. It took a while, but eventually a friend gave a recipe that a friend had given her.

Several years ago, I started buying a lamb from the 4H auction at the county fair. I found myself with lots of ground lamb, and no recipes to use it up, so I tried making lamb burgers. My first few tries didn’t go over very well… it needed something. Eventually, I used my souvlaki recipe as a framework and developed this recipe for Greek Burgers. They have really become a family favorite!

Lamb Burgers

1 lb ground lamb

¼ c finely chopped onion

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 c feta cheese, grated or crumbled fine

lettuce

tomato

Greek salad dressing

Combine lamb, onion, oregano, salt, and garlic powder. Fry or grill until no longer pink, about 5 minutes on each side. Melt feta cheese over top of burger. Serve on bun with lettuce, tomato, and Greek salad dressing. Makes 4 burgers.

Greek Dressing

1/2 c olive oil

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/8 tsp garlic flakes

1/2 tsp onion flakes

Combine all ingredients. Let stand 5-10 minutes for flavors to blend before serving.

Giveaway

Frito-Lay is sending me a surprise package with some of their new Regional Flavor Chips, and they’re giving me the chance to host a fun giveaway. To enter, leave a comment below, letting me know which of the new Regional Flavors you’d most like to try. I will pick one lucky winner to get a variety pack of the new Frito-Lay Regional Flavors. Giveaway ends Friday, September 2nd at 11:59 PM. Winner will be drawn at random.

   

Gluten-Free "Rye" Bread

Once in a while, when I'm planning meals for the week, I ask my family for suggestions. The last time I did, somebody mentioned Reubens. Reubens sound great... but the trouble is that I can't have rye bread on my gluten-free diet. I decided to take a tried and true gluten-free bread recipe and tweak it a little bit to see if I could make a loaf of bread that tasted enough like rye bread to make myself a reuben.

My collection of gluten-free flours

I think it turned out pretty well... here's the recipe:

Gluten-Free "Rye" Bread
1 c tapioca flour
1 c garbanzo flour
1/2 c cornstarch
1/2 c brown rice flour
2/3 c sorghum flour
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp minced dried onion
1 Tbsp yeast
1 tsp caraway seed
1 egg
1 c milk

1/4 c oil
1 Tbsp pickle juice ( I drained extra juice out of a jar of dill relish)
1/2 - 1 c water 

Combine all dry ingredients and mix together until well blended. Beat egg, milk, oil and pickle juice together.  Add to dry ingredients and mix 1 minute on low, then three minutes on high speed, adding enough water to make a soft, slightly sticky dough. Place in loaf pan(s) which have been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. (I have a long loaf pan -- 4-1/2" x 13" -- that I used for this recipe, but you could also divide the dough into two regular size loaves.) Smooth the top of the loaf with a spoon, spatula, or your fingers. Dipping the spoon/spatula/fingers into water helps to keep the dough from sticking.

Let the loaves rise for 80-90 minutes, then bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

It also tasted very good with eggs & turkey sausage for breakfast the next day!

Stop Signs and Red Lights

This morning I woke up when the alarm went off at 6:25, but I drifted back to sleep again. I had a very vivid dream, where I was driving down an empty street and saw a police car coming up behind me with his lights on. I knew I was staying within the speed limit, so I figured he wasn’t after me… but when another police car pulled out from a side street in front of me and blocked my path, I knew I was in trouble. The police officer said that I had been “blasting through stop signs and red lights for miles.” I woke up just as I was about to tell the police officers that they must have the wrong person.

I got out of bed shaking my head. “What a weird dream. I would never do something like that. I always stop for stop signs and red lights.” I made my way to the kitchen to start getting Ron’s lunch ready. As I started down the basement stairs to get a can of tuna, I noticed that I was doing the “granny stair routine”: right foot down, left foot down, leaning rather heavily on the railing. Going down the stairs was making my feet and ankles hurt. I said to myself, “I need to stop snacking so much and get back to healthy eating… I didn’t have this problem when I was lighter!”

That was one of those “light bulb” moments. There was something that reminded me that I needed to stop… would I obey? That made me think of some other “stop signs” that I’ve ignored in the past few months:

• When I tried putting on a favorite pair of jeans and they wouldn’t zip up: “I need to stop acting like I’m still on vacation, eating dessert every night!”
• When I found myself short of breath after hurrying up the stairs: “I need to stop pushing exercise to the bottom of my to-do list.”
• When I stepped on the scale this morning and saw that I had slipped into a “decade” of numbers I said I’d never see again: “I need to stop procrastinating and get back to diet and exercise.”

So, I had a decision to make this morning… whether to continue ignoring the “stop signs” and “red lights,” or to get back to doing what is right, what is good for me.

The excuses started right in:

• “You just made a loaf of gluten-free bread last night. You can start up again as soon as that is finished.” (Even though it’s gluten-free, my husband and daughter will still eat it. Excuse overruled)
• “There are still all those gluten-free granola bars you made… they’re so yummy. Why not wait until they’re gone?” (I’ve had enough of them… they’re a little too yummy. Bethany loves them too, so she can have them! Excuse overruled.)
• “There aren’t enough fresh veggies in the fridge to make a salad for lunch today. Ewww… this cucumber is melting!” (It’s summertime, and the garden is doing quite well. Time for a trip out to the back yard to pick some fresh lettuce and snow peas. Excuse overruled!)
• “There aren’t any strawberries left for my smoothie.” (I’ll buy more when I’m out shopping tomorrow… in the meantime, I made a rather interesting smoothie with raspberries, pineapple and blueberries. Excuse overruled!)

So, today was a success… or at least it will be when I get off the computer and take a book down to the exercise bike to get in a workout.

Hopefully today was a turning point for me. Maybe I should put a picture of a stop sign on my mirror to remind me of this morning’s light bulb moment!

Family Movie Night!

Last week, I got to see an online screening for an upcoming family movie, sponsored by Walmart and Proctor & Gamble. When I read the following synopsis, I thought it was right up my alley, since I always love a good mystery: 

When unassuming geologist Simon Miller mysteriously disappears one night, the Miller family is thrown into a desperate search to find him. Simon's wife Meredith and their two kids, Sarah, 18 and Kevin, 15 frantically search Simon's office for information. When they find a stash of passports, all with Simon's picture but each with a different alias, they realize that their father has been keeping more than a few secrets. Who is Simon Miller? And what has he gotten himself - and his family - into? Not sure they can even trust the dad they thought they knew, the Millers embark on an international mission to get him back. It's a heart-pounding adventure that tests the limits to which families will fight for each other.

Searching for clues regarding Simon's disappearance

I don't want to give anything away about the plot... but I will say that it was a great family movie, with nothing objectionable (except for the fact that Simon Miller's secrets meant he had told his family some lies... a lot of lies in fact). The story line kept you guessing on who the bad guy was, and kept you cheering for Simon's family as they worked together to find him.

Running from the bad guys

I can't wait to sit down with my kids and watch this movie again. It will be interesting to see when they figure out who the bad guy is... and I'm sure we'll have fun counting the number of Wal-Mart and Proctor & Gamble products that get displayed through the movie. I was amused by some of the "product placement" in the screening. It isn't really in your face, but if you know to look for it, it's there. When the family makes dinner (which they do several times during the movie), they use Wal-Mart vegetables. 


The movie is showing tomorrow night, Saturday, August 6th, at 8 PM on NBC. Check it out! 

Who Is Simon Miller

“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services 

mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I 

only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. 

I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: 

“Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

My first giveaway!

Life has been crazy lately. Melting in our current heatwave, struggling to get back on track with my diet and exercise program, trying to find time to shop around for bargains instead of making a quick run to the convenience store, trying to lean on the promises of Jehovah Jireh instead of fretting about college tuition, insurance payments and credit card bills. (You would think that printing, folding and stuffing more than 330 bulletins each week, with Philippians 4:19 staring me in the face on the front of each bulletin, that I'd get the message!)

To quote Francesca Battistelli, "in the middle of my great big mess, I forget how big I'm blessed." A big blessing showed up in my mailbox this week, in the form of Robert Pierre's new CD, I'm All In. I had a chance to listen to some sample downloads of Robert's music earlier this year, and loved his voice, his musical style, and the message to his music.

Robert Pierre is only eighteen years old, but here he is, with a new album -- and he wrote most of the songs himself! The songs are lively, the words are thought-provoking and challenging, and they were just what I needed, like the words of "Trust in You": I don't have the answer to what comes next. I can't see the outcome of my next step. Still my anxious heart and give me rest. 'Cause you are in control.

I've been listening to the CD for a couple of days, and I still haven't decided on a favorite song. Some appeal to me because of the music, others because of the message in the words. Robert said that all of the songs have something to do with the things he's going through in his life as he transitions from his senior year in high school to heading off to college. Having two girls who are also going through transitions, with Connie graduating from college at the end of the year, and Candy trying to figure out the next steps in her medical school journey, some of these songs really resonate with our family. I appreciate the way his music focuses on keeping your eyes on God no matter what path God is taking you down. 

Robert's CD will be released on July 26th, but you can check out samples of the music at Amazon before then: I'm All In Stop by Robert's Website (if you go quickly, you can enter his drawing for a guitar!) or his Facebook page. 

The Giveaway! 

One lucky person can also win a copy of Robert Pierre's I'm All In CD. To enter,  visit the CD's sale page on Amazon and listen to some of Robert's music, then come back here and leave me a comment to let me know which is your favorite song (remember to leave your e-mail so I can contact you if you win). Giveaway ends Sunday, July 31st at 11:59 PM. Winner will be selected in a random drawing on Monday, August 1st. Limit one entry per person. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received Robert's "I'm All In" CD mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255:  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” 

Gluten-Free Berry-Nut Muffins

I went berry-picking yesterday. It's still early in the season, so it was slim pickin's. I only got a handful of black raspberries, but then I discovered a tree with black berries on it! I picked what I could from the ground, but only got about a cupful.

This is a picture of the branch I broke off and brought home. I've got it in water, hoping it will take root and I'll be able to plant my own blackberry tree. According to an online tree identification site, it's a mulberry tree. You can see a couple of white berries on the stem over at the left.

So, this morning I had a cupful of berries, and felt like getting creative, so I took a recipe for chocolate chip muffins, tweaked it a bit, and made some Berry-Nut muffins that turned out really well.  Sometimes gluten-free muffins look a little too pale. With the blueberry yogurt, these browned up very nicely. Here's the recipe:

Berry-Nut Muffins
3/4 c cornstarch
1/4 c brown rice flour
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
6-oz container Blueberry yogurt (I used Yoplait)
1 tsp vinegar
1/4 c oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup berries
1/4 c chopped nuts (I used slivered almonds)

Preheat oven to 350. Put paper liners in cupcake pan. Combine cornstarch, brown rice flour, sugar, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt. Add yogurt, vinegar, oil, vanilla, and eggs. Stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in berries and nuts. Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes.

So far, so good!

It's 5 PM... I'm tired, stressed out and hungry, but I've stuck to my plan today. I had a healthy breakfast, only ate the on-plan foods that I brought to work with me, and drank plenty of water. As I'm typing this, the ice cream truck is driving by, and although I'm cringing at the distorted tones of The Entertainer, I'm not running out to buy a treat. (Well, the fact that I only have about 45 cents in change in my purse might have something to do with it...)

Before work, I got in a good workout by taking a 2-mile walk with Bob Harper and a bunch of former Biggest Loser contestants, including one of my favorites, SunShine Hampton.

I think the Biggest Loser Power Walk DVD is one of my favorite "walk inside" workouts. It starts out with Bob leading you through a one-mile walk. It may be only a mile, but it's tough. He throws in arm movements and jogging and really gets your heart rate up.

The second mile is led by Sione. He leads you through a series of exercises with weights in your hands. I did it with 5-pound dumbbells, and I was sure glad when he said it was time to put them down!

Bob is back for mile 3, which is a bit more intense than the first mile, and then Tara wraps it up for mile 4, doing some exercises with a weighted exercise ball. I use my smallest kettlebell, and it is tough to get through all the exercises!

The neat thing about the DVD is that there is a "marathon tracker" where you can keep track of your miles, and do a marathon over the course of a month.

2 miles down for me... 24 to go!