Basil Tomato Chicken Burgers (Gluten Free Option)

My daughter Juleen made these burgers us a couple weeks ago when we got home from our trip. It was wonderful to have someone make dinner for us and even better that it tasted soo good. I felt a lot of love from her. I love my family.

I believe love really does affect the food that we eat. Whoever it is that is preparing the food, if it is prepared with love for those who are to eat it, it will taste better. It is part of the whole eating experience. Think of a meal that you ate prepared by someone you love and think about the love that was put into the meal and how that affected the whole eating experience. Love makes a difference every time. Add some love into your food and you will see a difference too. That is why home-cooked meals always taste the best.

These burgers are a great way to enjoy this time of year as the weather starts to warm up. They would be yummy cooked on the barbecue.


Ingredients   (Serves 4)

2 slices whole grain bread (gluten free if desired)
3 tablespoons water
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped into small pieces
3 tablespoon fresh basil chopped up
1/4 cup minced onion
1 1/4 lb ground chicken
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
2 tablespoon tomato oil
4 Hamburger buns whole grain (gluten free if desired)

Directions

In a bowl break the 2 bread slices into small pieces. Stir in the water and stir until all combined.

Stir tomatoes, basil, and onion into bread mixture until all combined.

(I like to use disposable gloves for this part) Knead into bread mixture with hands until combined: chicken, cheese, salt and pepper. (You could use a spoon to combine but will not be as evenly distributed.)

Form the meat into patties. Heat up skillet or barbecue to medium high heat. For the skillet add 2 T of oil (that came from sun dried tomatoes.) When the oil or barbecue is hot, cook the meat on both sides about 3 to 4 min on each side. Then put a lid over the meat or barbecue lid on the barbecue. Turn down the heat to medium low and cook another 8 minutes or until fully cooked inside.

Take off the heat and serve with buns and other condiments. You can freeze the extra in an airtight container.

Spicy Shredded Beef Sandwiches

 I love to use my Cusinart pressure cooker. I know there are a lot of great pressure cookers out there. It never fails. When I cook meat in it. It always leaves the meat so tender. If you don't have a pressure cooker you can just put this recipe in a crock pot. The whole grain rolls were an added bonus instead of using the store bought. They were all gone by the end of the night. I made them into small rolls this time. Loved how cute they looked. It was a fun change. It was a yummy meal. I served it with fresh vegetables and fruit. I have found my family really enjoys homemade rolls and they are so easy.

Whole grain roll recipe

2 T. Dry Yeast
5 T. coconut oil
2 C. warm water
1 T honey
5-6 C Spelt flour or whole grain flour 
2 tsp salt

Makes about 20-24 small rolls

1.  Pour  oil, water, and honey in a small bowl let sit for 10 min until it starts to bubble. Then pour into mixing bowl. 
2.. Then knead in flour 1 cup at a time. The dough should be slightly sticky. Knead 4-5 min. if using spelt flour. (It is not a good idea to over mix spelt flour.) 
3,Rub oil all over the dough. Place in bowl and cover with a towel. Let rise till double. 
4. Rub oil on your hands. Form into balls for rolls. Bake at 350 10-15 min. Until light golden. 
5.  Rub a little butter on top. Yum! 

Spicy Shredded Beef

3 to 4 lb  chuck roast
1 1/2 c water
1 onion sliced in thin slices
2 tsp salt
3 T steak seasoning 
1 T chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 jalapeño chopped up fine
5 tomatillos *optional add a great flavor

Directions

1. Place meat in pressure cooker or crockpot. Pour in everything else on top of the meat. 
2. Turn the pressure cooker on high pressure for 99 min. Let pressure release on its own. 
3. Then shred the meat with a fork and knife. It just falls apart.  Skim off the fat off the top. 
4. For crock pot put meat in the crock pot and pour the rest of the ingredients on top. Start in the morning and let cook for the day, or at least until tender about 4-6 hours. 
5. Skim off the fat and shred to meat with a fork and knife.  Enjoy a wonderful tasty meal.  

Vegetable Lasagna

I have not made lasagna for a while. It was fun to make it again. It was nice way to use a lot of vegetables. I figured I had used about 5 vegetables, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, carrots, and crook neck squash, That made me really happy. You could put in even more. :) I threw in a small amount of meat to make my son happy. Which it did. He really liked it, he had 2 big servings. That was a success. I have made vegetable lasagna before. I liked this version with the vegetables shredded and added into the sauce. It blended together well. The whole family was happy with the results. I don't cook the noodles ahead of time. The sauce just gets absorbed into the noodles and they cook while you bake it. It was a great meal! The leftovers made a wonderful lunch too. :) Here is another version of lasagna with homemade ricotta!

Ingredients:

favorite spaghetti sauce (I made some with Roma tomatoes, herbs, garlic, onions, and fire roasted tomatoes. I let cook for together for about 4-5 hours. I made extra and froze some of it for a quick meal later.)
1/3 lb lean ground beef browned and added to the sauce * optional
1 zucchini shredded
3 carrots shredded
1 crook neck squash
1 24 0z cottage cheese
1 pkg lasagna noodles
grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions: heat oven to 350

1. Prepare spaghetti sauce if you make homemade. The longer it cooks on low the better the flavor. Add a lot of yummy herbs like, oregano, basil, garlic, rosemary, marjoram, thyme etc.

2. Mix all the vegetables and meat with the sauce. Let them cook together for a few minutes.

3. Pour some sauce at the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan. (My sauce was not really thick, some of the water gets cooked when it cooks into the noodles. I used stoneware and loved how it cooked) then place some noodles on top of it. (one layer).

4. Then put on another layer of sauce and then a layer with the cottage cheese.

5. Then the noodles again. Put the noodles in a different direction than you did the first time. Vertical or horizontal. Then put on another layer of sauce. Then I grated on some fresh Parmesan.

6. Cover the pan with foil and let bake about an hour, or until the noodles are soft. In preheated oven. Let cool a few minutes and serve. The combination of all the flavors was fantastic. Happy Eating!


* Great way to use our summer squash. We are loving it!

Zucchini and Tomatoes with Brown Rice and Parmesan Cheese

This was another way to use vegetables that are a good price right now, or better yet in your garden. The combination of the flavors was fantastic. The trick was to cook it enough that it was tender, but not mushy. I love being able to keep the colors bright too. It makes the food so much more appealing. It was a nice healthy meal.

Ingredients:

1/4 C olive oil
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 onion chopped up small pieces
3 C chopped zucchini
6 ripe Roma tomatoes chopped in small pieces
1/2 to 1 green pepper diced in small pieces
6 basil leaves torn in small pieces
1 tsp sea salt w/ iodine
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
herbs of your choice 1/2 tsp of each oregano, rosemary and more dried basil (if you want)
2 1/2 C cooked brown rice
1/8 C water
fresh grated Parmesan *Optional

Directions:

1. In a skillet heat up olive oil and then add garlic and onions. Saute about 3 min.

2. Then throw in the zucchini, peppers, Saute another 3 min. Then throw in the remaining ingredients except for the Parmesan. Continue to stir the mixture for another 5 min. Then pour in a little water. Put on the lid and let cook on med. heat for 3-5 min.

3. Take off the lid and let dry out and cook to desired tenderness. I like it still slightly firm and still colorful.

4. Serve on individual plates and grate on the cheese if desired. Serve warm.

Honey Barbecued Chicken

Barbecued Chicken is one of my favorite dinners. In the past couple years I have decided it is easy to make my own with out a lot of effort. I enjoy trying new versions. This was no exception. This recipe requires a little prep time ahead, for the best flavor. It was tasty with a little bite to it. Which I really liked. This is a winner!

Ingredients:
Rub:
2 T grape seed oil or olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 T honey or 2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp thyme
2 minced garlic cloves
2 1/2 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp ground pepper
1 1/2 to 2 lbs of chicken tenders
Sauce:
honey glaze
1/4 C honey
1 T soy sauce
1 T ketchup
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp chili garlic sauce or chili paste

Directions:
1. Wash off chicken and pat dry with paper towels.

2. Mix together ingredients for rub in a small bowl. Rub the mixture on the chicken. Place in Pyrex and cover with foil. Put in fridge for a couple hours. At least 1 hour.

3. Prior to taking the chicken out of the fridge mix the ingredients for the honey sauce in a small bowl. Take out 1/4 cup.

4. Baste the remaining sauce on the chicken. Make sure it gets completely covered.

5. Heat up the barbecue. on low. Cook on both side approx. 6 min. or till nicely cooked. Remove from the grill.

6. Pour or baste the remaining sauce on the chicken. Serve

*Would be wonderful with a side of quinoa or brown rice or green salad or fresh cut up vegetables.

Spicy Grilled Cashew Lime Chicken

This is a fun recipe to try on the grill. It has a little bite to it, which I really liked. It was fun to use cashews in the sauce as well. It made a tasty dinner for our family. I made extra that are nice to have for lunches.

This was what the chicken looked like after being grilled. I was pleased the way it grilled. Sometimes putting the sauce on it makes it burn easier.

Ingredients:
10-12 chicken tenders
1 tsp sea salt with iodine
1/2 tsp ground pepper

sauce:
1/2 cashews
3 T olive oil
3 garlic cloves
4 T soy sauce
1 T honey
1 Jalapeno seeded and chopped (If you want it less spicy you could use 1/2)
2 1/2 T fresh lime juice
1/2 C chopped cilantro for garnish* optional

Directions:

1. /coat chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Pour all the ingredients in the blender for the sauce. Pulse until a smooth consistency.

3. Take 1/3 C of the sauce put the remaining 2/3 C in the fridge.

4. Baste the chicken with the 1/3 C sauce. Let it sit for 10 min.

5. Preheat the grill.

6. Place chicken on hot grill cook on both sides till nicely golden.

7. Pour remaining sauce on the chicken. (You could heat up the sauce ahead of time if you desire, I did not. ) Serve and enjoy!