SUNDAY COOK: COCONUT BANANA CREAM PIE

Hmmmmmmmm now doesn't THAT sound GOOD!

Good thing I could go back into my photos for this Sunday Cook! It has been a CRAZY day and not so typical of Sunday's around here! With it being a BUSY camping weekend and most campers booked in until today - it meant a LOT of cleaning for us today. I only had a few hours of down time this afternoon - and what did I do with it?

NAPPED of course. I pretty much nap every afternoon - it's the only thing that keeps me going until 11:00 pm.

We've been enjoying our Coconut Banana Cream Pie for a few days now. Which is good, because I also now know how I would change it for next time. Check the bottom for my notes.

It has been awhile since we've had a really rich tasty treat around here and I figured it was HIGH time. Coconut was on my mind so off I went to my coconut LOVE pinterest board for the perfect dessert. I came across the Sunday Cook recipe from Jan CAN Cook.

So - here we go!

Coconut Pie Shell
1/2 cup butter
3 cups sweetened flack coconut

Pie Filling
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar, divided
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup flour
3 cups half and half, divided
yellow food colouring
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 bananas
1 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp powdered sugar

Melt the 1/2 cup butter in a large skillet over medium heat browning the coconut flakes, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes. 

Until a golden brown. This starts off slow and then happens really fast. I was this close to burning it all because I walked over to read the recipe - I came back and they were done!

Press firmly and evenly into a 9" pie plate. Chill for 30 minutes.

Combine the egg yolks, 1/4 cup of sugar, the cornstarch, salt and flour in a small bowl. 

Gradually add 1 cup of the half and half.

Combine the remaining 2 cups of half and half and 1/2 cup sugar in a large sauce pan. Bring just to boil over medium heat. Add the egg mixture and cook and stir until the mixture returns to a boil and thickens, about 1 minute.

Remove from the heat. Stir in 2 drops of food colouring and the vanilla. Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool. I popped it into the fridge.

Slice the bananas into the pie shell. 

Pour the filling into the shell.

Whip the cream with the powdered sugar until stiff. I've mentioned before that I start with placing my bowl and beaters in the freezer for 20 mins or so. 

Spoon the whipped cream in dollops (LOVE that word).

Chill 2 hours before serving.

Just LOOK at that CRUST! It's a keeper for sure!

NOW, BE FOREWARNED! 

This is a VERY rich dessert. We've really had to pace ourselves.

So - here are my thoughts and the changes I would make next time:

1. Before I even tried it I thought it strange that the pudding was vanilla and not coconut. I'm going to change that I thought to myself. WRONG. The coconut crust is ALL the coconut you need. But with that in mind....
2. I'd change the amount of coconut for the crust to 2 cups - I find the 3 cups makes a crust that is too thick and two sweet.
3. I didn't use the yellow food colouring. Sure the layers don't look much different but who needs food colouring.
4. A HUGE problem is that the banana doesn't stick well to the crust, so when you slice it tends to come apart. A way to avoid this would probably be to first fill the pie crust with the pudding, add the sliced banana and then top with the whipped cream. I don't mind the banana flavour but I think I'd be just as happy without them and go straight coconut.
5. I didn't find the whipped cream sweet enough - I'd probably add 1 1/2 tbsp to 2 tbsp powdered sugar.
6. I was also thinking to put the pudding through a sieve first to take out the lumps - but it doesn't seem to matter in the end.
7. I sprinkled some sweetened coconut over the whipped cream - it looked nice but I couldn't taste it at all and so not really necessary. Next time I'll skip that.

There you go! I hope you give it a try! Let me know how it turns out - ok!

Teresa

TODAY'S INTERESTING LINK: During our last shopping trip I picked up another bag of lemons. I have been wanting to make Lemon Mousse for a LONG time now. A great memory since it was one of the things I learned in home economics class in junior high school. My recipe from then is packed away so I of course went back to pinterest. It went over REALLY well here!

Alexandra Bridge, BC

To pick up  our new camper van we needed to make the trip to the Vancouver Area, we must have REALLY liked the van because that is a HUGE deal for us - to go where there are SO MANY people and SO MANY cars! To make the trip that much easier we left Monday afternoon to spend the night in Chilliwack 2 hours south of us. We then headed out to pick up the van Tuesday morning - 1 1/2 hours further into the congestion. 

We chose the perfect day to leave the parks - with our hosts covering for us - because it was a very rainy day. We drive this route quite often but rarely stop. 

But not today - today was the day to stop and walk to the 

ALEXANDRA BRIDGE

Another perfect idea because it was very quiet with only a few other people there.

The Alexandra Bridge has a fascinating history. I just found out now that it was a part of the Caribou Wagon Road, the same one that passes through here at Skihist Provincial Park.

The beginning of the walk. Round trip took us about 45 minutes. It was actually nice to walk in the rain.

Amazingly lush! It is only and hour or so south of us - a total change in climate.

The Bridge! 

Roofous was about as unimpressed as I was with the material used on the platform.

Hmmmm - not much between us and the river. I'm NOT a fan of bridges that I can see down on or those that sway for that matter.

Quite the system to hold it up!

A view of the Fraser River and the bridge we drive over after we get back on the road.

Cassia was lucky to get a ride up from Dad.

Back to the parking lot along Highway #1.

Cassia just couldn't resist a quick jump in the puddles. The second picture now that she is looking away from me - on purpose!

A VERY busy night here for us at the park. It has been a slow camping season so far - so 20 or so campers is a lot for us. Friday nights are always our busiest because we are a stop over place - most campers leave early to head further north for the weekend.

Teresa

TODAY'S INTERESTING LINK: Have you been over to Homestead Survival yet?! It's one of my favourite sites - I've LIKED them on facebook so I get all the updates that way. This was posted the other day - a good thing to know. I'm going to put a really good first aid kit for us this winter - not something I usually do - but should I think. 

HELLO, FRIEND

Well I just couldn't let another day go by without showing off the new addition to the Wood Clan!

Remember back in June when we said Goodbye, Friend?

We were sad.

But on Tuesday we were happy as we said

Hello, Friend.

So, without further adieu - here she, he, it is!

OUR NEW CAMPER VAN

New to us anyway - certainly not new to this earth.....

A 1990 Ford Econoline Elite Van Conversion.

It's small but it has everything we need for our trip to Central America this winter.

So - not new - but we weren't going for NEW. First, of all we could not possibly afford new - right?! They make them pretty fancy these days and then sell them for a mere $60,000 or so. 

What we were really after was a good layout with a bunk bed, well taken care of inside and out, low milage and affordable. 

We got what we asked for. 

Yes, we were originally going to wait until the fall, but then we realized the good thing about not waiting. We now have lots of time to make the changes we want - and trust me there are a few - we've already started our renovations. We can also now work on our truck and get it sold before we head out as well.

Looking in from the back. Nice that the toilet is off to the side. The ladder is just being stored there right now - it is for the HUGE bunk bed. We had promised Cassia a bunk bed and we delivered! This back area will be for Roofous on the floor and the cats overhead on a smaller bunk.

Cassia trying out her new bed. I think she'd be pretty happy about sleeping out there now!

The messy kitchen - I was sifting through the dishes, the owners were nice enough to include as well. 

I am probably going to paint out all of the wood to white. We were always going to make changes to our trailer - then we would decide to sell it so we didn't - then we would decide to keep it and make plans again. This time we know this van is a keeper for a while so we are making lots of changes to make it right for us.

Excellent that the passenger chair - which is VERY comfortable I might add - swivels. Roofous is already getting comfortable - as are the cats.

And so we made the best decision we could, we believe. We have been searching through Kijiji and Craigslist since June, looking at any van that came up. This van caught my eye as did the corresponding ad. When we listed our trailer, I made sure to give a ton of info and a fair recording of the good and not so good parts. Fair is fair. I notice some post ads with one or two pictures and a few lines of description. I knew I'd found a kindred spirit when the ad for our new van was lengthy and FULL of information. 

WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT OUR NEW VAN  and why we think we got a GREAT DEAL

- 150,000 kms

- a fairly new fridge (after two trips now with a broken one this is a VERY good thing!

- a new gas tank

- lots of new things mechanically and in very good shape

- lots of after factory dials and gauges at the front 

- a cd player and ipod/ipad plug in thing

- a top bunk with ladder

- a nice sized dinette

- a good sized kitchen and lots of storage

- a nice sized area at the back with storage area above

- a solar panel on the dash

- all the owners dishes and cutlery

- two RV books

- a large heavy duty black storage container for the back rack

- a small generator that works and isn't too loud + a great bin for it

- all the records and manuals

- high clearance - oh no! are more back roads in our future?!

- really good tires

- a new spare

So - what did we PAY for all this camping goodness you are wondering....

Well, the camper van was $6,500! I know - right?! A GREAT price. Plus here in BC we have to pay sales tax - ouch! which was just over $800! So, a total of $7,300 - not bad. 

This is how we do things here at a life made simple. We could have paid all sorts of amounts for our new camper van and boy it was tempting. But no - Derek and I know how this works. We sold our trailer for $5,500 and then this spring Derek's tax back and working income benefit came to around $1,600. Which, yes, is $7,100. 

We were only out a couple of hundred dollars. Of course there are a few more expenses such as the plates and the changes we want to make but that is ok. 

We had a BUDGET and we STUCK to it.

Maybe we'll post some of the changes we make to keep you up to date with the renovations! 

With the trip down to the BIG city, the continued heat and getting back up to speed here at the parks it has been that kind of week! 

The time is going so fast I can barely keep up!

Teresa

TODAY'S INTERESTING LINK: My internet time as been hard to come by the last few days and so not much to report. I HAVE been continuing my Central America research as much as possible - boy I sure could lose a LOT of time that way! Yesterday I found this interesting website - Escape from America Magazine - guess we all should have known that something like that would exist. If you are with us on facebook you may recognize it since I posted it there as well.

SUNDAY COOK: CRISPY CHICKEN

Ok - so not the MOST original Sunday Cook recipe for you tonight! 

BUT!

It could STILL change your life! For the better - of course!

Hamburgers and fries last week....Crispy Chicken today....What kind of eating habits do these people have?! you must be thinking to yourself!

Well, actually a pretty good one. But we DO have a real soft spot for fried food! We are ok with that because we KNOW that we don't go out to eat AND we don't eat fast food - EVER! Plus - we burn off a ton of calories during work AND have you read this article about what REALLY causes heart disease?

So there you go! And here we go with todays Sunday Cook recipe.....

THE best!

CRISPY CHICKEN

chicken breast cut up into strips or chunks - depending on the use

egg

cornstarch

Spices and herbs can be added to the egg or constarch for extra flavour. If it were just Derek and I, I'd add cayenne pepper since we like spicy.

The amounts depend on how much you want to make - pretty simple.

Beat egg (s).

Place cornstarch in a bowl or large bag. Coat chicken pieces in egg and then place into cornstarch. Shake off excess.

Heat oil - we only use Grapeseed oil for frying - to fairly hot temp. Place chicken pieces in oil.

Turn as required and continue cooking until crispy texture and golden brown colour. Make sure you have enough oil - the cornstarch starts to bubble in the oil. If you don't have enough oil it will start to burn as will the chicken. In this top picture I added more oil 1/2 way through cooking to stop this from happening.

The BEST crispy chicken you've EVER had. Always crispy without fail! 

So - why am I sharing this little trick with you that seems so simple. Well, first off all I tried a ton of 'fried chicken' recipes before this one. Most use flour and I just didn't get the same foolproof crispiness that I get with cornstarch. 

The second reason is because crispy chicken is so VERSATILE. Once made there are many things I can do with it for dinner. Here's how we use it in our home for lunch or dinner.

CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD - I make our Caesar dressing from scratch - always have. In a bowl place one chopped finely or minced garlic clove and add the following: 1 or 2 spoons of yogurt, a squeeze of Dijon mustard, a few shakes of Worcestershire sauce, a squeeze of lemon juice (not necessary but good), salt and pepper, and enough olive oil and vinegar to make a good consistency. Add the dressing to a bowl of lettuce, add some homemade croutons and parmesan cheese and stir. Place on a plate and top with the chicken. 

CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD WRAPS - Take the above and put it in a tortilla and wrap it up!

SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN Stir fry red pepper, white onion and pineapple. Add your favourite sweet and sour sauce (homemade of course) and crispy chicken. Serve on a bed of rice.

CHICKEN CURRY AND RICE - This could be a curry sauce or just curry powder. I like the dry version myself. Once crispy chicken chunks are complete place on a plate. Clean out the frying pan. Place a bit of oil in the pan and add the chicken. Liberally coat with curry powder and stir. Add stir fried vegetables of your choice. Serve on a bed of rice. (hmmm it's been a while since we've had this I'll have to make it soon.)

CHICKEN BURGER OR SUB - Place a few of the crispy chicken strips on a burger bun and add desired toppings. We like to keep it simple with lettuce and tomato but the sky is the limit!

Of course the strips can be eaten by themselves - I LOVE them with honey - with a side of fries or even better a raw veggie platter with dip.

SIMPLE - EASY - QUICK - AND YUMMY!

Thanks for stoppin' in!

We will most likely have some VERY exciting news to post about in a few days! We are off to look at something that we have been wanting to purchase - fingers Xed!

PLUS! I've been spending some time on our Central America research and I've found a TON of great sites and info. I'll share that with y'all soon too!

Teresa

Today's Interesting Link: I was also going to make these today but didn't get the chance! We have lemons and we have blueberries! It is a new site to me also but it looks promising! If you get a chance to make them let me know how they turn out - I probably won't get to them now for a few days.

What we BUY, What we DON'T, and the IN BETWEEN

Due to the overwhelming demand for

'What we spend our money on, what we don't and those items that we are working on not buying.'

I have decided to go ahead and write about that tonight. Actually, there was just one request, but that means a lot here at A LIFE MADE SIMPLE! This one's for you Sharon!

First, let me preface by saying that there are 3 main reasons why we do or why we don't purchase an item:

1. I can make it myself for much cheaper or much better or much healthier.
2. We have come to realize that it isn't good for us and therefore have removed it from out diets completely or have it very infrequently. Although Derek and I ate fairly well when it was just the two of us our diets are that much better since we had Cassia - after all we want the very best for her.
3. Toxins! Whether in our food or cleaning products - things like air fresheners and febreze - remember to do research before you let certain items in your home!

I also want to add that for us living frugal is somewhat similar to a diet in which you are trying to lose weight. Totally cutting yourself off from something you love isn't going to work long term. Just as a strict diet may lead to binge eating - a very frugal life could lead to binge spending. Within our frugal life there are items we consume because want to - end of story. The great news is that we don't feel too bad about that because of all the other items we don't spend money on.

Oh - and another thing! Over the last few years we have realized that the more we work to not spend foolishly and live frugally the better we get at doing it and the more rewarding it becomes. Whereas a few years ago we would buy something without thinking about it - we now carefully weigh the pros and cons and usually forgo the item all together. We can regularly be heard saying

"HOW MUCH?"

"WE'RE NOT GOING TO PAY THAT FOR THAT!"

The thing is - whether you have a little money or a lot of money - we could all use MORE money! Chipping away at items that you think you need to buy because the fancy marketing has told you so goes along way to making it so that you will have MORE money.

So - here's our list to date.

ITEMS WE DON'T BUY:
1. paper towel
2. cleaning products - see my pinterest board for recipes
3 beauty products - see my pinterest board for recipes
4. soft drinks
5. most processed or ready to eat type foods - that's a BIG one - VERY high priced - not much different then going out to eat
6. baked goods from the grocery store - we DO have a weakness for REAL bakery treats
7. restaurants or coffee houses - seldom anyway
8. cable tv
9. cell phones
10. new clothes
11. clothes are dried on the line (we don't pay for electricity here but we still dry on the line)
12. salad dressing
13. most sauces like BBQ
14. books, magazines, or movies (except for the 25¢ kind)
15. we don't 'collect' anything
16. gifts and cards - don't we all have enough stuff already!
17. babysitting
18. many vegetables and herbs in the summer - thanks to our garden
19. manicures or pedicures - never have, never will
20. nursing baby - no formula
21. canned goods - only a few - no soup etc.
22. salsa
23. chewing gum
24. dog food

ITEMS WE DO BUY:
(without too much thought to the price)
1. meat from a meat market
2. as much fruit and vegetables as we want to eat
3. dark chocolate
4. dark beer
5. cheese and particularly goat cheese which is more expensive
6. honey
7. diapers and wipes - Cassia wore cloth diapers for 6 months from the start until we starting traveling. When we returned 6 months later they were a no go with her. Too bad because they are definitely the way to go! We do buy the generic make though.
8. plastic zip lock bags - they are so handy but we wash and reuse several times over
9. a hair cut for me once a year at the cheapest place possible - I am TOTALLY over paying for a high priced hair cut and colour that doesn't work out anyway
10. we buy generic when it doesn't matter
11. products such as essential oils to make the homemade beauty and cleaning products

ITEMS I WISH WE WEREN'T BUYING:
(I'm working to make my own of these products)
1. yogurt
2. laundry, dish and hand soap
3. deodorant - I'm getting there! Try a few drops of clary sage under each arm - it works pretty good!
3. cheese
4. toothpaste
5. sauces such as hot sauce and ketchup
6. bread and crackers
7. tomato sauce
8. tortillas and tortilla chips
9. cat food

There is probably much more but it has been a busy night at the park and it is now the end of the day for me at 11:30 pm. I'll add to the lists tomorrow if I think of more items.

Of course we live much different then most. We don't have any bills during the 6 months we are home in Canada other then our truck insurance and the internet. Since I pay the internet up front (and nice of our boss to pay for one month) we just have the one bill a month.

Doesn't THAT sound great!


It is - it is VERY freeing!

Of course, once we are on the road it seems like the money runs like water - mainly due to stopping for gas so much and food shopping every few days. AND sadly I can't make as much homemade on the road although I'm going to make more of an effort this year. On the other hand, in the USA and this year Mexico and Central America prices are much lower.

Teresa

Today's Interesting Link: There are 100s of links out there to help you learn to save money! For us it took a real wake up call to get us straightened out - I'm sure we are not alone. These days I think to myself - boy I wish I knew all these tips 20 years ago! I wish I had been using baking soda and water for shampoo for the last 20 years! But to REALLY get you to thinking here are 100 Great Tips for Saving Money For Those Just Getting Started.

What's new at A LIFE MADE SIMPLE?

Well, first off, I have to admit to being TOTALLY unprepared for a blog post tonight. I have had a topic on my mind for about a week now and it was to be tonight's post but at the last minute I chickened out. I WAS going to talk about the items that we don't spend money on, the ones we do and the ones we are trying not to - but I thought that it would come across to preachy.

Instead, I decided to let you in on how are life is going and the new things I've been doing or discovered.

The FIRST really great thing is that I yesterday I found the BEST chocolate chip peanut butter cookie recipe EVER. No joke and no exaggeration. I LOVE it when a new recipe works out don't you? Sometimes it's a miss - like my quinoa bars - remember those? YUK! I STILL have some in the freezer because I didn't have the heart to throw them out.

I found the recipe through pinterest - of course right?! Bake at 350 had great photos of the result but links back to the original recipe post by How Sweet It Is.

The SECOND thing going on is that I am BESIDE MYSELF EXCITED about my newest discovery. So - you all know how much I LOVE making my own things - especially beauty type projects. By the way I am still doing and loving my Oil Cleansing Method - in the meantime I have purchased castor oil and have mixed it in with the olive essential oils.

While Derek and Cassia were gone I learned and - more importantly - DID - five things that I learned on the internet:

1. I made shampoo - Baking Soda Shampoo! With baking soda and water! That's IT? yup that's IT! And it works great.  I am thrilled! I can't see how I will EVER buy shampoo again.

2. I made conditioner - Cider Vinegar Conditioner! With CV and water! That's IT? yup that's IT! And it works great! I am thrilled! I can't see how I will EVER buy conditioner again.

3. Although I'm still working on getting all the ingredients together to make our own toothpaste, I'm one step closer. At the moment we are using a natural toothpaste I found on sale at the health food store, so at least it is made with natural products and more importantly does not have fluoride (PLEASE tell me you know about and have stopped using anything with fluoride in it! If not we NEED to talk!). For the time being I found a cute jar I filled with baking soda. I then added some drops of clove oil - clove oil is great for your mouth and teeth. Before we put paste on our brushes we first dip into the baking soda!

4. I filled another little jar with baking soda as an exfolliant for my face! Can you believe that! All these years I didn't know I could and should be using baking soda to cleanse my face. I've used sugar and cornmeal but LOVE the baking soda. I went back to my essential oil box and again added all the oils that are recommended for skin. L.O.V.E.

hmmm - good thing we have a BIG box of baking soda here!

5. I successfully shaved my legs with olive oil! yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!


The THIRD item we are working on is the purchase of our camper van! yup - we found one! on kijiji and we are pretty darn excited about it - yes - we were JUST looking but there it was with everything we need for our trip to Central America next winter. No awning but a ton of other stuff and a GREAT price. The problem is that there seems to be a line up. **sigh** We still hope it becomes ours - we'll let you know of course - but if not we know we will find another. Fingers X that we get it though!

FOURTH - a NEW project has been taking up my time and thinking power! This is probably the MAIN reason why I have been distracted these last few days. We have stumbled on to a GREAT and I mean GREAT idea. Bad news? I can't let you in on it - sorry - ya - it's THAT good. However, if all goes well we will be unveiling this idea in the fall - at least you'll be one of first to know!

Other than that work continues here at the park. The lady I spoke about the other day needing our help as well as the police and ambulance means another report for me to write out! grrrrrrrrr - not a fan of writing occurrence reports.

Speaking of work - I am putting together the post 'A day in the Life of a Park Facility Operator'. I'm going to let you in on the minute by minute - hour by hour - account of our day and the many tasks involved in our jobs. I'm excited about posting it - now to get it down!

Hot - it's STILL HOT!

Teresa

TODAY'S INTERESTING LINK: I link to Frugally Sustainable ALOT - I know. I'm linking it again because I really enjoy Andrea's Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways. She's on #36! I always check these posts out because they are a collection of all the other blogs. Bloggers are invited to link their posts about frugal type topics. I find a ton of information very quickly this way.




'

SUNDAY COOK: BURGERS & CHIPS

Every Sunday I think to myself - WoW! another Sunday Cook - I can't BELIEVE it is Sunday again!  

Is it just ME or is this summer just blowing right by?

As of last Friday - July 13th - our work stint here at the parks was at the 1/2 way point - we have worked 

78 days in a row with 79 days in a row left to go. 

Crazy! In a way it has felt like that much time has passed and in a way it hasn't - know what I mean? 

Bet you do.

With Cassia and Derek back on Friday from a 4 day trip to Chilliwack - YES - I missed them immensely and NO - I didn't get much done while they were gone - we celebrated their return with burgers and fries. 

We LOVE burgers - and fries! One of our favourite dinners!

How about you? LOVE them too? Do you have a favourite restaurant to go to for the PERFECT burger?

We LOVE the burgers from Burger 55 - a little burger joint in Penticton BC. A hole in the wall kind of place with great burgers and custom toppings.

Two problems: 1. it isn't close to here so the last time we went to Burger 55 was way back in 2009 and, 2. it's a bit expensive to be going to regularly.

In fact, due to our now frugal way of living, eating out a restaurants is a very seldom occurrence. So - we had to choose - go without burgers! YIKES! or come up with our own. Obviously I had to commit myself to making our burgers from scratch that tasted great! We also live very remotely here in the forest - it isn't like we could go out for a burger even if we wanted to.

After a little trial and error,  I am proud to say that I have DONE it! It wasn't easy and it took time - but here is the BEST at home burger recipe - and chips - for you to make yourselves. 

So, here we go!

Since the fries take a bit longer, I start with them.

Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries

3 russet potatoes

2 -3 tbsp. olive oil

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup parmesan, freshly grated 

garlic salt (I use 1/2 to 1 tsp.)

fresh ground peper

chopped parsley - for garnish

Clean and roughly peel potatoes - we use 3 medium size for the three of us.

Slice into 1/4 inch pieces.

Place potato slices into a bowl and add olive oil, crumbs, cheese, garlic salt, and pepper.

Stir to coat.

Spread on oil baking sheet. Bake in the oven preheated to 450ºF for 18 - 25 minutes or until cheese and panko is golden brown and your desired crispiness is achieved. 

Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Now for the burger!

The Wood Clan Stuffed Burger

This is a 'little of this and little of that' kind of recipe. I hope that is ok - make your own changes to suit.

In a bowl place enough lean ground beef for your group. I know that is a bit vague - imagine just a little smaller then a tennis ball per burger. Hopefully it is good beef. As I've mentioned - a few times now - we buy our beef from a local meat market. It makes awesome burgers! 

Add the following - I use the same bowl that the potatoes just came out of still with the left over oil, crumbs and parmesan: garlic salt, onion salt, worcestershire sauce, pepper, some steak seasoning if you have it, green onions (optional), parsley (we have TONS in the garden this year), egg (number will be based on how many burgers you are making) for the three of us I use one, and bread crumbs.

Stir until well combined.

Now - here comes the secret weapon! I STUFF ours with cheese. We use goat cheese because we LOVE it! Any soft cheese will do - cream cheese or even blue cheese. I'm thinking a cube of chedder may even work but I haven't gotten past the goat cheese yet. Roll the cheese into a 1/2 to 3/4 inch ball.

1. take the rolled burger balls 2. put your thumb in to make a hole 3. place the cheese in the hole

Squeeze the burger up around the cheese, pinch it closed and flatten the burger carefully. Fry or grill until completely cooked.

While the burgers and chips were cooking I made bruschetta for the topping of our burger. We have so much fresh basil in the garden I am making a lot of bruschetta to eat on pretty much everything!

1 tomato

1 garlic clove (or to taste)

a handful of basil - chopped (I use scissors)

olive oil 

The result! A REALLY yummy dinner. I sliced the burger in half so that you could see the goat cheese.

So EASY but yet sooooo GOOD! I hope you try them so that you too can save a little money by staying in for your burger fix rather than going out to eat. We don't have a BBQ so I fry them inside but I bet they'd be even BETTER grilled!

Thankfully! We had rain and much cooler temperatures here at the park today. The weatherman has been threatening thunderstorms for the last few days - we are so glad it finally came true! So much rain this morning that we took it off - no sense raking sites in the rain. I did have to attend to one of our campers, a single lady who required assistance from the police and ambulance - so it was a busy day nonetheless. The rain stopped by the afternoon so it was back to my normal evening rounds.

Thanks for visiting Sunday Cook at a life made simple.

Teresa

Today's Interesting Link: I found this blog not too long ago - as usual right? When I arrived I started laughing pretty early into reading it and therefore decided that I MUST go back and read some posts. Raised by my Daughter is a blog written by Neal - the dad of a little girl. He adds cartoon sketches his posts that I could totally relate to!