Fried Oatmeal with Raspberries and Maple Syrup

Earlier this week, I had a massive fail while attempting to re-create lettuce wraps.  They not only tasted pretty terrible, but I also received a pretty nasty burn mark as well. All in all a fail.  Recently, I've become seriously addicted to Stumble Upon (BTW, Make sure to click the link to the right to help get my blog on Stumble Upon!).  While looking at food blogs at all hours of the night, I came across a delicious recipe for fried oatmeal.  Clearly I was intrigued. Not only because it sounded delicious, but how could this ever work? Surprisingly, after glancing at the recipe I realized it was quite easy.  I decided to give it a try this morning.  A quick heads up, I made the oatmeal a day ahead to ensure that it would set completely.  Also, you don't want to cook the oatmeal with too much water, or it will not set properly.  Looking back, I would add even less water then the recipe called for.  I also added some raisins and a bit of brown sugar to my oatmeal to add a bit of sweetness.

INGREDIENTS:
1 Cup Quick Cooking Oats - cook according to box
1/4 Cup raisins
1 Tbs. Packed Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Frozen Raspberries
1 Tsp. Sugar
2 Tbs. Butter
Maple Syrup for serving

Oops, how did that get in there??? Bumble Bean!!!!!!

1.  A day ahead of time, cook your oats according to the directions on the box.  As I stated before, you may want to go light on the cooking liquid to help the oatmeal set properly.  After cooking the oatmeal, add the raisins and brown sugar.

2.  Place the cooked oatmeal in a loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and place in the fridge to cool and set until the next morning.

3.  In a medium pan melt the butter on medium to medium-high heat.  Take your loaf pan out of the refrigerator and cut oatmeal into squares.  Using a spatula remove the pieces out in preparation for cooking.  Place into heated pan and fry for 2-3 min on each side or until golden brown.

4.  Mix the sugar with eh defrosted berries.  Serve fried oatmeal atop the berries and top with maple syrup.

This is a wonderful surprise to the boring old oatmeal breakfast.  You could add many different fruits to your oatmeal to change up the flavor too! Be creative and always enjoy!

Bacon and Blue Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Blake and I like to eat at this little hole in the wall restaurant that serves the BEST turkey burger! We always eat dinner there after hitting a few golf balls at the driving range next door and it's a wonderful way to end a nice summer evening. This is a bit of an adaptation of their BBQ bacon turkey burger.  Although it was cool to have the bacon and cheese on the inside, I actually think this burger would be better with all the goodies on the outside.  I topped my BBQ bacon burger off with homemade chunky BBQ sauce and a poblano pepper sweet onion salsa.

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. Lean ground turkey
1/4 Sweet onion - finely grated
1 Tbs. Grill Seasoning
4 Slices Bacon
2 Tbs. Blue Cheese Crumbles - 1 Tbs. per burger
Any type of hamburger bun you like 

1.  In a large bowl, mix together the grated onion and grill seasoning.  Unlike ground beef, ground turkey will not get tough from over mixing.  Make sure the ground turkey is well mixed before making your patties.  You will need to make four patties for two burgers.

2.  Make two of the patties and in the center put crumbled bacon and blue cheese.  Make the other two patties and place on top of the previous ones.  Pinch together the sides ensuring that the two patties are well sealed.

3.  In a large skillet on medium to medium-high heat, heat 1 Tbs. oil and 1 Tbs. butter.  Place the two burgers and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side, making sure they are cooked thoroughly.

4.  Once the burgers are ready to serve, place on top of your hamburger bun and top with the Chunky BBQ sauce.  Find the recipe here for the BBQ sauce form my previous post! Then top with the Salsa and enjoy!


Pablano Pepper and Sweet Onion Salsa:
1/2 Pablano Pepper - Diced
1/4 Sweet Onion - Diced
1 Tsp. Cider Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

1.  Mix together ingredients and set aside until the burgers are ready to serve.

Beet and Onion Salad

Beets are delicious and often forgotten about.  They are high in Carbohydrates and low in fat, which means you'll get plenty of energy from eating them without all of that fat! The only time I really even eat beets is on a Greek Salad, and even though this isn't a far departure, it's a great beginning course to a meal.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Can of beets - julienned
1/2 Small sweet onion - sliced
1/4 Cup Gorgonzola crumbles
Mixed Greens for serving

DRESSING:
2 Tbs. Apple Cider vinegar
1 Tbs. Honey
1 Garlic clove
1/2 Tbs. Dijon Mustard 
4 Tbs. Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

1.  In a small bowl mix together the dressing ingredients.  Pour the dressing over the beets, onion, and cheese.  Refrigerate the salad mixture up to an hour ahead of time.

2.  Serve the beet salad on top of a bed of mixed greens and enjoy!

Caramel Apple Crumble Bars

 

Even though we're having a bit of a heat wave, it is officially fall! The cider mills are open and apple and pumpkin farms are in full swing.  My initial recipe was going to be for caramel apples, but that obviously did not work out.  Instead, I adapted a recipe from Paula Deen and made it my own. Her original recipe was for a Caramel Apple Cheescake Bar, but I really didn't have the time to make cheesecake and instead opted to add in raspberries and pecans for this simple apple crumble bar.  

This recipe was specifically made for my School Psych classmates who are working super hard to finish their readings and homework this week.  With that said, you all better raise your hand and answer questions, because clearly I was busy baking and writing this blog.  

CRUST:

1 Cup Flour

1/2 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

2 Sticks butter softened

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees

2.   Mix together the flour and sugar and then cut in the butter.  Paula Deen recommends using a pastry blender.  A) I have no idea what that is B) I used my hands. 

2.  Pat down into a greased 9X9 baking dish and bake for 15 minutes, or until a light golden brown.

FILLING:
2 Granny Smith Apples- peeled and sliced
2 Macintosh Apples - peeled and sliced
1/2 Cup Frozen or Fresh Raspberries
2 Tbs. Sugar
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp. Nutmeg - if you have it

1.  Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and spread over baked crust.

CRUMB TOPPING:
1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
1 Stick Butter - softened
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 pinch salt
2 Tbs. Pecans


1.  Mix together the ingredients (again, just use your hands). Sprinkle on top of the apple filling and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the filling is set.  The crumb topping should also be golden brown

CARAMEL SAUCE:
10-12 unwrapped candy caramels
1/4 Cup water

1.  In a small pot over medium heat, melt the caramels.  Continue stirring the caramels with a wooden spoon until completely melted.

2.  Poor over the top of the finished bars and top with any extra pecans.