Bunless Buffalo Sliders and Sweet Potato Fries

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

I am stuffed and yaaaaaaaaaaaawning. The past hour I've just been bumming around Craig's List, looking for a new job. I graduate in December and really want to find a job in the PR/Marketing field, in which I'll have a degree. I'm also looking at administrative assistant positions... pretty much anything with health insurance benefits! Ugh, stressful.

Dinner was so good tonight. I made delicious little Buffalo Sliders.

I used a pound of buffalo burger (I've got like 5 pounds in the freezer, thanks to my grandparents who buy 1/2 a buffalo every year to share with all their kids and grandkids) and mixed in greek dressing, feta cheese, onions, bread crumbs and egg beaters. I shaped it into seven small patties (odd number, I know) and "fried" them in a wok on the stove.

In a separate pan I sauteed mushrooms and onions. I brushed the tops of the burgers with some more greek dressing, added tomato slices, the mushrooms and onions and some Italian blend cheese, then put them in the oven at 400 degrees for four minutes to melt the cheese.


I served them sans bun, w/ sweet potato fries and steamed veggies on the side. I made seven of them, planning to have leftovers for lunches this week, but I obviously underestimated the appetite of my 6'5, 205-pound baseball player fiancee. I had two slides and he ate ALL THE REST. He never ceases to amaze me.

I did feel like I need some dessert tonight though. So I toasted a chocolate VitaTop Muffin and added some sugar free cool whip and a drizzle of chocolate syrup. Perfection.


Okay I'm going to go lay in bed. Tomorrow will be a good day, tomorrow will be a good day, tomorrow will be a good day....

The power of positive thinking, right?

Mushroom Spaghetti Squash (w/ Recipe!)

Monday, October 20, 2008

What a good Monday. I love it when I have Mondays off of work... that means I have only 4 more days until Friday! Yay!

SNACK

When I got done 'afternoon blogging' earlier, I fixed myself a quick appetizer/snack: garlic cucumber stacks.

• 3 Stoneground What Crackers
• 2 T. garlic herb spread
• 3 cucumber slices

Stack 'em up and shove 'em in! Delicious.

Kris got home around 6. I had just thrown the squash in the oven. He wanted to go for a quick run so I decided to join him. We ran for about 2 miles, sprinting the last leg of it. I was EXHAUSTED. Keeping up w/ a 6'4 professional athlete is no piece of cake, let me tell you! Yikes.

After our run, Kris went to the soccer field behind our building to do some more sprints and agility work (getting ready for spring training in March!) and I walked back to the house to get dinner ready.

DINNER
I made Mushroom Spaghetti Squash and Cheesy Garlic Herb Crisps.


Spaghetti Squash recipe (for 2):

• 1 spaghetti (winter) squash, halved and seeded
• 1 can diced garlic herb tomatoes
• 2 T. minced garlic
• 1/2 a yellow onion, diced
• 3/4 cup sliced button mushrooms
• 1/4 cup reduced fat feta cheese
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• 2 T. parmesan cheese
• freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Place squash halves cut side down in a baking pan filled with 1/2 inch of water. Bake for 45 minutes.
3. Remove squash, let cool.
4. Meanwhile, saute garlic, onions and mushrooms in olive oil (or olive oil spray, as I use) until onions are tender.
5. Add canned tomatoes, cook 5 minutes longer, then reduce heat to low and cover.
6. Scoop the 'spaghetti' out of one squash half (reserve the other half for leftovers!).
7. Combine tomato/onion/mushroom mix with spaghetti squash in a bowl. Mix in feta cheese.
8. Divide spinach onto two plates. Top with squash.
9. Top with freshly ground black pepper and grated parmesan cheese.

SO GOOD. It was even too much for me, I saved some for lunch tomorrow.

I made Cheesy Garlic-Herb Crisps to go with it.

• 1 La Tortilla Factory Low Carb High Fiber Whole Wheat Tortilla (or similar)
• 4 Tablespoons garlic herb spread
• 1/3 cup Reduced Fat Italian Blend Cheese
• Dried parsley flakes (or fresh, if you have them!)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spray 12-inch pizza pan with olive oil cooking spray.
3. Place tortilla on pan, spread with garlic herb spread.
4. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley flakes.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, let cool and cut into slices.

DESSERT
Even though I was pretty full from my incredible meal, I couldn't NOT try one of my new VitaTop muffins for dessert. I thawed it out in the microwaved and then toasted it for a little bed. I spread 1 T. of Naturally More Peanut Butter on it and added Halloween Sprinkles!

It was pretty good, but not as sweet as I expected. I'm not sure I'll get the chocolate kind again. I want to try the corn muffin kind next.

Well I just finished watching Gossip Girl, so it's probably time to get everything ready for tomorrow. Back to the daily grind!