Juicy Lucy Burger

Happy Memorial Day! Let's not forget those who have lost their lives for this great country of ours. But did you know that its also National Hamburger Day? I didn't either. It just happened to pop up on my Facebook page from Betty Crocker (yeah, I'm fan of Betty Crocker on Facebook. Wut of it?). I had planned on making burgers today anyway. But what a great reason to make them.

I was looking for hamburger ideas to make for this weekend from What's Cookin' Chicago? and found this recipe for a Juicy Lucy. I've heard of a stuffed burger being called a Juicy Lucy before on the Food Network. I haven't made my Stuffed Burger in a while. And even then, I used ready-made hamburger patties. I've always wanted to make the burgers from scratch. So this recipe was perfect. This burger was dangerously delicious. Nice and juicy, with a surprise in the center. I've definitely found a new way to make stuffed burgers. So in honor of Memorial Day and National Hamburger Day, I now introduce you to the Juicy Lucy!

1 lb. ground beef (the more fat, the better)
1 large egg
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 cup shredded cheese
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
Hamburger buns
sliced red onions
lettuce
sliced tomatoes

1) In a large mixing bowl, combine ground beef, egg, bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, and all the seasonings. Mix well using your hands to thoroughly combine. Divide and shape into 4 patties. Set aside.

2) Take one patty and create a large well in the center. Fill the well with about 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese. Top with 1/4 Tbsp. of the butter. Fold the meat over the cheese to completely cover the cheese. Re-shape into a patty. Repeat with the other patties.

3) Grill burgers to desired doneness. Try not to work the meat too much. Don't worry, some cheese may leak out. Place on hamburger buns and top with your favorite toppings.

Deceptively Delicious Mozzarella sticks

For lunch today, I decided to make these. I was so excited when I found this recipe out of my Deceptively Delicious cookbook. Aside from pasta, the next thing my daughter loves to eat is cheese. String cheese, cheese snacks, cheese slices, grilled cheese sandwich without the bread, quesadillas without the tortillas..........you get the point. My dad gave her some frozen mozzarella sticks last week and she seemed to like it. So I thought to give these to her with a healthier twist.

It was pretty tricky to fry the sticks. They ended up melting all over the pan. I think the trick to cooking these is to deep-fry them over super high heat, which is what I did at the end. Aside from that, they came out quite good. My daughter was able to eat a few. They came out pretty gooey, so she pretty much just played with them in the ketchup that I served it with. I'll try to perfect these a little better for the next time.

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 Tbsp. flaxseed meal (optional)

1 tbsp. sesame seeds (optional)

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella

1/2 cup cauliflower puree

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 tsp. salt

1) In a bowl, combine breadcrumbs, flaxseed meal and sesame seeds. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, stir together mozzarella, cauliflower puree and cornstarch until well combined. Shape into logs. Gently roll each log in breadcrumb mixture. Wrap in foil or waxed paper and freeze for 20 minutes.

3) Heat oil in high heat. Arrange mozzarella sticks in pan in a single layer, being careful not crowd them. Cook until crumb coating begins to warm. Place on paper towels to drain oil and sprinkle with salt.

Deceptively Delicious Macaroni & Cheese

The next recipe I wanted to try out from my Deceptively Delicious cookbook is Macaroni & Cheese - my daughter's favorite. There were actually 2 Mac & Cheese recipes in the cookbook - one made out of either butternut squash or cauliflower puree and the other one out of beans. I still had some pumpkin puree, so I decided to use the butternut squash/cauliflower recipe.

My daughter loved this one. You can't even tell that there's a vegetable in this dish. Hubby and I had this for dinner as well, and it was deliciously cheesy. I will probably try making this with my own Mac & Cheese recipe by adding the pureed vegetable, because the concept is similar to my recipe.

1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni (or any pasta you like)

nonstick cooking spray

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/2 cup nonfat milk

1/2 cup butternut squash or cauliflower puree (I used pumpkin puree)

1 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. paprika

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1) Cook pasta according to directions and cook until al dente. Drain.

2) Coat large saucepan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add oil, then flour, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture resembles a thick paste but has not browned, 1 to 2 minutes.

3) Whisk in mil and cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture begins to thicken, 3 to 4 minutes. Add vegetable puree, cheeses, and seasonings, and stir until the cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Stir in the macaroni and serve warm.

(Note: you can also place this in a baking dish and top with bread crumbs, then bake at 345 deg F for 30 minutes if you liked the baked version of Mac & Cheese).

Deceptively Delicious Buttered Pasta

Lately, my daughter has only been eating pasta, rice, and bread. If she won't eat what we're eating, I usually have to whip up a buttered pasta dish with parmesan. Just so she has something in her stomach. But I always feel bad that she's just pretty much eating empty calories. So I was so excited to see a healthy buttered pasta in my new Deceptively Delicious cookbook. I decided that this would be the recipe I'd start with out of this new cookbook.

Its super duper easy and quite good. Hubby and I liked it. And what was even more exciting was that my daughter liked it too. It was so exciting to know that my daughter actually ate veggies without even knowing it. The recipe called for butternut squash, but I had some frozen pureed pumpkin that I had leftover from the holidays that I needed to use up. The pumpkin added a slight sweetness to it, but you can't really tell that there was pumpkin in the dish.

8 oz elbow macaroni
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup pureed butternut squash (or pumpkin)

1) Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and return to warm pot.

2) Add milk, buter, parmesan cheese and butternut squash. Mix until well incorporated.

Deceptively Delicious

My new best friend.....

Aside from my Crock Pot, I've decided that this new cookbook has become one of my favorites.

On Mother's day, I was complaining to my sister-in-law, Deby, how my daughter doesn't eat too much vegetables and I was concerned that she may not have enough of nutrients in her. And so she gave me this great cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry Seinfeld's - the comedian - wife). I had heard so much about this cookbook before and so I was really excited that she gave it to me. Its a cookbook dedicated to sneaking in a little bit of vegetables in kid-favorite dishes. It was actually given to her as well. But her son eats his veggies. And she thought it might be useful for me. Thanks Deby!

I sifted through all the recipes in the book, and already I've found really great ideas that I'm going to share here. I sure hope it works!