Juicy Hamburgers

I had to come up with a quick dinner idea the other night, so naturally I stood in the meat section of the grocery store pondering my options.  And sure enough, ground beef was on sale...so, it was settled...hamburgers!  The great thing about hamburgers is their versatility.  By this I mean you can make them out of ground turkey, beef, chicken, and even vegetarian options...literally so many options.  And just think of the many toppings you can have on them!  My point is, I rarely have a burger that I don't like, and it's really easy to make them at home.

Ingredients:

• Ground meat of your choice
• Worcestershire sauce
• Garlic salt
• Dried minced onion
• Fresh ground black pepper

Add the ground meat, garlic salt, ground pepper, minced onion, and Worcestershire sauce to the bowl.  I don't really have measurements...b/c I don't measure unless I bake...so I just make sure to put enough in for flavor.  But remember...you can always add more, but you can't take out ingredients.

This is where it gets messy...take your *clean* hands and mix everything together.  Once this is done, grab a fair handful (depending on the size you want to make) and shape them into a ball...like you are making huge meatballs.  Then, smoosh (is that a word?) them flat, rounding out the edges.

When you're finished, place them on a plate and heat up your pan...or grill.   I used about 2 lbs. of meat, so I made fairly decent sized burgers.

Easy peasy to do this on a pan indoors, but feel free to do these on the grill!  I crank the burner to just over medium & put them right into the pan.

When they have just browned on the first side, flip them over and let them brown on the other side.  Then, cover them with the lid and let them steam in their own juicy goodness.  Check & flip them every so often so they don't burn though.

Andddddd yum!  When you insert a knife in the burgers and they do not ooze pink liquid, they are done.  Slap a piece of cheese on when hot, take a fork to them, and eat right away...at least that's how I eat them!  But again, feel free to enjoy any way you would like!

Homemade Tomato Soup

I'm all about comfort food...and tomato soup is just that!  This is a quick, homemade soup that you can make with ingredients that are probably in your pantry already.  This makes a decent batch of soup...probably 6-10 servings, so you can always increase or decrease the amount depending on how many stomachs...or Tupperware containers you need to fill! 

Ingredients:

• Onion
• Garlic
• Splash of oil
• Tomato sauce
• Chicken stock
• Diced tomatoes
• Cannellini beans
• Mini version of a noodle (i.e., ditalini, mini shells, orzo, pastina, etc.)
• Spices (optional)

Add a splash of oil in a large pot and turn the burner on medium to medium-high.  Chop the onion while the oil heats.

Add the onion, salt and pepper, and stir periodically.

When the onion turns translucent, add minced garlic.  This should be done just before you add the rest of the ingredients so that it does not burn.

In the meantime, boil some water in a small pot and add about a handful of pasta until it is tender to the bite.

Once the garlic has married with the onion, add your tomato sauce (I used a whole jar).  Also, add the cannellini beans (I used one can, rinsed & drained) as well as a can of diced tomatoes (I did not drain the juice).  Keep the burner on the same heat as you will need to simmer the soup. 

Once you drain the cooked noodles, add them to the rest of the ingredients.

Now, it's time for the chicken stock.  However much you use is solely up to you.  If you like a chunky soup, add less...if you like it soupier, add more.  Just kind of gauge it by the consistency you like.  Simmer for about 10 minutes to let everything get happy together.

Now here's my little secret...I like this soup to be a bit on the spicy side, so I add in crushed red pepper.  Totally up to you, but let me just say, this soup is so versatile you can easily make it your own.

I eat this soup as is...but dang if a warm, ooey gooey grilled cheese wouldn't be tasty to dip into it!  Hope y'all enjoy!