Stuffed Burgers

these Stuffed Burgers are so tasty and so easy to make. Instead of putting toppings on top of your burger, now you can put toppings inside of your burger so when you bite into it, its all melted together evenly spreadout throughout your burger. They are much more unique than your typical burgers and they are fun to make too.

Start off by buying ground chop meat. I'd recommend buying the 80% lean chopmeat so that your burgers are juicy. With clean hands, mold the chop meat into flat patties. Each burger will consist of 2 patties, so you want to make each patty somewhat flat. It is your choice if you want to make small or large burgers, for my first time making me these, I made larger patties.

You can add whatever you want to the middle of your burger. For my burger, I put fresh turkey bacon (I cooked it and chopped it into small pieces), onions, hot jalepenos peppers, and shredded cheddar and american cheese.

b e * c r e a t i v e

~Add whatever your taste buds are craving.

Other options include: portobella mushrooms, avacados, mozzarella cheese, tomatos, peppers, etc.

After you have your ingredients layed out, begin by placing cheese in the middle of one patty, followed by your ingredients, followed by more cheese.....



Next you want to place your second flat patty on top of the patty with your ingredients. If you need to, use a spatula to help you pick up the second patty. If it breaks while you're picking it up, mold it again into a harder patty. With clean hands you need to mold the edges of the two patties together....


You can either make your burger on the bbq or flat grill surface on high. Cook for a few minutes on each side. It is important to put an aluminum/grill safe bowl over the burger for at least 2 mintues.

By putting the bowl over the burger while it's cooking, it allows everything inside the burger to melt, so that way, when you bite into it, it is indeed --

the perfect stuffed burger :)

Spaghetti w/broccoli & red hot pepper in G&O, skirt steak & mixed green salad

Cold Pasta Salad

I truly enjoy making and eating cold pasta salad. It is so easy to make and tastes pretty darn good! It makes a perfect side dish to so many meals; whether it's a chicken or a steak dish, hamburgers, sausages, pork chops or even by itself. I can't even count how many times I've made this for my friends or family for different events/bbqs & got to say...it is always a hit! The most time involved in preparing this dish is the chopping, depending on what you put in it.

The pasta I enjoy using the most is either orecchiette, small bow-ties or tri-colored spiral pasta. You could also use penne, small shells, cavatelli etc. There are so many different types to choose from, so have fun with it to your liking. I wouldn't really recommend long pasta such as spaghetti or fettucini because it gets messy for your guests. I only use the long types for hot pasta dishes or lo-mein oriental style dishes.

Before you start preparing the array of ingredients for your pasta salad, you should put a large pot of water on the stove on a high flame. Add a little bit of Kosher salt (it's a bit thicker & you don't need as much) or table salt until the it boils.

Once the water has boiled, stir in the pasta. Add no more than a teaspoon of olive oil to the water. This will help prevent the pasta from getting sticky when you strain it. In about seven minutes, taste the pasta to see if it's ready... you don't want the pasta to over-cook and become mushy!

When it's ready, strain and mix the pasta to seperate apart. Pour all the pasta into a large bowl with some salt, fresh ground black pepper (if you like pepper, the way I do, the fresh kind makes a big difference) and a little bit of olive oil and stir. Put bowl in fridge. I do not like to cover the bowl right away because I want all the heat coming off the pasta to escape... because the colder your pasta salad is, the better it tastes :)

In the meantime, while the water is boiling, that is when I prep my ingredients because it saves a lot more time.

Do not add all these ingredients right on top of the pasta all at once. You should add it all a little at a time, stir, and then add more pasta and repeat...this way all the ingredients are spread out throughout the entire salad.

Variations of ingredients that you could use in your home-made cold pasta salad to suit you & your guest's tastes.:

Cherry/Grape Tomatoes. They usually come in small clear containers. Wash thoroughly. I usually like to slice the tomatoes vertically in half; however, you can also throw them in whole if you'd like.

Fresh Mozzarella balls. They can be bought in the deli section in the supermarket or at an Italian pork store. I like to use the small or extra small mozzarella balls so that way I don't have to cut them, but you can always cut up a large piece if you can't find the smaller ones. Make sure you drain the juice in the mozzarella container before adding to your salad.

Roasted Peppers. Cut them up into tiny pieces.

Sweet White or Red Onion. Dice it into pieces as well, especially because onions have a strong taste.

Celery or Carrots cut into small pieces.

Olives, anchovies, artichokes or portobello mushrooms (cooked or uncooked).

Prosciutto cut into small pieces.

Grilled Chicken cubes. Season first before you cook to enhance flavor. Season it with extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper, squeezed fresh lemon, and a little bit of white wine. Let chicken marinate for as long as possible, so all the flavors are absorbed.

I always recommend using fresh basil. It is so tasty. My mother grows it in her garden, and it is always such a nice feeling to go outside and take some while I'm cooking in the kitchen. Wash the basil and either leave in whole pieces or cut into smaller pieces depending on how you like it.

Finally and most importantly, the dressing. It is a must. Either Balsamic vinegar & extra virgin Olive oil, a ready-made Italian dressing or a lemon and oil dressing, etc.

Salt & freshly ground black pepper.

Do not add all these ingredients right on top of the pasta all at once. You should add it all a little at a time, stir, and then add more pasta and repeat...this way all the ingredients are spread out throughout the entire salad.

Stir all together. Cover and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour. Enjoy! Have fun with it and be creative :)

A delicious, simple, healthier Sunday dinner :)

A few weeks ago on a Sunday, my boyfriend and I were starving and we decided to make ourselves a nice big hearty Sunday dinner. But at the same time, we were trying to avoid all the carbs of pasta and bread. So I opted for a different idea. It took me about an hour to make this whole meal, it was so easy and so delicious.

What we have here is the following:

-grilled boneless porkchops. I put some salt, fresh pepper and a little bit of garlic and onion powder on both sides and threw them on the bbq to cook. (It is much healthier to grill them on the bbq instead of frying and they are just as good) We served this with Peter Lugar steak sauce..so yummy!

-sweet potatoes (much healthier than white potatos)..wrap them in tinfoil on 500 degrees for about an hour. stick a fork inside them and if it goes through, they should be fully cooked.

-TOPPINGS FOR THE SWEET POTATO: fresh turkey bacon (healthier than regular bacon), after you cook them, let cool off and dice up into little pieces. Steamed broccoli florets. Low fat sour cream. I can't believe its not BUTTER and low fat shredded cheddar cheese.

-Grilled peppers and onions (red, yellow, orange and green) with fresh ground pepper and salt.

- Cherry tomato and baby mozzarella ball salad. Put some extra virgin olive oil, baslamic vinegar and salt and fresh ground pepper. After mixing, add some fresh basil.

- French thin sliced string beans, I cooked it on the stove with a little bit of "I can't believe its not butter" for some flavor.

We loved this meal. Although it is not completely healthy, it is 100% a healthier version of a delicious, hearty meal. And it was very very easy to make. Enjoy :)

How to Make Riceballs

Although making riceballs can be a bit tedious, they are really fun to make and sure to please whomever you are making them for. I started making riceballs about five years ago. The first time I made them was with my father, we loved cooking together and we were really excited to try making them. After our first attempt, some of the riceballs broke apart. We realized that it is very important to constantly be molding them with both hands, even before you put into deep fryer. By the second time we made them, we had perfected them. I have been making them ever since & they are a huge hit with my family and my friends. My boyfriend goes crazy for them! I once made "broccoli balls" that look exactly like mini-riceballs, except they have melted mozzarella and broccoli in it only. My boyfriend hates broccoli, but he loves these, he ate about 6 of them! Will be posting recipe soon. Yes they are fattening (deep fried) but they are quite the treat! Especially for a nice Sunday dinner :) Enjoy!

How to Make Riceballs

Start off by boiling some white rice. I like to use the 10 minute rice because it’s easier and tastes just as good but it’s up to you. Drain rice and let cool off for for after 15 minutes. In a bowl mix 2-3 eggs with fork…when rice is cooled off, pour the egg in rice as well as chopped parsley and pecorino cheese. This is important to get the rice nice and sticky. Stir all together and put to side. (You can put in fridge to cool off so it isn’t too hot, because you need to use your hands with rice) Another option is to go a chinese restaurant to buy white rice because their rice is very sticky.

In a nice sized pan, add very little oil or none at all (the meat gives off its own oil). Brown some ground chop meat in the pan. After it is browned, drain oil, saute some finely diced white onion for about two minutes on a medium flame and than put the chop meat back in pan. Add frozen peas (or fresh) and fresh cooked tomato sauce, salt and pepper. Stir and let cook while all the flavors marinate together for at least half hour - 45 minutes. Towards the end, add basil and grated pecorino cheese. Once fully cooked, put the chop-meat mixture on the side to cool off.

What you want to do next is setup the table in order for making the actual riceballs.
Place the rice mixture on the table, next to it put a plate finely shredded mozzarella cheese, than the chop-meat mixture. Next to the chop meat mixture, put a bowl with mixed egg (add salt and pepper…grated cheese and parsley optional) and than next to that- a plate full of breadcrumbs.

WET your hands everytime you make a riceball… take a some of the rice mixture into your hand. Than take some cheese, meat mixture and with your hands firmly mold it all together. Add more rice mixture on top of it and firmly make a hard ball using both hands. Than dip into egg mixture. Be ready to get your hands messy. You can always take a spoon and pour a little of the egg mixture over the ball. If you put it in the egg bowl, VERY QUICKLY use your hands to get egg on riceball, its ok if its mixed in a bit. You want to try to do this part fast so that the riceball does not break apart/get soggy. Continue to keep firmly molding the ball. Than drop into plate of breadcrumbs while continuing to firmly mold so it doesn’t fall apart. After you bread the riceball place it in plate. Before you add to the deep fryer use both hands again to firmly mold to keep the ball in ball.

It only needs to stay in deep fryer for 2 minutes or so. Depends how well done you like it. If you don’t have a deep fryer you can take a big pot and add A LOT of vegetable oil to it and use a strainer to dip each riceball in. Either way works. If you want to make parmesan style, cut open in the middle and put fresh mozzarella over it with tomato sauce and bake in oven.

Questions? Feel free to comment and I will be happy to answer whatever questions you might have. I will be uploading more recipes/meal ideas. :)

This meal below is a meal that I made for a bunch of my girlfriends last year. Another great delicious meal idea. Here we have home-made riceballs and a salad with roasted peppers, onions, cherry tomatos and olives in a lemon&oil dressing, grilled chicken marinated with white wine, salt, ground pepper and extra virgin olive oil. Lastly we have a really easy, declicious pasta dish: whole wheat penne with grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, fresh melted mozzarella and parsley in a white wine, garlic and oil sauce along with home-made cheesy garlic bread. I will 100% be uploading this recipe soon, it is one of my absolute favorites! The white wine adds such better taste to the sauce versues your regular garlic and oil sauce.