Greek Hamburgers with Tzataiki Sauce

I have a question for those who love to read recipes.  Have you ever read a recipe and thought, "I have got to make that recipe?"  That is just what I thought when I found this recipe.  We haven't eaten much Greek food and my husband is not very adventurous when it comes to trying new food.  Who would I cook this meal for?  The recipe kept haunting my thoughts!  I had to try.  I am so glad I did.  It was yummy!  

The patties are full of interesting ingredients; feta, spinach, mint, dill...  The best part about the patties is they don't taste like hamburger!  For those who don't know me, I am not a fan of the flavor of meat.  You have to well season the meat for me to like.

The burger is almost too much to fit in your mouth.  I loved the toppings of spinach, tomatoes, and cucumber.  A sandwich with just the toppings and the tzataiki sauce would make a great lunch. 

My husband liked the burger and said he would eat it again. He didn't have the enthusiasm about the burger that I did but I know I can make it again without any whining.  Can't wait.

Ingredients for the tzatziki sauce:
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove finely minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
1/2 cucumber
salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the burgers:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 cups lightly packed baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound ground beef

Ingredients for toppings:
4 whole wheat English muffins
sliced cucumber
thinly sliced red onion
baby spinach leaves
tomato slices

 

Directions for the tzatziki sauce:Shred cucumber, wrap in a towel or paper towels and squeeze to remove as much water as possible.
Combine all ingredients and season to taste.

Directions for the burgers:
Heat oil in a small skillet. Saute onions until soft. Add spinach and cook until wilted- about 1 minute. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, wrap mixture in a paper towel and squeeze to drain most of the liquid out.
Combine feta, herbs, salt, pepper and spinach mixture and ground beef. Form into 4 patties.
Grill over medium high heat on a well-oiled grill. Grill for 4 minutes on one side, flip burgers and grill for 3 minutes on the other.
Top with tzatziki, cucumber, onion, tomato and spinach.

Moist Bran Muffins

Smiths grocery store used to make the most delicious bran muffins.  I loved them!  This recipe is the closest one to those muffins but still not as good.  I got the recipe from Red Mill bran package.

Ingredients

• 1 cup wheat bran
• 1½  cup whole wheat flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t salt
• ¾  cup raisins
• ½  cup nuts chopped
• 1 cup milk
• ½  cup molasses
• ½  cup sugar
• ¾  cup applesauce
• 2 T oil
• 2 eggs beaten

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine wheat bran, flour, baking soda, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in nuts and raisins.  In a separate bowl, blend milk, molasses, sugar, applesauce, oil, and eggs.  Add to dry ingredients and stir until moistened.  Spoon into greased muffin tin (or paper muffin cups) and bake for 15-20 minutes.

White Chicken Enchiladas

My favorite enchilada would be one with a red sauce.  Specifically, the ones my sister makes.  She puts lots of onions in hers.  I have not been able to recreate her recipe even though she has tried to teach me.  My family doesn't much like that kind of enchilada but they enjoy this White Chicken Enchilada. 

Ingredients:

• 10 flour tortillas
• 5 chicken breasts
• 1 pint sour cream
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 can green chilies
• Cheddar cheese grated


Directions:

Cook seasoned chicken in crockpot until chicken will shred. Mix sour cream, soup, chilies, and a small amount of chicken broth. Fill tortillas with chicken, cheese and a small amount of sour cream mixture. Place in baking dish. Top with remaining cheese and sour cream mixture. Bake covered at 375° for 45 minutes.

Lion House Rolls

This recipe can be found on the Internet.  I have not changed a thing.  They are almost fail proof.  Putting the recipe here just helps me find it again.  There is also a video on the Internet showing you how to roll them out.  Can I say I just love bread, any kind of bread.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water
• ⅔ cup nonfat dry milk
• 2 T dry yeast
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 t salt
• ⅓ cup butter
• 1 egg
• 5-5½ cups flour


Directions:

In electric mixer, combine water and dry milk; stir to dissolve milk. Add yeast, then sugar, salt, butter, egg and 2 cups flour. Mix for 2 minutes. Keep adding flour until dough is not overly sticky and not stiff. Turn dough into an oiled bowl. Let rise to double the size. Cut into desired shapes. Place on baking sheet. Let rise approx 1 to 1½ hours. Bake in a 375° oven for 15-20 minutes. Brush with melted butter. Makes 2 -2½ dozen rolls.

Sloppy Joes

This recipe is one my mother cooked all the time I was growing up.  As all recipes go, through time I have changed it to be just the way I like.  Somethings you just can't put in a recipe!  When I give this recipe to someone it never tastes the same!  The amounts are a guesstimate.  Just don't be afraid of the mustard, season the ground beef, and cook it until it reaches the consistency you like.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 onion chopped
• ½ green pepper chopped
• 2 cans chicken gumbo soup
• ½ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup mustard
• Hamburger buns

Directions:

Brown ground beef. Spoon off extra grease, add onions and green peppers. Add soup, ketchup, and mustard; simmer to desired consistency. Serve on buns. Some like a slice of cheddar cheese on the sloppy joe.

Green Beans with Bacon

Bacon in anything makes it better!  That holds true for green beans too.  I tried this recipe I found on the Internet mixed with other ingredients.  Loved it!  The small amount of heat makes your taste buds wake up and say, "What is the heat in the green beans? Ummm, yummy bacon!" 

Ingredients:

• 2½ lb green beans trimmed
• Kosher salt
• ½ lb bacon roughly chopped
• 1 sm onion finely chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms sliced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 t red pepper flakes
• ½ cup pecans chopped and toasted (optional)
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Freshly ground pepper


Directions:

Toss the green beans into a large pot of boiling salted water and cook until bright green and crisp tender, about 5 minutes. Drain the beans and shock in a large bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Drain beans again and pat dry.

Cook the bacon in a large frying pan until crisp. Remove bacon from pan. Spoon off excess bacon grease. Add onions to pan, cook until translucent, add mushrooms, garlic and rd pepper flakes. Cook until mushrooms are limp. Add green beans and pecans; cook until heated through. Return bacon to the pan, pour in lemon juice and toss. Salt and pepper to taste.

Spinach Salad with Cranberry Vinegarette

When I visited the beautiful city of Seattle with my son, he took us to meet many of the people he worked with while on his mission.  One awesome family fed us a yummy dinner.  My favorite thing on the menu and the only thing I can remember was this Spinach Salad.  My son made sure I got the recipe.  Whenever I make this salad I remember the great family that broke bread with us and the great time we had.

Ingredients:

Dressing
4 T rice wine vinegar
1½ t Dijon mustard
¼ t pepper
½ cup canola oil
4 T cranberry juice concentrate
Salad
8 cups spinach
1 avocado
½ cup red onion thinly sliced
1 cup pomegranate seeds
OR
½ cup dried cranberries

Clam Dip

Chips and Dip!  What celebration doesn't include chips with some kind of dip?  This dip recipe is a big hit at my parties.  You can spice it up by how much horseradish you put in the dip.  Add more horseradish than suggested for a spicier dip and less if your not so much a horseradish fan.  It is guaranteed when my daughter brings the dip it will be on the spicy side. 

Ingredients:

2 cans minced clams
1 pint sour cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 Tbs. horseradish
2 Tbs. dried minced onion

Cheeseball

The holidays are right around the corner.  This year is the ON year, meaning all the kids will be home for Thanksgiving.  What a great time of year!  My son says it is his favorite holiday because it includes Family, Food, and Football.  I don't really know in what order.  One  recipe that is sure to be made during the holidays in our home would be this cheeseball recipe that has been handed down from my husband's mother.  It is served with crackers of all sorts. 

Ingredients:

16 oz. cream cheese
1 small bottle sharp cheese
1 small onion minced
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 pkg. Hidden Valley bleu cheese mix
walnuts chopped

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together except the nuts.  Form into two balls and cover with nuts.

Baked Rigatoni

When I looked in the cupboard and saw a huge bag of rigatoni I thought I should use some of that for Sunday dinner.  I started looking for recipes that included the ingredients that sounded delicious to me.  Of course sausage and rigatoni had to be the biggest players.  I couldn't settle on one recipe so I combined a few together.  It turned out just how I wanted.  For me, the very best part was the toasted Parmesan and asiago cheese on top! 

Ingredients:

1 lb. Italian sausage

1 lb. rigatoni pasta

24 oz. spaghetti sauce

1 roasted red pepper chopped

½ onion chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 cup mushrooms sliced

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup mozzarella cheese grated

½ cup Parmesan cheese grated

½ cup asiago cheese grated

 

Directions:

 

Cook pasta until almost tender.  While pasta is cooking, fry sausage in large pot.  When sausage is no longer pink, remove from pot. Add onions, cook until translucent.  Add garlic, mushrooms, roasted red pepper, cook until mushrooms are limp.  Add sausage back into the pot along with the basil and cooked pasta.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Place mixture in a baking dish.  Top with cheeses.  Cover and bake 45 minutes at 350˚.  Uncover and broil for the last 15 minutes to toast the cheeses.

Baked Spaghetti

When my daughter told me about this recipe I was leery.  I had never considered having tomatoes and cream of mushroom soup in the same dish.  Well, I did give it a try.  Loved it!  It was a keeper.  The best part is you can make ahead and it is easy to put together.  I think I love the make ahead dishes better.  I hate the rush of getting everything to finish cooking at the same time and on the table.  I like the relaxed dinner that I just have to pull out of the oven and refrigerator .

Ingredients:

1 cup Onion chopped

1 cup Green Pepper chopped

1 cup Mushrooms chopped

1 Tbs Butter 

20 oz Tomatoes with liquid cut up

1 can Olives sliced

2 tsp Oregano

1 lb Ground Beef browned

12 oz Spaghetti cooked and drained

2 cups Cheese grated

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup

¼  cup Water

¼  cup Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:

Melt butter in frying pan, sauté onions, green pepper, and mushrooms.  Add tomatoes, olives, and ground beef, simmer 10 minutes uncovered. Place ½  of the spaghetti in baking dish.  Top with ½  of the vegetable mixture.  Sprinkle with ½  of the cheese.  Repeat.  Mix soup and water until smooth, pour over casserole.  Top with Parmesan cheese.  Bake uncovered at 350° for 30-35 minutes.

Strawberry Salad

I am always on the lookout for great salads.  If I can't have dessert for dinner then a salad would be my next choice.  This salad recipe was handed out at Relief Society after a Stake Relief Society dinner.  I didn't taste it at the meeting but the strange sounding dressing caught my eye.  It is very easy to make and best eaten right after the dressing is poured on.

Strawberry Salad

Ingredients:

Salad:

Romaine Lettuce or Spring Mix
2 cups Strawberries sliced
1 pkg Bacon fried and crumbled
1 cup Cashews
¼ Purple Onion sliced or chopped

Dressing:

2 cups Mayonnaise
⅓ cup Half & Half
3 Tbs Raspberry Jam
¼ cup Rice Wine Vinegar or Raspberry Vinegar
⅓ cup Sugar
Poppy Seeds

Caramel Bugles

My daughter introduced me to these Caramel Bugles.  They are better then caramel popcorn and much like Lays potato chips, you can't eat just one!  It doesn't matter if the caramel get too hard or if the caramel is too soft they are still delicious.  Even Goldie Locks wouldn't complain.

Caramel Bugles

Ingredients:

1 cup Light Corn Syrup
2 cups Brown Sugar
1 cup Butter
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 lg bag Bugles

Directions:

Bring to boil for 5 to 6 minutes.  Pour over bugles and stir carefully until the caramel is covering all the bugles.

Raisin Cookies

I am getting ready for a trip to Yellowstone in our new trailer.  I love the outdoors and love it even more when the accommodations include the small things like running water, showers, air conditioning, heater, and sorry to say wi-fi and television.  I do hope we see some wild life in Yellowstone but if not we will be enjoy the relaxing time without a time clock. 

I always feel like I need to cook or bake something for our trips.  If must go back to the camping in a tent era when you had to take all the food required.  Even though we camping close to a town and walking distant to a restaurant I am still whipping up some goodies for the trip. 

One recipe I made is delectable raisin cookies.  The recipe follows.  I got this recipe when I worked at a local mall.  One of my co-worker's mother would bring these cookies in to work for us to share. 

Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup Butter
2 cups Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
5½ cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Nutmeg
½ tsp Salt
1 cup Sour Cream
2 cups Raisins
½ cup Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon

Directions:

For filling: In small sauce pan boil raisins in enough water to cover.  Add sugar and cinnamon.  Thicken with small amount of water and corn startch.  Let cool.

For dough:  Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla.  In another bowl add together flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.  Taking turns, mix dry ingredients and sour cream with the buter mixture.

Roll dough out.  Cut into circles.  Place one circle on cookie sheet top with about a teaspoon of filling then place another circle on top.  Secure edges.  Bake at 375˚ for 12 minutes or until done.

Oh Henry Bars

This recipe was given to be by my daughter-in-law. I think it is addicting! It has been a staple treat when going camping.

Ingredients

2 cups Karo syrup
2 cups sugar
2 cups peanut butter
14 cups Rice Krispies
1 pkg chocolate chips
1 pkg butterscotch chips

Directions

Heat syrup and sugar until it boils. Add peanut butter. Take off heat and pour over Rice Krispies. Stir together. Pour into large buttered cookie sheet, bigger than 9x11, press the mixture down. Melt chips in microwave in one minute intervals. When melted spread over Rice Krispies mixture. When cooled cut into squares and keep in air tight container.

Always Fabulous Fudge

When I was young I didn't like fudge. It was just something to make at Christmas time. Now it is one of my most favorite treats. This recipe is fantastic because it is easy and yummy.

Ingredients

4 cups sugar
1 can evaporated milk
2 cubes butter (not margarine)
1 lb Hershey's chocolate Symphony bars
1 cup chopped nuts (not an option in my opinion)

Directions

In a heavy sauce pan bring sugar and milk to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter, chocolate bar (broken in pieces), and nuts. Spread in a butter 9x13 pan. Store in refrigerator. When set up cut into pieces.

Texas Cavier

This delicious chip dip can almost be a meal. I like it a little spicy. I am not going to give amounts because I just put in the ingredients I like. This is a list of ingredients I like best. Serve with corn chips.

Ingredients
Rotel tomatoes
Onion
Green Pepper
Garlic
Jalenpeno
Black Beans
Cilantro
Lime juice
Cumin
Shoepeg Corn
Avocado
Salt
Pepper

Betty's Meringue

While Preston was home this weekend he made a delicious dessert.  The recipe was shared by one of his great friends. It is a twist on Strawberry Shortcake.  Instead of a cake on the bottom it is a meringue.  At first I was skeptial but it turned out to be a wonderful dessert.  One I didn't want to stop eating!

Ingredients:

1 cup Sugar
10 single Saltine Crackers rolled into very fine crumbles
½ cup finely chopped Pecans
3 Egg Whites
½ tea Baking Powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Butter a 9 inch pie pan.  Beat egg whites and baking powder until stiff.  Gradually beat in sugar.  Fold in cracker crumbs and pecans.  Spread onto cookie sheet (or pie plate)  Bake for 30 minutes.  Pull out and let cool.  Serve with sliced strawberries (sweetened if needed) and whipped cream.  This should serve 6.

Bruschetta

I love basil.  I also love bruschetta.  Maybe because it has basil in it!  Here is a wonderful recipe.  Try it you'll like it!

Ingredients:

6 Roma Tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup Fresh Basil, chopped
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
2 cloves Garlic
1 T Balsamic Vinegar
1 tea Olive Oil
1/4 tea Salt
1/4 tea Black Pepper
1 Baguette, sliced and toasted

Directions:

In a bowl, toss together the tomatoes, basil, Parmesan cheese, and garlic.  Mix in the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Serve on toasted bread slices.

Pizza Toppings

Grilled pizza is a fun Sunday dinner with the family.  I get the toppings ready and let everyone make their own pizza.  We grill them on the barbecue.  It is fun to see the combinations.  Here is a list of toppings.  I am sure there are many more items you can use but this is a good start. 

Sauce
Spaghetti Sauce
Barbecue Sauce
Alfredo Sauce
Pesto
Roasted Red Pepper Pesto
Garlic Sauce

Meat
Sausage
Ham
Pepperoni
Chicken
Canadian Bacon

Vegetables/Fruit
Green Pepper
Onion
Mushrooms
Pineapple
Olives
Basil

Cheeses
Mozzarella
Parmesan
Gouda
Gorgonzola
Asiago
Romano