Grill Pan for a Burger

Woo hoo. I finally got the Bar and Grill open for business. (For those of you not in the know, that means I got the screened in patio ready for the season.) You can expect a ton of grill and barbecue recipes, because I live on the grill in the summer. When I make burgers, I make onions, mushrooms and peppers to go on top of them. I toss the veggies in oil, add salt and pepper and then cook them along side my burger in a grill pan. Today's burger was a hamburger with Swiss, topped with onions, pepper, and mushroom served on a homemade part whole wheat rye bun. (I'm still working on the rye recipe.) Hamburgers are 4 1/2 -5 minutes per side for medium and 5-6 minutes per side for well done. Medium is relatively safe if you ground your own meat. If you got your hamburger from a store, then well done it is.

*I lied. The FDA says you can eat ground meat at 160.

Milk from Sterling

Go _____? Sisters... anyone...what was Sterling's mascot? I know they were Blue and White. But I digress. I was in Dan's Supervalue North today and they were handing out samples of milk from Sterling, N.D. A.K.A. Bessy's Best. There were samples and a schpeal and I was interested, but in a hurry. (Lost season finally tonight. *spoiler alert* Bus driver...Move! That! Island!) I looked on the web and they make and bottle fresh whole milk. Nothing added, nothing taken away. If you have toddlers, you should be extra excited. There is some kind of stuff (that's the technical term) in grass fed whole milk that makes it especially good for toddlers. I don't whether the cows are grass fed or not, but I'd put my money on grass fed if I were a betting woman. If you want to know for sure or have any other questions, there is an e-mail address in the above link. Had I been thinking ahead this would have been great to make ice cream out of and homemade yogurt to make into frozen yogurt. Next time...
Here is an article from KX 12
Hey Lora- Did you find an article on grass fed milk and beef and stuff that is really long and you have no idea whether or not it's reliable? I Sure did. Click here.
Another Lost spoiler alert. Hey why are you putting all that metal in that thingy? Blerk...Blerk...Blerk....Blerk....(storm alert). Hey I sure wish we could get rid of 200 lbs from this helicopter. Blerk...Blerk...Blerk...Blerk... There was another well timed one too, but I can't remember it now. Each announcement went on forever and I don't know why they have to read them to you when they are scrolling across the screen. I heard the blerks. I can read them myself. Erg!

Strawberry (or Peach or Pineapple)Yogurt Smoothie

You can also make smoothies from blueberries, peaches, blackberries (I usually use frozen berries), mixed berries, or peaches.

STRAWBERRY YOGURT SMOOTHIE

yield two smoothies (or one if you want a big breakfast)

INGREDIENTS

4 strawberries

1/2 banana

1 C plain yogurt

2 tsp sugar or to taste

1 T flax seeds (ground)(optional)

a few fresh mint leaves (optional)

a drop of vanilla extract (optional)

Combine all ingredients either in a blender (add a few ice cubes) or blend with an immersion blender (no ice cubes). If you make this with an immersion blender, add a few ice cubes to the glass you serve it in. You can store the extra smoothie in the refrigerator and have it for breakfast tomorrow. You can put the extra 1/2 banana in the freezer.

PEACH SMOOTHIE

Substitute 1/2 peach or nectarine for the strawberries. The nectarines were small today, so I used a whole one. I also really like mint leaves in my peach smoothie.

Pineapple Smoothie

INGREDIENTS

1/2 c pineapple

1/2 a banana

1 c plain yogurt

1 T flax seed

1 T coconut

1 tsp sugar

Combine all ingredients either in a blender (add a few ice cubes) or blend with an immersion blender (no ice cubes). If you make this with an immersion blender, add a few ice cubes to the glass you serve it in. You can store the extra smoothie in the refrigerator and have it for breakfast tomorrow. You can put the extra 1/2 banana in the freezer.

Are green, red, yellow peppers the same plant?

Here is the answer I found at world's healthiest foods:
Most of the differences in bell pepper color stem from
(1) time of harvest and
(2) degree of ripening.
Green peppers are bell peppers that have been harvested before being allowed to fully ripen. Although green peppers usually pass through a color stage of yellow-orange before turning a shade of red, they don't always. Red, orange, and yellow bell peppers are always more ripe than green ones. Bottom line: all of the bell peppers originate from the same species of plant, and they achieve their different colors naturally, not by any artificial means.

freezer tip for hamburger or veggie puree

I found this post via tastespotting (a blog with gorgeous pictures from other blogs, a must see for foodies). In the post they have a method for freezing hamburger that I've never seen before. The hamburger is flattened down in a gallon freezer bag and then a chopstick is pressed down on the plastic to divide the bag into 9 portions. (see pic in link) This way you can get individual portions when you want them and roll the bag to store in the freezer if you don't have a place for flat bags in your freezer. They also suggest using this technique for rice, thick pasta sauces (should work for pesto), mashed or pureed fruits or vegetables, cookie dough, etc. The only one of those suggestions I think makes real sense is pureed or mashed fruits and veggies for single servings, to add small amounts to recipes (especially if you do the sneaking veggie puree into food strategy that is so popular now), or for baby food. Anyway, it seems like a good idea.

I'm not dead, I swear.

I have been cooking lately, but not posting. I made a few things that are already on my blog, but didn't have pictures. I have new pictures for whole wheat pita chips, tzatziki, and Lora's weird wheat berry salad. I'm also have been making a few things that are a work in progress. Wheat bread, a pumpernickel part whole wheat part white flour rye bread thingy, and I made strawberry smoothie (I have to figure out the right amount of sugar, I used too much.), and frozen yogurt. I've been making lots of yogurt since the homemade yogurt post. I've also made an almost recipe. I almost liked the lime-coconut milk ice cream.

Viva la boxed wine

Epicurious (a food site) has a review of boxed wines. I know they have Black Box wine at Captain Jacks (and I'm sure lots of other liqueur stores). I'm pretty sure I've seen Hardy's around somewhere, but I've never tried it. I not a wine connoisseur, but I really like Black Box wine. Box wine is also nice because you can have one glass and not pressure to hurry up and drink the rest of the bottle before it goes bad. Not really that much of a problem, but I still feel pressured. Box wine just sits in my fridge and waits until I'm ready. Incidental, Minerva's in Bismarck has 3$ Black Box wine at happy hour and awesome wood fire pizzas. You should check it out.