[vc_row][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]This Greek Turkey Burger Recipe is an oldie but a goodie, because it’s been re-made without any artificial ingredients.

For quite some time, this recipe has been a family favorite.  Even when my kids were little, they loved the flavors and gobbled up as much as they could.   The recipe originally came from a cookbook you may already have on your shelf.

Unfortunately, the recipe calls for an envelope of Italian salad dressing mix, and I could not find any at the store that did not have some kind of mystery ingredient.  I’ve learned that even “Natural Flavoring” is not something I want in my food, because that often indicates MSG.  [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][vc_single_image image=”2331″ alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” img_link_target=”_blank” link=”http://amzn.to/2dz8k8p”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]If you’re wondering why MSG isn’t good for you, I’d encourage you to study up on it more.  One simple way is to watch this video, by Russell Blaylock, M.D. The information is easy to understand, even for non-scientific types (like myself). It’s long, so I’d recommend putting it on while you’re doing busy work around the house. There are a few parts when you’ll want to look at the screen to see the charts he’s sharing, but for the most part, you can just listen.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1475899590049{margin: 0px !important;border-width: 0px !important;padding: 0px !important;}”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1475899673200{margin: 0px !important;border-width: 0px !important;padding: 0px !important;}”][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/G1bYNsSCxjQ” el_aspect=”43″ align=”center” css=”.vc_custom_1475899826266{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-right: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;margin-left: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-right-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;border-left-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-right: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 10px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Curious to read further? I’ve added his book to my “wish list” on Amazon. You can find the book here.

Now back to the turkey burger recipe.  It’s a little more complicated than in the cookbook, but it’s worth it, because it actually tastes much better when you make it this way.  It’s a multi-step process, as outlined here:[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Step 1: Preparing the seasonings:

Ingredients

1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried basil
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp celery salt
a few quick dashes of pure stevia powder
1 tsp sea salt

Instructions:

In a small bowl, mix all of the seasonings together.  Set aside 1/3 cup for the burgers and use the remaining seasons in the Greek Salsa.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Step 2: Make the Greek Salsa

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
2 Tsp extra light olive oil
Seasonings mix (all except the 1/3 cup set aside for the burgers)
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled & chopped
1 small can chopped black olives (or use a larger can if you love olives)

Instructions:

In a small bowl, mix the oil, vinegar and seasonings together.

In a medium bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumbers and olives.  Pour in the dressing and mix well.  Set aside.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator border_width=”2″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Step 3: Prepare the Burgers

Ingredients:

2 slices of sourdough bread, dried and crumbled (roughly 1/3 cup breadcrumbs) –
~ Look for sourdough bread that has just the basic, real food ingredients.  You can even make your own: here’s a delicious looking recipe!

1/3 cup onion, chopped finely
1 egg white, slightly beaten
1 Tbsp milk
1/3 cup seasoning mix
1 lb ground turkey
Crumbled Feta Cheese[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Burger Instructions:

Mix all the burger ingredients (except for the Feta cheese) together and form into 4-6 patties, depending on your preferences.  Cook them up, either on the grill or stove and make sure the turkey is cooked completely.  According to Consumer Reports, turkey burgers should be cooked to at least 165° F.  A simple meat thermometer like this one should do the trick to make sure the meat is adequately cooked.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]To serve the Greek Turkey Burgers, I like to put the burger on a bed of lettuce and add sliced tomatoes and onions in addition to the Greek Salsa.  Add the crumbled Feta on top. 

I also serve my family pita bread on the side (as shown in the picture), but I don’t think it adds anything to the meal.  The burgers with the Greek salsa and Feta cheese are so flavorful, you don’t need the added bread.  And that’s saying a LOT, because I love bread! But if you must add bread, like the sourdough, look for a good quality pita bread, or make some from scratch.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

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Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

 Rich, sweet buttery goodness on the inside, with a perfectly crunchy top.  At first I added some butter to my warm muffin, but I soon found that it didn’t even need it.  These are good to go – nothing needs to be added. 

These Banana Muffins, I can confidently say, were a success. 

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Lemonberry-O Slushie

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I know to some this hardly seems like the right time of year to be reading about strawberry mango frozen yogurt, but we’re in the tail end of a heat wave here in Southern California, so this suits me just fine right now.   I just had to break out the ice cream maker and get to work. 

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1476150970995{padding-top: 15px !important;}”]I give you part 2 of photo-documenting some amazing Trim Healthy Mama foods that I enjoyed this week.  If you missed part 1, you can find it here.  As a reminder, these are photographs to provide a visual for the recipes in the Trim Healthy Mama book.  For the actual recipes, you’ll need a copy of the book.  It can be bought on Amazon here. 

1. Crepes. 

Oh my goodness. Crepes.  I can’t recall anyone talking about these on the THM FB group.  They are so good and super versatile.  And there’s nothing “diety” tasting about these, so my family will not balk at eating them.  In fact, the first time I tried them one of my kids was standing by gobbling them up before I could even finish cooking the whole batch. 

I’m showing sweet crepes here.  I filled the crepes with a little sweetened cream cheese with some lemon extract and sweetener (KAL) and then warmed some blueberries until they burst and poured them on top.  Oh yes, berry good. 

You can also make savory crepes.  No sweetener in the mix for these, and fill them with your favorite sandwich fillings. They will definitely hit the spot. 

Even though my crepe making skills are sorely lacking and I could never have been hired on as head crepe maker at the Magic Pan, it gets easier with a little practice.  I’ve been making them in a cast iron skillet, but I’d LOVE a crepe pan now!  Maybe one like this one…

 2. Chocolate Nut Slab.

Ok, let’s get serious.  This is about a slab of chocolate.   And this is good.  Oh, so very good.  Trim Healthy Mama has quite a few ways to satisfy your chocolate cravings, and so far, this is my favorite one.  Just a note of caution: this is not a meal.  Repeat that 3 times.  This is not a meal.  You need to know that, because you will want to eat a lot of it once you try it. 

One more warning that comes with the chocolate nut slab:  after you make it, check yourself in a mirror before going out in public, because you will likely have chocolate smeared on your face from licking the bowl clean.  Don’t ask me how I know.  Now go make some. 

Follow my THM Pinterest board for more great recipies!

 3. Spicy Chicken Wings. 

Winner winner chicken dinner.  I have no idea where that saying comes from, but perhaps it was made up after someone ate Buffalo Chicken Wings.  Do you like Buffalo wings?  Good!  Then you’ll like these, because that’s exactly what they are.  And yes, they are “on plan”.  Make ’em as mild or spicy as you like, and eat up.  Sorry the picture is so dull.  Perhaps a nice bowl of ranch dressing and some celery would have dressed it up more, but once my son smelled these cooking, there was no way he was going to wait around for me to photograph all that.  It was a quick shoot and serve situation.   

 4. Just Like Wheat Thins Crackers.

Have you ever wanted to hug someone you’ve never met?  That’s how I feel about Pearl & Serene after trying these crackers.  I don’t think they should be called “Just Like Wheat Thins”, because they’re not.  They’re better.  Especially if you’re eating wheat/gluten free.  There’s no wheat or gluten at all in these, so I’d like to refer to them from now on as “Better than wheat thins because they taste great AND are wheat & gluten free crackers” (abbreviated BTWTBTTGAAWAGF crackers, to keep it simple)  I don’t see a career as a “recipe namer” anywhere in my future. 

Besides the name, there’s much to be said about these BTWTBTTGAAWAGF Crackers.  My first thought upon making them successfully was, “I actually made crackers, and they’re crunchy and tasty!”  I tend to have simple thoughts.  So back up to the “successful” part.  The first time I tried them, I didn’t roll them thin enough.  After that time, I did, and they were perfecto.  Yum.  Make these.  Eat these.  Be happy.

5. Sauerkraut. 

I’ll be straight-up honest with you on this one.  It scared me.  Not the making part.  It’s actually really easy.  It was the eating part that worried me.  Can I really eat food that just went through “that” process?  Well, I did, and I’m just fine.  And guess what it tasted like…?  Sauerkraut!!  Really good, non preservative filled, sauerkraut! 

So of course this native New Yorker decided that it would be great on a hot dog with some mustard, but I didn’t have any nitrate free dogs thawed out.  So I looked to my friend Google for more ideas, and you won’t believe what I found. 

On a forum post somewhere, someone had suggested that eating sauerkraut on a cracker with peanut butter was tasty.  And since I had some BTWTBTTGAAWAGF crackers ready to go, I tried it.  Ya know what?  It wasn’t all that bad!  I still think it would be better on a hot dog with mustard, but I enjoyed my little bizarre concoction just fine. 

If you have a special way you like to eat sauerkraut, by all means, leave a comment and let me know!

Make sure to sign up for blog updates to see the next installment of Trim Healthy Mama Recipes in Pictures!

 
My Trim Healthy Week In Pictures is linked up!:
Trim Healthy Tuesdays[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

This coconut strawberry smoothie is so creamy and luscious, it’s addicting.  I’ve had it twice today.  So far.

I was inspired by these strawberries and cream popsicles on Coconut Mama’s Blog.  They are amazing, and if you love strawberries, you should make them. Everyone in my family gave these two thumbs up. 

Mine looked a little different than hers, but the ingredients are identical.  I just mixed everything together to get it into the popsicle molds.  I think hers look nicer, but I was in a rush to get it done!

I’m definitely beginning to see a trend in the recipes I share.  They seem to involve my blender a lot.  I’m very much in the honeymoon stage with my new Vitamix.  I’m completely in love with it.  And I love to tell the story about how we came together, because it was a totally unexpected blessing.

One day I was on Facebook and saw a link to a contest to win a Vitamix.  I’ve wanted one for years.  But the hefty price tag has just been more than I could justify.  I had never taken one for a test drive, so it was pretty easy to control myself.  Well, one of the ways to get an entry to this contest was to share it on my FB wall.  That was easy enough!  I just shared the link and commented that I would love to have one of these.  Now, I enter quite a few contests, and I will say in the past I’ve had a pretty good results.  When I was in college I won a huge TV from the gym I worked out at.  It was so enormous we had a hard time getting it into the back seat of my 1980 Honda Accord to get it home.  Then, not too long after that, I won a home stair stepping machine.  I think that was from the grocery store I shopped at.  And there have been other little things here and there.  But as far as this online contest went, I knew my odds were pretty slim because I could see there were thousands of entries.

It turns out, none of that mattered.  Someone I know, who has chosen to remain anonymous,  must have seen that post on my Facebook wall, because about 2 or 3 days after I posted it, I ran a super quick errand.  I was gone for maybe 15 minutes.  When I got back home, this is what I saw on the table we have out in front of our house.

It was the exact Vitamix Blender I had posted on my Facebook wall.  In fact, that is the actual picture I took when I found it there.  I was thrilled then, and I’m still thrilled now.  It was complete – blender, tamper, recipe book, all the paperwork that came with it, including the DVD in the recipe book.  I was giddy.

Whoever gave this amazing gift to me has never ‘fessed up.  I’m ok with that.  I posted a heartfelt thank-you on my Facebook wall along with that picture.  I hope I can do something like this for someone else down the road.

So this explains my current love of all things blended.  And it’s been so handy this week, as my husband had all 4 of his wisdom teeth extracted.  “You want food?  I can turn pretty much anything into soup.  Give me two minutes.”

So lets get back to the Creamy Coconut Strawberry Smoothie.  It’s really good.  Have I already said that?  It’s not non-dairy, like the popsicles on Coconut Mama’s blog, but if you want to remove the cottage cheese and swap in your own non-dairy protein source, go for it.  And comment below and let me know how you changed it up!

A few things to note about this recipe – I’ve shared the recipe exactly how I make this for myself.  It’s got a very mellow, creamy, lightly strawberry flavor, with the texture of a creamy milkshake.  I’m following the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating, so I wanted to keep this as a Satisfying (a.k.a. “S”) smoothie.  If I were to make this for my kids or husband, I’d probably double the amount of strawberries, which would take it out of the “S” category.  I’d also use honey to sweeten it for my kids, as they aren’t needing to watch their weight.

Here are some affiliate links to products used in this recipe.
 

Have you ever used coconut butter in a smoothie before?  I think it makes a great addition!

Creamy Coconut Strawberry Smoothie is linked up!
Trim Healthy Tuesdays!
Wellness Wednesdays
Gluten Free Fridays

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Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

Every Spring we are inundated with oranges, so we squeeze a lot of fresh O.J. for the kids, and I often find myself enjoying a delicious orange creamsicle smoothie.  If I don’t use them up, the kids will use them to practice their juggling, and I’ll have orange juice all over the house. 

We have an orange tree in our back yard, plus we have friends with trees who love to share. The difference is, our tree is really a bush.

You see, when we first purchased our little orange tree, we lovingly planted it in our backyard. Soon after we planted it, we adopted an adorable little Lab-mix puppy from the shelter. Well, that sweet puppy chewed on everything, as puppies do. And everything included our brand new orange tree. She turned our promising little tree into a sad stump. Literally. She chewed it down until it was nothing but about 10 inches of trunk sticking out of the ground.

Why we left it planted in the ground is beyond me.  It surely seemed hopeless, but then something wonderful started to happen.  Little buds started forming, and soon we were watching our tree come back from what we thought was certain death.  Now, a few years later, we have a little miniature orange tree that produces deliciously sweet oranges for us every year! You may not be able to tell from this picture, but our little orange bush is only about 4 feet tall. 

I really want a lemon tree and a lime tree.  I’m hoping if I bring those home, she’ll leave them alone.

Follow my THM Pinterest board for more great recipies!

But let’s get back to the orange creamsicle smoothie.  It’s really good, and I believe one of the reasons I like it so much is because of the orange zest.  It gives it a little “zip”.  After it’s blended, there are still tiny pieces of orange zest in the smoothie, which I love. 

Here are some links to help you out.  My favorite stevia, and glucomannan.  (These are affiliate links.  If you purchase through these links, I get a small percentage of the sale.)
 
Morning Sunshine Orange Creamsicle Smoothie has been shared on:
Monday Meal Plan & Recipe Share
Trim Healthy Tuesday at Stacy Makes Cents & Gwen’s Nest
Wellness Wednesdays at Nourishing Treasures
Allergy Free Wednesdays at Whole New Mom
A Peek into My Paradise Not So Wordless Wednesday[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]