Grilling is for Girls: REAL SIMPLE Beef, Bacon, and Egg Burgers

Last night signaled the end of my grilling challenge! Every week Jared's been in medical school, I made a different burger from Real Simple's June article "Top This." It was a really fun adventure for me; at the beginning I needed some help from Jared in lighting the grill, but pretty soon I was confident enough to do things all alone. Yesterday I got the grill to start on my first try.

 

 

The final burger was total comfort food - like a breakfast sandwich, but even better. I went with whole wheat English muffins, and an heirloom tomato from a local farmer's market.

 

 

Maybe it's just because I'm getting better, (or maybe the prep time is one of the shortest listed), but this took me less than 30 minutes from lighting the grill to sitting down at the table. It also had the simplest steps (I thought) and simplest ingredients.

 

After lighting the grill, I chopped up the bacon into fairly large chunks and mixed it with the ground beef and ground black pepper.  I formed patties, which looked pretty large, especially considering I had bought a little over a pound of beef instead of 1.25 pounds.

 

Once these were on the grill, I used the first four minutes to do some dishes.  I flipped the burgers, and then started on the English muffins, eggs, and tomato.

 

 

I cooked Jared's two eggs a little longer than my egg since he doesn't like super runny yolks.  I toasted the muffins in our little toaster instead of grilling them.  (Our grill is pretty small so there isn't much spare room.)

 

I took three slices off the tomato for myself.  Jared is not a fan of tomatoes, so I get the heirloom all to myself!

 

The burgers were done in about nine minutes total.  The last step was simply to put everything together.

 

 

For mine, I put the tomato on top of the bottom half of the muffin, added the burger, then the egg, and topped with the rest of the "bun."

 

 

These were incredible - and so filling!  Usually Jared has eaten two burgers every week (one night he even ate three) and this time he could only finish one.

 

 

I would say my favorite burgers of the whole challenge were these "breakfast" burgers, and the Salmon-Scallion Burgers. But all the recipes were definitely worth trying, and now I have a new skill under my belt.

 

Can't wait till next summer - I'll be grilling everything in sight.

 

 

Grilling is for Girls: REAL SIMPLE Mushroom Burgers with Fontina and Cornichon Relish

Tonight marks the end of my summer grilling challenge! Here's my recap of last week's grill: the Mushroom Burger.

 

 

We've tried portabella mushrooms before, and, try as we might, neither of us can bring ourselves to like mushrooms. For this recipe, I decided to substitute regular old ground beef for the patty.

 

I couldn't find ciabatta rolls at Trader Joe's, so I got this incredible ciabatta loaf instead. I also had to look up cornichons online - I had no idea they were basically mini pickles.

 

 

I set out all the ingredients and started heating the grill.  This time I wish I would have made the relish before putting the patties together because the grill time for the beef was so short.

 

 

I got it all worked out and toasted the bread in my normal toaster to save time while the burgers were grilling.  This one was pretty simple compared to some of the other recipes.  I just had to put the cheese, relish, lettuce, and burger patty together on the ciabatta!

 

 

These were so delicious. The relish was fun and the burgers were juicy.  The toasted bread was just perfect, especially since I got to cut it to the size I wanted.  (Sometimes there is just too much bun, you know?)

 

 

I served the burgers with our new favorite beer, Swill, from 10 Barrel Brewing Co. in Bend.

 

 

So yummy!

 

Tonight we grill the final burger!  I've been saving the Beef, Bacon, and Egg Burger for last.  And we have finally gotten some fall weather here in Portland, so it will be the perfect comfort food.  I'll let you know how they turn out.

 

 

In case you missed my other burger adventures, here they are!

 

 

Grilling is for Girls: REAL SIMPLE Spiced Pork Burger with Grilled Peppers and Provolone

 

When Jared got accepted to medical school back in May, I realized that I would have to take on a much larger share of the cooking for the next four to eight (or twenty) years.  Generally Jared makes us breakfast and dinner and I'm in charge of packing lunches and snacks.

 

While my skills have improved significantly over the first four years of our marriage, I still need recipes that are fun, fast, and feasible.  The June issue of Real Simple magazine featured a spread on six different drool-worthy burgers and so I decided that when I took on the cooking for our family this year, I would try one new burger each week until we'd had all six.

 

Week One: Spiced Pork Burger #teammatson Style

 

Last night, Jared chipped in by showing my how to fire up our little grill without blowing anything up or lighting the porch on fire.  Most of you may find this sort of thing easy/intuitive, but here are the steps he went through with me:

 

 

Uncover grill.

Twist off propane cap.

Screw propane canister into grill.

Push grill knob down and turn so it no longer says "off."

Push red button until grill ignite (small flame which should be short lived).

 

 

Then, cover grill to let it heat.  In my case I needed medium high.  You can clean the grill with a wire brush when hot but ours was pretty clean to begin with. 

 

 

I always start cooking by putting all my ingredients out together, and then putting them away as I finish using them.  This helps me avoid forgetting anything important.

 

 

The recipe called for ground pork, which I couldn't find at Trader Joe's, so I went with ground turkey patties.  In hindsight, I would not get the meat in patties as you end up mixing it with the spices and reforming patties later anyhow.

 

First step was to cut up the peppers and onion and mix with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Spray (CAREFULLY) the grill with olive oil and then grill the veggies (5-7 minutes for the peppers, 12+ for the onions), turning occasionally.

 

 

 

While the veggies were grilling, I worked on the meat.  You mix the ground meat with fennel seed, chopped garlic, and red pepper flakes.  I had frozen the patties earlier in the week and then thawed to grill.  This seemed to cause difficulty in getting the patties to bind, so Jared suggested I use a raw egg. 

 

NOTE: you are supposed to mix the egg before mixing it in with the meat...I didn't do this and so it didn't help much.  The patties sank into the grill which made them hard to flip and then the grill was a bear to clean later.

 

 

 

Also, I found out you basically always cover the grill while grilling.  I left the cover off for a while and wondered why the patties were cooking so slowly.

 

After flipping, add the provolone and grill the hamburger buns.  This recipe called for regular sesame seed buns, but we went with brioche buns to make it more fun.

 

 

I scraped the burned skin off the peppers, and when the burgers were done we just had to assemble the different pieces!

 

 

We paired our burgers with a Belgian Tripel ale.  So yummy!

 

 

 

 

Success! 

 

 

You tell me: Next week I'm thinking Ginger-Scallion Salmon Burgers or the Lamb Burgers with Tangy Fennel Slaw.  Which would you choose?

Aaaannnnddd we're back!

Hey, howdy, hey!

May was kinda crazy for us.  We were both busy at work; I had a wisdom tooth out; and my students had their end of year performance, which I was in this year!

 

We kept up with CrossFit, trying out new products and visiting other boxes for fun:

 

 

 

 

But our biggest event of the month was Jared's acceptance to medical school!!!

 

Since we found out, it's been a whirlwind of paperwork and packing.  We moved out of our little apartment and in with my folks for a couple months, until we move to Portland in August.

 

Before:

 

 

 

After:

 

 

 

 

 

Now we're (sort of) settled in and got to kick off June with the Northwest CrossFit Regionals!

 

 

You tell me: What've you been up to in May? 

 

Did you go to your regional event? 

 

Have you tried Progenex Cocoon? 

(I wasn't super impressed...the flavor is nowhere close to as good as Progenex Recovery, and it's basically impossible to mix...it stays all chunky.)

Advent Mobility: Day 22

Merry Christmas!

Peppermint Bark Progenex just in time for the holidays!

Only a couple of days left for our challenge.  Ready to squeeze in 15 minutes of mobility work today?  Me, too! 

Today let's get our hamstrings.  I don't know about you, but I've been sitting a little more than usual lately and my hamstrings are getting tight!

Mobility WOD has a video for us.  This should help with our rowing!

Want a little more than just mobility?  To crush some Christmas calories, check out my 12 Days of Christmas WOD!  You can do this with almost zero equipment...and it really works you hard!

Only 2 days left to win your copy of Supple Leopard!  Lorie's still in the lead but if you get your extra credit in and update me on how you're doing, you might still squeeze ahead!

Post your time to the comments.  Merry Christmas!

Confessions of a Teenage Meathead

 

Back Squat #170 - New 1 Rep Max

(More videos at http://www.youtube.com/themeghamix.)

 

 

• I lift at the gym either in the early morning with the old dudes or in the afternoon with the high school football players and wrestlers.
• I consume at least one protein shake per day.
• I have a favorite protein powder and can give you a run-down on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the protein world.
• I used to eat small meals or snacks every 2-3 hours.  Now I eat with at least the same frequency, but a WAY bigger appetite.
• I get special chances to give input on fitness products and supplements at work because everyone knows I take that stuff seriously.
• I almost got caught by a coworker flexing my biceps in the mirror at the office.
• I practice "fast elbows" for my cleans when I think no one is looking.
• I watch YouTube videos of people lifting heavy or busting out muscle-ups.
• I put way more effort and moolah into what I wear to the gym versus what I wear to work.
• I felt like a total pansy lifting dumbbells this week. 
• I have explain fitness equipment and movements to the less informed guys at my office.
• Last week I hurt my elbow trying to air-practice a lift in the bathroom stall.
• I need a ton of sleep each night or I get grouchy (here's hoping I'm in the midst of a growth spurt).
• I was kinda pissed that I missed a chance to PR my bench press last week cause the guy I asked to spot me actually didn't know squat about spotting.
• I have guys at the gym tell me they don't lift like I do because they don't wanna bulk up.
• I scoff at the wimps doing "pushups" who don't actually touch chest-to-floor on each rep.
• I scoff at the other wimps doing "pullups" who don't fully extend their arms on each rep.
• I care way more about the weight on my bar than the weight on my scale.
• I don't have time for yoga because it would cut into my lifting days.
• I do make time for mobility because K-Starr says it'll up my front squats.
• I'd rather go to the Olympic lifting and "Girl" WOD class than the team/partner WOD class.
• I'm saving money for my L1 CrossFit Cert since after that I can take the Striking course because I love to hit stuff.
• I want my husband to choose his med school based on CrossFit gyms and resources in the area (UCSD = Mike Burgener.)
• I can explain Wendler's method cause I use it regularly.
• I'm more stoked about compliments on my traps than my hair.

Oh yeah,

 

AND I'M FREAKED THAT TOMORROW I WILL WAKE UP WITH A CRACK IN MY VOICE AND HAIR ON MY FACE. 

 

Sincerely,

Former 20-Something Girly-Girl