Yoga Pants Kitchen

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Mexican Turkey Burgers

I've got burgers on the brizzaiinn!

I experienced NYC's Smorgasburg on Saturday and tried the famous Ramen Burger. The "buns" are ramen noodles, magically shaped into burger buns. Then they've got their seasoned beef patties, barbecue sauce, and arugula. And because I'm an animal, I inhaled mine and THEN was like "oh yeah, I probz should have taken a pic".

HERE is their website

Nom nom nom nom nommmm

We also tried Milk Truck, which makes Grilled Cheese. All day. Erryday. Other stuff too. But mainly the grilled cheese. I'm moving in tomorrow.

I feel like this summer has been about taking my "summer staples" (Guac, black beans, cheese, etc.) and constructing them in different ways (i.e quesadillas, pizza, omelettes, etc.), and yesterdayyy I did the burger.

Ground turkey, some stuff, pan fried (again, I cannot use a grill) and burgerfied.

What you will need to make 6:

1 1/2 pounds of ground turkey at room temperature
1/4 cup of black beans
1/4 cup of corn
1/4 cup of chopped spinach
2 plump scallions (or 3 if they are skinny)
1 egg
Olive oil
Guacamole
Shredded Mexican Blend cheese
Salsa

In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, the beans, corn, spinach, and scallions. Whisk the egg in a small bowl, then add to the mixture, folding to combine.

Using a large spoon, form the mixture into patties the size of your palm. Line up on a baking sheet, then refrigerate for 5-10 minutes to help them firm up.

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil on a nonstick pan. Fry the patties in batches, and set aside, covering so that they do not get cold.

To assemble the burger, SMOTHER the inside of the top bun with Guacamole and add the salsa. On the other half, add the patty and cheese.

Slowly cut in half with a serrated knife to a) make sure the patty is fully cooked (*wink) and b) look at all the colorsss.

THE END!

Another highlight of the weekend: The Season 6 Walking Dead trailer is outtttttt!!! I am not even going to try and analyze it. I am already refilling my blood pressure meds ;)

Xoxo

Jillian

Friday, July 10, 2015

Screen Capcha Friday

As I scroll through Instagram/Facebook on the ~~hourly~~ daily, I find myself screen shotting things that make me LOL, things that make me get a little teary, and things that I screen shot and immediately send to Boyfriend with a "please buy me onneeeeeeee" text (it's usually a puppy FYI). Here are a few screen shots, or screen caps as I call them, that I had in my Camera Roll this week.

That escalated quickly!

Love her!

Guilty!

That faaaaceee!!!!

100% true

Xoxo

Jillian

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Grilled Buff Chicken Pizza

I have been dyyyying to try the whole grilled pizza thing. I've seen about a million recipes for it, and thankfully Brian was willing to be my test subject this past Tuesday when we had our ~~"I-make-him-dinner-and-he watches-me-clean-up"~~ date night dinner. The last time he came over for dinner, he showed me how to turn on the grill, so this week he thought it would be perfect to test my grill turning on/not blowing up my house skills. It went something like this:

*I turn on the gas, then turn the little knobby things. Brian opens one of the grates and tells me I need to turn on the lighter and STICK MY HAND IN THE GRILL and light the flame*

Me: OMG NO I CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN'T OMG BABE YOU DO IT! I'M GOING TO DIE! I'M GOING TO BLOW THE HOUSE UP! YOU DO IT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!

Brian: *Looks at me like I have 12 heads (I guess rightfully so), and lights the grill like a champ.*

He doesn't believe me when I say that that will be HIS job when we grow up ;)

To make Brian a little less afraid (that's how he looked anyway) of the grilled pizza concept, I decided to make his fav: Buffalo Chicken with crumbly Blue Cheese. Not too crayzay amIright?

Here is what you need:

1 ball of pizza dough at room temperature - I bought fresh dough from the Stop and Shop
1 1/2 to 2 cups of chopped, cooked chicken (about 5 breasts)
1 cup of buffalo sauce, plus a little more for drizzling
1 bag of shredded mozzarella (about 2 cups)
1 to 1 1/2 cups of blue cheese
Olive oil

Prep the chicken:

In a nonstick pan, cook the chicken breasts. Set aside and let cool for a few minutes. Chop into small strips or cubes and place in a large bowl. Pour the buffalo sauce over the chicken and stir to combine.

Prep the cheese:

Really nothing here: just add the cheese to their own bowls. This will make it easier to top the pizza with everything when it's grilling, as it needs to be done A.S.A.P.

Prep the dough:

Roll the dough out as per the instructions on the bag. Oil a cookie sheet and place the dough on top. Brush the top of the dough with olive oil.

To grill it:

Before turning the grill on, make sure the olive oil, chicken, buffalo sauce, and cheeses are all within reach of the grill.

Heat up your grill to medium heat. When it is ready to go, place the dough on the grill, and let cook until golden brown, 5-10 minutes.

Brush the top side of the dough with olive oil, then give it a flip.

Working quickly, top the dough with the mozzarella, chicken, blue cheese, more mozzarella, and a drizzle of buffalo sauce. This side will also cook in about 5-10 minutes.

When the pizza is finished, slide it from the grill on to the cookie sheet. I'm not going to lie, this was kind of difficult - I would make sure you happen to have a huge spatula lying around ;)

Slice and enjoyyyyyy!!

Just one note; next time I plan on cutting the dough in half and making 2 smaller pizzas. This will make it easier to grill/flip/remove the pizza.

Xoxox

Jillian

Monday, July 6, 2015

Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream (No Churn! Yay!)

How was everyone's 4th?! BBQ's galore? Junk food in ya face? Oh heck yesssss!!

This past weekend I could not walk past the s'mores display at Shoprite (or Target, or Stop and Shop) without the overwhelming desire to make something marshmallowy. Nothing s'moresie, since s'mores are 24/7 now (not that I'm complaining), but something different. With marshmallows. Maybe chocolate.

Ice Cream!!

Nice little toasted marshies with a creamy no-churn ice cream base, and some crushed graham crackers and chocolate chips (welp - I guess I could not get away from the s'mores-ness #whoops!).

I love watching the marshmallows toast in the oven - that golden brown color is to diiiiee for!

So this is whatchu need:

1 can (14 oz) of sweetened condensed milk
2 cups of heavy cream
1 bag of marshmallows
6 graham crackers, broken into small chunks
1 to 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place the marshmallows in a cake pan and set aside.

With a hand mixer, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form.

*When the cream is almost done, pop the marshmallows in the oven until they are golden brown and puffy - about 7-10 minutes.

Finish whipping the cream, and fold in the sweetened condensed milk.

After the marshmallows have toasted, remove from the cake pan and place into a large bowl. Stir the marshmallows, and let cool in the bowl for a few minutes.

In 3 batches, fold the marshmallows into the cream mixture, combining everything before adding the next batch.

Once combined, break apart the graham crackers with your hands and fold into the mixture. Do the same with the chocolate chips, adding as little or as many as you like.

Cover with wax paper and aluminum foil, and freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.

When the ice cream was done, I made these cute little sandwiches using soft chew chocolate chip cookies. I also left a decent amount for regular spoonage throughout the week ;)