nothankstocake

Lazy Local Weekend

I tend to be a planner. I book my weekends up to maximize the time I have free… which sort of takes away from the idea of “free” time, if I think about it.

Just the same, I walked into this weekend with only a tiny bit of plans… and I didn’t even leave the city limits after I got home on Friday. Unheard of!

Friday night after work, I went to my very first Tutu Making Party. Yep, you heard me right… we were TUTU MAKING! We’re just a few weeks away from Jodi’s Race for Awareness, and my team “Team Bev” has opted to wear fabulous teal tutus this year.

We did what any awesome team does… we found a Youtube video, ordered some tulle, and met up to get our tutu on! I have never spent so much time with tulle in my life!

Not everyone could make the event, so we made as many as we could for those who weren’t there. I took home one to finish, but definitely had the technique down by the time I left. SO EASY!

After getting home kind of late, I woke up the next morning to realize I was exhausted. My 11 days away and hectic work week had caught up with me. So, instead of being productive… I laid in my bed reading a book for a long time, getting up only to head to get a manicure and pedicure. Seriously lazy… but at least the book was good!

(Source)

After my mani-pedi, I was hungry for lunch so I headed into Old Town to try a new taco place that a co-worker had been raving about! They told me that it was better than Cafe Rio… which to me seemed impossible.

I ordered the small Chicken Fajita salad, sans cheese with avocado ranch dressing on the side. It was really good, and I’ll definitely be back. I’m not prepared to say I like it better than Cafe Rio though…

Right next door to Fuzzy’s is a little Olive Oil shop I’ve been meaning to stop into forever. After spending 5 minutes in the store, I couldn’t believe that I’d never been to Kristo’s before! I spent close to 30 minutes in the store tasting and getting to know all of their olive oils and vinegars. I never knew there were so many!!

They had little slices of bread and little tiny cups you could use to sample the offerings. There were so many that were my “favorites” that I really had to be conservative when it was time to check out. Here’s what I ended up with though…. all very delicious!

I chose the Sicilian Lemon White Balsamic Vinegar, Black Mountain Fig Balsamic Vinegar, Cranberry Pear White Balsamic Vinegar, and a Cilantro Onion Infused Olive Oil. The citrusy vinegars were SO delicious and will be making their way to a salad in the near future. As for the other two more savory blends, I can’t wait to come up with something to make with them. The folks at Kristo’s also shared that they offer cooking classes… stay tuned for my review of those! I’m going to have to try one of those soon!

I spent the rest of my weekend running local errands, finishing up tutus, and a craft project I’ve been working on for some time. Add in a little treadmill time and some yoga… and that’s all she wrote.

How was your weekend?

Down Right Random!

A Snow Day with My Crockpot

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Bruschetta Turkey Burgers Stuffed with Babybel Light Cheese

Yes. That’s a mouthful of a title for a recipe… but I seriously considered adding additional descriptions.

When you taste something like this… you just want to talk about it. You want to describe it well. You want to make sure everyone else can taste it through your words.

Seriously, with this burger, there are almost no words.

Flavorful. Mediterranean. Italian. Tomatoey. Charred. Melty. Gooey. Satisfying. Sweet. Savory. Amazing. Fresh. Summery.

Those are just a few of the words I came up with for this recipe from Iowa Girl Eats. As always, I made a few modifications to make it work with what I had in the refrigerator… but this burger is my new go-to. I only made one, but I’ll tell you… I can’t wait to make my next one.

Oh, and where’s the bun? Don’t care. Didn’t need one. (Yes, it’s still me talking…) While I love my bread, this burger stands alone in the most delicious way. TRY IT and then give me some words for how it tastes. I know I missed a few….

Bruschetta Turkey Burgers Stuffed with Babybel Light Cheese

From Iowa Girl Eats via Peanut Butter Fingers

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS

Bruschetta Ingredients

1 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1/2 tsp. garlic, minced

1/2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

3/4 tsp. balsamic vinegar

1 heaping Tbsp. fresh basil, julienned

Salt & pepper, to taste

Burger Ingredients

4 oz. 99% lean ground turkey breast

1/4 tsp. dried basil

2 tsp. reduced fat parmesan cheese

1 wheel Mini Babybel Light Cheese

salt and pepper

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS.

1. Combine all bruschetta ingredients in a small bowl, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly.

2. In a large bowl combine turkey, salt, pepper, basil and parmesan cheese. Divide mixture into 2 portions.

3. Line a peanut butter jar lid with foil, then plastic wrap and press 1 portion of the turkey mixture into the lid. Add your cheese wedge into the middle, then top with another portion of turkey. Press down to seal, then invert the patty onto a plate. Note: I used a food mold and it had the same effect. It was a LOT less messy than stuffing burgers as I normally do, and made them uniform! Great technique!

4. Grill burgers for 4-5 minutes on each side, until done. Note: The cheese was oozing out of mine because I smashed it down a little with a spatula… still delightful!

5. For balsamic glaze: heat balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan over medium heat. Let simmer, and stir frequently, until the vinegar has reached the consistency of thin maple syrup. Note: I used pre-prepared balsamic glaze, as I had it on hand.

6. Top grilled burgers with bruschetta and drizzle with balsamic glaze.