Lamb Burgers

Serve these with pita bread and yogurt tahini sauce. YUM!

JILLIAN MICHAELS' MEDITERRANEAN LAMB BURGERS

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup rolled oats (not instant)

1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves, or 1/4 teaspoon dried

1 teaspoon fresh mint leaves, or 1/4 teaspoon dried

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1 pound ground lamb

1 tablespoon tahini

1 garlic clove minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Yields 4 servings.

In the work bowl of a food processor, place sunflower seeds, rolled oats, oregano, mint and lemon zest. Process until ground, but not mushy or pureed.

Place the lamb in a large mixing bowl, and add sunflower seed mixture along with tahini, garlic, salt and pepper.
Use your clean hands to gently combine. Form the mixture into four (3 1/2-inch) patties and place on a plate.

Cook as you like on an outdoor grill. Or heat a large cast-iron or other heavy-bottomed (not nonstick) skillet over medium heat. When the skillet is hot, add the burgers and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Then turn with a spatula. Cook for another 5 or 6 minutes. For any cooking method, USDA recommends that burgers be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 160 F.

Serving suggestion: Good served on toasted buns with a mixture of cucumbers, plain yogurt and freshly ground black pepper as a topping.

— "The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook" by Jillian Michaels (Crown, $26).

It's Greek to Me Greek Salad

By Chef Susan Irby,
Author of Substitute Yourself Skinny: Cut the Calories, Keep the Flavor with Hundreds of Simple Substitutions!

it's greek to me greek salad
CALORIE SAVINGS 263

Substitutions such as reduced-fat or nonfat feta cheese save on calories and fat; however, cutting back on the amount of extra-virgin olive oil in dressings is another key factor in keeping your recipes slimming.

½ head red leaf lettuce, washed, dried, and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 English cucumber, diced
2 large tomatoes, diced
¼ cup chopped red onion
¼ cup chopped red bell pepper
¼ cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
½ cup reduced-fat feta cheese crumbles
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano leaves
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Sea salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

1. In a large mixing bowl, toss together the lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, olives, and cheese. Separately, in small bowl, whisk together the oregano, oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Pour over the lettuce mixture and toss well to coat.

2. Serve on salad plates as an entrée or side dish.

SERVES 4 Serving size: ¾ cup

CALORIES PER SERVING Original recipe: 440 SYS recipe: 177

NUTRITIONAL BREAKDOWN Fat: 15g Carbohydrates: 8g Protein: 4g Sodium: 469mg

Super Easy Key Lime Pie

• 9" graham cracker pie crust
• 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
• 3 egg yolks (whites not used)
• ½ cup Nellie & Joe's Key West Lime Juice

Combine milk, egg yolks and lime juice. Blend until smooth. Pour filling into pie crust and bake at 350º for 15 minutes. Allow to stand 10 minutes before refrigerating. Just before serving, top with freshly whipped cream, or meringue, and garnish with lime slices.

Perfect Alfredo Sauce

I've been working on making the perfect alfredo sauce and I think this is it. I can't tell the difference between this and Olive Garden's, and neither could anyone I've served it to. Great on a white pizza. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sweet butter
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups half and half
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (or more to thicken)
• 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese

• 1 (12 ounce) box whole wheat linguine

Directions

1. 1

   Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium/low heat.

2. 2

   Add the garlic, cream, white pepper and bring mixture to a simmer.

3. 3

   Stir often.

4. 4

   Add the Parmesan cheese and simmer sauce for 8-10 minutes or until sauce has thickened and is smooth.

5. 5

   When sauce has thickened add the Mozzarella cheese and stir until smooth. STIR FREQUENTLY.

6. 6

   While the sauce cooks, boil noodles.

7. 7

   Place pasta on serving plates and spoon sauce over pasta.

Spring Salad

This is on my menu to try this week. Looks so good!

Equal parts romaine lettuce and spinach and spring mix
blackberries
blue berries
strawberries
purple onion
swiss cheese
cucumber

Sweet Dressing:
2/3 cup rice vinegar
1 ½ cup oil
¾ cup sugar
2 tbls dried onion flakes
1 ½ teaspoons salt (I use kosher salt)
2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Blend in a blender and serve

via yummy fun

Valeria’s Coconut Cake

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

2 cup sugar

5 egg yolks

2 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup walnuts

1 cup coconut

5 egg whites (beaten stiff)

Cream shortening and sugar; add egg yolks and soda mixed with vanilla. Add buttermilk and flour alternately. Add nuts and coconut. Fold in beaten egg whites last. Bake layer 30-35 minutes in 350 oven. Oblong 9x13 40-45 minutes.

Icing:

1 (8 ounces) package cream cheese

1 cube margarine/butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup nuts

Natalie's 10 minute Chow Mein

I attempted Chow Mein without a recipe.

I sliced carrots, celery and scallions. Stir-fried them in veg oil until they started to brown. (But still crunchy)

I had my super hot husband shred the chicken for me. I added the chicken to the veggie mixture and added a TBS of hoisin sauce, and several drops of sesame oil. Stirred until heated through.

Made $1 worth of Chinese noddles.

Finally I mixed everything together and added soy sauce to taste. hǎochī!