Burger and Fries

And how was everyone’s day? Mine was pretty good. I have my first statistics test tomorrow that I must go study for soon. I’m feeling pretty confidant about it but I want to be prepared as possible. That class is going surprisingly well considering my mathematical talent (not so good). I thought I would hate it but I actually am understanding it. The professor is great; she is firm and strict but she really cares about her students and seems to really enjoy teaching. From my experience, the professor makes all the difference. If you don’t like your professor, chances are you will hate the class, no matter what it is. Anyone feel me on this?

After my afternoon class I had a snack of grapes and a few bites of a bar that wasn’t very good that I had in my purse (no pictures.. oops…).

But dinner… oh wow.

I’ve been wanting to make these Turkey Burgers With Apples, Gruyere, and Sage Mayo from We Are Not Martha. I haven’t had turkey burgers in forever but I really enjoy them every once in a while. And I love sage but I never use it except on Thanksgiving. Why is that? (If you have any great recipes with Sage, send them my way… just saying … 😉 ). Anyways, I also adore apples… so throw in some cheese and you’ve got a winner, right? Ummm… right!!

So I loosely followed the recipe, adding my own alterations depending on what I had. So here goes…

I mixed ground turkey breast (little less than 1/2 lb. , giving me 2 burgers), dijon mustard, dried sage (the grocery store didn’t have fresh), salt, pepper, and this Roasted Apple Grill Sauce that is to die for.

The Roasted Apple Grill Sauce can be used as a marinade, dipper, or just a sauce. It’s really good on chicken and salmon.

I then mixed it together, formed 2 burgers, and cooked them on my George Forman Grill, which I love!

Meanwhile, I cut up 1/2 a sweet onion and added it to a saute pan on medium heat with a little olive oil.

I let it caramelize (5 minutes or so)… And then added salt, pepper, and 1/2 a honeycrisp apple and let it all cook together for another 3-5 minutes. At the point of adding the apple, I also topped the pan with some tin foil to smother it a bit.

For this burger, I decided to go bunless because of the amount of toppings.. it seemed more of a knife-and-fork burger to me. And I was right, it was messy as it was! Plus, when I buy a whole package of hamburger buns, they never all get eaten and then go bad; I hate wasting money.

So I added my burger to my plate, topped it with the apples and onions, and then aged Swiss cheese.

(I promise there is a burger under all of that onion/apple/cheesy goodness 🙂 )

The verdict? Let’s put it this way… I did my little amazing food happy dance 🙂 These were incredible. Where have apples and onions been all my life?! For real. The apples, onions, cheese, and burger… they just worked. The flavors melded together in perfect harmony. A little sweetness and tartness from the apple, sweet/spiciness from the onion, and the aged Swiss was just incredible. I do think they would have been even better with fresh sage and I do want to try the original version with the sage mayo but this version was delicious. 

Holy. Moly. You must, must try this! And you could use other things besides turkey… beef, pork, veggie burger… gosh the apples and onions would be good on anything!! Hmm… I bet just apples, onions, Swiss, and bread would make an amazing grilled cheese! Oh boy… I feel an addiction coming on 🙂

 

I also had some sweet potato fries 🙂 You can’t go wrong with sweet potato fries, no way, no how. They were awesome, per usual. I added a little agave and salt; simple, but fantastic.

 

For dessert, I had about half of this bowl of pineapple, strawberries and grapes.

And this Peach Chobani Greek Yogurt that I stuck in the freezer for a bit… my take on frozen yogurt. So good! I got this idea from someone’s blog but I can’t remember who right now… if that was you, feel free to say so in the comments!

Now, my positive things from today…

1. I made a friend in one of my classes! This may sound silly to some of you but I’m pretty shy until you get to me so it’s hard for me to make friends. Of course once you get to know me, you can’t get me to shut up… haha
2. It was a beautiful day! I can feel spring 🙂 (even with snow still on the ground) I was actually able to put my sunroof down… hey, it was 55 degrees but compared to how it’s been lately, it felt like it was in the 70s.
3. I had fun cooking dinner. I haven’t tried out a new recipe in a long time. Cooking is one of the things that really helps me to de-stress and I don’t take the time to make a real meal from scratch often enough.

What are some positive things that happened to you today?

“If you’re feeling frightened about what comes next, don’t. Embrace the uncertainty. Allow it to lead you places. Be brave as it challenges you to exercise both your heart & your mind as you create your own path towards happiness, don’t waste time with regret. Spin wildly into your next action. Enjoy the present, each moment, as it comes ; `cause you’ll never get another one quite like it. & if you should ever look up, & find yourself lost, simply take a breath & start over. Retrace your steps & go back to the purest place in your heart..where your hope lives. You’ll find your way again.”