Recipe: Chili- Spiced Turkey- Bean Burgers With Guacamole

Hey hey peeps!

I'm here today with a super yummy and pretty healthy recipe that I had sitting in my email for the longest time... i did a little googling to find where i had found the original recipe and lo and behold, it says "Men's Health"... so... uh, not sure why i was reading Men's Health, but let's just go with it.

Chili- Spiced Turkey- Bean Burgers With Guacamole

Serves: 4   Prep:  20min |Cook: 20min |Total: 40min
 
 What You'll Need: 

GUACAMOLE:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 tablespoons chopped sweet white onion (i used a red onion cuz that's what i had)
• 1 tablespoon salsa (i used just a plum tomato and chopped it)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• salt

 
BURGERS:

• 2/3 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound lean ground turkey breast
• 4 small whole grain hamburger buns, split
• 4 slices tomato

Directions

• To make the guacamole: In a small bowl, mash the avocado with a fork until fairly smooth. Mix in the onion, salsa, lime juice, and salt. Cover tightly and set aside. 

Like i said, i skipped the salsa and just chopped a tomato up instead... and used red onion instead of white. i also skipped the salt since G has high blood pressure and salt is a no-no for him...

 

• To make the burgers: Preheat the broiler. Coat the broiler pan rack with olive oil cooking spray. 

 

• In a medium bowl, mash the beans to a chunky texture. Stir in the egg, chili powder, cumin, and salt until well blended. Add the ground turkey and mix first with a spoon, then gently with your hands, until well blended (mix lightly so burgers don't get tough). With moistened hands, shape mixture into 4 equal-sized patties. Place on the prepared broiler-pan rack. 

i felt like these patties were definitely a generous size... depending on your taste, you could definitely probably make 5 or 6 smaller burgers out of what you have in the bowl.

 

• Broil the patties 4" to 6" from the heat for 6 to 7 minutes per side, until lightly browned, firm, and cooked through. Transfer to a plate. Place the buns on the broiler pan and toast. 

 

• Place toasted buns on 4 plates. On the bun bottom, place a tomato slice and a burger. Spoon 2 tablespoons guacamole over each, cover with the bun top, and serve.

I made my burger with a nice arugala salad and some sweet potato fries... so delish! I highly recommend if you want a turkey burger with a little extra flavor and a kick!

PS. i finally used the new camera for something other than pictures of scooter and i'm loving the way these shots are coming out!

Date Night

Hey peepers.... its a late post tonight... but you know what they say, better late than never!
It's been a busy week in the office as usual... hence why i've been a blog slacker... as usual...

I did have a bit of a break on Tuesday, i took the day off - glammed up and headed to NYC for a long-awaited date (day and) night with the mister!

I met G in Manhattan (yay for no traffic! boo for the $12 toll at the Lincoln Tunnel) at Rockefeller Center (where he works) and i got the grand tour of his "office" aka the basement with huge ass machines, not very exciting (no offense pooh bear)... This week they are actually making the ice and building the ice rink, so it was pretty cool to see the whole process and see what G does at work!

Doing the "tourist"pose!

G was able to get us tickets (a perk of his job) for the TOP of the rock!

The view from the Top of the Rock

After hanging out up there for a bit... in the mist and fog... we headed down to do some window shopping and then to dinner. We stopped in the Lego store, cuz who doesn't love Legos, it made me wish i had a small child to buy a present of some sort for, but instead we just ooh'ed and ahh'ed over the Lego creations.

Look! Its Lego Rockefeller Center!

How cool is the Lego store's windowfront?!

We hit up dinner at Del Friscos. Dinner was super yum, i was way too busy stuffing my face with super expensive steak to take any photos. This dinner more than made up for the fact that we won't be going on vacation this year. When we saw the bill, we were a little sticker-shocked! LOL We did score ourselves a free piece of their signature Lemon Cake... a $12 bonus right there people. $12 for a piece of cake. i die.

After we rolled ourselves out stuffed ourselves silly, we walked around and got our 15-minutes of fame by being behind the glass for a taping of my husband's favorite sports show "Jets Extra Point".

here we are standing in front of the window...

And here is the TV show -- you can see us standing in the background!

Finally, it was time for The Script at Radio City.

They put on an amazing show as usual. If you haven't checked out their third album (coincidentally called #3) definitely add it onto your playlist and give it a listen.

All in all, it was a great night!

Blonde Moment

Last night I got home to cook dinner, only to find the meat I had in the fridge still wasn't defrosted enough to cook... so I decided it would be pizza night... and just do a little side salad along with it.

I decided to make this deliciously yummy pre-made frozen pizza.

get a coupon here!

So the best way I know to cook the pizza is just straight on the rack, with a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom rack, in case anything drips. OK, easy enough... things are going well, the kitchen is starting to smell good, and finally, the pizza is ready...

Now the challenge becomes, how to get said pizza out of the oven without creating a mess... brilliant me, grabs TWO metal spatulas... to lift the edges... G is watching me do all this and says, "honey, grab the oven mitts and pull out the rack"


Me, totally not following where he's going with this, pulls the rack out slightly, and then i pick up the spatulas again... G is like, "um, no - i meant pull it out ALL the way and put it on the stove top."

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh... ok. so i do that... now i can use the spaulas to make sure the pizza isn't sticking anywhere, so i can transfer it onto the cutting board... RIGHT? Wrong.

G watching this whole train wreck in the making then says, "um, you are making this WAY harder for yourself... use the oven mitts to put the pizza on the board"

i'm standing there still not understanding.... and i go to literally try to pick up the thin crust pizza WITH the oven mitts (REALLY SHAY?!) which i then get cut off again.... "shay, what the hell are you doing???"

me, "picking up the pizza with the oven mitts"

G: "are you serious?! OR you can pick up the whole rack with the oven mitts and just slide the pizza onto the cutting board"

me: "oh, you didnt say to do that." #fail

him: "i really didn't think it was necessary... i really didn't expect you to try to pick up the pizza with the mitts."

OOPS.
 and you thought asians were supposed to be like, super smart or something huh? it was definitely an Asian F moment (Glee reference)... it was an honest mistake people... an honest mistake.

anyway, after that, we had a delicious dinner where i proceeded to eat WAY more than G and then he rolled my lard ass to bed.

happy hump day loves! please share your not so bright moments of the week with me so i don't feel so silly anymore!

Guacamole, Jets and Drop 7

Hey there! It's a rare night that i'm home alone... G is working late so i figured i'd take a few to catch up on the weekend... most of it was pretty low key. i spent a good majority of it doing playing this:

See that? That's a new iPhone app i downloaded last week called Drop 7... and let me tell you, its addicting... its like, totally awesome! Try it out, its free!

Anyway, when i wasn't #obsessed with my new game, i was busy chowing down on some amazing guacamole at Juanitos, the local Zagat rated Mexican place in Howell. The food there is out of this world. I think G and i had a better time stuffing our faces than we did later that night! (Sorry if that was TMI!) They make the guac table-side and its so creamy and delicious, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. I got a beef enchilada and G got a shrimp burrito... we had a great time and can't wait to go back!

Sunday we headed to the Jets game with my dad and brother. It was a gorgeous day and G pulled some strings and got us into one of the Clubs... Now, since i've never even been to an NFL game before this year, i've obviously never been in the VIP clubs at the stadium... and boy was I missing out! They had full bars, sushi, gourmet pizza, filet mignon sandwiches... it wasn't free but the choices were SO much better than the regular concessions stand food... My dad was SO happy to be at the game and had such a good time. It was so sweet of G to invite my family and it really meant a lot to me that he embraces my family as his own now. For those of you who don't know, my dad broke his neck playing high school football and is a quadraplegic (think Christopher Reeves) so going to NFL games, things like that aren't very easy for him because my mom is always stressed of the crowds and the logistics in getting there. So for him to get to go to the game and enjoy himself was something that made me very happy to see. The bonus of the day was the big W the Jets pulled out from the Chargers! We were all pretty drunk happy by the time we left. Well my bro and G were, i was the responsible "adult" of the group. LOL.

All "Jetted" Out...

Anyway, that pretty much sums up the weekend... looking forward to the honeymoon this weekend and showing you G's hilarious halloween costume! We were supposed to debut it at L's housewarming party but G got stuck at work, so we didn't make it... sorry lis... :(

Wednesday Loves

With a lot going on this week and next, thought i'd take a few minutes to let you all know what i'm loving this week. Link up HERE if you want to play along!

I'm Loving...

these adorable little succulents i ordered as wedding favors. 

they will also be part of the centerpieces... can we say eco-friendly? whoot whoot! 

find them HERE

the bag of jolly ranchers i have been stuffing in my face one after the other after the other...

one word: delicious! i love me empty sugar calories!

this amazing sushi restaurant in staten island we went to last weekend...

the roll at the top was apricot white tuna and was out of this world.

we also followed this up with FRIED OREOS.

Now i don't know how many of you have ever experienced FRIED OREOS before...

but if you haven't walk -- no RUN to the nearest place you can find that sells these.

they are heaven on earth. 

Both G and I said they are thisclose to being better than s-e-x

(yup... i said it... you can thank me later.)

this saturday night is Girls Night Out... where i'll be celebrating my last weekend of being a Ms instead of a Mrs. Got my bestest cousins and friends coming out and we're doing dinner and drinks in Red Bank and maybe throwing in a little dancing afterwards! Can't wait - promise you guys lots of photos (cuz you know i suck at that!)

What are YOU loving this hump day?

The Weekend in Review.

I'm in a list making mood. Prob has something to do with my packing list for my trip later this week, but here's how the weekend went.

Friday
1. Dinner at the rents - nothing beats a home cooked meal + my brother was home to visit so always nice seein' his cute mug.

2. Hangover 2 - definitely not as good as the first (because are they ever?) but definitely had some laughable parts... loved that little darn monkey.

2a. Sat behind some guy with the largest head i've ever seen. was trying for a photo, but it would have attracted too much attention.

2c. Didn't realize Jamie Chung (from the Real World) was in this movie. She looked gorgeous...

Saturday
1. Took the rollerblades out for a spin. I was a menace on the roads. I apologize to the golfers on the course who i whizzed by (possibly screaming) and ruining their shot.

Clearly this is not me. i only WISH i looked this cool, instead of the unsteady, out of control mess that i was. i also for some DUMB reason refused to wear my safety gear. i rethought that unwise decision when i almost got hit by a car. in my defense, she was TEXTING AND DRIVING!

2. Hit the mall with G and picked up a floppy sun hat! It was exactly what i'm looking for and only $24! (looked for an online pic and can't find one, you'll see it soon enough in vacation pics!)

3. Dinner at China Grill in Manhattan. Drinking, eating and more eating.

4. The Script + Central Park = Amazing.

Took just a small video for C since she wasn't able to come with me.

Sunday
1. Slept til NOON. Wasn't feeling too hot. So i scumbagged it, stayed in pj's all day and didn't shower.

2. Law & Order SVU Marathon = me in heaven. I may or may not have watched approximately 6 hours of it.

Sorry for the lack of more personal pics... but this week is vacay and you can definitely expect tons of photos when i return! (i'll be here til thursday though). Anyone wanna guest post? Do i even have enough followers to have a guest blogger? Let me know your thoughts!

Feather Fun!

OK, so now that the drama of this morning is over... (though my finger is still throbbing) here's the weekend recap.

Friday the BF and i had our Toy Story night... though we only made it through the first of the movies (which i had already seen) and he fell asleep half way through. i don't quite think he's the Toy Story kinda guy... maybe if we ever have kids and he's forced to watch it... LOL it was still a nice, laid back kind of night...

Saturday, we were up early (probably because we passed out so early the night before) and i had an appointment to get these!

Mine are actually PINK and zebra... they're a little dark and i think next time i want them in a more prominent place but they're adorable and fun!

After that, went to help my dad out and then later we did dinner with him. He wanted to do Indian, since my mother doesn't really like indian food. I wasn't too sure that I would like indian food, but as it turns out, my meal was delish! BF and dad did get an appetizer of ESCARGOT which they made me try! EEK! short of them looking SO scary and gross, they didn't taste too bad... i only managed to eat one though, before the idea of SNAILS was just too much for me!

First thing Sunday morning, i hit my group kick class at the gym and after I met up with my college besties for brunch at Cheesecake Factory and got some bangin' Eggs Benedict (hence why hitting the gym that day was a MUST.) it was so great to catch up with the girls and of course i forgot my camera so i have no pictures for you guys! i definitely want to stay on the ball with getting together with these girls every few months. i know its hard since we're sort of scattered location wise, and everyone has busy lives, kids, families, work, etc. but we have a great time when we have the chance to catch up. So as self-appointed event planner, i definitely want to make sure we don't lose touch. Believe it or not, its been over 10 years since college (omg, how scary is that!!) and i'm so glad these girls are still in my life. we've had a few bumps in the road, but at the end of the day, i'd do anything for these girls.

After lunch, i opted to not walk around the mall (yes, self-determination) and just stopped in Barnes & Noble and picked up this book:

I used to read the sweet valley high books when i was young - and this is the same series but 10 years later! how fun is that! so far im about a quarter of the way thru and loving it. its also nice to be reading again. i took about an 8 month hiatus from reading, i've just been so busy and since my roomates buy every women's magazine under the sun, i always have PLENTY of magazine reading to do. So hopefully this week i can finish up this book and then maybe move onto another!

How were all your weekends? Did you do anything fun? Eat anything yummy?

Low Key Weekend

Well this weekend was somewhat uneventful/low key, but def still good... started out the weekend Friday night at Oyako Tso's for dinner (no meat Fridays!) I got all sushi (which was delish) and the BF got THIS as an appetizer... it looked kind of scary, i didn't even want to taste it. he said it was good though he wouldn't get it again! LOL!

Saturday, we were up bright and early, hit the gym (yes, im trying to be good and stay motivated) and then off to the Jersey Shore Outlets for work clothes for the boy. He killed it and got a ton of shirts and jeans and work boots. Looked like such a cutie when he left for work on Sunday! (Ugh, i know, i gotta get better with this whole picture thing...) Saturday night we went to my parents for dinner since the little bro was home. Here's a pic of me and him from his bday last year.

So we hung there for a while, and then bounced back to his house for the night. i think i passed out by like 10:30... yup, i'm 32 going on 83, who knew... but in all fairness we were up at like 6:30.

sunday was another early morning... the BF left for work, and i hit group kick at the gym. it was SOOOO crowded! i guess people like to start their sunday mornings punching and kicking! the instructors were really good and got everyone going, the workout totally kicked my butt! the rest of the day sunday, i was home and cleaning and doing laundry. since i pretty much split my time living with my bf, i was in dire need of a laundry day. later in the afternoon i headed out to the grocery store, then back to the bf's to make dinner.

i made this - stuffed pepper soup... soooo yummy! and this - Chili- Spiced Turkey- Bean Burgers With Guacamole

however, i changed it up and used these for the buns! in an effort to save some calories and unneeded carbs...

overall it was a good weekend, what did you do?

PS. not sure if i even have any readers? but if i do, am i doing ok with this whole blogging thing? ;)