Jamie Oliver Burgers

1/2 lb beef

1 egg

dijon mustard

parsley

12 crackers

Mix it all up, let it cool. Put the burger balls in the fridge and put the skillet on high for four minutes. Turn the burner down to medium and take out your burgers. Shape them into patties and drizzle a little olive oil on them. Cook on each side for about 3 minutes or until done on the inside. Clean the pan and toast the inside of the buns. Top with whatever you would like (chedder, lettuce and onion are the best) and enjoy.

Todd made these tonight and they were some of the best burgers I have had.

Stir-Fry Chicken Topper

This was a favorite for some chicken with some tasty peppers to it.

Pan fry or bake chicken for however many people you are making it for.

Cut and cook two peppers and an onion.

Add some lemon juice and a teaspoon of powder stir-fry mix.

Mix it all together and spoon it on top of your chicken with some juices.

It's a quick way to make some plain chicken taste pretty good!

Rosemary Lemon Chicken

I have been severely lacking in blogging skills despite the fact that I am found bored at home and work quite a few times during the week. I need to get in the habit of blogging when I am.

While I am not a huge fan of Rachel Ray and at first this photo made me want to never make this dish, Todd and I pressed on and put it in our menu line up. Thankfully we did because it was so yummy and surprisingly easy to make (for a Rachel Ray recipe). I made it with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans while Todd took a nap. Look at me learning to be a submissive wife. Yeah, right. We did have to cut everything in half, because we are not going to eat 2 1/2 pounds of chicken.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves stripped from stems
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend (recommended: Montreal Seasoning) or, coarse salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Arrange chicken in a baking dish, 9 by 13-inch. Add garlic, rosemary, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon zest and grill seasoning or salt and pepper to the dish. Toss and coat the chicken with all ingredients, then place in oven. Roast 20 minutes. Add wine and lemon juice to the dish and combine with pan juices. Return to oven and turn oven off. Let stand 5 minutes longer then remove chicken from the oven. Place baking dish on trivet and serve, spooning pan juices over the chicken pieces.

So try making this for when you have company over or something. We would, but we only have three chairs around our table and we don't want to gang up on some poor, unsuspecting college student we invite over. Enjoy!

I will make up for the delay with...

Pizza! Who doesn't love a good garlic pizza recipe? It is delicious and leaves some room for making it your own.

Ingredients

1 packet of yeast

1 Cup of tepid water

1 Tablespoon of sugar

3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

1/4 Cup oil

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 3/4-3 Cups of flour

This makes one pizza with eight slices. Comparable to a medium pizza from Domino's.

-Dissolve the yeast in the water and sugar mixture for a few minutes. Mine usually takes around 5. But I like to really let it bubble up.

-Chop your garlic.

-When the yeast has made some bubbles, add your garlic, oil, and salt. Mix together.

-Add flour one cup at a time. I stir mine with a rubber spatula and keep doing so until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl with minimal stirring. Then continue stirring in flour by 1/4 cups until the dough is not sticky to the touch. This is all about watching and feeling. Every time I have made it, it takes a slightly different amount of flour, so use those eyes!

-Let the dough rise once. Punch it down. Then let it rise once more and punch it down again.

-Oil up your pan or pizza stone and stretch the dough by hand first and then on the pan/stone. Then, make a pizza however you would like. We keep it simple with Ragu pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni.

-Bake at 450 for twenty minutes. Again, the time can fluctuate depending on your oven, so watch it carefully.

-Pull out of the oven, cut it up, and enjoy.

Two warnings.

This is how much garlic you are supposed to put in a double recipe. But we like a lot of garlic, so we keep the 3 cloves.

You should be able to use whole wheat flour, but I have not tried. If you do, just play around with how much you will need.

This pizza has become a favorite around the Spieker house on Saturday nights. It looks a bit labor intensive, but the hardest part is chopping the garlic. I can usually have it made in about 15 minutes. Then give the dough a half-hour to rise each time. Stretching the dough takes about five minutes and assembling the pizza is a snap. So don't be discouraged. It's not hard and doesn't require much of your time. Enjoy!

Parmesan Salmon Fish Sticks

Next was a family favorite. I saw this on Giada's show about healthy snacks and we turned it into a meal. That's a kind of meal I like. The fish is a little tricky to cut, but Todd did a great job. Serve them with a side of homemade garlic mashed potatoes and you are in business. We did not make the sauce, but it sounds good to me.

Ingredients

• 1 (18-ounce) center-cut salmon fillet, about 9 by 4 inches, skinned
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• Olive oil, for drizzling

Dipping Sauce

• 1/3 cup reduced fat mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup lowfat plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or chives

For the Fish Sticks:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Rinse the salmon fillet and pat dry with paper towels. Cut the fish in half to make 2 fillets each about 4 by 4 1/2-inches in size. Starting on the longest edge, slice the fillets into 1/2-inch pieces. Lay the widest pieces, from the center, cut side down, and slice in half lengthways so all the pieces are equally about 1/2 by 1/2 by 4 1/2-inches in size.

Place the flour in a medium bowl and season with the salt and pepper. Place the egg whites in another bowl and beat until frothy, about 30 seconds. Combine the Parmesan and bread crumbs in a third bowl.

Coat the salmon pieces in the seasoned flour and pat to remove any excess flour. Dip the floured salmon in the egg whites and then into the Parmesan mixture, gently pressing the mixture into the fish. Place the breaded salmon pieces on a liberally oiled baking sheet. Drizzle lightly with the olive oil. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.

For the Dipping Sauce:

Mix the mayonnaise, yogurt, Dijon mustard, and parsley (or chives, if using) in a small dipping bowl.

Arrange the fish sticks on a serving platter and serve with the dipping sauce.

Cook's Note: The fish sticks can also be dipped in ketchup, marinara sauce, pesto, ranch dressing or vinaigrette.

Stir Fry and Egg Drop Soup

Todd and I made quite a little pattern for ourselves on Monday nights this past year at school. We would make stir fry with each other and then watched Heros. It was a good constant besides struggling in Chemistry. So, we decided to make our dish for Todd's family and add egg drop soup. Unfortunately, I only have a picture of the soup.

Stir Fry for TWO people

-Rice

-Carrots

-Celery

-Chicken

-Kikoman Stir Fry Sauce

-Red Chili Sauce

Boil two cups of water in a medium sauce pan. Stir in one cup of rice, reduce heat to low and cover. Rice will be ready in 15-20 minutes.

Defrost and cut chicken into small pieces and fry in oil in a frying pan.

Cut carrots and celery into bit size pieces and add to almost cooked chicken.

Stir in stir fry sauce and mix in cooked rice.

Stir all together, adding sauce to taste.

Put in Red Chili Sauce if you want it spicier. It does not take a lot.

This is pretty basic and super yummy. Again, it makes for easy leftovers, not that you would have any.

The Egg Drop Soup we got off of Food Network. It makes four servings.

Ingredients

• 4 cups prepared chicken stock, plus 2 tablespoons
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 green onions, chopped, including ends
• Salt and white pepper, to taste

Directions

Bring soup stock, grated ginger and soy sauce to a boil. In a small cup, make a slurry by combining the cornstarch and 2 tablespoons of chicken stock. Stir until dissolved. Slowly pour in the cornstarch mixture while stirring the stock, until thickened. Reduce heat to a simmer. Pour in the eggs slowly while stirring the soup in the same direction. The egg will spread and feather. Turn off the heat and add the green onions. Season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately

So there you go. It is a good night of yummy, semi-asian food.

New Topic

So, we all know my blogging skills are at an all time low. But I do take some pride in knowing that I blog more than my husband. Anyway, the new topic of "A Picture a Day..." is what Todd and I have been cooking for dinner this summer. Since living at the Spiekers, we have made dinner every Wednesday night. I thought I would share the recipes with you as well as the few desserts Todd has mostly made. Most are from The Food Network at www.foodnetwork.com. Thank you Alton Brown, Paula Dean, and Giada De Laurentiis for the wonders you have provided us with.

First week, we made honey mustard chicken, a Droogsma favorite. But since most (I'm pretty sure all, but I remain optimistic) of this blog's readers are part of that family, I will not bother to share that treasure with you. I will move on to our second week which was Alton Brown's stove-top macaroni and cheese with shake and bake Parmesan chicken. It was an attempt to recreate a Noodles & Company favorite. This is what we were going for.

First, the Mac and Cheese:

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• 6 ounces evaporated milk
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Fresh black pepper
• 3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 10 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded

Directions

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente and drain. Return to the pot and melt in the butter. Toss to coat.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and mustard. Stir into the pasta and add the cheese. Over low heat continue to stir for 3 minutes or until creamy.

I would recommend going with mild cheddar or cut the sharp cheddar with mozzarella or something. It was a bit tangy for our taste, but the noodles and texture were very nice.

For the chicken, follow the instructions for shake and bake and toss the baked chicken on top of the mac and cheese. Sprinkle some shredded cheese over the entire bowl, mix in and enjoy. It also makes for easy leftovers.

Now, I must tell you that these recipes are not meant to be healthy food, except the fish sticks. Ironic, right? Don't worry Mom. We won't eat like this all the time. But for a once a week meal, we are just trying some stuff out.

To let you know what is coming, here is a list of recipes to come.

Stir Fry

Egg Drop Soup

Salmon Fish Sticks

New York Cheesecake

Creamy Baked Potato Soup

Key Lime Pie

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Garlic Crust Pizza

Italian Street Food

So keep an eye open for what looks delicious!