Healthy Turkey (Almost) Burgers

One of my guilty pleasures is reality tv, and I love Bethenny Frankel. For those of you who don't who she is she was one of the housewives on The Real Housewives of New York City. She has since gotten her own show and she has published a few books on living a healthier lifestyle. I decided to try her turkey burger recipe on my husband and mother-in-law. Unfortunately, turkey meat isn't available in Norway (at least from what I could find at our store, not so many turkeys running around here : P) so I had to use ground chicken.  As she says on her website it is moist so that you don't have to use condiments, thus avoiding even more fat. I like recipes like this because you can be healthier without feeling like you are stuck eating salads for the rest of your life.

Ingredients:

- 1 package ground white turkey (1.3 lbs)
-1/3 cup barbeque sauce
-1 tablespoon mustard
-1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/3 cup bleu cheese (yummy!)
-4-6 whole wheat buns

All you do is mix everything in a bowl, slap some patties on a pan, cook for 5-6 minutes on each side, then put them on a bun and eat. For those of you who are noticing that there is no egg as a binding agent, they stick together surprisingly well, here is a photo of them mid flip

If you are still worried about the binding though you can add egg whites to the mixture before you put them in the pan. It tastes just like a regular burger without the guilt.

The Body Transformation Challenge and Tuna Melts

I am a huge fan and follower of the website Reddit, an online community where people shares news, stories, cute and funny photos, etc. Well I have now signed up for the 12 week body fitness challenge where we show our embarrassing before shots, work out for 12 weeks, then show off our hot after shots. I would like to lose about 20 lbs to get back to where I was in college since I lost my freshman 15 instead of gaining it (unfortunately, 5 years later its all back).


This means healthier eating, which means learning how to cook. I can manage enough to do simple things, but I would like to gradually expand my recipe repertoire. First up, tuna melts.


I used a recipe from Eating Well.


Ingredients:

• 1 medium shallot, minced (2 tablespoons)
• 12 ounces canned chunk light tuna, drained
• 2 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Dash of hot sauce
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 4 slices whole-wheat bread, toasted
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

I skipped the parsley, lemon juice, and hot sauce since I dont like to overcomplicate recipes. Basically you put everything but the tomatoes, cheese and bread in a bowl, mix it all up, and put on the bread.

Then you pile on the tomatoes and cheese (not as much as I did if you dont have the allowance in your diet) 

and just throw them in the oven until the cheese melts. I recommend putting the bread in the toaster first to avoid soggy bread coming out of the oven. Easy, simple, and something different for dinner.