Traveling Tuesday...errr Wednesday...

Whew! What a week. Our house is about 95% done...well as far as setting everything up goes. We still have a few pictures to hang...some plants to buy. And of course there's always the sprinkler system getting fixed and ohhh yesss that's right...actual grass to put down. But that's all being taken care of by the realtor/landlord. We did have a guy come out to assess the sprinklers and it was really funny watching how messed up they are. At one point a sprinkler in the flower bed started shooting up like a geyser. The guy at that point was telling us how messed up the system was when that happened and he made the comment along the lines of "point proven." :) Oh well. We also have made purchases such as a desk, bookcase, two rugs, a computer chair (big..nice..leather), and just yesterday an accent chair for our master bedroom. I'll take pics as soon as I can. It's really comfy.

On Wednesday we got to meet some neighbors. Our neighbor next door invited us to come with her to a BBQ for the 4th of July down at the corner of the street. It was so much fun and our neighbors are so incredibly nice. Matt and I are really pleased with the neighborhood and how friendly everyone is. Pretty good for picking a house out on the internet! :) Anyway, since Wednesday was the 4th of July I decided to be super American and make hamburgers for our traveling cuisine. Of course, we didn't "travel" far, but you can't celebrate the 4th without something yummy and American! So I made Inside Out Cheeseburgers and oven fries! Delish!!

OVEN FRIES
Serves 4

Ingredients

2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into wedges*
4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (optional..but I'd go for it!)

 Note: I used red potatoes due to the fact that I couldn't find but one Yukon Gold potato. And there were people standing in front of the potatoes...that wouldn't move. :-/

Inside Out Cheeseburgers
Serves 4

1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1 pound 90% lean ground beef*
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika*
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Added:
1 clove garlic
~1/4 cup finely chopped onion

Note: I used the 96% lean ground beef. And I also used smoked paprika.

Preheat your oven to 450. Not 400 like me. Apparently it was not my day. I was in a hurry because I wanted to get us down to the BBQ with the neighbors since it was a bring your own stuff to grill kind of thing.

The first thing I did was wash and cut the potatoes into wedges. And placed them on a baking sheet. I covered the baking sheet with foil...I wouldn't so this again. We didn't eat any foil per say, but it definitely stuck to it.

I then sprinkled the potatoes with the salt and thyme and poured the olive oil over it. Using my hands I tossed them around to coat. I stuck them in the oven. And they cook for about 20 minutes total. Half way through you need to turn them with a spatula.

Next thing I did while the potatoes were baking away was mix the meat together with the smoked paprika, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Set it aside and mixed together the cheddar and Gruyere. This recipe is super versatile as far as the cheeses go. You can pretty much do whichever cheeses you want. After I finished with the cheese, I made the patties. I divided the bowl into eight.

Pile your cheese on! Yummyyyy. Then take the other four patties without cheese and lay them on each of the cheese patties.

Squish the sides together to make sure nothing falls out! And voila! Then you just need a grill!! They turned out really tasty. I served it with the oven fries and had cut up tomatoes, onions, and had some lettuce for Matt. All on a whole wheat bun. I just had mine without the bun.

I know this looks appetizing...haha! I took the picture with my phone since I didn't want my neighbors thinking I was weird taking pictures of my food. :) Anyway...CALORIE COUNT! The hamburgers were 264 calories and then the oven fries were 102 per serving! :) Pretty good for Independence Day! Well I think that's about it! Now that things have calmed down, I'll definitely be blogging on time from now on! :) Until next time!





Here are the recipe links:
Oven Fries
Inside Out Cheeseburgers