Bacon Cheddar Stuffed Burgers

Apparently, I am on a stuffed burger kick. I tried these little babies when we were on our little anniversary getaway during Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately, their grill was broken so I just pan fried them.  I served my husband's on onion buns and my own on a whole wheat bun.  We had some corn on the cob (boiled in a mixture of water, beer & sugar) on the side. Yummy!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb ground beef or ground turkey
• 1/4 finely chopped onion (optional)
• 2-3 tbp of seasoned salt
• 2 tbs beer
• 4-6 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
• 1 cup of sharp shredded cheddar cheese

Fry bacon until it crisp.  Pat grease off with paper towels, set aside and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, mix onion, ground beef, beer and seasoned salt together.  Form into 6-10 small patties (the number of patties will depend on how large you want the burgers to be).  In half of the patties, take a spoon and make an indent.  Set aside.

Crumble cooked bacon into bits, mix with cheese.  Scoop mixure onto indented patties, adding as much filling as you can.  Top with remaining patties and press edges to seal the burger.

Refrigerate for an hour. Pan fry, grill or broil.

Empanadas

- 1 lb ground beef, browned & seasoned to your preferences
- 1 package of orange empanada discs
- 1 cup shredded chihuahua cheese
- 1 can re-fried beans
- Flour

1.  Brown & season ground beef.  Heat beans.  Shred cheese.

2.  Taking each disc on its own spread flour on each side and roll out with roller.

3.  On one side of disc, put 1-2 tsp of beans, 2-3 tbs of beef, cheese.  Close by folding over.  Press fork on the edge all around to "close" the shell

4.  Fry in hot oil until shells look crispy.

Garnish with hot sauce, sour cream and/or rice.

This usually makes around 10 empanadas.  It can be time consuming actually preparing them but they store well to freeze for later use, or are good for a bigger group.

Slow Cooker: Enchiladas

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1 package of taco seasoning
• 2 packages of sazon
• 1 14 oz jar of enchilada sauce
• 4 cups of shredded mexican cheese
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 4-5 corn tortillas, quartered


1. Brown meat, drain fat. Add water, taco seasoning & 1 package of sazon. Simmer for 15 minutes.
2. In a bowl mix all but 1/4 cup of enchilada sauce, 3 cups cheese, soups & package of sazon.
3. Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Add a layer of corn tortillas to the bottom, covering it completely. Add a thin layer of meat, then add a layer of the cheese mixture, then a layer of tortillas. Do this until you run out of everything, making sure the top is a layer of tortillas. Put remaining sauce on top & sprinkle remaining cheese on top of that.
4. Cover & cook for 1 hour - 1 hour 15 minutes.
** The only trouble I had with this recipe was getting it out of the crockpot. It fell apart a bit, but I think it was cause from a stupid spoon I used to get it out.

Also, this recipe yields a lot! So either serve it for a group, or prepare to freeze some leftovers.

Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Burgers

In preparation for our weekend getaway for our anniversary, I started recipe hunting for some romantic and fun meals I can make during our long weekend. I came across a recipe for stuffed burgers and thought what else can I stuff them with? After getting some inspiration from some cooking forums, I wanted to try spinach artichoke dip stuffed burgers. Here is the recipe I created for them:

Filling:
• 2 cups washed spinach
• 1 can of drained artichoke hearts
• 6 ounces cream cheese (softened)
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Burger:
• 2lb ground beef
• 1/2 onion grated or finely chopped
• ½ tsp pinches cumin
• ½ tsp pinches chili powder
• A dash of fresh ground black pepper
• A pinch of sea salt
• A tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 egg lightly beaten

Mix all stuffing ingredients together with a hand mixer. Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour.

Mix all hamburger ingredients together and make into 8 small, flat patties. Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour

Scoop stuffing into center of 4 patties. Cover with remaining 4 patties and pinch edges to close.

Bake, grill or pan-sear burgers until brown and cooked to your liking.

I pan seared (it was too cold and threatened of rain to grill) them and was on a time crunch, so I didn't get a chance to refrigerate anything. I feel like adding this step will allow you to handle everything better, close up the burgers properly and avoid them falling apart in the pan like mine did.

I served Frank's on an onion bun and mine on half of a whole wheat bun. I think they would be great on pretzel buns though!

They were still delicious! Had enough left to have it for leftovers a couple days later. I made this with corn pudding.

As for the dip, I probably could have cut everything in half. I had quite a bit leftover so I brought it over to my parent's house thinking we'd munch on it before dinner on Mother's Day. Didn't happen but I left it there for them anyways.