Grilled Hawaiian Teriyaki Burger

If you're looking for a new way to enjoy a burger, then I think you'll love this Hawaiian inspired teriyaki burger made with Laura's Lean ground beef, carrots, scallions and topped with a homemade pineapple teriyaki sauce and a grilled pineapple.

Last weekend I spent four days in Disney World with my husband and youngest daughter Madison. I attended the Food Blog Forum which was truly inspirational, and we stayed at the Grand Floridian Resort which was a lovely place to stay. One of those nights we ate dinner at the Kona Cafe at Disney's Polynesian Resort, where I had a delicious teriyaki steak topped with pineapple; which was the inspiration for this burger recipe.
 

I did a little research into what goes into a Hawaian teriyaki sauce, and after reading many recipes I came up with my own version which was so good, this will certainly be a regular. You could of course buy teriyaki marinade to speed this up, but making it from scratch tastes sooo much better.

I'm a huge fan of Laura's Lean Beef, because it's low in fat and saturated fat, and free of hormones and antibiotics, which is important to me when choosing meat. Their beef is available in many supermarkets, and I even found it at Target. I'm also running a giveaway over at Skinny Bits for two $25 vouchers so if you haven't tried Laura's Lean Beef, here's your chance (click link for giveaway)

And I just have to share this contraption that easily cuts pineapple into perfect rings. My girlfriend Gabbie bought this for me a few years ago, and I love it; it's called the Pineapple Easy Slicer. It's simple to use and it's awesome. If you prefer canned pineapple, be sure it's packed in juice and not syrup.

By the way, this is also great without the bun if you're watching your carbs, just serve it on a bed of lettuce and drizzle the teriyaki sauce on top. Without the bun, the burgers are Weight Watchers 6 points plus.

Grilled Harrisa Lamb Chops

I love the Mediterranean flavors of these grilled lamb loin chops marinated with fresh lemon juice, garlic, cumin and harissa.

We LOVE lamb chops in my house; I probably make them twice a month but I wanted to try something different and use up my jar of Mina Harissa so I thought it would be fantastic marinated over these lamb chops (and I was right). I served this with a simple salad and made my skinny tzaziki to go along with it put you can also serve this with pilaf on the side for a quick light Mediterranean inspired meal.

If you don't like lamb I'm sure this would be a great marinade on a lean steak such as flank.

Calculating loin lamb chops are a little tricky because they only provide you the nutrition for the meat, and since these are on the bone, I cut a few chops off the bone to see what the meat weighed and found the bone weighed about 1 oz, so I subtracted 8 oz from the total weight since I'm not eating the bone. My chops weren't very large and sizes will vary so you may want to weigh yours to be accurate.

If you don't have a grill or grill pan, you can also cook them in a skillet or under the broiler. Enjoy!

Roasted Red Pepper and Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken Breast

Chicken breast stuffed with melted cheese, roasted red peppers, prosciutto and baby spinach. Words cannot describe how good this is, and it's really not complicated to make.

I just returned from a four day weekend to Disney in Orlando with my family. It was both work and play, and it was really nice to get away for a few days to spend some quality time with my youngest daughter Madison and my husband Tommy. We stayed at the Grand Floridian which was beautiful and had so much fun in the parks. On our return seeing the devastation that just took place in Oklahoma deeply saddens me and once again reminds me just how fragile life can be – my prayers and thoughts are with Oklahoma today.

Just a quick note on the chicken; I couldn't eat two pieces after I photographed this. One piece with a side salad was plenty for me, but my husband who has a bigger appetite found two pieces the perfect amount. For the side salad I just tossed romaine lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes with a little olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper.

Superfood Triple Berry Chia Pudding

 

I LOVE chia pudding! And what can be easier than throwing a few chia seeds into a mason jar with some fresh fruit and almond milk and giving it a good shake! Side note: please excuse the manicure.

If you've never tried chia pudding, I highly recommend picking up some chia seeds and Blue Diamond Almond Breeze almond milk and give it a try. Chia is a super food; an excellent source of omega fatty acids, has more antioxidants than blueberries and it's full of minerals, calcium, protein, vitamins and fiber. Plus it is low in calories and is incredibly satiating.

Some of you may have tried my Mango Coconut Chia Pudding which is always a favorite of mine, but I wanted to try something with all the berries I bought this week and used fresh blueberries, raspberries and blackberries... delicious!

All I do is combine the chia seeds with milk (my favorite milk to use when making chia pudding is Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond-Coconut Milk) then add fruit and a little liquid stevia or whatever sweetener you like, then shake it all up, let it sit 15 minutes and give it another good shake and keep it in the refrigerator overnight. Karina, my oldest loves this! Madison, my youngest wanted to help me style the shot, perhaps I have an assistant in training...

Isn't she such a ham : )

This is so healthy you can even eat this for breakfast, which is what I did this morning. Did I mention this fits into so many dietary restrictions; gluten-free, dairy-free, low sodium, low sugar, low calorie, vegetarian, vegan... enjoy!! By the way the lovely spoon is by For Such A Time Designs.