Smash BigMac Quesadilla & Seasoned Fries

We were going to smoke some ribs on the BBQ but time got away from us today and it’s about to rain, so switch of plans for dinner tonight.

I have been thinking about these small tortilla smash burger tacos, but I only have one large tortilla left, so I’m planning to make a quesadilla version for two. I bought some medium ground beef that I’ll season with S&P, garlic powder, and mince some onion into the mix.

Here is the classic Big Mac sauce I’ll be using. I’m renaming it for this meal idea.

Smash Mac Sauce:
1 C Hellman’s Mayo (I have no idea why this makes it taste better but it does)
2 Tbsp: Vlasic’s Relish / White Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
1 Tea: Regular Paprika / Garlic Powder / Onion Powder

Tuna Burgers

I’m slowly weening myself, and by extension the husband, off of red meat. We tend to eat a lot of red meats all year, but in the summer, we tend to go bonkers smoking every thing we can get our hands on. I haven’t figured out what this summer will look like for us yet, but if Mother Nature has her way, she’s not into giving us many long weekend bbq/smoking sessions. 🙁

Sidebar: Doesn’t this Smoke warning look like a suggestion to smoke some bacon??

Anyway, I found this online recipe for Tuna Burgers, and having noted I have two cans of tuna collecting dust (not really) in my pantry just this morning, I instantly knew what to make for dinner tonight. I love tuna melts and tuna burgers. This recipe wasn’t far off of what I would have dreamt up had I had enough mental clarity to do so. I had a long day at work, so I needed a recipe geared towards the living dead tonight. 🙂

The burgers turned out nicely, too. I used some herbs from my garden in the patties as well as in the burger sauce, so that worked out nicely for me. I have to keep using them so they keep growing back and all that jazz.

Speaking of herbs, I am growing a small bunch of Strawberry Mint to use in simple syrups and to mottle down for faux mojitos. Fojitos?

I clipped a bunch the other day and whipped it over the fence for my neighbours who love to make summer drinks for their endless parade of visitors in their backyard. I really should have added a few rocks to the bag because it only just got over the fence, and then landed behind their bbq grill. LOL I quickly texted her and she grabbed it after they came back from walking the dog.

Like the other herbs, the more I harvest, the more it regrows. I should have a lot by this time in July. Woot.

Trying New Coffee Drinks

Stopped by the local coffee shop that took over when a Starbux closed (imagine that!). They have some new drinks so I decided to try their Rosa Mocha. It’s an interesting and complex flavoured coffee drink: espresso, heavy cream, and a blend of hazelnut/strawberry/chocolate syrups.

It’s weird combination, yet it works for me somehow.

Summer Salads & Hashes

Here is a small collection of the salads I have been enjoying this week.

This is my Cold Spicy Turkey Noodle salad. It’s a riff on the Cold Thai Salad I used to make at the college for the kids. I used one pack of Ramen (set the seasoning pack aside), a 5″ piece of cucumber that I diced up, half a red pepper diced up, a quarter of yellow onion thin sliced, and some turkey breast slices I had sitting in the fridge after cooking it in the air fryer a few days prior that I cut up. I tossed it all with S&P / Italian dressing / a dab of Sambol hot chili sauce. This salad was intended to be served cold but I kind of like it closer to room temp. This might be go-to salad of Summer.

This salad is a veggy crisper drawer cleaner if there ever was one. I started by lightly salting bite size romaine lettuce pieces, and to that I added one Roma tomato diced up, a 5″ cucumber section that was also diced, a bit of red onion I had kicking around, and I cooked up 1/4 C of bulgar to cool down before tossing it all in Italian dressing. I was out of parmesan, otherwise some small chips or some grated cheese would have set this off perfectly. I love to eat this one at room temp, but since I leave it in the fridge at work, cold worked out just fine, too.

Egg salad in delicious dill flavoured marble rye. What’s not to love?! I boiled up the last four eggs I had in boiling water with a small glub of vinegar to help the shells slide right off with ease, and set up a cold ice bath to rapid cool them. While I waited the 14 cook time, I headed out to the herb garden to cut a bunch of chives to wash and cut up fine. The dressing for this was just a few heaping tablespoons of mayo, a teaspoon of Dijon, and loads of fresh cracked pepper followed up by a pinch of salt (to taste). Delicious!

This was a dish I found on Pinterest that looked interesting to me, and hit all of the food in my fridge I wanted to get rid of this week. 🙂 It was a simple pan fry hash starting with half an onion and four garlics minced. From there, I browned and chopped up ground meat (any), added thin slices of green cabbage, small julienne cuts of peppers, and strips of carrot. When everything was cooked and softened up, I poured in two tablespoons of soy sauce along with the ramen season pack I set aside the day before. After a good mix, I added a can of sliced tomatoes near the end. I let it cook down a bit longer so all the flavoured melded into each other before serving it. I liked it but I want to improve or tweak it the next time I make this with different flavours.

Pink Drink Season!

Fake out Starbux Pink Drink season is upon us, and I’m in my happy place. 🙂

Strawberry Base:
1C Strawberries, fresh, cut into small chunks
2 Tbsp Sugar (if they are ripe and sweet, add up to another 2 Tbsp if they aren’t)

Roll the berries around in the sugar for 20 mins to soften them. Dump them into a blender jar and add the juice from half a lime. Blitz well on high. Pour into a mason jar to store in the fridge.

Pink Drink:
1C Ice
1C White Grape Juice
1/4 Heavy Cream
2-3 Tbsp Strawberry Base
2 Tea Maple Syrup
Drizzle of Heavy Cream (topper)
Few Freeze Dried Strawberries

Blend well in a high speed blender, or shake it up in a tight fitted lid mason jar. Decant into a tall lidded glass, add toppers, and enjoy.

Lush Ramen Noodz

I love the comforting lushness butter adds to ramen. I used to make it according to the picture above with a basic chicken pack, but I have learned I like it more with less garlic powder and a tablespoon of onion powder. I leave the salt out. The seasoning pack is salty enough. The noodles will end up sitting in a yellow broth made from the egg yolk and the butter knob. Can’t be beat when you are only in the mood for comforting noodles.