Chicken Burgers + My First Lettuce Harvest!

Don’t you love it when you make something that tastes so incredibly good and you don’t feel bad about it because its healthy?!  I love when that happens.  No doubt this would be “cleaner” if I had omitted the cheese, but….who the heck wants to omit cheese.

First, throw this into a food processor:

• 4 oz. wilted spinach
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 2 green onions, roughly chopped

Try not to drool into the food processor when your kitchen becomes overwhelmed with the smell of fresh garlic and onion.  Then, stir this mixture into 1 lb. ground chicken  and add:

• 2 T. balsamic vinegar
• 2 t. soy sauce
• 1 t. lemon juice
• 1/2 t. chili powder
• 1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Then, I added about 1/2 c. of Panko (NO EGG!), mixed it all together, and formed them into patties:

I refrigerated these for about 2 hours prior to dinner.  It allowed all the garlic and onion to release into the meat.  Also, the soy sauce and balsamic are super flavorful – more so after a few hours in the box.  You could grill or broil these, but I chose to cook them in my 10″ skillet.  Then, I WALKED OUT INTO MY FRONT YARD AND HARVESTED LETTUCE, Y’ALL.  No, really.  How cool is that?

Recipe inspired by Super Pickle

Impulsive Container Gardening

Remember that time I said I wasn’t going to plant a garden this year?  Because I should do some research?  And how I said I didn’t have any idea what I’m doing?

Well sometimes you just have to dive in.  Sometimes you are just impulsive.  Sometimes you just need to fuss over something because you’ve taken two weeks off of running and are going crazy.

Once upon a time (last week), Christina got me some free containers:

On Saturday at the farmer’s market, I couldn’t help but be tempted by all the lovely plant starts.  I mean, how convenient would it be to walk outside and grab lettuce instead of having to drive to the store?  Right?  So, I bought some green leaf lettuce starts and some resilient looking jalapeno pepper plants.  Then, when I went to Lowe’s to grab some potting soil with fertilizer (because, remember the lack of composting I’ve been doing) I grabbed a red bell pepper start and an eggplant start.  Why didn’t I grab these two at the farmer’s market?  Um…because I was trying to talk myself off the ledge.  I second guessed myself the entire time I was carrying the darn things around because I can’t even count the number of plant homicides and/or assisted suicides that have happened at my house over the years.

When I got home, I waded through the creek in the back of my house and grabbed some miscellaneous sized rocks to put in the bottom of my pots.  Apparently, it helps aerate the soil?  See that…research.  Then, I planted everything but the eggplant and watered them.  Now, I have no idea what to do with myself except for fuss over them and worry that they are going to die.

Why didn’t I plant the eggplant?  Because my mother randomly mused that eggplants won’t produce unless you have two.  I muddled over this all weekend because the internet was down and I am too lazy to wait for things to load on my phone. For everyone’s information, this is false.  I think.  At least according to BonniePlants.  Also, I had no idea that eggplants grow tall like peppers.  I thought they spread like squash.  Hopefully this kind of eggplant does well in a container because he’s going in tonight after work!

I feel bad for them, but somebody has to be my lab rats.  If I can keep these plants alive for a few weeks, I might buy some others to fill the rest of my containers.  Their chances of survival are moderately higher than the ones that came before them.  For one, they are going to be in the front yard.  There is more direct sunlight in the front, there should be little to no dog interference, and the hose is 5 feet away.  So there’s that.

Wish them,me, and us luck 🙂  I’m pretty sure we are going to need it!