Enticing Healthy Eating
If more of us valued food and cheer and song
above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world
- J. R. R. Tolkien
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Blueberry Turkey Burgers

5/29/2014

 
It's burger season.  And I've got a delicious, juicy, lean and healthy burger recipe for ya that'd be PERFECT for a backyard BBQ.  Especially for the upcoming 4th of July holiday!
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Burgers, hot dogs, fresh fruits, cool cocktails, iced teas...all of these come to my mind when thinking about summertime eats and drinks.  

It's not uncommon for my parents and I to throw together some burgers during the summer for our dinner if we're just not really feeling like planning any sort of elaborate meal.  They're simple, inexpensive, and we can make extra to have as leftovers.  I grew up on homemade venison burgers with occasional homemade beef burgers as well.

I used to eat beef burgers as a kid, but these days I much prefer to stay away from beef as often as I can for health and personal reasons.  That being said, I DO enjoy a great meat burger.  You won't find this girl giving up her meat burgers for veggie burgers all the time!  Not that there's anything wrong with veggie burgers, of course.  I do enjoy a great homemade veggie burger occasionally, but when I'm craving a classic, meaty, summertime burger....I just gotta have it!

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My two favorite meat burgers of all time are venison or bison.
Often times, I opt for venison burgers at my household.  My father is an outdoorsman and our freezers are stocked with venison most of the year.  Plus, I just love the taste of a great deer burger!  All you haters out there can hate, thinking "awww, but you're eating Bambi....".  That's fine.  Everyone has a right to their opinion.  But this is my food blog, I'm an Arkansas girl, and I enjoy a great venison burger and, dangit, I'm going to admit it proudly.

This pretty much sums up my face when I find out we're having venison burgers.
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Likewise, this sums up my face when I see a restaurant offering a bison burger on their menu.
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So yes, I'd choose venison or bison burgers over any other meat any day.  But I digress....because these blueberry burgers are actually turkey burgers! 

I was actually impressed by these turkey burgers! Ground turkey, from my own experience working with it, is notorious for being pretty dry and can easily turn tasteless if not cooked properly.  And who wants a dry, tasteless burger?  No sir.  That's where the blueberries come in.  They provide extra juiciness and moistness in addition to their great flavor and healthy nutritional punch.  Blueberries are nutritional greats in the fruit world.

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I got this idea from a recent recipe posted on the Arkansas Women Bloggers website. Janeal posted a simple and tasty recipe for a blueberry burger that you can find here:
Blueberry Burger (Foodie Friday)
While I was inspired by Janeal's recipe, I wanted to switch up the meat and seasonings to create my own version of this nifty burger.  The end result was something to be remembered and I will definitely be working more with it in the future.  Next time, I'm trying it with venison burgers!

Blueberry Turkey Burgers

Serves: 4 (makes 4 good-sized burger patties)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. ground turkey (or other lean meat)
3/4 cup bluberries, roughly mashed
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. turmeric
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper


Directions:
Roughly mash the blueberries in a large bowl.  Add the ground turkey and spices.  Mix all together until everything is well incorporated.  Go ahead and use your hands to mix.  It's easiest and adds more love to the whole preparation/cooking process.

Separate the ground mixture into four equal size sections.  Form each section into a patty using your hand. Put an indentation into the center of each patty.  
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Grill over medium heat (whether this is an outdoor grill or indoor grill, that's completely up to you) until meat reaches temp. of 160 degrees in center.  For safety's sake.

And now you have a lean, delicious, juicy burger perfect for any summertime meal.  
We savored these blueberry burgers alongside some steamed broccoli and baked sweet potato fries.  So YUM!!!
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Healthy Recipe Tidbits

  • I used ground turkey for this recipe to decrease the amount of saturated fat you would typically find in ground beef.  Other great choices of meat would be chicken, bison, or venison.
  • Turmeric is a wonderful spice because it's filled with many great nutritional benefits.  Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory spice shown to aid in helping to reduce chronic joint pain especially.  It's one of the best, most easily attainable natural pain relievers you can find to add into your foods.  
  • Blueberries have been recently shown to be excellent brain food!  Some studies suggest they may help reverse age-related memory loss thanks to their abundance of antioxidants called flavonoids.
  • Blueberries, eaten on a regular basis, can also reduce your risk for heart attacks.They contain high levels of compounds that may help widen arteries, which causes the buildup that generally leads to heart attacks.

Have you ever eaten a burger with a strange ingredient or topping?

What are you most looking forward to cooking up and/or eating for a summertime BBQ or event?

Kaylin's Keys to Health-My Health Coaching Business

5/22/2014

 
Hello all and oh happy day!  Why so happy?  Because I'm really starting to get my health coaching business webpage and facebook page up and running! 

I am still working on them both and doing some tweaks and adjustments, but I decided to go ahead and share them so you can get the word out and keep them on your radar.  Taking my first health coaching clients NOW, so please don't' hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!  



If you'd like to sign up for a free health consultation and find out more about how I can help you find your keys to better health and happiness, email me or contact me via my business page.  

You can email me at kaylinskeystohealth@gmail.com

Kaylin's Keys to Health (business webpage)

Kaylin's Keys to Health (Facebook page)

3 1/2 Year Anniversary Date and Healthy Style Quaker Oatmeal Cookies

5/20/2014

 
Hello, and how are y'all doing?  I hope you're doing splendidly!  This post will just mostly be a quick update of some recent events--including Wade's college graduation and our 3 1/2 year anniversary date.  But I did throw in a "healthified" version of the classic Quaker oatmeal cookies for you guys too.  So stay tuned!

First comes first, Wade graduated college!!  Woot!  So proud of him.  Although you probably couldn't tel from this photo...haha.  It looks like I'm either upset with him.  Actually it's that face I get when I'm like "Honey...did you really just say/do that?..."  But I wasn't angry I promise!  Just awkward photo shot moment.
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There's a better one.  See?  Lots of smiles, no anger. :)
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The day after Wade's graduation came Mother's Day.  It was pretty low key this year, but one special treat my mother and I made together was these lemon lavender cupcakes from a cute box mix with decorating sprinkles I had gotten for a gift a while back.  They turned out delicious!  Especially for a box mix.  

I found the cut out printables adorning the cupcakes for free online.  Just printed them out, taped them to some toothpicks, and wallah!  Fancier Mother's Day cupcakes.
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Wade and I didn't really go all out for anniversary gifts, but I did decide to surprise him with his favorite cookie:  Quaker Oatmeal Cookies.  He likes the ones made from the recipe you can find underneath the lid of the Quaker Oats packages.  But of course, I had to "healthify" the cookies.  Makes me feel a little better when he's eating them.  Especially since he'll eat anywhere from 5-10 in one sitting.  Not kidding.
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I swapped a few ingredients and "healthified" these Quaker Oatmeal cookies with the following recipe.  Oh, and Wade still loved them just as much as the originals!  This is coming form a very picky eater, so I give myself a gold star for this recipe remake.

Healthy Style Quaker Oatmeal Cookies

*slightly adapted and modified from original Quaker Oatmeal Cookie recipe*

Servings:  About 25-30 cookies

Ingredients:
3 cups Quaker quick oats
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup unsweet applesauce
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla


Directions:
In a medium bowl, mix together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, ground flaxseed, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and both sugars together using a hand mixer on low speed until well blended.  Add in the eggs, unsweet applesauce, and vanilla.  Blend with hand mixer on low speed.  Next, add in the 
flour mixture slowly to incorporate to the mix.  Blend on low speed for about 1 minute until smooth.  Using a big spoon or baking spatula, incorporate the oats into the mixture by hand.  

*Now I've got a special trick for you to get the cookies super crispy on the bottom and still gooey in the center*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Once oven is at temperature, place baking sheet (ungreased) into oven. Start dividing the oatmeal mixture into about 1 1/2 Tbsp. sized mounds of cookies on a piece of parchment paper, fitted to be placed on the baking sheet.  Once all cookies are ready to go, take the sheet out of the oven and carefully place the parchment paper with cookies onto the hot baking sheet.  Place cookies back in oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.  Leave on hot sheet for 1 additional minute before removing to wire rack to continue cooling.
That's a happy boy with a cookie right there.
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My late birthday presents and anniversary presents combined ended up being a couple of games I had on my wishlist along with the sweetest, most heartfelt, pretty card.  Cards Against Humanity and Sexy Truth or Dare.  Scandalous!! 
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Time for our special dinner date at Tusk and Trotter.  I've been here recently with my mom for my birthday lunch, but when Wade suggested it for our anniversary date I certainly didn't mind going again so soon!  This time, I opted for these AMAZINGLY delicious and beautiful Baby Back Ribs.  Wade also couldn't resist the ribs. The aroma alone just coming off the meat when they set the plates on our table was just pure bliss. 
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Meat aromatherapy:  this should become a thing.  

I'm not a huge meat eater, and especially not a huge beef eater, but what makes me happy to be choosing these ribs is knowing they were locally sourced from a nearby farm that treats animals more humanely.  And thus, their ribs are far more tasty than your standard ribs.  
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And some cute couple photos were taken.
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Hope y'all have a great week!  


Do you prefer raisins or chocolate chips in your oatmeal cookies?  Or neither?

Anybody got any great stories from playing Cards Against Humanity with family/friends?
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    Happiness is Homemade

    Hi there!  I'm Kaylin, a foodie, health nut, and recent college graduate. Born and raised in Arkansas, recently moved to Texas. On this blog you'll find a lot of tasty food and recipe ideas, healthy lifestyle suggestions, and random musings of my trials and tribulations of a 20-something. 
    I hope to inspire you to create some delicious things in your own kitchen because I believe happiness is homemade. 

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