Day 7: Barley-Beef Burgers, Steak Fries, and Lemon-Blueberry Cheesecake

This recipe was supposed to be later on in the week but I wasn't in the mood to cook a big meal, plus I had to make a dessert that needed to bake and then be refrigerated for 3 hours.

 I made a recipe off  of Whole Foods' website once for Beef and Bulgur Burgers. View the recipe here. The addition of bulgur wheat gives you more food, adds fiber, and lowers the fat content. Since I didn't get the chance to make it to Whole Foods, I substituted some extra Barley I had laying around. Barley is a great source of fiber and selenium. It is also a very good source of phosphorous, copper, and manganese.

This is just your basic hamburger with the addition of barley. I cooked the barley on the stove first- the ratio of barley to water is about 1:2. Then I put everything in the bowl: barley, meat, 1 clove of crushed garlic, freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup), Worcestershire sauce (This is a MUST for hamburgers!), and a blend of seasonings including sea salt, black pepper, dried brown mustard, paprika, chile pepper, basil and rosemary. Very simple. To make the most basic hamburger you just need a little bit of salt and worcestershire sauce. Next step was to put it on our indoor grill for about 5 minutes and it's done. The steak fries weren't homemade this time. I'll admit they came out of a bag.

I realize that ketchup isn't the best for you- in fact it contains high fructose corn syrup (remind me to get into that later) and several other ingredients that aren't the best. But I do love it so, and I am not willing to give it up. I haven't ventured into organic ketchup just because I think Heinz does it best!
Of course this was paired with a whole wheat bun. My favorite trusted brand is Oroweat Whole Grain 100% Whole Wheat. 41 grams of whole grain, 0 grams of Trans Fat, Heart Healthy, and NO High Fructose Corn Syrup.

There is something very important I've been meaning to mention about food.

::TIP OF THE DAY: You should be able to recognize the ingredients on the labels of the food you eat. Less is Better. When you see those products with a long list of unrecognizable ingredients STAY AWAY. And another little tip: Ingredients are listed from highest to lowest, meaning whatever comes first is mainly what that product is made of. The last item is the least amount, usually just 1% or less of a certain ingredient.::

Speaking of food labels, last night we watched this amazing show that debuted on ABC called The Food Revolution with Jamie Oliver. He starts his journey in the fatest city in America- Huntington, West Virginia. I encourage everyone to watch it. You can catch up on the first episode at Hulu. Here's a video about the new show. I don't know what I did when I uploaded (frankly I'm surprised I even figured it out). Only half of the video is visible. But you can still hear the words at least :) Maybe Pradeepan can help me widen it? Speaking of Pradeepan, you should check out his blog about jumping rope! http://pradeepanjeeva.blogspot.com/  If you just have to watch the whole video you can watch it here



Tonight our friends Daniel and Jenny came over to play games and hang out. I happened to be browsing food websites the other day and I came across a dangerous one called www.sharedsugar.com. It's about 2 ladies who blog about their delicious desserts. I love this statement from their website:
          "Although we try to use local, seasonal, organic and more nutritious ingredients when possible, we’re not afraid of butter."

Agreed. In moderation of course. Since we were having friends over, I decided to make their Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars. These aren't healthy but it's ok to splurge every once in awhile. I used fresh blueberries that Taylor and I picked on my birthday last year. They have frozen well over the last several months.

I will say though- although these bars were tasty, it made my stomach hurt and Taylor's too. I hope Daniel and Jenny are ok! Regardless..we had a fun night including Nerts and Settlers of the Catan!