Nothing compares to the taste of a freshly cooked homemade hamburger. The following classic hamburger recipe is easy to make and is one of the best hamburger recipes I have come across.

Serving Size: 4 Delicious Hamburgers

Tools: A BBQ or Grill Pan

Ingredients:
4 hamburger buns
Lettuce
1 large sliced tomato
1 sliced red onion
8 slices of cooked bacon
4 slices of cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt & Pepper
2 lbs ground beef
Olive oil
Your favorite bbq sauce

Step 1:
Mix the ground beef, onion powder and garlic powder in a large bowl. Season to your liking with salt & pepper. Divide the mixture into four portions and firmly press each portion into a round patty with your desired thickness. Cover and chill for 15-30 minutes.

Step 2:
Heat the grill or barbeque to medium-high heat. Brush the hamburger patties with a little olive oil. Cook the patties for 4-6 minutes on each side depending on how well you like them cooked.

Step 3:
In the last minute of grilling, place a piece of cheddar cheese on top of each burger.

Step 4:
Take the hamburger patties off the grill, place on a plate and cover with aluminum foil. Place the buns face down on the grill for 45 seconds to a minute.

Step 5:
Assemble the hamburgers with the bottom bun, two slices of bacon, a little bbq sauce, the burger, two slices of red onion, sliced red tomato, the top bun.

Enjoy!

This is a wonderful pork recipe which you can cook in the oven or roast on the grill. It reminds me of deviled eggs, but much better.

In a small bowl, whisk together:
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons paprika
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Set aside 1/4 cup of the marinade and refrigerate. Pour the remaining marinade over 2-3lb boneless pork loin roast in a shallow dish. Cover and refrigerate over night, turning once. Take meat out of refrigerator about 1/2 before you want to start cooking.

If cooking in the oven, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place pork loin roast in a roasting pan, fat side up. Pour marinade over roast and cook until meat thermometer reads 150-155 degrees. Start checking the temperature of the meat after an hour (should take about 1 and 1/2 hours). Remove from oven, cover with foil and let rest about 10 minutes. Slice meat and either pour 1/4 cup separate marinade over the meat, or serve separate marinade along side the meat.

If grilling, heat the grill to medium-high heat. Sear the pork over the hottest part of the grill, on both sides, cooking for about 10 minutes total. Relocate pork to a cooler part of the grill and cover. Turn once, about half way through roasting (about 45 minutes of cooking). Once meat reads 150-155 degrees remover from grill. Cover with foil and let rest about 10 minutes. Slice meat and either pour 1/4 cup separate marinade over the meat, or serve separate marinade along side the meat.

Serves 8

This is such a great salad; I serve it all the time. The pear and Gorgonzola cheese compliment each other so deliciously. This is a great starter salad or you could put grilled chicken or shrimp on top and make it into a meal.

In a small bowl, whisk together:
1/2 vegetable oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
pinch of cayenne pepper

Once well mixed, set aside. Can be made a few days ahead of time and stored in refrigerator. Bring to room temperature before serving.

In a large salad bowl, combine:
1 6-8 oz package of ready to use baby spinach leaves
1 pear, peeled and cubed
1 avocado, pitted and cubed
1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Pour enough dressing over salad to coat and toss to combine.

Serves 4-6 as starter salad

Eggs Benedict is one of my favorite breakfast meals.  Given the rather high amount of calories in Eggs Benedict, we try not to have it too often, but when we do I love this easy recipe below.  My eggs benedict recipe uses croissants instead of english muffins which again probably doesn’t help the calorie count, but definitely makes it an easy and delicious dish to prepare!

The tricky part with Eggs Benedict is poaching the egg. If you know how to do this, great! If not, first take a look at the video at the bottom of this page for a quick overview on an easy way to poach an egg.

This recipe below makes 4 small servings.

Ingredients:

• 2 Fresh Croissants (you can usually get a package of 4 fresh in your grocery story bakery)
• 4 Large Eggs
• 1 Packet of Dry Hollandaise Sauce (and based on the sauce, look on the packet for the ingredients you need to make the sauce - typically mild and butter)
• 1 Tablespoon of Finely Chopped Fresh Chives
• 4 Slices of Ham, about 1/4 of an inch thick
• 4 Slices of Bacon

Step 1: Folllow the instructions on the packet of Hollandaise sauce to get the sauce cooking on the stove.

Step 2: Cut the croissants in half, making four croissant halves.  These will be the foundation for your four eggs benedict servings.

Step 3: Cook the bacon in a pan to your liking.  Put the cooked bacon on a plate of paper towels but keep the bacon fat in the pan.

Step 4: In the same pan from the bacon, lightly cook the 4 slices of ham.  Put the cooked ham on the plat with the bacon.

Step 5: Poach the four eggs. Again, if this is a new concept to you, check out the quick an easy video below.

Step 6: Place each of the four pieces of ham on top of each of the croissants. On top of the ham, put a piece of bacon (break it into two pieces if it fits better)

Step 7: Carefully place each of the four poached eggs on top of each of the croissants.

Step 8: Spoon your desired amount of Hollandaise sauce on top of each of the dishes, then top with a desired amount of fresh chopped chives.

Enjoy!

Baked beans are a great side dish to serve at any picnic or BBQ.  They are an easy side dish to make and go great with burgers or ribs.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a medium sized casserole dish, mix together and set aside:

3 cans white beans, such as navy (rinsed and drained)

1 and 1/4 cup chicken broth

In a large skillet, over medium heat, cook:

4 slices of bacon, roughly chopped

Once bacon begins to release it’s fat, add to the skillet:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

Cook bacon, oil and onion for about 5-7 minutes or until onion begins to soften.  Stir in:

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons molasses

1 teaspoon chile powder

1 teaspoon dry mustrad

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Stir to combine.  Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.  Pour bacon mixture over bean mixture in the casserole dish and stir to combine.  Cover with a lid or foil and bake for 1 hour.   Remove lid or foil and stir, adding more chicken broth if needed.  Continue to bake with no lid or foil for about 30 minutes or until top is browned and bubbly.

Serves 6-8