Post-Antibiotic Energy Burst

Brett had a pretty nasty week, with a massive ear + sinus infection, high fever for 5 days, almost no sleep for 4 nights...and then there was Augmentin. Thank you, Lord!! Prior to taking his antibiotic regimen, Brett was a miserable, hot, sore, drippy, droopy, whimpering little kiddo. Post-antibiotics...well...

This is Brett's impression of The Who, at the SuperBowl halftime show. A highlight of our weekend, to say the least!!

Ya gotta try this...

Hey there friends,
So as most of you know, we live under some pretty strict diet rules, due to various health conditions. It's a rare occasion for us to even eat red meat...much less to splurge on a hamburger with all the fixin's. A few weeks ago, Brett was playing with his pretend food...specifically his burger set from Grandma and Papa Brown. The only thing is, Brett had decided to make a soup of his burger in a play cooking pan. A little unconventional, but it piqued my interest. Burger soup? Never heard of it...may as well give it a try! So, without further ado, this is the funky recipe we cooked up for the first time tonight. If you like burgers, you've got to give it a try. We L - O - V - E, loved it! Sorry, no photos...we devoured it too fast. And honestly, it's not exactly the kind of food you'll see gorgeously presented at El Gaucho. But man, it was GOOD. :)

Swamped Burgers
(Bacon Cheeseburger Soup)

~ 1 lb. extra-lean ground beef (we use elk because it's even healthier)
~ 4-5 strips bacon (used to use turkey...now we have to use soy...uber-healthy, yes we are!), diced
~ 1/4 c. Smart Balance spread, divided
~ 1 onion, halved and sliced thinly
~ 3 small potatoes or 2 large, sliced into french-fry strips
~ salt and pepper (garlic pepper is outstanding)
~ 1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
~ 1 T. worchestershire sauce
~ 1 T. yellow mustard
~ 2 T. ketchup
~ 1/4 c. flour
~ 4 c. skim milk
~ 8 oz. reduced-fat cheddar cheese, divided
~ 4 whole wheat hamburger buns
~ reduced-fat mayonnaise
~ diced avocado, dill pickle, and any other burger toppings you like, to garnish

In a deep saucepan, melt 1 T. SBspread. Add bacon, and cook until just slightly crisp. Remove from pan, and set aside on a paper towel. Add remaining butter, and fry potatoes, adding salt and pepper to your taste, about 5 min. Add onions and cook about 3 min. Add ground beef, season to taste and cook until no longer pink. Add worchestershire sauce. Toss in tomato, and then flour, stirring to combine. Add milk, ketchup and mustard, and cook until thickened and bubbly, stirring occasionally. Allow to simmer about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cut 8 thin slices of cheese, and shred the rest. Add shredded cheese on very low heat, stirring constantly until melted. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, toast buns and spread with a thin layer of mayonnaise. Place one bottom bun in each of four deep soup bowls. Add a slice of cheese to each. Ladle soup over the top, then add another slice of cheese and the top bun. Garnish with pickles, avocado, and any other burger toppings you enjoy.

Sounds a little weird...but I promise it's deeeelish! And coming from a home with tons of diet restrictions, it tastes like a way bigger indulgence than it is!

Spreading the word - Help Haiti

When we were deciding on where to send funds for Haiti relief, we really wanted our money to support orphans. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with now far more than 1 million orphans. That's about 1 in 8 people. So we found this awesome organization, the Global Orphan Project, which already has several orphan homes set up... See More throughout Haiti (and all over the world). Since they're already there, it doesn't take a lot of effort or cost to mobilize. They have already set up a huge transitional orphan village, solely dedicated to rescuing and caring for children in the P-A-P area who have been suddenly orphaned by the earthquake. It has the capacity to support up to FIVE HUNDRED children. They have nearly three hundred right now.

The GO project has set up an easy donation method - Now you can text "ORPHAN" to 85944 to donate $10 to their Haiti relief efforts. So go a few days without coffee...or skip your dinner date...or whatever it takes to help rescue these precious children!