It’s not like patting out my own hamburger patties is hard, but sometimes I like the convenience of the pre-made kind.   The only problem with this is the inability to add flavors inside the patties (like adding onion soup mix or bbq or other seasonings to the meat before patting them out).

Here are a few ways to add flavor to the patties: 

Sprinkle it on:

• Seasoned salt
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Chili powder
• Good old salt and pepper

Slather it on:

• BBQ sauce – I’ve been liking a combo of Country Bob’s and Sweet Baby Ray’s.  Surprisingly good mixed together.
• Italian dressing – don’t save it just for chicken breasts
• Hoisin sauce
• Worcestershire sauce

Cheese it up:

• Cheddar
• American
• Swiss
• Pepper Jack

I’d love to hear your ideas for making hamburgers more interesting.  Leave a comment and tell me how you eat them!

Part of my family is heading to Disney World in a couple weeks.  Because I’m in the group going, I can’t seem to stay away from the Disney stuff.  That means I’ve been avidly reading the Disney Food Blog.  Disney and food are two of my favorite things.

The other day, I ran across this review of a new sandwich found in Animal Kingdom.  I new I had to try to create this!  Of course, I have no idea what it tastes like, other than the way it is described in the post.  Maybe I’ll get to sample the real deal while I’m there, so I can compare my version and Disney’s.

However, I have to say that the review was a great inspiration.  My version turned out full of flavor and tender.  My family loved it too.  And the fact that it uses the slow cooker is a bonus.  There’s just enough spice to make it interesting and give the meat a lot of flavor, yet it’s not burn-your-tongue hot.

Here’s what you’ll need to make these sandwiches: 

You know how I love a 15 minute meal.  Sometimes that’s all I have to pull dinner together.  Such was the case the night I made this, but the inspiration for the dish had come a few months before.

When I went to Nashville for Blissdom, a group of us had dinner together the first night.  Tricia from Once a Month Mom was our ring leader and she took us downtown to Demo’s Restaurant.  I chose the spaghetti with brown butter garlic sauce.  It tasted really good, but I had an inkling that I could make it better at home.

I was right!  And it can be made in the time it takes to boil water and cook the pasta.  Here’s what you’ll need: 

I have heard about the beans for years.  Yes, years!  And I can’t believe I had never tried them.  I first heard about them on the Sonlight forums, where they were made famous by Bethany of For the Love of Grub.

Bethany loves these beans and makes them often and tells the rest of us that we need to be making them.  Everyone who has tried them raves about them.

Do I take the hint and give them a try?  No, I wait 5 or 7 years before it finally hits me that I need to see what the fuss is about.  I mean, it’s just beans, right? They can’t be that much better than canned, right?

Call me a crazy bean lover!  These things are fabulous!

They aren’t spicy, and yet they’re flavorful.  They make a quick dinner, can be mashed or left whole and they’re great for stocking your freezer.

Bethany gives a lot of variations on her blog, but this is how I made them: 

Please ignore the slow cooker that needs to be scrubbed.  It’s okay, Mom.  I promise I scrubbed it and it’s clean now.

You can use these beans in tacos, enchiladas, burritos, etc.  Or eat them as a side dish.

3 ingredients and a slow cooker.  This couldn’t be simpler to throw together.

And it’s really good too!  I’m not sure why I thought to mix Teriyaki  and BBQ sauces, but the combination makes a flavorful sauce that was a hit with the kids.

Here’s what you’ll need: 

In addition to the teriyaki and bbq sauces, you’ll need chicken legs, of course.  I used a bag of frozen legs that I defrosted part way in the microwave.  You could also use any other cut of chicken or even pork or beef with the sauce.  And I thought it would be great on the outdoor grill.

Don’t worry about measuring exactly with this.  I used the whole bottle of each, but that was a lot more sauce than necessary.  Next time, I’ll go for 1/2 bottle of each.

My family loves creamy pasta dishes.  They’re so quick and easy to make that we can have this favorite meal on a busy week night or cooked up after church on a Sunday.

This version has roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and chicken marinated in red wine vinegar and homemade Italian Herb Salt.  Serve it up with a salad and a loaf of crusty bread with seasoned olive oil for dipping.  Even better than going out to eat and much cheaper too!  

I usually take ingredient photos, but I can’t find one for this dish on my computer.  We must have been really busy the night I made it and I forgot to take the photo.

Would you believe that delicious fish took only 2 ingredients?  It’s true!

The secret is Kraft Fresh Take.  They are a cheese and crumb (some have panko crumbs, some bread crumbs) mix.  You can do all kinds of things with them.  I chose to do a simple coating on tilalpia and then bake.  It made a crispy crust on the fish and added lots of flavor too.  My family loved it! 

On the back of the package I found a recipe for Crab Cakes that sounded marvelous.  I’m going to have give that one a try soon.

You can find many other recipes for Kraft Fresh Takes on their site.  They all look easy and delicious (and they aren’t all for fish either, those are just 2 that caught my eye).

$50 VISA gift card giveaway!

Kraft Fresh Takes is going to give one reader a $50 VISA gift card!  Awesome, right?

To enter:

• Leave a comment telling me which Kraft Fresh Take recipe you’d like to try.
• For a bonus entry, leave a comment on one of the Kraft Fresh Take recipes, then come back here and comment to let me know you’ve done that.

Winner will be chosen randomly on Monday morning 4/16 and announced on the Eat at Home Facebook page.

Disclosure: I am one of several bloggers selected by Kraft Foods to participate in the KRAFT FRESH TAKE recipe program. While I have been compensated for my time, my opinions are my own, and I have not been paid to post positive comments.

This soup has a lot of things going for it.

It can be made entirely in the slow cooker.

The chicken cooks in the soup, so no need for an extra step.

Just like taco soup, there are a million variations.  Use what you’ve got available in your pantry.

Here’s what I used: 

I also used an onion, which didn’t make it into the photo.

Here are a few variations:

• use both red and green peppers, or just a green pepper
• use a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis
• use canned corn, instead of frozen
• use kidney beans or red beans
• skip the rice
• skip the chicken and use a variety of beans to make it meatless
• top with cheddar, Monterey Jack or pepper Jack cheese

It will turn out different every time, but they will all be good!

We love sandwiches at our house for lunch or dinner.  But sometimes we get in a rut, plunking the same kind of meat and cheese between the same old bread, slathered with the same drab spread.

Here are some ways to pull your sandwich from the brink of boring: 

1.  Change up the bread

Try tortillas (spinach or other flavors), pita bread, bagels, thins, rolls, buns, flatbread…

2.  Add veggies

In addition to lettuce and tomato try avocado, red and/or green peppers, shredded carrots or broccoli, spinach…

3.  Add red onion

Red onion can perk a sandwich up all by itself.  A little bit adds a lot of flavor.

4.  Add sprouts

Sprouts add flavor, crunch and a good does of health too.

5.  Add pickled things

Banana peppers, roasted red peppers, dill pickles, sweet pickles bring interesting taste and color to sandwiches.

6.  Skip the bread

Wrap the whole sandwich in a slice of cheese or in a lettuce leaf.

7.  Season it

Sprinkle on salt and pepper, Cajun seasoning, ground red pepper, garlic powder, seasoned salt…

8.  Try a different spread

Slather on the honey mustard, chipotle mayo, or other interesting spread.  Or sprinkle the sandwich with oil and vinegar.

9.  Change up the cheese

Try muenster, provolone, pepper jack, cream cheese (lots of flavors to choose from), cheddar, Swiss…

10.  Heat it

Broil the whole sandwich, toast it on a griddle, toast the bread only, zap it in the microwave…

You can also change up the way you wrap a sandwich when packing.  Baggies aren’t the only possibility.  Try wrapping in foil or waxed paper instead.

Or try a reuseable sandwich bag, like these from Etsy.  Click the photos to visit the Etsy stores.

I am a huge fan of the 15 minute meal.  Some days, there just isn’t any more time than that to pull dinner together.

I’ve even got an eBook full of 15 minute meals.  I frequently pull it out when I need something quick for dinner.  A quick scan of the book, matched up with the items in my pantry will always yield a dinner idea.

This meal idea came from my mom.  She had something similar when she ate out recently.  I’m not sure what restaurant and I don’t know exactly how she fixed hers.  There are many different ways you could take this, depending on what your family likes and what you’ve got in the pantry.

I happened to have a variety of bell peppers in the fridge, so I used them to add color and flavor.  Doesn’t this pan of cooking peppers and onions look good?

Here’s what you’ll need for this quick meal: