How About a Homemade Hamburger

A delicious homemade hamburger
A delicious homemade hamburger

It’s plenty easy to count the calories of a hamburger from your favorite restaurant. Just go to google and look up the nutrition menu for that restaurant. But my favorite hamburger is the one I make at home.  They do have a lot of calories, so I have to work it into my day. This means I need to plan for it in advance.

A big, juicy hamburger is the kind of thing I would want to enjoy for supper.  So when I know I am going to have a big supper, I need to compensate for it during the rest of my day. Fruits and vegetables are good choices. I don’t even count the calories on pure fruits and vegetables. I do count starchy vegetables, however, such as beans and peas, potatoes, avocados. A banana for breakfast would be a good choice. A can of spinach would make a great lunch.  I want to keep the calories as low as possible during the day, but I won’t have to eliminate them completely. One big, juicy hamburger, the way I make it, is about 800 calories.  I like to eat around 1500 per day. So maybe a cup of 1% milk would go good with that banana. I might have some whole grain crackers with my spinach. Not exciting, but fills me up and allows room for supper.

When preparing the hamburger, I choose 85/15 ground meat, and I use 1/3# cutter. It’s nice and big, and this way I get a uniform size, so I get close to the same calories in the meat every time. I have a grill disk that I lay in the bottom of my skillet which keeps the meat up off the bottom of the pan and allows the fat to drain off.  And I allow it to cook on 6, just until the juices run clear when pricked. The disk cooks a much better piece of meat than just letting it float in grease on the bottom of the pan.  And it turns out big and juicy. My daughter has a nice grill pan, but since I don’t, I bought this disk and it works just as well as her pan does.

The first time I made hamburgers, I weighed my cooked patty on my digital scale, took the total value of grams and researched it in google, to arrive at my total amount of calories.  It’s not really necessary to do that again since I am using a uniform cutter, so long as I make the hamburgers the same way every time.

I really like a good bun and they have some called “Cobblestone” at
Wal-Mart.   I like to butter both sides with a total of 1 TBSP of butter, and toast it in the oven. I have to count that, and the meat and cheddar (1 oz). I don’t think it is necessary to count the veges.  I just use lettuce, tomato, and onion. I choose mustard over mayo, and skip the fries.  All this together comes up to about 800 calories.  I don’t worry about figuring all this out until after I have enjoyed my meal, although I might have to jot down a couple of numbers.

In the end I just need to put it in my book.  Once it’s in the book, and if I use the same method each time, I will not have to figure it out again, I can just look at my book. It might use up the rest of my calories for the day, but if it does, rest assured I will be satisfied. Because there are not many things more delicious than a good ole’ homemade hamburger.

 

Christmas Traditions

I don’t know a whole lot of Christmas traditions, just the ones we use in our family. But I’m always interested in learning and sharing ideas for making the most of the holiday season. Listed here are some of the ways we bring tradition into our holiday.

Simple Popcorn Garland
Simple Popcorn Garland

Decorating:  I have always loved Christmas decorating though I try to keep it pretty simple. Many years ago I started making popcorn garland for the Christmas tree. Very delicate, very pretty. It takes about 2 hours to make everything I need for our medium sized tree. So it’s not a big time issue, nor does it require a lot of expense.  A little work and you have something very special, that cannot be easily found in a store . I use a hot air popper and fishing line, and I turn the country Christmas tunes on satellite. Before you know it, I’m putting it on the tree.  You end up with something very, very pretty and unique. Glenn and his sister share this memory from childhood.  They always strung popcorn garland with their mother and other siblings, and they added cranberries here and there. That sounds lovely, I never tried cranberries. But I think I will add them next year. And perhaps my grandchildren can get in on the fun! When the season is past, and it is time to put things away, I cut the line. The popcorn slides right off to feed the birds, out in the  yard.

Cornbread Dressing
Cornbread Dressing

Cooking:  I am always asked to make the dressing for the family Christmas dinner.  I enjoy doing it because I have been trying for 20 years to learn how to make good dressing.  It’s difficult when you only make it once a year. Though dryness can be a problem, mine seemed to always to be a bit on the wet side.  A couple of years ago I stumbled across 2 techniques that have enabled me to make good dressing, reliably. These are very simple tips worth sharing.

  • I used to make up the cornbread several days in advance and let it dry out on the counter, but this presents some problems.  One year it molded before I got the dressing made, so it was a total flop before I could even get started. Also, it is always possible that a little mouse could get in the house or a roach and they would make a beeline for that cornbread. I now prefer to make it the night before, cutting it into 1 inch squares and keeping it overnight in a sealed container. This is safer and more sanitary. On the morning before the meal, I pile it all on a broiler pan and dry it out in a 225 degree oven, along with the white breads, stirring every hour. The white breads (placed on bare oven racks) only take an hour and they are like croutons.  The cornbread takes about 3 hours.  It’s fresher! And since all the moisture which will go back into that bread is made of broth, rather than just water, this method makes a richer, tastier dressing.
  • Estimate the amount of broth you think you will need, add it to the dried out breads and the rest of your recipe, and stir it all up. Allow it to sit for 20 minutes. Afterwards, inspect your raw dressing and use clean paper towels to soak up any excess liquid (puddles), before dumping everything in the dish for baking. This is a fail-proof method for eliminating the problem of heavy, soggy dressing. And since I have been doing this I have been able to produce a much better result. It may also work well to dip out the dressing into the baking dish, using a slotted spoon. This might eliminate any hidden puddles and I am going to try it this year.
Family time at Christmas.
Family time at Christmas.

Family Socializing:  A few years ago, my sister began a really nice tradition for our family Christmas gathering.  Early in the year, she solicited our help through email, asking us to send her our family stories.  When Christmas came, she had compiled them and made a game with them. She presented a sketchy event and we all guessed who it was about. After we found out, that person told the full story and we all learned a lot about each other.  We have played this game several years now and it is a lovely tradition.  The first year was absolutely magical!

Where do I want to be, this time, next year?
Where do I want to be, this time, next year?

New Years Reflection:  I never plan to, but the last 10 days or so, of each year, I find myself thinking a lot about the year to come. What are my hopes for the new year? Where do I want to be, this time, next year? I don’t try to figure out how to make any of it happen at this point, but I spend time thinking about my hopes and dreams.  I may even make a list, so that when the new year does arrive, I have something to look at and start working on.  It helps me decide my direction for the next twelve months; it keeps me in a positive, forward-looking frame of mind; it inspires me toward the coming year.

Have a very merry Christmas!
Have a very merry Christmas!

I am having  fun with my new blog and I want to thank you for reading and commenting.  Wishing you a merry, merry Christmas and a joyous, new year!