​In a mixing bowl combine the ground beef, salt, pepper and bread crumbs. Divide the ground beef into even proportion sized balls. Cut the onion into paper thin slices. If you have a mandolin, you can also use this tool to create very fine cuttings. Just from first hand experience, if you decide to use the mandolin PLEASE use the safety or you may end up an urgent care getting a hand wound cauterized. LOL, I’m allowed to laugh now, three years later…

​Okay, so here we go. Heat up the cast iron skillet, place the beef on, flatten with the metal spatula and add another dash of s & p. Immediately, load up the onions on top of the burger and let the meat brown for ~2 minutes. You’re looking for the burger to develop a crust, which will be loaded with flavor when you bite in! Flip the burger using the spatula to help keep the onions in place. Now your onions will be frying in the beef fat under the burger. Add your cheese and cook about 2-3 minutes until your burger reaches desired consistency. Immediately top with pickles, tomatoes, lettuce and enjoy!

​Depending on the size of your cast iron, you may be able to do 2 at a time, but don’t crowd the pan because it will be difficult to flip the burger. We had two pounds of beef to make six burgers, but you can use what you have! These were so good and a great bite with the crunchy onions and gooey cheese. I used a gluten free burger bun and Spencer used romaine lettuce wraps, so whatever suits your fancy!

Ingredients
2 lbs ground beef
¼ c gluten free bread crumbs
1 t salt & pepper
2 white onions – Vidalia or Spanish
6 slices of cheese (smoked hot pepper)
Dill pickles, sliced tomatoes, romaine & gluten free hamburger buns

Send me a note if you try it or make a variation! I'd love to continue evolving this recipe!

​These waffles are so, so good and very easy to make. Whether you’re looking to prep them ahead of time or double the recipe, it’s easy as can be. The macros are great. The sweetness in this recipe is going to come from the banana, vanilla and the natural flavors in your peanut butter protein powder or substitute.
 
I realize peanut butter protein powder isn’t extraordinarily common, unless you love Bowmar protein as much as I do. A nice substitute would be ½ scoop of vanilla protein and ½ scoop peanut butter powder for the collagen. You’ll still get a ton of peanut butter flavor with the same consistency! Yum!
 
You can preheat the waffle maker while you’re putting the batter together. After the first time making them, it will only take 15 minutes start to finish. One serving is about 3 waffles. I use our Ninja single serve blender to put together the ingredients. The recipe fits if you double it, as well. I usually add a tsp of butter or peanut butter to the waffles for topping. For dessert one evening, I topped with fresh vanilla whipped cream.
 
Recipe
Preheat waffle maker and spray with nonstick spray
1/2 scoop pb protein powder (or whatever you have)
1/2 scoop collagen (can be omitted, but seriously helping my recovery so sticking with it)
1/2 banana
1 egg & 1 egg white
1/2 cup oats
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp salt, baking p & s, cinnamon
Blend ingredients until smooth and put ¼ c on waffle maker
Topped with fresh vanilla whipped cream, butter or favorite topping 😋

​We had leftover grilled sirloin from last night so we decided to whip up an Asian inspired meal with Teriyaki sauce and what we like to call dirty rice.
The rice consists of whatever veggies you have on hand, sautéed and reduced down in broth. Then, mix the veg and rice together. I used Forbidden black rice and for veg I had a red pepper, white onion and four carrots.
Traditional teriyaki sauce is equal parts reduced sodium soy sauce (San-j), mirin (sweet & savory cooking wine -Eden) and sake. But, as per usual we made some adjustments including using reduced sodium soy sauce so it is easier to control the salt. We also made our own sake substitute using just shy of 1 cup extra dry vermouth and 1 T rice wine vinegar (Marukan).
 
For equal parts we used a 1 cup measurement. We also added a corn starch slurry 2:1 water (2 T water: 1 T corn starch) to thicken. Who said you didn’t need to learn tratios?   Bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat in a sauce pan, reduce by 1/3 until it reaches your desired consistency.
 
NOW, this is where is get exciting!
We wanted to spruce it up a little, so went with some aromatics by the way of minced sushi ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, Aleppo chili flakes and a dash of maple syrup for a HINT of sweetness. Mirin is naturally sweet so depending on your brand you may not even need to add it.
 
After the sauce was complete, we added the grilled sirloin to the sauce to simmer for a couple minutes and then served it over the dirty rice. Enjoy!!
 
One of our goals with recipe development is to cut down on added sugars, preservatives, etc. In this recipe, we cut WAY down on the traditional amount of sugar. We also added maple syrup instead of a typical white sugar. It is important to start with a small amount of sugar in recipes, then test to see if it is needed. We added the small amount for balance. Keep sugar low!!! Health goals 😊
 
This ratio made plenty for leftovers so tomorrow we’re planning to try baked chicken drumsticks and broccoli with a nice drizzle of teriyaki! Yum, I’m already excited!

1 c soy sauce
1 c Mirin
1 c Sake - substitute (just under 1 c dry vermouth & 1 T rice wine vinegar)
2 T water
1 T corn starch
2 T minced sushi ginger
1 T minced garlic
2 t sesame seeds
2 t aleppo chili flakes
Dash of maple syrup
 
1 cup rice
Vegetables of your choosing!
 
 
Comment below if you’ve tried this or something similar. I would love to try a new variation!