Mexican Sloppy Joes

I just made such a delicious, quick, healthy, cheap meal that I have to share it with you. Of course, I was just throwing things in a pan and not thinking anything great would come out of it so I don't have exact measurements but here goes:

Mexican Sloppy Joes (for one)
Delicious and less than 300 calories!

• 1.5 Tablespoons diced onion


• 4 oz lean ground turkey (I crumbled up a pre-portioned turkey burger, you could use beef if you prefer).


• A little less than a Tablespoon of taco seasoning. I keep a big container of this in the house.


• A squeeze of Contadina pizza squeeze (I like to keep this in the fridge, that way I can always throw together an English muffin pizza). You could also use a little tomato sauce or ketchup for this recipe.


• I used Orowheat (or Thomas') on the east coast Double Fiber English muffins for a bun, but you could use any bun or bread really.

1. Spray a pan with olive oil spray and heat it up. Add your onions for a minute.


2. Crumble in the meat, add the seasoning and sauce.


3. Cook until browned and place on the bottom of the toasted English muffin or bun and top with the other one.

Father's Office does indeed have the best burgers in town

We dropped $42 on a couple of burgers and fries last weekend (not counting any tipping). While it's hard to deny how ridiculous that is, it's also hard to deny how awesome they tasted.

Father's Office is located on a posh street in Santa Monica and has a strange set-up. It's a small, narrow place with first-come, first-serve seating. So, if by the time you get your $42 worth of food you don't find a seat, you're eating it leaning against a wall. As lovely as the hard-wood wall is, it really doesn't make up for it. Luckily, we got a seat.

We got two burgers the only way they make them (with caramelized onions, applewood bacon compote, gruyere, matag blue cheese and arugula). They were AAAAWESOME!! I couldn't stop thinking about those burgers for days. Almost equally delicious was the garlic aoli which comes with the shoe string french fries. We also got the sweet potato fries which were good, but not a must in my book. Their service wasn't great.. they bring things out as they're made so you never know what you're going to get first, last, or at the same time. We didn't get the sweet potato fries (while they brought out plenty to folks who came in after us) until we were done with our burgers. They have a very long list of micro-brews, which is the other draw to this place. I got the Speckled Hen which was perfect (good if you like golden, thick beers).

They've also got a nice list of fancy small plates (mostly Spanish, tapas-like dishes) like House Cured Spanish White Anchovies and Dry Cured Spanish Mountain Ham. We might try getting one of these next time and splitting a burger and fries (they are BIG).

I've heard this place is mobbed at happy hour. Although, for $10 a beer, how can you walk out of there happy? We happened to go on a Saturday afternoon and it wasn't so bad. I'd go again.. even with the price.. the burgers were just that good. I hope my mother's not reading this, she'd say, "Well Alexis, you LOVE to spend money!"

Father's Office
1018 Montana Ave.
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310-393-BEER (2337)
http://www.fathersoffice.com/

Salmon Burgers with Mango Salsa

Trader Joe is my friend. I found these amazing salmon burgers there. They are low in calories because they are really just big chunks of salmon pressed together, not all ground up like some burgers. But, you could use any salmon burger you can find for these.

For this recipe, the "salsa" is really like a salad, which is why there is a lot of it. Although you can serve these with or without bread, we had them open-faced on a slice of toasted whole wheat.

Another amazing product you must try is this fabulous salad dressing: Follow Your Heart Spicy Southwestern Ranch. It is so delicious, healthy, creamy and tasty.. yet so low in calories that I honestly have no idea how they do it. You can get it in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods. It is wonderful drizzled on top of this dish.

Now, you can adjust the amounts of these ingredients if you like, but this is basically what I did:

• 4-5 salmon burgers
• 1 fresh, ripe mango
• 1 can black beans
• 3/4 box of frozen corn
• 1 cup diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1 Tablespoon lime or lemon juice
• Hot sauce to taste
• optional: fresh herbs like cilantro and/or mint (I didn't have any in the house and this still came out tasting amazing)
• optional: mixed greens for accompaniment
• optional: a tasty, Mexican inspired salad dressing like Follow Your Heart Southwestern Ranch (mentioned above)
• optional: whole grain or other bread

1. Dice your mango. If you don't know by now how to do this, watch this video. (Unfortunately, the dicing doesn't start until about 1:45 into this video) or just check out this web page.
2. Mix the mango with everything except the dressing, bread, and salmon, in a bowl.
3. That's pretty much it for the salsa. It tastes better the next day because all the flavors get a chance to mingle.
4. Now, fry up your salmon burgers with some olive or canola oil.
5. If desired, toast your bread.
6. To serve, place the toasted bread on a plate, followed by your mixed greens, the salmon, a generous heap of salsa and then drizzle with the ranch dressing.

There you have it, a very healthy, delicious meal with plenty of leftovers!

Hot Diggity Dog!

It's been a long day and I've had a lot of sun. Fat kitty (Albert) sits beside me rolling himself onto his back and breathing heavily as he cools off next to the fan. Today was a LESS than optimal day at the beach. I mean, there were just a million people there. After sitting in traffic for 20 minutes waiting for the privilege to pay $8.00 to park at a public beach, I thought I found a good spot in the sand. I kept a decent, polite amount of space between me and my neighbors, kind of like when you're driving and you keep a good distance between you and the car in front of you, but peeps STILL squeeze in. Every time I looked up, someone and their whole family and their 3 course meal and umbrella were plunking down next to me. Then, they proceeded to act like they were the only people on the beach just YELLing to one another, tossing footballs, playing heavy-metal music, pick your side, they were there. When my butt was so full of sand I needed to shower off, no one would give me my turn at the showers. People around here just act like the don't see the other millions of people, it is so rude!! Just when I had enough and was moving all my stuff in a huff, I was stung by a bee.

So, what might you ask made this a good trip to the beach? I did get some color, so that was nice, but overall it was my deeeeelicious hot dog from Perry's Cafe on the Pacific Coast Highway. Just a short walk on the paved bike/walking path north from the Santa Monica Pier is my favorite hot dog. I am from the east coast (Boston, New York, had 'em all) and I can honestly say this. I tried to take a picture but my phone was dying. Let me describe it then: a big fat juicy grilled dog on a big toasty bun loaded up with everything. Soo, good, man!! Their burgers are also excellent. So, next time you are at a Santa Monica beach, grab all your stuff in a huff and head on over to Perry's. It will save the day.

Perry's Cafe