Turkey and Black Bean Burgers

I found this burger on the Web and tweaked it a little bit. Ground turkey is very, very bland if it's not seasoned properly. Seasoning is always the key! I know I'm not supposed to say this, but salt is always king. You need it for everything. It's essential in baking.

Why turkey burgers? A long time ago, I would have looked at it and said I'd prefer the real thing. But over the years it's grown on me, thanks to my Dad, who forced it on me. This turkey burger is really good. Invest in a bottle of chipotle mayo.

What You Need

• 1 15-oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1lb lean ground turkey
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (quick cooking oats are fine)
• 1 green pepper, diced small
• 1 small onion, diced small
• 1 medium carrot, shredded
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• 1 large egg, beaten
• Salt and Pepper to taste (Dip a finger into the taco packet to see how salty it is, you may not need salt)

What To Do

1. In a large bowl, take a potato smasher and smash half of the beans. Add in the ground turkey, oats, green pepper, onion, carrot and taco seasoning. 
2. Mix well with your hands (FYI, I keep a box of vinyl gloves in my kitchen for times like these. If you have long nails, you definitely want to invest. 
3. Form as many patties are you can. I can get about eight small patties out of this. Spray a large plate first with cooking spray as the patties are sticky.
4. Cook a grill or frying pan with a little oil or non-stick cooking spray. Cook 5 minutes on each side until well done. You cannot eat poultry if it is not cooked all the way through. The internal temp should be 165 degrees. 
5. Serve on a whole-wheat but lettuce, tomato, chipotle mayo and ketchup.

Enjoy!

Southern Biscuits Recipes

One of my favorite standby recipes is Buttermilk Roast Chicken. I almost always have buttermilk left over. I got sick of making buttermilk pancakes. It seems I eat a lot of pancakes. I needed a break. I have tried and tried so many different biscuit recipes but they always come out a little hard but I think that's because I'm really lazy and I like to use my food processor instead of my hands. But this recipe, the biscuits turned out really well and they browned really well too.

The trick to making biscuits is two things... Use fresh baking powder! Use baking powder as well.

This recipe originally called for using a mix between butter and shortening. I don't buy shortening. So it's okay to use double the butter. I know that there are a lot of health conscious people out there. When it comes to baking use butter instead of margarine... Just for baking!

What You Need

• 2 cups of flour (See Note)
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons cold butter cut into cubes
• 1 cup chilled buttermilk

What To Do

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
3. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks kind of like crumbs. Do this as fast as possible so that the butter doesn't melt. This is what helps make your baked good fluffy.
4. Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the buttermilk and stir until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky. 
5. Turn dough onto a floured surface and dust the top of the dough with flour. 
6. Knead the dough five or six times. And press into 1-inch thick round. 
7. Cut out biscuits with a 2 inch biscuit cutter. If you don't have one, use a glass cup that has an approximately 2-inch diameter. 
8. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet so that they are touching each other.
9. Reform the dough, press into another 1-inch round, and cut out the next batch of biscuits. This batch won't rise as much as the first batch.
10. Bake until brown on top. 15-20 minutes.

Special Note: Don't scoop out the flour from your container with the measuring cup. Instead take a spoon and spoon the flour into the measuring cup. This allows more air into the flour and will help make your biscuits and baked good rise.

Special Note: Don't use self-rising flouring! Self-rising flour already is mixed with baking powder and salt. It's always best to stick with all-purpose flour. You can do a lot more with it! Also there are specific baking ratios that go into baking. 

I am a Binge Eater

I feel as though binge eating doesn't get a lot of attention. Maybe it's because we don't purge after a binge. But I feel that there is a lot of shame associated with binge eating and many people, men and women, don't admit to it.

For me, binge eating is tied to my emotions. If I'm sad, I eat. If I'm stressed, I eat. If I'm angry, I eat. But we're not talking about eating a couple of pieces of cake. No, we are talking about eating the whole cake, a pint of ice cream, a handful of nuts, and three cookies. We are talking about eating a whole pizza pie, french fries, salad, and what else.

It's not because we suffer from hungry. Although starving ourselves can lead to a binge. It's because we get some sort of enjoyment or satisfaction from eating. When I'm in the middle of a binge, it feels good. It feels comforting.

But then, afterwards, it feels like hell. After a binge, I feel horrible. Not only physically, because I'm so full, but emotionally. I feel like a loser. I feel helpless. I feel so bad about myself that I end up binging again to make those feelings go away. Maybe not immediately, maybe not even the next day.

On top of the binging, I also suffer from chronic depression. So depression can lead to a binge and a binge can lead to depression. For me a never ending cycle of hell that most times, I feel like I can't escape.

To add to all of this, I have all of these people bugging me to lose weight. I know how to lose weight. I know what I should be doing, but it's difficult for me. When you're depressed you are only able to the absolute minimum to get by. Trying to lose weight requires a lot of dedication and hard work. That is hard to do when you have no gas left in your tank. You can only go so far before you putter out.

My health is in serious jeopardy. I'm not in denial. I know I have to work very hard at this. But it takes time. It seems that the people always telling me to lose weight expect me lose it rapidly. I feel like if I wasn't a binge eater and suffered from depression than maybe losing the would be easier. But I am a binge eater and I'm chronically depressed, so losing weight will take time.

I did think about having gastric bypass or the lap band surgery. However, there are many people who regain the weight, and end up stretching out their smaller stomachs. Also, most people end up with vitamin deficiencies and there can be complications to the surgery. I'm not willing to go through that... yet. If within the next five years, I haven't lost any then I will consider getting the surgery.

Hence, I'm going to start a new blog, following my weight loss journey and struggle. It will be a public diary of what I eat, my workout, my thoughts, and feelings. I will be following steps in this binge eating book that I have.