Try-It Tuesday (or Wednesday): Chicken Caesar Burgers

I'm a big fan of interesting burgers. A plain old beef hamburger I can live with or without. But a fun burger... one with a twist... I'm a big fan of! I've made Thai Turkey Burgers and Chili Lime Chicken Burgers... I've made Chicken Parmesan Burgers and Black Bean Burgers. Tonight... I added to that list.

Chicken Caesar Burgers! One of my favorite bloggers, Iowa Girl Eats, posted this recipe a few days ago and I knew I had to try it. I think she is a fan of fun burgers as much as I am because she is the one that I get all of these from. This burger was delicious. It was lighter yet filling. It had an interesting flavor but wasn't too caesar-y. It is on the healthier side because it didn't have too much cheese or dressing and used chicken instead of beef. It was good, y'all.

Chicken Caesar Burgers. Do it.

A few things...

Here are a few things that I've been loving lately...

Carrot Cake Cupcakes. I'm not a huge carrot cake fan but these are goooood. Trust me.

Spicy Three Pepper Hummus. I don't normally grocery shop at Target but I did a few weeks ago because I was dogsitting for my cousin and it was the closest thing. I came across Archer Farms (aka Target brand) Spicy Three Pepper Hummus and decided to give it a whirl. It may be my new favorite hummus... ever.

A good reminder... Believing the best about people and life.

Cooking reality shows. I love me some cooking shows. Right now I'm alternating between Master Chef and Food Network Star. My dad just told me the other day that Top Chef currently has a season running... if only I had known. I even got my roommate Paige hooked on them!

Baking. I love to bake. That's nothing new. I love to bake for my co-workers. That's also nothing new. Just thought I'd remind you. (I made these Reese's Pieces Soft Peanut Butter Cookies tonight.)


So You Think You Can Dance (dance... dance... dance.. ) I love this show. I know nothing about dance. But I know those people are good and I love watching them. (Sleeping At Last has had a few of his songs danced to... Above isn't my favorite dance in the world but it's pretty cool how the music is used.)

My cousins' babies. My cousin Julie and her husband Anthony had Elsy back in September. And my cousin Dana and her husband Marc adopted Cole in May. I don't think there have ever been two babies I've loved more. (Wait... I've got to add some more to the list: Natalie, Hallie, and Eden. They aren't babies anymore, but I love them... a lot.)

I guess I'll leave it at that for now.

Sleeping At Last.

Sleeping At Last. There are few musicians out there that embody everything that I love about music as much as this guy... I have been listening to him a lot lately and really can't get enough. The things I love about this music:

1. It's pretty piano driven.
2. His voice is unique but beautiful.
3. He writes some really solid instrumental stuff - which I appreciate.
4. He has a good variety of mellow and upbeat stuff.
5. He's got some Jesus-undertones (technical term) without sounding like contemporary Christian music.
6. On his blog, he ends each post with a "p.s. here's a list of things I love right now..." list. I think we're meant to be friends. (Yes, I realize that this has nothing to do with the music - but I think liking the person behind the music makes the music all the better. Right? Right!)

There are more things... but that'll do for now. I'm loving Sleeping At Last. You should check him out. Below are a few videos.





And he's in the background of a few Kid President videos. That's pretty stinking cool...

Try-It Tuesday: Caramelized Onion, Red Pepper, and Zucchini Frittata.

Confession: I like to eat. I like to eat a lot. That has gotten me into some trouble over the years... (Hence the diet...) The good thing about tonight's Try-It Tuesday recipe? You can eat a lot of it and it's ok! Let me tell you about it...

I came home from work today and for some reason I was craving eggs. A quiche or something of the sort. I headed over to one of my favorite healthy food blogs Skinnytaste and came about this recipe for a Caramelized Onion, Rep Pepper, and Zucchini Frittata and was instantly intrigued. Here is what attracted me to it:

1. It used a lot of eggs and egg whites. (It's weird how much I wanted eggs tonight.)
2. It called for a cast iron skillet. (I bought one of those last year and have used it once... It was time to put it to use.)
3. It didn't have a ton of ingredients. (Keep it simple, am I right?)
4. It looked easy. (I went to the grocery store and made it, all under an hour.)
5. It was only 4 points! (In Weight Watchers world, that's goooood news. About 150 calories a serving.)

It was almost too good to be true... so I went for it. And it didn't disappoint! The flavors were actually pretty complex despite the short list of ingredients. It was filling even though it didn't have any meat in it. (This girl... the girl who likes to eat... is full - but not too full - and that's good news.) And it could be made for breakfast, brunch, or dinner! (I suppose you could make it for lunch, too, but for some reason that seems weird to me.) I was a fan... and I bet you would be, too. Do it!

Caramelized Onion, Rep Pepper, and Zucchini Frittata

(The pictures I took on my phone aren't nearly as appetizing as her pictures...)

(The peaches that accompanied my frittata were people beautiful though!)

Lemon Poppyseed Cake...

Have you ever wanted to do something for a really long time and then you finally do it and it was everything that you had hoped it would be? Let's be honest... a lot of times in life, it actually doesn't end up being everything that you had hoped it would be. (Womp womp...) But occasionally... it does, and it's a beautiful moment!

That's how I feel about this cake. (Ha! A cake? Seriously, Abby?) (Yes, seriously.) This cake was brought to my attention over a year ago. A Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting. You've even probably heard me talk about this cake on here before. Well, folks... I finally got around to baking it... and it was indeed everything that I had hoped it would be!

People are kind of weird about lemony things. They either love it or they hate it. That's why I haven't made this cake... because I was worried that I would have more lemon haters than lemon lovers when I served it... And no one likes to bake something that isn't guaranteed to be a hit. Friday night we had a family get-together to celebrate that my cousins Julie and Elsy were in town. I signed up for dessert and my aunt Kay also signed up for dessert (it was my fault... I didn't "reply to all" saying what I was going to bring like I should have.) Kay signed up for brownies. So I got to thinking, "Kay is bringing brownies... That means the simple taste buds will be satisfied. That also means the chocolate taste buds will be satisfied. This is my chance! It's go time for the lemon poppyseed cake!" It was a selfish move really... But I didn't care.

Y'all, it was a hit! My dad, the chocolate king, even liked it! My aunt said, "I may have gone back for seconds." I told them the "It was a selfish move... I wasn't sure if y'all would like it" bit. And my aunt's response was, "Thank you for being selfish." So if you're a fan... even if you're not a not... I would highly recommend it.

Lemon Poppyseed Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (by Always with Butter)

(I may or may not have taken this picture on top of my car. Yep, that's State 

Line in the background. Also, I may or may not be horrible at the whole 

"messy but still beautiful" cake decorating thing... I'll get there... some day.)

(I even had it for breakfast the next day... #dietbuster)

A quick recap of Seattle...

(The view from our porch at the place we stayed... Not bad.)

It's 12:30 am the night of 4th of July... What better time to blog after a couple of weeks off, right?

Well, Seattle was great! I think my favorite thing about it was that it combined all of the things that I love to travel to see: water, mountains, and big cities. If it didn't rain there the majority of the year I would be tempted to move there... but it does, so I'll stick with good ol' KC. It kind of bothers me when bloggers spend tons of time talking about their trips and what they did (I have jealous issues...) so I'm going to keep this brief.

Here are some pictures from the trip....

(The sunset the first night we got there... again, this view was from our porch.)

(One of the produce stands at Pike Place Market... I had the best peach of my life there.)

(Outside of Port Angeles... Twilight, anyone? This looks a bit Twilight-y if you ask me.)

(Olympic National Park. This is more reminiscent of Sound of Music.)

(Seattle as a backdrop of a picture with two of my brothers.)

(We took a ferry to Canada. It was a really neat experience.)

(Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I like this building a lot... Canada was just ok.)

(The ferry ride on the way back from Canada. Things look a lot different when the sun comes out, eh?)

(My friends Cody and Bailey were in Seattle at the same time so we went to a Mariner's game!)

Just a few highlights... Now back to the real world.