Colby Jack-Stuffed Burgers and Simple Stir-Fried Veggies

Yes, I am slightly obsessed with cheese. I believe I mentioned this in an earlier post. Also the grill-craziness was mentioned before. So here's another delicious burger experiment...the fabled Cheese-Stuffed Burger. I also cooked up some bell pepper/mushroom stir fry to go with (we were getting tired of corn on the cob).

Colby Jack-Stuffed Burgers
Yields 7-10 burgers
264 calories (.26lb burger, 2T cheese)

1.5 to 2 pounds of hamburg
Granulated garlic
Granulated onion powder
Red pepper flakes
Italian seasoning
S+P
Bag of colby jack cheese, shredded
Buns

Simple Stir-Fried Veggies
Yields 4-6 servings
37 calories (6 servings, 12 oz mushrooms, 2T soy sauce, 2t rice vinegar)

Green bell pepper
Red bell pepper
Yellow bell pepper
Container of pre-sliced baby portabella mushrooms
Soy sauce
Seasoned rice vinegar
Granulated garlic
Granulated onion

1. Gather burger ingredients. Be sure to pick out the most hideous tablecloth imaginable for the viewing pleasure of your blog readers.

2. Season the meat. Sprinkle on a good 1 tablespoon of each of the seasonings, excepting the S+P. Just do that to taste. And only add red pepper flakes if you want your burger hot!

3. Mix. Don't be afraid to stick your hands in there and squish the mixture together. Squeeze it through your fingers until it looks like the spices are evenly distributed.

4. Divide and pat. Divide the meat mixture into baseball-sized lumps. Divide each of those in half. Pat both halves so they are thin (half inch at most) and about the size of your palm (or larger).

5. Add cheese. Put a few tablespoons of cheese in the middle of half the patties. Don't put so much on that you won't be able to get a secure crimp on the outside of the patties.

6. Meat sandwich! Put another thin patty on top of the cheese-topped one and pinch the edges together. After that, rotate the patty and press the sides in to make a better, flat, edge.

7. Gather ingredients for veggies. Use this opportunity to show your readers that there is a part of your small kitchen that has purty white tiles on it.

8A. Prepare veggies. Chop up the peppers. Throw them in a skillet with a tablespoon of oil. Add the mushrooms (well rinsed...they do grow in shit, ya know). Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When veggies are heated through, add a quick circling of rice vinegar. Add 4 circles of soy sauce. Sprinkle on garlic and onion...about 2t each. Stir and cook until veggies are to the texture you like 'em. I prefer al dente. If you cook the veggies and the burgers at the same time, they should be ready together.

8B. Grill and eat. Put the burgers on the bun rack in your grill over high heat. Flip occasionally until done...about 10-12 minutes until cheesy goodness! If you have extra burgers, put them into sandwich baggies and freeze them. Be sure to label the spicy-hot patties to avoid future tongue death.