Chicken, Main Dishes, Recipes

Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Chicken Burgers

A copycat version of a Trader Joe’s fave… chicken burgers spiced up with chili, lime, cilantro, and garlic. This is an epic burger you don’t wanna miss!

A copycat version of a Trader Joe's fave... chicken burgers spiced up with chili, lime, cilantro, and garlic. This is an epic burger you don't wanna miss!

If you’ve ever stepped foot into Trader Joe’s, you have probably seen tons of delicious-looking treats. At Trader Joe’s, I’m always tempted to buy so many more convenience foods than I ever would in a regular grocery store. I don’t know what it is about that insanely crowded grocery store with a death trap parking lot, but everything inside sounds SO FREAKING GOOD. I mean, seriouslyyyy. Is it just me? I sure hope not.

A copycat version of a Trader Joe's fave... chicken burgers spiced up with chili, lime, cilantro, and garlic. This is an epic burger you don't wanna miss!

One of my favorite things to get at TJ’s is their Chili Lime Chicken Burgers. Alright, I know they’re probably everyone’s favorite. Maybe that’s not true but I literally know SO many people who love them. After buying them one too many times, it’s no surprise that I sought out a homemade copycat version. Because… why not? These burgers are just as good (if not better) than their counterpart, and come together in a flash in your kitchen! Be sure to dress them up with all your favorite burger toppings–avocado is a must for me! Oh, and p.s. I suggest using non-smashed buns (don’t be like me–but I hate food waste so…yeah). ENJOY!

A copycat version of a Trader Joe's fave... chicken burgers spiced up with chili, lime, cilantro, and garlic. This is an epic burger you don't wanna miss!

one year ago: Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
two years ago: French Toast Casserole
three years ago: Tasty Mexican Lentils
four years ago: Quick Chocolate Pudding
five years ago: Alice’s Vanilla Tea-Infused Granola
six years ago: Roasted Tomato and Black Bean Soup

Trader Joe's Chili Lime Chicken Burgers

  • Servings: 4
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from Iowa Girl Eats

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 2 green onions, sliced
  • 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • zest and juice of half a lime
  • hamburger buns
  • avocado, tomato, lettuce, cheese, etc. for topping as desired

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine ground chicken, green onions, red bell pepper, cilantro, garlic, red pepper flakes, and lime zest and juice. Use your hands to mix together, then divide into four equal portions. Press into patties and coat each side with nonstick spray or brush with olive oil.

Cook in a skillet, set over medium-high heat, for approximately 3-4 minutes per side until cooked through. Alternatively, you can use a George Foreman-type grill.

Serve on a bun with desired toppings.

Breakfast, Recipes, Waffles

SRC: Loaded Cornbread Waffles

Cornbread waffles filled with cheese, peppers, and onions are loaded with sausage, tomatoes, a creamy avocado spread, and a fried egg for an impressive brunch like no other! This is a fantastic restaurant-worthy dish that’s easy to make at home. You’ll be sure to love it!

Cornbread waffles filled with cheese, peppers, and onions are loaded with sausage, tomatoes, a creamy avocado spread, and a fried egg for an impressive brunch like no other! This is a fantastic restaurant-worthy dish that's easy to make at home. You'll be sure to love it! #secretrecipeclub

I can’t believe I’m writing my LAST Secret Recipe Club post! So sad. But I’m glad the club is going out on a good note…it was a good run, guys! And this month, I had a GREAT SRC assignment. I was assigned to choose and make a recipe from April’s blog, Home Sweet Homestead. April lives in the great state of Indiana [YAY I still love Indiana even though I now live in Tennessee]. She always is making lots of delicious recipes that her carnivore husband loves while still accomodating her food allergies. I’m always impressed by her creativity and innovation in the kitchen. It was hard to narrow down the list, but I eventually decided to choose between the following: Swedish Meatballs, Fish & Chips, Peanut Butter Quinoa Protein Balls, Chicken Fried Chicken, Apple Pie Breakfast Quinoa, or Loaded Cornbread Waffles. I think by the title of this post you can figure out what recipe I chose, but MAN was it hard to decide. I guess I had frying things [even though I rarely do that] and quinoa on the brain when I browsed her blog… and I chose neither, ha.

Cornbread waffles filled with cheese, peppers, and onions are loaded with sausage, tomatoes, a creamy avocado spread, and a fried egg for an impressive brunch like no other! This is a fantastic restaurant-worthy dish that's easy to make at home. You'll be sure to love it! #secretrecipeclub

For those of you who know me, you know I’m a breakfast fiend so when I saw loaded waffles I said, “sign me up!” April’s original recipe is gluten and egg-free, but I just used my regular all-purpose flour and an egg because that’s what I had on hand. I’m sure the original recipe is wonderful too! It’s been a long time since I’ve made waffles so I was glad to dust off my waffle iron for this delectable meal! It is absolutely perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. No matter when you serve it, everyone is bound to enjoy this savory take on waffles. [Unless you don’t let them, like poor #BabyVolde below.]

https://www.instagram.com/p/BM_3wzvAdMr/

There is so much good stuff in and on these cornbread waffles. Though loaded dishes are super popular at restaurants, I rarely order them because usually the base [fries, tortilla chips, potato soup, etc.] is soggy and/or bland and the dish itself isn’t very healthy. While I won’t say this is the healthiesbreakfast or brunch on the planet, it’s better than some–and these waffles are certainly NOT bland or soggy. 🙂

Cornbread waffles filled with cheese, peppers, and onions are loaded with sausage, tomatoes, a creamy avocado spread, and a fried egg for an impressive brunch like no other! This is a fantastic restaurant-worthy dish that's easy to make at home. You'll be sure to love it! #secretrecipeclub

The waffles are filled with peppers, onions, cheese, and garlic and are the crispiest, heartiest waffles I’ve ever made at home! That’s the cornmeal for you! They truly DO deserve that cornbread title. These aren’t cornmeal waffles; they are cornbread in waffle form. Yum. In terms of toppings, I took a slightly different route than April–I added some ground sausage and a fried egg to the mix. But don’t forget April’s fresh toppings! These waffles wouldn’t be the same without the creamy avocado spread, chopped tomatoes, shredded cheese, or sour cream. I suggest using all these toppings but feel free to use what your family will enjoy. 🙂 No matter how you make them, they are sure to be great!

Cornbread waffles filled with cheese, peppers, and onions are loaded with sausage, tomatoes, a creamy avocado spread, and a fried egg for an impressive brunch like no other! This is a fantastic restaurant-worthy dish that's easy to make at home. You'll be sure to love it! #secretrecipeclub

Thanks, April, for a great recipe. And thank you to everyone who has been a part of the Secret Recipe Club–it’s been fun and tasty, guys! 🙂 I’ll miss checking out posts every Monday but look forward to other blogging events in the future.

one year ago: Simple Teriyaki Chicken
two years ago: Chaider
three years ago: Pizza Frittata 
four years ago: Lemon Herb Eggs in Ciabatta 
five years ago: Honey Whole Wheat English Muffins
six years ago: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Loaded Cornbread Waffles

  • Servings: 3
  • Print

adapted from Home Sweet Homestead

Ingredients:

for avocado spread

  • 1 avocado
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro
  • juice of 1/2 a lime
  • salt

for waffles and toppings

  • 1/3 to 1 pound ground sausage
  • 1/2 bell pepper – approximately 3/4 cup, finely diced
  • 1/4 onion – approximately 1/4 cup, finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • chopped tomato, for topping
  • cilantro, for topping
  • sour cream, for topping
  • 1 egg per person, for topping
  • shredded cheddar cheese, for topping

Directions:

In a bowl, mash avocado. Mix in cilantro, lime juice, and a sprinkle of salt. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

In a large skillet, brown ground sausage. You’ll only need about 1/3 pound for 3 servings, but you could make a whole pound and have leftovers–this is what I did!

When cooked through, remove sausage to a bowl and cover to keep warm.

In the same skillet, add peppers, onions, and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes until softened.

Meanwhile, prepare waffle batter. In a medium bowl, stir togehter flour, cornmeal, and baking powder. In a measuring cup, whisk together milk, cheese, egg, and butter. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and stir gently to combine. Fold in softened vegetables and a healthy amount of freshly ground black pepper. Batter should be thick but still able to be poured, so add a little extra milk if its too thick. I ended up adding a bit TOO much milk so I had to add another tablespoon of cornmeal too.

Cook batter in your waffle iron according to manufacturer instructions, until crisp and golden brown. Batter should yield about 3 waffles.

While waffles are cooking, fry one egg per person using, you guessed it, the same skillet as before! Scrambled eggs would also be delicious–or no eggs too if that’s what you prefer.

Top each waffle with a smear of avocado spread, sausage, chopped tomatoes, chopped cilantro, cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and a fried egg. Enjoy!


Be sure to check out all the other SRC recipes linked up today below!

Main Dishes, Recipes, Salads

Awesome Kale Salad

This kale salad is truly awesome. I mean, adding fried eggs and fried potatoes to kale makes it awesome, even if it sounds a little weird at first. You need to try this!

This kale salad is truly awesome. I mean, adding fried eggs and fried potatoes to kale makes it awesome, even if it sounds a little weird at first. You need to try this!

I’ve been making this kale salad pretty much non-stop since last July. Well, non-stop if you count the break from September to March. See, I found out in September that I was pregnant with Baby Volde and so I decided to nix fried eggs until the baby was born. I didn’t obsess over dietary stuff during pregnancy but uncooked eggs [not in cookie dough, mind you] kinda freak me out. But they’re delicious so I push through it for the joy, haha. And when springtime started coming and mama needed a good salad, I decided to live on the wild side and hope fried eggs didn’t make me sick. They didn’t, whew! But I’m not a doctor so if you’re pregnant or otherwise immunocompromised, proceed at your own risk. #disclosureover

Anyway, I love this salad for three reasons: 1) kale; 2) eggs; 3) potatoes. And also for two more: healthy and fried. Total opposites, I know… but kale is healthy… so are eggs and potatoes too. But they’re a little more unhealthy if you fry them… but the kale part takes away the guilt! That, and the potatoes are just pan-fried so that is mucho better than deep frying, right? Soooo, this salad is the BEST combination of healthy and fried, guilt free and delicious. Does that make sense to you? It makes sense in my head so I hope so!

This kale salad is truly awesome. I mean, adding fried eggs and fried potatoes to kale makes it awesome, even if it sounds a little weird at first. You need to try this!

You have to experience this salad to understand its greatness. At first Ben was skeptical. I mean, fried eggs on a salad? Bizarre. And, the runny egg part of the fried egg serves as the salad dressing. Another notch on the weird scale, but it works. Plus, the egg gives a little more staying power to the salad. Usually I have to have meat on a salad to make it filling, but not here. Though you could add bacon for some extra deliciousness. 🙂 Anyway you make it, you’re sure to love it!

Oh and before I go, I have to mention my silverware. Isn’t it so cool? I received a fork and spoon handstamped from Tattooed Silver, a great small business located in Ohio. Tattooed Silver is the business of a fellow Wittenberg University alum, and I’m excited that we started a lil partnership. You can find them on Instagram, Facebook, and Etsy. Her products are all so unique and fun, and would make great gifts too. 🙂

Enjoy!

one year ago: Cheesy Veggie Pasta
two years ago: Chocolate Cream Filled Cupcakes
three years ago: Double Chocolate Banana Muffins
four years ago: Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
five years ago: Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken
six years ago: Potato Soup

Awesome Kale Salad

  • Servings: 4
  • Print

Inspired by the best parts of these salads from Jenna’s Everything Blog and We Are Not Martha, with my own additions too 🙂

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch kale
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 tablespoon honey, if desired
  • 1 teaspoon whole grain dijon mustard, if desired
  • 4 medium potatoes – 1 per person
  • chili powder
  • dried oregano
  • garlic powder
  • 8 eggs – 2 per person
  • optional additions: diced avocado, crumbled feta, chopped bacon, etc.

Directions:

Wash and dry kale, then cut into thin strips taking care to remove the middle stems. Place in a large bowl and massage with several glugs of olive oil and the lemon juice until kale softens, then season with salt and pepper. If desired, drizzle honey and dijon mustard on top and toss/massage that in as well.

Meanwhile, dice potatoes into bite size pieces [1 per person]. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add some olive oil to the pan. When hot, reduce heat to medium and add potatoes. Season with a little salt, a lot of pepper, and some chili powder, garlic powder, and oregano. Saute, stirring frequently, for about 10-12 minutes until potatoes are crispy and cooked through.

When potatoes are finished, remove to another dish and cover with foil to retain heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and fry eggs as desired [2 per person].

Serve kale in a big bowl or plate. Top with potatoes and fried eggs, along with other desired additions. Enjoy!

Main Dishes, Other, Recipes

Cheesy Southwest Farro

Cheesy Southwest Farro: a healthy, delicious dish good any time of the day! Plus you can make it in less than 30 minutes, so it’s perfect for busy schedules. 🙂
Cheesy Southwest Farro: a healthy, delicious dish good any time of the day! Plus you can make it in less than 30 minutes, so it's perfect for busy schedules. :)

Before you disappear in the depths of heavy Christmas food later this week, I wanted to share a delicious, easy, and healthy recipe that we’ve been enjoying lately. It’s always a struggle in the midst of parties and Christmas baking [see my list of Christmas cookie ideas if you still need inspiration!] to eat real meals and still maintain a fairly healthy diet, I think. There’s lots of reasons and this is a busy time of year so I won’t go into all the details… you probably know and experience them already. But this dish can rescue you over the next couple weeks of merriment when you need something that’s quick to make, fairly healthy, and still tastes amazing. The best part is that you can eat it for ANY meal. That’s right… Cheesy Southwest Farro is good ANY time of the day. 🙂

Cheesy Southwest Farro: a healthy, delicious dish good any time of the day! Plus you can make it in less than 30 minutes, so it's perfect for busy schedules. :)

Ashley originally created this dish as breakfast fare, but let’s face it: I don’t have 30 minutes to whip up breakfast before work. So I decided to make it for dinner one night…and serve the leftovers for breakfast. Perfect! I can make a fried egg and operate the microwave in the morning. 🙂 We loved the cheesiness and the Southwestern flair… and who can say no to avocados [though they didn’t make it into the photo]? To speed the preparation of this meal up, I used 10-minute farro from Trader Joe’s, but you can use whatever kind of farro you can find, or sub quinoa, rice, or another quick cooking grain. Enjoy!

one year ago: Spiced Biscotti with Eggnog Glaze
four years ago: Pfeffernusse
five years ago: Cranberry Sauce Face/Off: Cranberry Relish vs. Gingered Cranberry-Apricot Sauce

Cheesy Southwest Farro

  • Servings: 4
  • Print

from Greens & Chocolate

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 cup 10-minute farro from Trader Joe’s*
  • 2 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1  – 10 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles
  • 1/2 cup grated pepper jack cheese [or use jack or more cheddar cheese for less spice]
  • 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 fried or poached eggs, for serving
  • diced avocado, for serving
  • green onions, for serving

Directions:

Add olive oil to a medium skillet over medium heat. When hot, saute onion until softened, about 5-6 minutes. Add farro and cook for 1 minute to saute before adding broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook until liquid is mostly absorbed, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes, and farro is soft and chewy.

At the end of the cooking time, start preparing eggs as desired–fried is my preference!

When farro is done, stir in cheese then remove from heat. Cover and let rest for a few minutes to allow cheese to melt.

Serve a fried egg, avocado, and green onions on top of a spoonful of farro. Enjoy!

Note: *You can also used pearled farro or semi-pearled or whole farro in place of the 10 minute farro from Trader Joe’s. It’ll take longer, about 30-40 minutes for the pearled variety.

Beef, Main Dishes, Recipes

SRC: Crockpot Barbacoa

Try this easy crockpot barbacoa for your next taco night! It sure tastes great. 🙂

Crockpot Barbacoa - an easy way to fancy up your next taco night! Find the recipe on thepajamachef.com #secretrecipeclub #src

It was a little surprising that I picked this recipe for this month’s edition of the Secret Recipe Club. Sure, I love Mexican food. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has ever met me. The surprising part is that I don’t think I’ve ever had barbacoa, except in one or two bite tastes from my husband’s Chipotle burrito. What can I say? Pork or chicken or even–GASP–vegetarian > beef almost allll of the time in my life. But when I was selecting a recipe to make this month from Sashi’s blog, Get off the Couch and Cook, I was feeling like pulling my crockpot out of hibernation. Sashi has tons of other great recipes on her blog, but I must have been in a savory mood when perusing her blog because everything I seriously considered making was a dinner recipe! Hoisin Pulled Pork, Bean and Potato Tacos, Slow Cooked Pulled Pork… they all sounded amazing, as did the barbacoa. And honestly, I planned to make Sashi’s pulled pork, but the grocery store foiled me! There was nary a big hunk ‘o pork in sight, so beef it was. 🙂

Crockpot Barbacoa - an easy way to fancy up your next taco night! Find the recipe on thepajamachef.com #secretrecipeclub #src

I have to admit, that when reading SRC posts I don’t always click over to the original recipe but if you have a sense of humor, you should definitely read Sashi’s barbacoa post. It is hilarious! Especially the part about how she likes her meat… err, men. 😉 I think Sashi and I would get along well, especially since her husband sounds a lot like mine–he even contributes to her blog, OTT style, and his nickname on the blog is Mr. Onion-Hater! Ben hates onions too, though I think his tolerance of them is a wee bit higher. She doesn’t live all that far away, relatively, as I’m in Nashville and she’s in the Atlanta area. Fun times!

Crockpot Barbacoa - an easy way to fancy up your next taco night! Find the recipe on thepajamachef.com #secretrecipeclub #src

But anyway, back to the beef! This crockpot barbacoa isn’t exactly authentic since it’s cooked indoors in the crockpot [hence the name] instead of over an open fire, but it sure is easy and tasty! The only changes I made to Sashi’s original recipe was to reduce the amount of spice with the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. I used two to her four, and that was plenty spicy for me. No burn but enough heat. This was a great meal to make on a lazy Saturday to enjoy during a football game. True to Chipotle, I served our barbacoa in soft tortillas with cilantro lime rice, guac, and loads of toppings. I know this will be a repeat meal at our house, and we’ll be devouring the leftovers for dayyys! Hope you try this out too! 🙂

Crockpot Barbacoa - an easy way to fancy up your next taco night! Find the recipe on thepajamachef.com #secretrecipeclub #src

one year ago: Pumpkin Bagels
two years ago: Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cake with Nutella Frosting
three years ago: Chicken Enchiladas with Green Chili Sour Cream Sauce 
four years ago: Pumpkin Brownies
five years ago: Cran-Tan-Oat Scones

Crockpot Barbacoa - an easy way to fancy up your next taco night! Find the recipe on thepajamachef.com #secretrecipeclub #src

Crockpot Barbacoa

  • Servings: 8
  • Print

from Get off the Couch and Cook

Ingredients:

  • 3-4 pound beef chuck roast
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup lime juice [about 2 limes]
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 2-4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • tortillas, for serving
  • rice, for serving [stir in some lime juice, chopped cilantro, butter, and a little garlic after the rice is cooked for a cilantro lime rice knockoff]
  • lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole/avocados, shredded cheese, sour cream, etc. for topping as desired

Directions:

Place the beef chuck roast in the bottom of a large crockpot. Pour chicken broth, lime juice, and apple cider vinegar over beef. Spread chipotle peppers and garlic on beef, then sprinkle with oregano, cumin, cloves, and freshly ground black pepper. Use the back of a spoon to rub seasoning into meat, then cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.

When beef is fully cooked, remove from crockpot and place on a large rimmed baking sheet or dish. Trim fat as necessary, then shred with two forks. Return meat back to crockpot and stir to redistribute the juices.

Serve barbacoa in tortillas with rice and other desired toppings. Enjoy!

Be sure to check out other recipes from the SRC this week here: