I’ve been cooking a wee bit differently over the past month or so, as Ben recently found out he has…dunh, dunh, dunh...
High cholesterol. Eek! 
It’s true, and it sucks. For him. For me. But mostly him.
Gone are the days of eating cheese, red meat, cheese, pizza, cheese, bacon and well, cheese, with reckless abandon (Ben loves cheese.) Basically he’s restricted to what he calls “rabbit food” for a couple months, and I’ve been struggling to come up with meals that are heart healthy but don’t taste like cardboard.
We’ve had some successes – I’ve made Vegetable Beef & Barley Soup twice, and a whole bunch of grilled Cajun Chicken Sandwiches for him (chicken + cajun seasoning + bun = very exciting!) but none of ‘em have come close to the burgers I made for dinner tonight:
Spanakopita Turkey Burgers
These burgers, made with 99% fat free ground turkey and classic Greek flavors like kalamata olives, red onion, tomato & oregano, are simply amazing.
Not only are they low in cholesterol, but they taste great and are extremely FILLING, which is something Ben’s been missing with his rabbit food. He’s always hungry!
The burgers are started with frozen –> thawed spinach, sauteed onion & garlic, grill seasoning and oregano.
Some of Ben’s beloved cheese – feta – actually makes the cut in this recipe, as it’s used in modest amounts. It’s a good thing too, because it gives the lean ground turkey SO much flavor.
Each burger is grilled until golden brown, then piled high with toppings.
A lemon-spiked Greek yogurt sauce, fresh tomatoes, red onion and kalamata olives.
Spanakopita Turkey Burgers
Adapted from Rachel Ray.
Makes 4 burgers
Ingredients:
For the burgers:
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
1 box frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed dry of excess moisture
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 Tablespoon grill seasoning
4oz crumbled feta cheese
1 1/3 pounds 99% lean ground turkey breast
For the sauce:
1 clove garlic
1/3 seedless cucumber, grated & squeezed dry of excess moisture
6oz plain Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper
Additional ingredients needed:
4 buns
Red onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced in half
Directions:
1. Heat oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Saute onion with salt & pepper until soft, about 5-6 minutes. Add in garlic and saute for another minute, stirring constantly. Remove to a plate to cool.
2. Combine all ingredients for sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. Combine cooked onions with spinach, oregano, grill seasoning, feta cheese, and turkey breast. Form into 4 patties and grill on high for 5 minutes a side, or until cooked through.
4. Top burgers with sauce, sliced onion, tomato and kalamata olives.
These burgers are low in cholesterol, fat AND calories – but they taste anything but. We were mmm’ing our way through our entire dinner!
I served Ben’s burger with steamed broccoli on the side, while yours truly got roasted broccoli – my fave. That’s just broccoli tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper then roasted at 425 for 15 minutes. PERFECTION! Make this meal! 
In other news…
20 Day Holiday Workout Challenge
Now that we’ve said sayonara to both Halloween and Thanksgiving, I think it’s safe to say that we’re currently in the thick of the holiday season. I’ve even got the decorations to prove it. 
From holiday parties with buffets of seasonal cakes & cookies, to the urge to cook and devour warm carbs every night, the chilly winter season is full of temptation and opportunities to overindulge. For me though, it’s easier to manage winter weight gain by staying active instead of refusing to enjoy special, once-a-year holiday goodies. Therefore this year I’ve decided to ward off the weight with a plan.
There’s 20 weekdays from now until Christmas, and I intend to workout on every single one of them, taking Saturdays & Sundays off. ‘Cause your body needs a break, and I hate working out on the weekends.
There, I said it.
Luckily I have 40+ treadmill and workout routines to choose from on my Workouts Page, so every day I’ll pick one and, come hell, high water, or, shudder, a 5am trip to the gym – I’ll complete it.
Please feel free to join me in my challenge if you’d like, in any way you can. Maybe you hate running, but love walking, using the elliptical, or taking workout classes. Perfect! The idea is just to stay active over the next 20 weekdays.
I’ve created a 20 Day Holiday Workout Challenge page where I’ll be documenting what I do. Leave your blog URL, or name if you don’t have a blog, in the comments section of that page if you plan on participating in the challenge. I’ve also tossed around the idea of making a button to copy/paste on your blog, so let me know if there’s any interest in that!
In the meantime, here’s to the most wonderful, time – and YOU – of the year!
~~~~~
How do you ward off holiday/winter-related weight gain? Making careful food choices, taking it up a notch in the gym, or just figuring it will even out eventually?
Do you have to cook to accomodate a special diet, or food allergies?
I cannot believe there are only 20 days left!
20 DAYS?! Woah now…that’s scary! I love the idea of a button for blogs!
I’ll be joining you in the 20 Day Holiday Workout. I went out of town earlier this month for a wedding and totally got out of the workout habit. I figure if I workout every weekday between now and Christmas, that should get me back in the habit.
As for foods, I’ve been trying to reduce the number of carbs I eat. I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), and apparently to lose weight, I should only be eating 200 carbs a day. Sounds like a lot until you start looking at the carb content of some things. I love bread, potatoes, etc., so it’s difficult. And some nights, my dinner just ends up being a bag of steamed green beans or broccoli. Those burgers sound amazing though. I might have to try them.
I joined a running club at my gym that lasts 8 weeks through November and December. It’s perfect timing during the holiday season and the instructor gave each of us an individualized training plan. It has been a fantastic way to hold myself accountable. With my training plan I am working out 5-6 days a week so I won’t feel too guilty about all of the sweet treats I am sure to eat over the holidays!
Don’t forget to have him eat his oatmeal! It really works.
He does every morning! It’s really cute
I so need to do this. I’ve been a huge workout slacker the last month and I keep saying I need to get in gear…but I keep buying bottles of wine instead. Today I will start working out more and drinking less! Well.. after I kill the rest of my last bottle of wine.
Hahahahaha, you are hilarious
I have to eat gluten free to ward off stomach issues. It was difficult at first not to purchase all the processed gluten free items, but now I’ve started getting pretty creative.
That burger looks amazing! I shall copy it and market it to my boyfriend as the exotic burger from Iowa.
That burger looks simply amazing! And I love that you incorporated spinach right into the burger – such a simple way to boost the fiber content. Love it!
I’m a dietitian and heart health is one of my specialties!! Whenever you have high cholesterol, it is about cutting back on saturated fat to some extent but it’s also about adding more fiber-rich foods like oatmeal, beans, fruits, and veggies. The fiber actually goes to your arteries and “recycles” the plaque back to the liver, lowering your LDL cholesterol. It’s amazing what good nutrition can do!
Great idea on the 20 days of workout. I actually set some goals for the next 20 days, I call them active minutes and I’m trying to be active for 1,000 minutes for the month of December.
It can be a walk around the neighborhood, a hike…doesn’t have to be a structured workout.
I try to ward off holiday weight gain both by not eating a lot of holiday treats and increasing my workouts per week. Unfortunately, in order to maintain my weight, I cannot eat whatever I want and rely on exercise to burn if off. I still partake in a cookie or two here and there, don’t get me wrong, but I keep it reasonable. I also don’t drink, b/c I’d rather spend calories on sweets than wine or beer.
That’s too bad about Ben’s cholesterol. Good to know early and watch it. He’s young! Why does he have to watch what he eats for just “a couple of months”?
He just has to be really diligent for the next couple of months until he gets rechecked. He’ll never go back to eating whatever he feels like just willy nilly, but the next couple months are extremely strict so he can get those numbers down!
Just the motivation I need! I read your blog daily and I know if I haven’t worked out that day reading it will be just the reminder I need.
Have him check into Red Yeast Rice. High Cholesterol runs in my family so even though I’m a vegetarian and I exercise alot, I still had problems with my cholesterol. I’m not one for medicines unless I really need it. I have a doctor who told me to take 1200mg of Red Yeast Rice in the morning and in the evening with my meals and it had a huge impact! I only take it in the mornings now and still get to eat cheese. You can get Red Yeast Rice at Walmart.
Cool! So is it a pill/supplement, or actual rice?
Sorry, it would have helped if I had clarified that:) Red yeast rice is a pill. You can find it with the vitamins. It worked great for me. Ben might want to ask his doctor what he/she thinks about it. I had great results and have continued to for a couple of years now.
My gym is doing a workout challenge that started the day after thanksgiving and run until Christmas Eve. If you go 25 times you get 5 free guest passes and $50 off any service. I’m using that as extra motivation to get me to go 6 days a week. It will be nice to hear about your workouts as motivation too!
Regarding cholesterol, consider that carbs might be the issue rather than saturated fat, and that includes whole grains. Gary Taubes has some great books on the subject, but this one is the easiest read: http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307272702/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1322606009&sr=8-2
That burger looks yummy, I’m all about anything with kalamata olives
I gave up red meat (except for an occasional burger) a few years ago to help deal with my IBS, and went full vegetarian about 7 or 8 months ago. For a while I cooked vegetarian versions for me, and meat versions for my husband, until he gave up meat (he still has an occassional burger) a few months back! We’ve also started to limit our dairy/egg consumption to once or twice a week…but aren’t willing to say we’re 100% vegan
These burgers look phenomenal! It’s always so comforting to read recipes that are both healthy and delicious – the two aren’t mutually exclusive by any means, but it’s so much easier to revert to the good ole fatty and tasty route. I’ll probably make these soon, and will certainly let you know how they turn out!
I totally decided on making those Turkey burgers tonight. They just looked soooo delicious and I really had a craving for something Greek. Thanks for the recipe/inspiration.
[...] I’m so pumped that YOU’RE so pumped about the 20 Day Holiday Workout Challenge!! [...]
i’m with ya! 20 days! already got 2 out of the way
I will be with you on the challenge. I wrote down some of your treadmill workouts…anyway you could just email me all of them
have a great day! off to do one of the workouts!
I’m sorry about the high cholesterol- looks like you’re making the best of it though!!
This challenge is awesome!
[...] yesterday was Day 2 of the 20 Day Holiday Workout Challenge and I really didn’t allow myself much time for a good workout. Therefore, I’ve decided [...]
Hey Kristin,
Great minds must think alike (but for different reasons), I was just in the midwest for Thanksgiving chowing down on the local favorites which put on a few kg… Challenged myself on a similar program until christmas!! Check it out: http://thehealthypress.blogspot.com/2011/11/balance-moderation.html
PS. The Turkey Burger Recipe looks amazing!!
My BF just found out that a few weeks ago that at 29, he has high cholesterol as well! We already love your recipes so I am excited to try new ones that he will enjoy and can still help him get healthier!
I try to balance out the eating a bit. For example, the day before Thanksgiving, I ate light, drank my green spinach smoothies and that kind of stuff. I hahve Thanksgiving pretty much down and try to make just a few dishes instead of tons of stuff. I didn’t gain any weight.
I use diet to manage my arthritis. I have severe arthritis from overexercising in my teens and twenties. I drink green spinach smoothies (1 frozen organic banana, 1/2 cup frozen organic berries, 4 cups of organic spinach, 1 cup of water) every other day and my pain went away. I also focus on whole foods, make most of my own food from scratch (including bread) and eat organically as possible. I used to feel pain in my joints before it rained or snowed and now I have no pain at all. I think the nutrition healed it along with staying away from inflammatory (refined) foods.
I also use foods to manage my son’s health condition. He’s medically fragile (gtube/severely mentally/physically disabled) and used to suffer from frequent pneumonias. I use 1 tbsp of Now Foods Organic Virgin Coconut Oil/day via his tube and he hasn’t been hospitalized in 14 months (he used to have 3 pneumonias a year and many hospitalizations).
[...] If you interact with me on either Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, you can probably tell that I like to cook based on my numerous photos of my cooking creations. Many of these meals come from my favorite daily blog, Iowa Girl Eats. If you haven’t read her blog, DO IT! It’s a great place for easy-to-follow recipes (usually healthy) and fun workouts for any season. Not only is she a fun & entertaining writer, but she is also very motivating. Her most recent endeavor is her 20 Day Holiday Workout Challenge. [...]
What a great shopping trip, I’d love to visit MOA at some point in my life! Booo to the snow though, it was 60 degrees here today and it can stay that way for as long as possible please haha
[...] Iowa Girl Eats GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); GA_googleAddAttr("LangId", [...]
[...] can I say, feeding a picky eater with high cholesterol is no easy task. Good thing he’s so dang [...]
[...] for a guy who’s watching his cholesterol, and a girl who’s hyper-aware of the fact that she’ll be wearing a bikini in about a [...]
[...] Recipe from Iowa Girl Eats [...]
[...] If you interact with me on either Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, you can probably tell that I like to cook based on my numerous photos of my cooking creations. Many of these meals come from my favorite daily blog, Iowa Girl Eats. If you haven’t read her blog, DO IT! It’s a great place for easy-to-follow recipes (usually healthy) and fun workouts for any season. Not only is she a fun & entertaining writer, but she is also very motivating. Her most recent endeavor is her 20 Day Holiday Workout Challenge. [...]