I feel like I’ve been spinning around all day like the Tasmanian Devil!

With a shorter tongue and less sharp teeth, but sadly the same haircut. My hair is so long, it’s turning into a mullet! Cut scheduled for Tuesday.

At any rate, I feel like I’ve been up/down/here/there/everywhere today, starting with a 7am wakeup call. A pit stop at work preceded a visit to my parent’s, which was followed by showing my in-laws’ house to a potential buyer (if you’re interested in a WDM 4 bed/3.5 bath with a massive bonus room in the basement – let me know!) and finished with a trip to the grocery store – all before noon!

I picked up just the bare essentials at the store yesterday, so today was all about restocking the cupboards and fridge. Here’s my loot:

Pantry & Fridge Items:

• Nakano Rice Vinegar
• Kraft Extra Virgin Olive Oil Italian Vinaigrette
• Fat-Free AE Cottage Cheese (they only kind of cottage cheese that exists, in my opinion)
• Low-sodium deli turkey
• Low-sodium deli ham
• Deli swiss cheese
• Deli pepper-jack cheese
• Ground chicken
• Pretzel sticks
• Ciabatta buns
• Loaf of bread (WHY did I not go to Great Harvest??)
• Water chestnuts
• Noosa Yoghurt

Side note: I nearly tripped over my shopping cart when I saw a huge portion of the yogurt display case dedicated to this new (to me) Noosa Yoghurt. I’ve never seen or heard of it before!

Apparently it’s yoghurt that’s made in Colorado, with Australian cultures.

It looks really thick and creamy, like my favorite Chobani Greek Yogurt, plus it comes in a ton of fun flavors (strawberry rhubarb, anyone?) so I picked up a tub to try. I’ll let you know how it tastes!

(If the big pocket of mango puree at the bottom is any indication of its potential yumminess, I think I’m in for a treat.)

The Produce

• Pineapple
• Head of lettuce
• Bananas
• Green onion
• Bagged salad
• Bagged broccoli & carrots
• Jalapeno
• Fresh ginger
• Lime
• 5 Pink Lady Apples
• 2 Mangoes
• Cilantro

All for $51.19. I also picked up a bag of frozen hashbrowns for my Mom for like, ohhh $2.50, so minus that from the total. I still have to go to Trader Joe’s to pick out a meal for Trader Joe’s Night, but overall, we’re looking good!

Oh also, the way I pick a fresh pineapple is to first find one that looks more yellow than green, then pluck out a frond from the top.

If it comes out semi-easily, then it’s ripe. If it stays planted in there, then it’s not ready to eat yet. Once you pick it, here’s how to cut it!

After I put the groceries away, I got to work on a super-fun lunch. The weather is still not cooperating with us Midwesterners, so I said to heck with it and fired up the indoor grill to make The Iowa Burger!

I created The Iowa Burger recipe for Wisconsin Cheese Talk, to showcase the 2 quintessential flavors of Iowa, in one yummy cheeseburger:

1. Bacon – Tickets to this year’s Baconfest sold out faster than a Taylor Swift concert at Madison Square Garden. No seriously, like in under 4 minutes. I’d say us Iowans definitely like our bacon!

2. Sweet corn – It’s so abundant in the summertime, they give it away for free!

My recipe starts by combining ground beef and chopped bacon. Yes, there’s bacon in the burger. There’s bacon in the burger!!!

After the patties are cooked up and topped with ooooozy Wisconsin cheese,

they’re nestled onto a sesame seed bun that’s been slathered with avocado spread, then dressed with fresh sweet corn relish.

The Iowa Burger

Serves 4

Print this recipe!

Ingredients:

Burger

1 lb. 85/15 ground beef

6 strips bacon, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 slices American cheese

4 sesame seed buns

Sweet Corn Relish

2 strips bacon, chopped

1 Tablespoon butter

3 ears of corn, kernels cut off the cob

2 Tablespoons minced jalapeño

1 green onion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon maple syrup

Avocado spread

1 avocado

salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Combine beef, finely chopped bacon, salt and pepper, and then form into four patties. Cook on a hot grill to preferred doneness, about 3-4 minutes a side for medium-rare. Turn the heat off, place cheese slices on top of burgers and close the grill lid to allow cheese to melt.

2. Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add chopped bacon and cook until crispy. Melt in butter then add corn, jalapeno, green onion, salt and pepper to the skillet. Cook until corn is just tender, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in maple syrup and remove the skillet from the heat.

3. Mash avocado flesh with salt and pepper, then spread equally on the bottom of each bun. Top with cheeseburger patty and sweet corn relish. Enjoy!

In other news, this afternoon my family and I are off to Easter service. It’s kind of weird to not be going on Easter, but our church is a serious ZOO on holidays and they’re going to be shuttling people in from a parking lots miles away on Sunday. We just figured it would be easier to go & worship when its less crazy.

Then it’s family night!

Last night was the first time the 5 of us had been together alone, without husbands/wives/babies/boyfriends/girlfriends in literally a decade. That’s insane!

Have a good night, and happy Easter!

~~~~~

What would be on the burger representing your state?

What does your perfect burger look like?

Mine would be an 80/20 beef patty on a soft sesame seed bun, dripping with cheddar cheese, BBQ sauce and sweet maple bacon. Ohhhhh yeeeaah.

Or simply any In-N-Out Burger. Nobody does it like them!