Day 25 and Day 26 Combo: Hamburger Can Make or Break You

I survived Day 25 (clearly, or I wouldn't be writing this), and Day 26 has been ok so far.  I have come to some important conclusions over the last two days. 

1. Freezing a raw hamburger patty, thawing it, and cooking it results in something that is inedible.  You know how really gross, cheap hamburger patties taste? Think back to school lunch or prison, if you've had that experience (fortunately I haven't yet...knock on wood).  Freezing makes hamburger patties turn into dense, cheap, flavorless meat heaps.  Yes, freezing makes that happen to normal ground beef.  I thought I was being sooooo clever a few week ago.  "Look at me! I'm patting out hamburgers and freezing them so I can thaw them out in a few weeks and cook them."  GROSS.  Just gross.  I actually couldn't eat a whole one because the consistency makes for gagging. The dogs love them, so that's something to fall back on.  Dog snacks.

2.  Why aren't we all making pecan butter all the time?  I started thinking about this really delicious jar of pecan butter I bought a year or so ago.  I was so good...roasted pecans, slightly salted, ground up into a butter of happiness.  I was bemoaning some raw pecans I had in the cabinet that I needed to use, and I thought, "Why can't I make my own pecan butter?  It HAS to be cheaper than the $8million pecan butter in the store."  So, I toasted the pecans, put them in a food processor, and VOILA! I used about 2 cups of pecans and ended up with a small mason jar amount of finished product.  The only things I added were cinnamon and a touch of salt.  For the next batch, I will probably toast the pecans less before grinding because they actually heat up in the food processor, too, and I don't want to over-toast them.  I would also leave them in the food processor for a couple of minutes less time, and I would add the cinnamon at the end.  While the pecan butter is good, it's a tad too runny for my tastes, and I think the cinnamon got too hot while being ground up.

3.  Roasting chicken breasts is so easy and makes for a consistent, delicious protein each and every time.  I like to coat the chicken breasts in olive oil, salt, and pepper.  I put a whole pack of them on a cookie sheet covered in foil and put them in the oven on 425 degrees for about 35 minutes.  If you are buying the long packs of chicken breasts, that's 5 boobies you can eat over the course of 5+ meals/snacks.  Not bad. 

4.  Balsamic vinegar makes happiness.  Yum.  Always yum. 

5. Seriously, why aren't we all making pecan butter right now?!

In other news, I had a cosmic visit from Craig this weekend while I was getting my car serviced in Tucson.  That was cool. 

I also had an open water swim at Lake Patagonia today.  We were supposed to go all around the lake and have a big time learning stuff and swimming.  Well, the group organizing the swim decided to do it at 1:00 pm at the lake during monsoon season.  Needless to say, we were lightning-ed out of the water in 10 minutes.  Major bust!  The other bummer is I still need to get in a swim today, and that little excursion took over 2 hours out of my day getting to and from the lake.  Not cool. 

Some of the new things I will make this week:

Walnut crusted pork loin
Roasted sweet potatoes (I will be subbing butternut squash) and brussel spouts with a balsamic reduction
Shepherds Pie with a sweet potato topping.