mini whoppers

I made these mini whoppers yesterday. I’m selling some of my old psychology books on Amazon and I had to run to the post office yesterday. While I was driving I had the biggest craving for a whopper. If you don’t know what a whopper is it’s a hamburger from Burger King. I’m not sure if it’s as big as McDonald’s but yeah, the whopper owns. I went to the grocery store to buy ingredients for my mini whoppers. I want you to know I’m weird….why? Well because most people eat their hamburgers with fries but I ate my mini whoppers with mashed potatoes and a salad. They were delicious by the way 🙂

Here’s the recipe..
Mini Whoppers (makes 14)
1 bag of mini buns or dinner rolls (I bought the Sara Lee kind)
2 lb ground beef (I got 14 patties)
1 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2-3 tablespoon worcestershire sauce (you may need more depending on how salty you like your pattie)
14 slices of American swiss cheese
14 slices of tomatoes
caramelized onions (optional)
hamburger dill chips (put as many as you’d like)
ketchup
miracle whip
oil for toasting buns

1. In a large bowl, mix together the beef, pepper, and worcestershire sauce. Make sure it’s all combined so the meat will stay together while cooking. Make 14 large golf balls out of the meat and press down slightly to resemble a pattie.
2. In a large frying pan, heat oil and toast buns until insides are light brown. Set aside.
3. In the same frying pan, cook 7 patties at a time. If they don’t fit on your pan then cook less. Cook each pattie about 4-5 minutes on each side.
4. To assemble, spread ketchup on one bun and miracle whip on the other. Place a pattie on the bottom bun and a slice of cheese on top of that. If you’re using onions then you can put onions under the cheese or on top. Place dill chips and a tomato slice on the top bun and place the top bun on top of the bottom bun.

Enjoy them! 🙂 They work great as an appetizer and you can change it up. It taste delicious with bbq sauce minus the tomato slice and dill chips while adding bacon and a slice of avocado.

Fail Sweetly,
Justina

chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich

Picture courtesy of my cousin Steph

My younger cousin took this picture of me holding my delicious ice cream sandwich. Today is our grandma’s birthday. Originally I planned to make her some sort of cookie. My ideas fell through and I decided to make chocolate chip cookies. I used my staple chocolate chip cookie recipe and added chopped walnuts. Since I live in Southern California, today was pretty hot. My grandma invited us to lunch at a cafe. Afterwards my mom dragged my sister and I shopping for herbs. My sister and I ended up going on a snack buying spree at one of the markets. When we got home, we immediately turned on the air conditioner. My house is the only house with ac so my cousins congregated in my living room to enjoy the cool breeze. The cousin who took the picture brought me some mocha almond fudge ice cream to go with the cookies because we were discussing ice cream sandwiches during lunch at the cafe. I apologize for my creepy fingers in the picture! 🙂

To make the sandwich you just need sturdy chocolate chip cookies and some ice cream. Ideally, two cookies and one scoop of ice cream should suffice. If you want more or less than you’re welcome to change it up. For our experiment, we used chocolate chip walnut cookies and mocha almond fudge ice cream. I think if you made white chocolate blueberry cookies you can use blueberry cheesecake ice cream. The mocha in the ice cream took the sandwich over the top. I’m so stuffed right now! I wasn’t able to get any pictures of my grandma’s cake but I did get the ice cream sandwich! Stay cool 🙂

Fail Sweetly,
Justina

bbq chicken pizza

First off, I’d like to ask those that are more tech savy than me, are there any websites online that do fundraising pages? I haven’t had any luck finding one. I’m currently sitting here trying to write this post and trying to figure out how the heck to use Facebook timeline. That thing is so confusing. I feel so anti-tech savy because I have no idea how to work timeline. I made a Facebook page for my blog but I can barely work it. Sounds like me? Haha 🙂 I’m also enjoying some Brantley Gilbert music. I’m listening to You Promised. Do I seem like the type of person to listen to country music? Everyone’s always surprised when they find out. I still don’t see why it’s such a “surprise.”

PIZZA! For those of you that have been to California Pizza Kitchen or CPK for short, you know their pizzas are pretty darn delicious. I’m addicted to the bbq chicken one. It’s soooo good. It obvious when my big bro got me my mixer what I was going to do with it. MAKE PIZZA! 🙂 While shopping for ingredients I actually went to the frozen aisles of Ralphs in search for the frozen CPK pizzas. It was so funny because I was looking at the box for the ingredients just to be my pizza would taste the same.

Here’s the recipe..
BBQ Chicken Pizza (CPK)
pizza dough (enough for two pizzas)
1lb mozzarella cheese, sliced
4 pieces of chicken breasts or thighs cooked in bbq sauce/chopped
1 lb smoked gouda cheese, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste
bbq sauce (depending on how much you like)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
half a red onion (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
2. Roll out pizza dough on a lightly floured surface.
3. Drizzle half a tablespoon of olive oil on a baking sheet and coat it.
4. Place pizza dough on baking sheet.
5. Drizzle half a tablespoon of olive oil onto pizza dough and coat. Sprinkle salt on top of the oil.
6. Drizzle bbq sauce for the pizza sauce and top with cilantro.
7. Layer each pizza with half of mozzarella and smoked gouda.
8. Place half of bbq chicken on each pizza.
9. Sprinkle with red onions if you like em.
10. Bake in oven for about 10-15 minutes. I made this using a flat crust pizza dough. Adjust the time if you’re using something different!

I seriously love this recipe. It taste exactly like CPKs. I usually eat it with garlic cheese bread and a salad. Enjoy em 🙂

Fail Sweetly,
Justina

remembering our veterans

Since my friend who I consider an older brother is a combat veteran, I felt the need to post this. Four days ago, one of his fellow marines took his own life. I have never met his friend but somehow it hurts just as much. This shouldn’t happen to veterans yet it’s happening every day. I am re-posting a post that my big brother Danny wrote as a Facebook post.

4 years ago today, Echo Company, 2/7 lost three of its Marines to enemy action. While on a routine security patrol, Echo 3 Alpha (1st Squad, 3rd Platoon) was hit by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) resulting in the death of Private First Class Toves. While en route to provide support, Echo 3 Bravo was also hit by an IED.

3 Bravo’s squad leader Corporal Mihalo and Lance Corporal Lopez-Castaneda made the ultimate sacrifice. They proved to me and to the Marines of Echo Company that love truly did exist on the battlefield, the love born from shared misery and tempered in common cause. Despite operating in the most dangerous area of Afghanistan, Corporal Mihalo thought nothing of his own safety and courageously led his squad through Afghanistan’s “IED Alley”.

I remember that day clearly. My squad was back at the Sangin District Center awaiting orders when we all heard the first explosion. At the time, we thought nothing of it (explosions and intermittent gun fire was common). Then no more than fifteen minutes later I heard the second explosion. By then, the Company Commander’s Personal Security Detail (PSD) was fully mobilized and already half way out of the gates.

I didn’t find out what had happened until 20 minutes later. By then, the PSD had already returned and Marines were already washing the blood out of the Med-Evac truck. It was then that I was told that my close friend Brian had been injured too. At first I hesitated to go see him. But then I couldn’t stop myself.. I had to go see him. When I got to the Medical Tent, the Company 1st Sergeant refused to let any Marines in except for me. Brian was asking for me, asking that I keep his wedding album safe and that I be the one to return it to his wife. The memory of that room continues to haunt me to this day.

In Afghanistan, we didn’t fight to bring peace to a country at war, we didn’t fight for patriotism or God. We fought to protect each other. We fought to bring each other home. Matthew Mendoza, Tony Mihalo, Jeremie Ross, Andrew Whitacre, Juan Lopez-Castaneda, and Jacob Toves… your fight is over now. You have earned your right to rest in peace. May Flights of Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest.

– Danny Kwan

Please keep Jeremie Ross in your thoughts. Although I never had the pleasure of meeting him, I am sure he was a phenomenal marine and an even better human being. Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

Fail Sweetly,
Justina