Fork and Knife Not Necessary- Border Burgers and Hand Pies

Are you ready for this? It could possibly be one of the most perfect weekend meals to end summer on. 

We didn't want to just give you one recipe for the weekend though!

 We asked on our Facebook page which recipe you wanted and feedback told us you deserved both! :)

So get your grocery list ready, because we're going hands on today!

Here are our recipes for Stuffed Border Burgers and S'mores hand pies!

Stuffed Border Burgers

They're ooey, they're gooey, they're delicious!

Shopping List:

1 lb of ground hamburger per 4 people

Romaine lettuce

Flour tortillas

Sour cream

Santa Maria BBQ Rub 

Velata Fiesta Queso Cheese 

1 can of Rotel tomatoes and green chiles- heat level of your choosing. We chose mild for our kiddos.

Kitchen Needs:

Small bowl

Medium bowl

Raclette

Spoon

Spatula

First, get that raclette warming. Turn it on high and then start prepping your burgers.

In your medium bowl, combine your hamburger meat with 2 tbls of your Santa Maria BBQ rub.

 Now, we know it says BBQ, but here in the south, it's a straight up delish taco seasoning. Maybe because we like our BBQ a bit on the sweet side, who knows. But I digress....

Once well combined, grab a small handful and a thin patty in your hand. Remember, these will be stuffed, so you'll be adding a second layer of burger on top. Don't feel like you're being stingy with the meat. It will come together.

Grab a spoonful of your Fiesta Queso and place it into the center of the burger, pressing it out so it's at least half an inch from the edges. Forming another thin patty of meat, place over the cheese and seal the 2 patties  by pinching the meat together. Place on a plate to rest while you put together the rest of your burgers.

Now it's time to throw those bad boys on the raclette while you prep the rest of your ingredients. Big tip here: DON'T PRESS YOUR BURGERS WITH A SPATULA! Big grilling no no. Unless you want dry burgers, keep your hands off and let them work their magic. Flip them over one time to finish and you'll be good as cheesy goodness gold.

Once you've flipped your burgers, go ahead and start throwing your tortillas on the griddle side to warm through. Warm tortillas are the best!

While burgers and tortillas are doing their thing, grab your small bowl and mix 1/2 cup of sour cream with a tbls. of your Santa Maria BBQ rub. (P.S. this little mixture right here would make for a killer addition to a 7 layer dip! Just sayin')

Now, it's time to start assembly.

Grab your warm tortillas and spread a little extra Fiesta Queso love on one side. Why? Um, cause it's cheese.

Top with some fresh romaine and a spoonful for your Rotel tomatoes.

On the other tortilla, spread a generous spoonful of your now amped up sour cream. Throw the burger on and then put together. That is it! Yep, I know, another super delish recipe that was so easy you just can't believe it, right? ;)

The best part? This right here folks....

It is juicy. It is messy. It is rated 5 napkin worthy! The hubs loved it and so did the kids. In fact, the one who's deeming herself as picky all of the sudden, was heartbroken when I told her I didn't make enough for seconds. Lesson learned!

Imagine the possibilities if you took this basic recipe and switched it up with our other rubs or cheeses?

If you try something new, be sure and tell us about it!

And now...to dessert!

This dessert would be a great one to let the kids in on. It's simple and safe outside of placing and removing from the oven.

S'Mores Hand Pies

Shopping List::

Premade Refrigerated pie dough

Marshmallows (small will work best)

Velata Chocolate disks (we used milk, but any would be delish!)

1 egg, beaten

Cinnamon

Sugar

Kitchen Needs:

Round cookie cutter

Cutting Mat

Pastry brush

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Unroll pie crust and using your round cookie cutter, cut out as many circles as it will allow. If you need to, combine the scraps, re roll out and cut more. Don't let any go to waste.

Place 3-4 marshmallows on one of your dough circles. In our pics here, you'll see we used a large marshmallow and cut it in half. It's what we had so it's what we used. :)

Next, grab a chunk of your favorite Velata chocolate and place it on top. 

Place another dough round on top and use a fork to crimp the edges together. If you got a little marshmallow or chocolate crazy (I wouldn't blame you), you may need to stretch the dough in your hands first to make sure it will fit. 

Take your beaten egg and using your pastry brush, coat the entire top of your pie. Then, sprinkle with a little sugar and cinnamon. This part is what is replacing the graham cracker part of a typical s'more.

Place in your oven and back until crust is golden brown. Remove and let cool for just a couple of minutes.

Now, once you crack open these babies, you'll notice your marshmallows have all but disappeared. No worries though! They've just blown up and melted away into this stringy, caramelized goo that's coated the inside of your pie.

What we loved about these hand pies was that not only were they easy, but they were light. This is why we feel like they are the perfect dessert to follow those monster Stuffed Border Burgers.

"Wait? Where's the picture of the inside? Of you eating them? I don't understand?"

Um...yeah....about that....

HAPPY EATING!!!!!!!!!!!

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1 Minute Molten Lava Cake Recipe

Abby & Kate show you how to make super yummy 1 minute Molten Lava Cakes with your Velata fondue warmer dish.

These 2 girls love being in the kitchen, and apparently, also in front of the camera. :)
Click on the recipe link below to watch their video. Includes ingredient list and instructions (and some silly along the way)

1 Minute Molten Lava Cakes

It's. Just. That. Good.

Turning Your Minutes Into Memories

This last weekend, in celebration of my Mother In-Laws birthday, I decided to make everyone dinner and dessert. It's so much easier, and cheaper, than taking every one out, plus you always end up having the whole discussion about where we should go that would make everyone happy. Good times.

What I settled on is one of those recipes that has become a 'go to'. You know the ones I'm talking about, right? The recipes that you're pretty sure you have all the ingredients to and seem to please the masses. This is one of those dishes. Even better...I get to use the Crock Pot. (insert angelic singing here)

It's summer time in Oklahoma which means it's HOT! Not only that, but our electricity rate is almost tripled in the evenings, so using the stove is out of the question x2. This means the crock pot gets it's time on the field.

What I possibly love most about this dish is that it takes few ingredients and then morphs them into a huge pot of awesomeness. If you're a family on a budget, have a large family to feed or working on weekly meal plans where you can eat now and freeze half for later, this will be one to hang on to. Prep is impossibly simple and a it makes a little go a very long way. 

It also happens to incorporate one of my favorite spice rubs. I've tried the recipe with and without it and the with is 10x better with than without. 

When I served it at the aforementioned birthday dinner, it was a hit! It fed 3 kiddos and 6 adults. A few of us had seconds and maybe thirds (what? Don't judge me). Once all was said and done, we had enough to bring home and the 4 of us to have again for dinner the next night. Yes. It's just that good. 

All that being said, are you ready for me to quit talking and get to the good stuff? Of course you are. :)

So let's do this! Here is my recipe for the slammin' crock pot cream cheese chicken. Happy eating!

Darn Good Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken

(A Mexican themed meal)

For the Crock Pot:

3 Frozen chicken breasts (not thawed)

1 jar of your favorite salsa (we like Pace Chunky)

3-4 Tbls. of Velata Santa Maria BBQ Artisan Rub

1 block of cream cheese, softened

2 cups of Minute Rice

1 can of black beans, drained

To serve on the side:

Sour cream

Velata Fiesta Queso or Shredded Cheddar

Fresh Cilantro

Lime wedges

Tortilla shells or Tortilla chips for shoveling this goodness

into your mouth. :) 

Prep:

Place frozen chicken breasts into your crock pot and pour jarred salsa on the top, covering the chicken.

Place lid on and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.

(Psst....that's all you have to do until you're 30 minutes from being ready to serve! I know, right?)

30 minutes to meal time:

Remove lid and pull out your chicken. On a cutting mat , shred your chicken using 2 forks.

Place the chicken back into the Crock Pot. Add Minute Rice and beans an stir well.

After 10 minutes, add softened cream cheese and stir.

 It will melt much easier at this point if you cube it before you throw it in.

When it's time to serve, use tongs or a slotted spoon to mix your dish well making sure the cream cheese gets Incorporated thoroughly.

Now stop.

Yes, Stop. 

At this point, this magical mixture of goodness will NOT look pretty. It will look like the hot mess that it is. 

But it will be a tasty hot mess. I promise! Don't be hard on yourself. You've done nothing wrong. It's all good!

Time to serve:

Above I shared the things we like to top this chicken recipe with when we eat it.  We will sometimes eat it on  chips, like nachos, or inside warm flour tortillas as soft tacos.

Let's be honest though, it really won't matter what you put it on, it will be good.

I know this sounds like a lot of hub bub over a crazy simple recipe, but it's well deserved.

I'm excited to see you all try it in your own kitchen and let me know what you think!

Be sure to leave your comments below or come visit us on our Facebook Page for more recipes, kitchen tips and fun!

Happy Eating!

www.thekickinkitchen.com

We want you to join us!

Our business is growing and we want you to grow alongside of us!

We are looking to build our Velata team across the country. We have a dedicated team who support, encourage and give you every tool you need to be successful in this business. Top notch training, a Facebook page dedicated to our team of consultants and a line of products with a guarantee to be the best you can offer to your customers. If you are ready to be a founding Velata consultant and be the first to put these great products in your friends and family's hands, let's talk! Fall is coming and people will be shopping for Christmas. Why not let them shop with you?

WHAT’S IN THE STARTER KIT?

Everything you need to launch your new business—for just $99:

• Sweet and savory treats to sample and share
• Skillful kitchen systems for party demonstrations
• Catalogs, order forms, and business materials like invitations and marketing brochure

HAT CAN I EARN?

A new lifestyle. Choose your hours, be your own boss, and enliven your world with amazing products

• Commissions up to 30% (when you qualify for monthly sales award)
• Lucrative bonuses and awards
• All-expenses-paid trips to destinations like Hawaii, the Bahamas, Greece, or New York City

HOW DOES VELATA HELP ME SUCCEED?

We’ll support you each step of the way:

• Personal Website FREE for 3 months ($10/month after that)
• FREE online Workstation to run your business
• No inventory to manage
• Live phone support
• World-class training
• One on One personalized support and training
• A dedicated Facebook page with the purpose of answering your questions, sharing ideas and so much more

If you love to cook, if you love to entertain, if you love to eat, this is the perfect business for you. :) 

Finally, men, this business isn't just for the ladies. You can be just as successful as you share your foodie love with those around you. It's an opportunity unlike any other direct sales business out there and one built for you to succeed!

Won't you join us?

I'd love for information or to talk with you more

I want to join Velata!

I'm not interested in joining now, but I'd love a catalog!

Do you Raclette?

Do I what? 

Do you Raclette?

What's a Raclette?

Well, let me tell you...

In our Scentsy Family of brands, we have a line called Velata. Velata (translates 'to be veiled') is a kitchen system and food product line meant to draw family and friends back to the table again. It began with the highest quality Belgian chocolate and Scentsy style fondue warmers that keep the chocolate in melted perfection, to cheese perfect for dipping just about anything into it!

Our latest product, the Raclette, has taken off by storm and I'm here, to introduce it to you!

First, let's define Raclette: Raclette is the Swiss tradition of heating cheese until it reaches melted goodness and then scraping it onto a favorite dish, typically potatoes, onions or pickles. Straight from wheel to plate.

The idea of the Raclette dates all the way back to the 12th century.

As time as gone on, more modern versions have popped up all over the world allowing people to come together to enjoy the meal preparation (and devouring there of) around the table. It has combined a grill style tabletop griddle or hot plate with small pans underneath meant to melt the cheese to then be gloriously poured on top of a favorite dish. This of course when using a open coal fire isn't as practical. :)

The idea of the raclette is to create a more sociable eating experience. Sometimes even lasting several hours as people gather to talk, eat and drink. In fact, in French and European markets, you may find pre-sliced  cheese, small vegetables and meats ready specifically for Raclette use. Some restaurants even provide these setups for dinner parties.

Well, it's time to bring the Raclette to America and we're going to do it Velata style.

Introducing, the Velata Raclette:

 

Now, you are probably ooing and awing (as well you should) but still, would like to hear some first hand experiences when it comes to this fancy pants grill.

We received our Raclette on Friday and I was over the moon excited to get it out of the box and on my table. Dinner time in our house usually looks like this:

Me: "Honey, can you please get the girls, I'm trying to cook dinner."

Me: "Girls, I need you not to play in the kitchen while I cook."

Me: "Girls, no, you can't help, that pot is too far back and you can't reach."

Me: "Honey, please come occupy the girls so I can finish up dinner!"

Them: "When will dinner be ready?????????" (x100)

Keep in mind we have a very small kitchen and while I'd love to let my girls help, it's just not safely feasible.

And then we get into the whole chat of how I didn't put this on her plate or did put that on her plate and she doesn't like it. Or maybe why I made hers like this but made his like that. All of this and in 15 minutes, we've argued about what they need to eat before they leave the table, it's scarfed down and they're all gone again with mom left to pick up the mess.

It has all changed.

With the raclette, I can do the meal prep (which is just slicing or chopping) while everyone is at work or school and when they come in have the raclette ready to go. I place the dishes of goodies around the table, hand each person a set of tongs and a tray and we begin to cook dinner...together.

Each of them gets to design their own meal based on what we have set out which means no more short order cooking mommy. We're all choosing what we'd like and how we'd like it cooked. We're sitting around the same table laughing and talking about our days while it sizzles away. When one of them is still hungry, they just pick what they'd like and pop in on the grill or in the tray instead of mom or dad leaving the table to fill the plates with seconds. My girls also love the idea that they're the ones doing the cooking. At 9 and 5, they're not quite ready to be stove top cooking yet, but this affords them the basic skills that and make them feel like they are big stuff! In fact, my littlest said last night, "Look mom! I'm a real live cooker!" She was beaming!

Oh, and the strangest thing has happened. Instead of dinner being a dine and dash event, we're all staying until the last person is done, spending more time talking and when we're all fully satisfied, THEY HELP ME CLEAN IT UP! (insert angelic voices here!)

Mind you, clean up means rinsing our cheese trays out with a little soap and hot water and washing the grill down in the same way. Clean up is crazy easy!

 Doesn't matter if we had pancakes, eggs and bacon or a full fajita spread.That's it! 

Another plus we're finding is that because of the non-stick grilling surface, we don't have to cook with any additional oils or fats. Even my pans have to have a little when I use the stove.  This provides us with an avenue for cleaner, healthier eating. We've also tried cooking bacon for a splatter test and we're happy to see that it cooked up to crispy perfection without splatter or popping.

There is truly a word of possibility when it comes to this kitchen gadget. Besides bringing your wild bunch to the table, the Raclette could be used in a small studio or apartment, dorm room, even when camping or Rv'ing. It could be used for a small family or a big party. Any place you have an outlet, you can raclette. Speaking of camping, we've even done S'mores...

At a cost of $140, the Raclette is an affordable kitchen staple that will not only make moms job in the kitchen much easier, but will create a dinner time that is full of memory making.

If you'd like to see other ways we use the Raclette, along with recipes, tips and tricks for all our other Velata products, join us on our Kickin' It In The Kitchen Facebook group! We'd love to have you!

If you'd like to purchase your very own Raclette or any of our other products, you can visit my website at www.amandajohnson.velata.us

So now, I must ask again....

Do you Raclette?

Sticks and Stones

I have to say that this saying has always driven me crazy. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."
I realize we use this to build up our children to not let someones attitude about them hurt their spirits, but the fact is, it's so untrue.
Words hurt. Whether said directly to or behind someones back, cruel words hurt.

Just this morning, my daughters and I were doing our weekly grocery shopping in a local store. The girls were behaving well and I was letting them pick our items off the shelves. We turned down an aisle and I asked my oldest to pick up an item we needed. Another lady nearby was needing something in the same area and so I was encouraging Katie to try and hurry up so we weren't in the way. When she couldn't find what I needed, I walked forward and picked up the item and ushered Katie back to our cart. No raised voice, no aggravation, just a simple instruction so we were showing respect to the other shopper.

As I put the item in the cart and we headed down the aisle, a woman approached me and scolded me. She told me that I needed to "chill out", rolled her eyes, stormed off and huffed about me under her breath. I stood there in shock. It was unwarranted and unnecessary. I turned to look at the other patron in the aisle and simply shrugged my shoulders with a look of confusion on my face for lack of something to say. Embarrassed, we went on to finish our shopping. I passed that shopped many times before we left and I could tell she felt bad for me.

Can I tell you what bothered me most about this experience? It wasn't that I didn't deserve it, because I didn't. It was that a total stranger felt it was reasonable to make someone else feel so small. To cut them down and certainly didn't mind doing it in front of her children. In those moments, I questioned my parenting. I racked my brain trying to figure out what I'd done wrong. I walked through the store in shame when no one else, sans the one shopper, saw what happened.
She felt it was okay for her to take, what I assume was a rotten day,  out on me. Someone she didn't even know.

As in all things, I try to pull lessons. On the car ride home, I talked to my girls about how it made me feel and how it's a reminder that we must never make anyone feel like that. That our roles are to uplift and love and support the people around us and to never put them down. It also challenged me to think about how many times one of my bad days was paid for by someone else. Frustrations taken out on my children or spouse or even friends when it had nothing to do with them. How my heart is challenged to keep my heart and my mouth in check.

So yes, sticks and stones may break one's bones....but words hurt just as badly. I will always endeavor to teach my children this and no longer that words cannot hurt them. Because they do and just as others words can hurt them, so can their words to others.



From the Word....

29 When you talk, don’t say anything bad. But say the good things that people need—whatever will help them grow stronger. Then what you say will be a blessing to those who hear you. Ephesians 4:29

21 The tongue can speak words that bring life or death. Those who love to talk must be ready to accept what it brings. Proverbs 18:21

18 But the bad things people say with their mouth come from the way they think. And that’s what can make people wrong. Matthew 15:18

24 Kind words are like honey; they are easy to accept and good for your health. Proverbs 16:24

3 People who are careful about what they say will save their lives, but those who speak without thinking will be destroyed. Proverbs 13:3