Some of my visitors have told me to write about my weight loss success story and to post my regimen. Well, my weight-loss story is available here. As regards my regimen, maybe soon For those who know me well, one reason why I got soo big is because I love to cook, not necessarily eat. I enjoy mimicking the different kinds of food that I get to eat out at resto’s. One advantage of this is that I get to prepare my own food and keep an eye on fattening foods that are high in saturated and trans fats or high in calories. So let this be my first post on preparing food. Take note that I am not a chef. Like running, this started out as a hobby. So try at your own risk… but please do tell me if they taste good! Hehe

A really mean and lean healthy burger.

Ingredients:
500g lean ground beef (Make sure that it’s really red and doesn’t have a lot of white stuff or seems pinkish. The white stuff is fat that was ground together with the meat).
1 large onion minced
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried oregano leaves (not oregano powder)
2 tsp ground black pepper (not powder)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp Knorr® seasoning (or Magi Savor®)
1 tbsp Lea & Perrins® Worcestershire Sauce
1 egg beaten
2-3 tsp red chilli pepper flakes (optional, for those who like it spicy or with a bite)

Preparation:
In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, pepper, salt, chilli pepper flakes) and the Knorr® and the Lea & Perrins®. Mix them well. Add the lean ground beef (make sure they’re not frozen. It’s better if they come straight from the meat shop) and minced onion. Mix them a bit. Add the beaten egg. What I do is I put on surgical gloves then use my hands to mix everything to make sure that it’s mixed well. It would be best to have all the spices found in all parts of the burger.

When you’re done, you can start molding them. My trick is to round them up in balls then flatten them out using two sheets of wax paper so I can store them in the freezer if I’m not yet cooking them. The nice thing about making your own burger patties is that you get to measure how big or small you want each patty to be. If you’re watching your weight, then a small or medium sized patty would do. If you want to enjoy a humongous burger, you can go crazy and make a really big one. I make mine a tad smaller than the size of my closed fist. Play around with the sizes if you wish. After you stack them up, store them in the freezer.

Now, I grill my burgers using a toaster oven that has both top and bottom heating elements. Or you can bake them. I rarely fry foods and I try to keep away from frying or using oil. When grilling, it would be best that the patties are frozen or just a little bit thawed ‘coz if you put them right after mixing together the ingredients, it might break and fall in.

I hope you guys like this recipe. Please do send in your comments