pickles – GIVE IT A WHIRL GIRL

I recently came across a Cheeseburger Casserole recipe from SkinnyTaste and I was intrigued so by it, I just had to give it a whirl! I would have never even thought of enjoying a cheeseburger in casserole form until I saw this brilliant recipe of hers. My family really enjoys their cheeseburgers and we love our pasta too so this seemed like a winner winner cheeseburger dinner!

If you are not familiar with SkinnyTaste be sure to check out her website for some brilliant recipes that will help keep you on track with a healthy lifestyle. I made a gluten-free version of her Cheeseburger Casserole and my family enjoyed this recipe. I will be whipping up this dish again in the near future. Keep reading to hear more about this unique casserole dish.

Cheeseburger Casserole is a simple & easy recipe

What I really loved about this recipe from SkinnyTaste was the simplicity of creating it. The recipe was easy to follow and the ingredients were very simple to prepare. I started out by boiling the pasta and browning the beef. There was very little prep involved. I used two shallots in this recipe and had to slice those, easy peasy! The recipe calls for garlic as well and I just use my trusty Spice World squeeze bottle. I love simple recipes… who doesn’t?? They are wonderful on busy weeknights or when you are feeling too lazy to cook.

**Ingredients I used for the SkinnyTaste Cheeseburger Casserole**

Gotta have my grass-fed beef in my Cheeseburer Casserole!

I recently made the switch to grass-fed beef. Grass-fed beef is not only more beneficial to your health but I believe it tastes better than regular beef. The grass-fed beef that I purchase at Kroger is also organic. That means that the cows graze on pesticide-free grass. Grass-fed cows also mean that the meat is free from added hormones that are typically given to cows. Sometimes I think of my body as an automobile. Your body needs good to fuel to run. You don’t want to put crappy fuel into your car so why would you want to put bad fuel into your body? Grass-fed beef costs a bit more than regular beef but I believe that the added benefits are worth the extra cost.

A few modifications to the Cheeseburger Casserole recipe

I made a few modifications to her recipe for my family. Instead of using an onion I used two sliced shallots. I discovered shallots earlier this year and prefer their taste and often swap onions for shallots now. I also incorporated some onion powder to the meat while browning it. I love the added flavor that onion powder lends to ground beef. Also, instead of using Dijon mustard I went with my favorite mustard by Boar’s Head. The mustard is a Delicatessen style and it gave the dish a wonderful flavor.

**Grass-fed beef, tomatoes, shallots, and minced garlic**

Gluten-free eating

Another swap that I did with this dish was that I used gluten-free noodles. I use Kroger’s ClickList and wanted some rotini pasta but they were out of stock and they gave me penne pasta instead. That was fine with me but I do think that rotini would have been best. I used Ronzoni brand and I believe that they do make a very tasty gluten-free noodle. I don’t think they taste much different than regular pasta. This dish would have been great with Banza’s chickpea pasta as well. They are another one of my go-to brands for gluten-free pasta.

Getting cheesy

A great cheeseburger has to have great cheese. I love Tillamook’s shredded cheese and I ended up pouring the entire bag of cheese all over this Cheeseburger Casserole. The recipe calls for 2 cups of cheddar and the one bag of cheese was equivalent to two cups. I used a sharp cheddar and this was a great choice for the casserole. Tillamook creates some damn good cheese. It is my go-to brand for shredded cheese. I also use their mozzarella on my homemade pizzas. They take great pride in creating their cheese and I can always rely on Tillamook to deliver a quality product.

SkinnyTaste Cheeseburger Casserole before going in the oven

Pickles on a casserole?

Who would have thought that pickles would be an acceptable topping on a casserole dish? I’m telling you guys, this works and the pickles actually turned out to be my favorite part! Any type of pickles will work well with this casserole. I ended up going with bread and butter pickles. Dill pickles would we splendid on this as well!

Giving it a whirl

I was so excited when my oven beeped and my casserole was ready to dig into. Check out that ooey, gooey melted cheddar, OMG! I love anything with melted cheese on it and this recipe did not disappoint. When the casserole came out of the oven I topped it with some bread and butter pickles. This dish was love at first bite. The cheeseburger really translated well into a casserole dish. I was amazed! This is a dish that I would gladly make for my family again since we all enjoyed it.

**Cheeseburger Casserole from SkinnyTaste**

Kid-friendly meal

My daughter, Chloe, really enjoyed this recipe and she really got a kick out of those pickles that we topped the casserole with. Pickles are an ingredient that you wouldn’t normally use in a typical casserole. For us, the pickles were actually our favorite part of this dish! The more the merrier! The next time I whip up this recipe I will definitely be adding an abundance of pickles on top!

Who is SkinnyTaste?

SkinnyTaste was created by Gina Homolka. She is an author, recipe creator, and a photographer. She is a pro when it comes to the recipe world. SkinnyTaste began in 2008 and now has 3 million monthly viewers on her website… can you say goals?? I would love to someday achieve greatness like her. Her philosophy of eating is to eat seasonal, whole foods and to maintain portion control while eating. Her website has a wide variety of recipes for several different diets. I am sharing this with you today because her recipes are top-notch. Yes, I am a food blogger and yes she is a food blogger. I don’t see her as competition. When I fall in love with something I feel the need to share it with the world. I am sharing her recipe website because I believe in her philosophy and I like to encourage people to eat the right way.

Does this look like a recipe that your family would enjoy? What other SkinnyTaste meals sound great to you? Leave me a comment and fill me in!

You can see all of the recipes at SkinnyTaste on her website. The Cheeseburger Casserole recipe can be found HERE.

All about New York Deli St. Clair Shores

You want to know what I love about this place? It is the only restaurant that I have ever dined at that greets you with a bowl of juicy pickles. Sometimes if you polish off that bowl of pickles your nice waitress will ask you if you want more. The obvious answer is always YES!

The New York Deli has a great menu with really decent prices. They offer a wide variety of items and have something for everyone on their menu. My husband, Joe, is often a burger guy and I am an entree gal. Since it was Friday and I was craving fish I had to go with my usual~ baked cod with steamed broccoli on the side. Joe had a hardcore craving for a burger today so he went with a cheeseburger.

I have a few photos down below of just some of their offerings. There are plenty more than shown here. You can view their entire menu HERE. They have soups, salads, sandwiches (including build-your-own deli sandwiches), burgers, pita & wraps, entrees, and a section with Italian foods. I have never dined here for breakfast but I did see that they have some breakfast foods available here. I will have to come early someday and explore that part of the menu more.

New York Deli in St Clair Shores, MI – You always get started with pickles!

New-York-Deli-N-Restaurant – St Clair Shores, MI – Menu

New York Deli has a daily special menu available. They offer up six varieties of soups and a wide array of dessert offerings. Personally, for me, I am all about that Seafood Chowder. The Seafood Chowder is fully stocked with all the seafood you can fill into a soup cup. Cup runneth over! Check out the images below. They frequently serve overflowing cups of soup, nothing to complain about there, the more the merrier!

New York Deli in St Clair Shores, MI Daily specials for Friday

New York Deli in St Clair Shores, MI – Seafood Chowder

I often like to venture out and try new things but sometimes things are just so damn good you gotta keep coming back for more. That is exactly what I do at New York Deli. Their Baked Cod dinner is cooked and seasoned to perfection. It is served with a side of potatoes but I try to do low-carb so I swap the potato out for a vegetable, in this case, broccoli. The cod is nice and meaty fish. It never has that putrid fishy taste that some restaurant fish dinners serve up. It is flaky fish and goes great with a little tartar sauce and a whole lot of fresh lemon juice.

New York Deli in St Clair Shores, MI – Baked Cod

Joe was very pleased with his cheeseburger and he said it really hit the spot for him. I gotta say, it did look pretty fine! I could see the cheese just oozing around and it had all of the right fixings on it. He did manage to join the Clean Plate Club and pack it all in. It solved the hunger crisis that he was having.

Burger & Fries at New York Deli

We did not order dessert, though it did sound tempting. We might go out later for a frozen treat. New York Deli has a considerably good amount of desserts to choose from: cakes (including Bumpy Cake), pies, cheesecake, rice pudding, and ice-cream.

All in all, we were very gratified by our delectable meals at New York Deli. My daughter is away on vacation now but she also really does enjoy dining there with us too. I forgot to mention above that they do have a children’s menu. I do wish the children’s menu had some more choices available, that might be my only slight complaint but it seems that is the case with most restaurants.

Tag: pickles

Cheeseburger Casserole From SkinnyTaste – Tried It Out Tuesday

Cheeseburger Casserole is a simple & easy recipe

Gotta have my grass-fed beef in my Cheeseburer Casserole!