Ever have one of those weeks? I've just been a giant ball of stress and anxiety for days now and I can't quite put my finger on any one thing that is triggering it.  PMS, the kidlets, lack of sleep, work? The stupid house alarm going off in the middle of the night two nights in a frickin' row? Anyhow, I've been feeling sleep deprived and extremely stabby. So you can imagine that cooking something uber complicated is not high on my agenda.  One of my fav recipes to make during times like these are lamb burgers. Lamb burgers seem fancier than your everyday hamburger, but take about the same amount of effort. 

Lamb Burgers

Ingredients

2 1/4 lbs. ground lamb

1/2 cup diced red onion

6 oz. crumbled feta

1/2 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1 tablespoon ground coriander

3/4 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

3 tablespoons oil  (+ extra for oiling the grill)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix the ingredients with your hands until evenly blended.  Form into 6 patties. Make a thumbprint indention on the top, middle of each patty.

2. Cover and place in the fridge for 30-60 minutes

3. Preheat grill.  Grill burgers over medium heat on oiled grill, for about 5-6 minutes on each side (or desired doneness).

4. Remove from grill and serve with your favorite condiments.  We like to top ours with a low-cal Greek yogurt dressing like OPA by Lighthouse Feta Dill Dressing. 

Makes 6 burgers.

Anyhow, hopefully with the entrance of autumn, I'll be more inclined to drag my tired ass into the kitchen and cook and thus, blogging more. I'm sorry, really, for being MIA for so long. Seriously, I may have the same amount of hours in the day as Beyonce but I am dead tired...every day.

Despite being in a perpetual state of lack of sleep, one thing I do look forward to is my monthly book club. Last month's book was Carson McCullers' "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter." It was an extremely depressing read but we had a good discussion about it.  I had signed up to bring dessert and wanted to bring something Southern, since the book took place in Georgia.  While rummaging through the internet, I ran across a picture of a Pig Pickin' Cake and decided to bake one. It was easy to make (I made it the night before) and it turned out delicious (albeit not the most attractive cake I've ever made). I looked up the origin of the name (c'mon admit it--you were thinking "WTF?" too!).  Turns out that it's called a Pig Pickin' Cake because it's a typically a dessert brought to pig roasts (aka a "Pig Pickin'") in the South.  Despite the weird mish mosh of ingredients, it's very tasty and not super fattening.

Pig Pickin' Cake

Ingredients

1  box Duncan Hines Yellow Cake Mix

1  11 oz. can mandarin oranges

4  large eggs

1/2  cup canola oil

1  3.4 oz. package vanilla instant pudding (it has to be instant)

1 15oz. can crushed pineapple with juice

1 12 oz. container of Cool Whip Lite

Instructions

1. Line pan bottoms with parchment paper.  

2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

3. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oranges (with the juice), eggs, and oil.  

4. Divide the cake mix into two 9 inch circular pans.

5. Bake for approx. 30 minutes. Remove cake from oven and cool completely. Pop the cakes out of the tin and remove parchment paper.  Place one cake on a serving dish.

6. In a large bowl, mix together instant pudding mix, pineapple with juice, and the Cool Whip Lite.  

7. Spread frosting along the top of the first cake.  Place the second cake on top.  Cover the whole kit and caboodle with frosting.

8. Store it in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.