Turkey Times and Smoothie Love

This weekend was full of new culinary adventures, and some fun times with friends!!

I started the weekend off trying out a Turkey Burger recipe from Glorious Greens. The author, Leanne, and I went to high school together, and had many fun times working at the local grocery store. I remember her always being so healthy and wanting to do active activities together, through the magic of facebook I found her blog, as we haven't talked in years, and apparently not a lot has changed!

Recently she put up a post about a fabulous Southwest Turkey Burger she made, and I had to try it for myself, turkey burgers are a favorite in our house. Here they are, ready to be scooped off the George Foreman Grill:
Yes, that's right, you see black beans and carrots mixed in there, it's all part of the magic. Ben likes his burgers double, double on a bun (or sandwich thin since we had no buns) and with American cheese.
Ben is a guy who LOVES big burgers and can usually slam a double in no time, but he couldn't even finish his because it was so hearty from the beans, and lean turkey. This recipe is a winner, great job Leanne!

Saturday, after running a sometimes painful, 11 miles at the crack of dawn with my pal Katy, I decided to take McDonald's up on their offer for a free 12 ounce version of their new fruit smoothies. I had checked the nutrition facts on these as soon as I received the free coupon, and was pleasantly surprised, the small, 12 ounce size has 210 calories, 3 grams of fiber, and 48 carbs, not bad!
I have to say, it tasted great too, and was perfect for a post, long workout. It's not a go-to, always going to have snack, but it's a healthier option, and since I believe strongly in eating a good balance of carbs vs. protein within 45 minutes after you work out, it's perfect to help restore some of what you've lost when you're in a pinch for food.
As you can see, I liked it. =) (Try and ignore the dark circles under my eyes, I woke up at 5:30 to go running that day, and the humidity still caught up to us).

Personally, I have my own post workout smoothie recipe that I like to make that I'll share with you all sometime, it's a semi "green monster."

Besides eating my way through the weekend, I went to Bunker Beach with some friends (great place, a must go if you live in the Twin Cities metro), went to a cookout with other friends and finally met their not so new (11 month old) baby, and picked out Ben some new stylish glasses I'll feature on here when they come in, phew! I'm ready to enjoy a relaxing Sunday night!