A busy work schedule usually means I am ordering in a lot. I have about enough time to place and order, wolf my food down when it arrives and get back to work. Work weeks like these are rarely about appreciating the food, it is just about making it to midnight so I can get to sleep and start over again until everything is done.

About once a month there is a week, or week and a half like this, and it is exhausting. And it is not just the work, but constantly eating on the go, eating delivery food or convenience foods, the pile of dishes, the apartment in a mess, not having put on a proper outfit or ever go out into the daylight! It takes me at least a day to recover.

So last week, just before the tornado of work was about to hit, I worked out a plan to 'be prepared' and made burgers. Two dozen burgers, all different. Lamb burgers stuffed with goat cheese, ground beef and bacon burgers and salmon burgers made with a mix of fresh salmon and smoked salmon. After I formed each burger with my ancient (I mean, ANTIQUE) Tupperware hamburger press, I stored them in the freezer with squares of wax paper.

As well, I sliced up a mix of sweet potatoes and Idaho potatoes into French fries, deep fried them for about 5 minutes, and froze those as well.

When I am ready to eat, I can take the burgers and fries out of the freezer, heat up my oil, and set the burgers on the panini grill press and cook them pretty much like a regular burger. I set down the fries for another 7 minutes and voila, burgers and fries in about 15 minutes!

It hasn't worked out perfectly, dishes are still an issue, and you know you are busy when you don't even have time to empty the dishwasher! However, I do feel much better about what we've eaten to maintain our strength over the past week! We didn't blow our budget ordering in, and the really good news for me is, now I rest!

Cheesy Lamb Burgers
makes 4 large burgers

1 pound minced lamb
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp chopped kalamata olives
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
pepper to taste (you won't need salt because the kalamata olives are already quite salty)
1/4 log soft goat cheese cut into 4 thick slices

Mix all the ingredients except the goat cheese together in a large bowl.

Divide the meat into 8 equal portions and form 8 burgers, a little larger than the bun you plan to use. Then, build the burgers by sandwiching the goat cheese between two burger patties. Make sure to really close off the seams, just like you would do with a pie.

Set your panini press to sear and cook for about 8 minutes or until the meat is cooked to your preference.

I served these burgers  topped with Kraft cucumber and dill dressing, though under less time constraints I would have make a nice yogurt topping or a tzatziki sauce. I also used pita-style burger buns, which I think works better than some more 'bready' options.