Sausage and Peppers Burgers

I don't dress up for Halloween. My husband takes my kids trick-or-treating, I stay at home, some years I hand out candy, but most years I don't. I don't dislike Halloween, I just am not a fan of the sugar rush that comes with all the candy. I'm a mean mommy, I don't allow my kids candy or junk food. I do bake things at home, but we have very few packaged foods in our cupboards besides rice, flour, and spices. My kids complain that I have only ingredients, but no food, Personally I don't see that as a bad thing. We eat fresh everyday and I make almost everything from scratch (with the exception of cereal which we don't eat, milk, eggs etc.). So on Halloween my kids become candy monsters. As soon as they come in the door, I take their treat bags. Most of the candy goes with my husband to share at work the next day and my kids are only allowed to keep one small plastic bag full of sweets, no suckers or sugared gum (I hate cavities). Honestly, I am looking forward to when they are old enough to want to go to parties and not door-to-door.

My family used to eat burgers frequently, but now we only eat them once every couple of months. We try not to eat a ton of red meat (my family is finally beginning to love tofu), so when we do eat burgers I try to make them different than the ordinary. This recipe for Sausage and Peppers Burgers combines two types of meat for a juicy and delicious burger combination. The recipe is as follows.

Recipe adapted from the Food Network Magazine.

Sausage and Peppers Burgers

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 6 ounces sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 red onion, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/2 strips
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 slices provolone cheese
• 4 hamburger buns
• warmed marinara sauce

Cooking Directions

1. Combine the sausage, beef, garlic, oregano, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1.4 teaspoon salt in a bowl.
2. After well blended form into 4 patties.
3. In a skillet over medium heat add olive oil, peppers, and onion.
4. Sauté until peppers and onions are browned and soft, about 6-8 minutes.
5. Preheat a grill (or grill pan) to medium high heat.
6. Add the burgers and cook until browned and cooked all the way through (4-6 minutes per side).
7. Top with cheese for the last 2 minutes of cooking time.
8. Add burger to bun, toping with peppers/onions, and warmed marinara sauce.

Tips: 

• These burger can be made into smaller patties for children. I make my kids burgers into 1/8 of a pound since they couldn't finish a 1/4 pound burger. 
• If you don't have a grill a grill pan or a skillet would also be fine for cooking the burgers on the stove. 
• I have also tried this with chicken sausage and ground chicken. The taste was different (I also added Greek seasoning), but the flavors were still great together, plus it cut down on fat. 

Bacon Burgers with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

In my house bacon is it's own food group. I live with three males and they can be sound asleep, but when I start frying bacon they suddenly appear out of thin air. The same goes for their enthusiasm for menu ideas. If I mention most recipes I get complete disregard or an occasional quick comment. However, if I casually mention that I'm making a recipe that involves bacon for dinner, suddenly they become very interested in everything I'm doing. Occasionally my oldest goes so far as to run around the house with a crazy voice shouting the word bacon over and over again. It's a little odd, but the boy knows what he likes and bacon is at the top of the list.

There is something very appealing about a delicious and juicy burger. My whole family loves them and I make some burger variation at least once or twice a month. Last week I made a new recipe for Bacon Burgers with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce. The recipe is as follows.

Adapted from the July 2014 issue of the Food and Wine Magazine. 

Bacon Burgers with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A tender burger recipe using ground beef and minced bacon and served with a delicious yogurt sauce.

Preparation Time: 0h, 10m

Cooking Time: 0h, 8m

Total Time: 0h, 18m

Yield: Serves 8

Bacon Burgers with Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 minced red onion
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 1/2 pounds ground chuck
• 1/2 pound bacon, minced *see note
• 6 scallions white and light green parts minced
• 1/3 cup chopped mint
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Instructions

1. Puree the yogurt, jalapeños, cilantro, ginger, onion, sugar and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a food processor. 
2. In a separate bowl combine the ground beef, scallions, mint, Parmesan, lemon zest, lemon juice, pepper, cayenne, and remaining salt. 
3. Form into 8 burger patties. 
4. Either using a grill or a griddle, cook the burgers for 6-8 minutes or until 180 degrees. 
5. Serve the burgers on hamburger buns topped with tomatoes, onions, lettuce, ketchup, and/or Sriracha and the yogurt sauce spread on the bottom of the bun. 

*Note: In order for the bacon to be fully minced either use a food processor or cook the bacon until crisp, crumble, and then add to the recipe. Alternatively you can used real bacon bits. 

Be very careful that you fully mince the bacon. If the bites are too large the burgers will end up with large grease pockets. When properly minced the bacon keeps the burgers moist and is a great addition to the ground beef. 

Turkey Burgers with Orange Mustard Glaze

Turkey Burgers with Orange Mustard Glaze

I have a horrible attention span. When I was younger it was much better. As I've gotten older it seems to have gone downhill. It's particularly bad with regards to books and television. I have a bad habit of watching part of a season of a tv show and then stopping. Since my husband and I rarely watch live television I am able to look up the ending to most of the past seasons of shows that I catch up on online. I tend to do the same with books. I will read 3/4 of a book and then skim the rest. Part of the problem is that I have very high expectations. I will read pretty much any book, but I get bored with bad writing very easily. Honestly, there have been only a handful of books, television shows and movies within the last 10 years that have been able to hold my attention for long. I'm not sure if it has to do with me getting older or plots getting worse. Either way my attention seems to be going rapidly downhill. Luckily cooking still holds my interest for hours at a time. That's part of the reason that I love it, it changes every time I make a recipe. Today I tried a new recipe for Turkey Burgers with Orange Mustard Glaze from the Food Network Magazine.

Marble Arch Huntington, WV

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First I did not make 6 - 1/2 pound burgers. That is a lot of meat and my two kids are in finicky eating stages currently. Instead I made 4 burgers and they were about 1/3 pound each. For the grilling I used my indoor electric grill, I am still waiting for my husband to fix our outdoor electric grill. I made my own hamburger buns and used heirloom tomatoes for topping. The only type of paprika I had in my cupboard was smoked paprika, so that is what I used.

Marble Arch Huntington, WV

The glaze for these burgers was delicious. It was a perfect combination of sweet and spicy. If you like your food on the mild side I would suggest seeding the jalapenos. You could also decrease or leave out the chili powder. My kids chose to eat their burgers with the pickles on the burgers instead of the glaze. It was a nice way to make the recipe kid friendly.

For the recipe go to Turkey Burgers with Orange Mustard Glaze.

Turkey Burgers with Orange Mustard Glaze

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A simple turkey burger recipe with orange jalapeno mustard glaze. A nice combination of sweet and spicy, plus lower in fat than beef burgers.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Total Time: 0h, 40m

Yield: Serves 6

Mushroom Stuffed Cheeseburgers

Mushroom Stuffed Cheeseburgers

I am a bad mommy. My oldest son is 7 and doesn't know how to tie his shoes. It isn't for a lack of trying, I have tried many, many times. I blame my husband mostly and his genetics. According to my mother-in-law he was the last kid in his class to tie his shoes. I also blame how kids are taught in school these days. Apparently learning simple skills like tying your shoes is no longer something that public schools teach. Okay. In 1st grade we spent a great deal of time learning to tie our shoes until every kid could do it by the end of the year. The school district that my son is in does not see this as an important skill. They even went so far as to state in a take home note that if my child does not know how to tie his own shoes that the teachers don't have the time to take to tie his shoes for him. I completely understand that teachers are over worked, both of my in-laws were teachers for almost 40 years each. I just wish that some of the skills that used to be emphasized at school such as tying your shoes and cursive would still be viewed as valuable. So I continue to fail miserably at home. I know that a big part of it is that he is left handed. It took working with him for almost a year for him to understand how to hold a pencil and begin to write. I never knew how much harder being left handed makes everything. Hopefully I am not the only bad mommy in the world and that my son turns out to be a normally functioning adult. If not there are always slip on shoes that require no tying what-so-ever. Today's recipe is something that my whole family loves, cheeseburgers. This week I tried a new recipe for Mushroom Stuffed Cheeseburgers from the June/July issue of Taste of Home magazine.

Sugar Grove Christian Church Near Owingville, Kentucky

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 8 servings. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First I make my buns from scratch. It saves money and they taste so much better than store bought. Secondly, I thought that I had steak sauce in the fridge, I was wrong. When I got ready to make the recipe I discovered my fault and decided rather than running to the store in the middle of dinner to leave out the steak sauce all together. My husband is still refusing to clean the rust off of our outdoor grill so I used my indoor electric grill to grill the burgers. The cheeseburgers had a problem with slitting open during grilling. Don't feel bad if this also happens to you, they still tasted fine after they were finished cooking.

Mt Sterling, Kentucky

These burgers turned into a mess on the grill. The amount of filling was just too much for the burgers to stay together. The burgers still tasted delicious, they just oozed out their insides a lot on the grill. If you would rather that your burgers stayed intact I would suggest adding only a small amount of the filling to each burger and make sure to form the patties very flat with a good inch or more of space between the filling and the burger edge. The problem was only aesthetic though so if you aren't worried about the way the burger looks, the recipe was fine.

For the recipe go to Mushroom Stuffed Cheeseburgers.

Mushroom Stuffed Cheeseburger

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A stuffed cheeseburger recipe with mushrooms, provolone, and red and green peppers. Uses lean beef to cut down on the total fat.

Preparation Time: 0h, 30m

Cooking Time: 0h, 10m

Total Time: 0h, 40m

Yield: Serves 8

Recipe for Tuscan Turkey Burgers with Fresh Basil

Tuscan Turkey Burgers with Fresh Basil and Tomatoes

I was so happy that tonight I was able to use fresh herbs from my herb garden for my dinner recipe. My herbs are doing better than I expected and will save me so much money this summer. Growing my own basil is one way that I know that I will save money since I use basil at least once a week for dinner. The herbs available at the grocery store are over priced and start to brown by the time I am able to use them. Being able to just go out and cut the amount that I need is so nice. Plus the flavor is noticeably better than store bought. One food I love adding fresh basil to is burgers. It can take a regular burger from ordinary to something memorable. Last week I tried a new recipe for Tuscan Turkey Burgers from Redbook magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First since I eat gluten free I made gluten free biscuits and then made bread crumbs in my food processor. I also used my indoor grill to cook the burgers, which helped to reduce the fat without reducing the flavor. For my serving I ate the burger between two gluten free biscuits, for the rest of my family I made homemade hamburger buns.

These burgers have a tendency to crumble when you try to flip them over so be careful. I actually waited until the next day to take the photo. After sitting in the fridge the burgers were much firmer and easier to deal with. It might be a good idea to place the burgers in the fridge to firm before cooking them. I thought these burgers were great without lettuce so if you are unable to find Boston lettuce you can leave it out. Overall these burgers turned out very moist and were enjoyed by my whole family.

For the recipe go to Tuscan Turkey Burgers.

Recipe for Spicy Chipotle Burgers with Chipotle Sour Cream

Spicy Chipotle Burgers with Chipotle Sour Cream

I am happy to report that my herb garden has taken off. This year I finally gave in and decided that I would grow my own herbs instead of relying on store bought. I tried a herb garden once before I had kids and it didn't go well. Our yard didn't have enough sun light during the day and I was horrible about remembering to water. Luckily now that I am older I love gardening and have had great success. This year my oldest son and I decided that we would grow tomatoes and four types of herbs. They are doing very well so far and I am excited to be able to use foods from my garden in my cooking. Until my tomatoes are ready to eat I have still been using store bought, especially since we eat a lot of burgers. Last week I tried a new recipe for Spicy Chipotle Burgers from the June 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 8 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First I made my own hamburger buns. Homemade buns have much better flavor and they are easier to make than you would think. Here are two links to the hamburger buns that I make 40 Minute Hamburger Buns and Homemade Sesame Buns. I used an indoor electric grill to make the burgers so my total grilling time was slightly longer than the recipe suggested. Finally I chose not to grill the buns. Since I use homemade buns and they are always baked the same day I don't see the need to grill my buns.

My husband and I really enjoyed these burgers. They were one of the best burgers that I have eaten or made in a while. I really liked the chipotle sour cream, it was a great addition to the burger recipe and cooled down the spiciness of the burger. If you want to cut down on the amount of fat you could try using ground beef with a lower fat content. With 25 grams of protein this is a filling recipe that is also easy to prepare making it a perfect summer grilling option.

For the recipe go to Spicy Chipotle Burgers. (registration required)

Recipe for Hawaiian Burgers

Hawaiian Burger with Gluten Free Bun

My kids love burgers. It doesn't matter what type, they will eat them. My husband and I are also burger fans and I make them at least once every couple of weeks. I try to change up the type of meat I use since I make them so frequently. Some weeks I use pork, some chicken and occasionally beef. I try to make sure that the beef burgers that I make have something special since beef burgers can be a little boring and often dry. Pineapple is an add-in that my family loves in burgers and it is great with beef. This week I tried a new recipe for Hawaiian Burgers from the August 2012 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 8 servings. I did make a few changes. First I made my own buns. I ate gluten free buns and the rest of my family regular hamburger buns. Lettuce isn't a popular burger topping in my household, so I left it off. I used leftover ham that I had from a recipe a few weeks back and had then frozen.. Finally I grilled the burgers on my indoor electric grill. They took slightly longer than the recipe suggested, but that is normal when using an indoor grill.

My kids really loved these burgers. They can be hit or miss on what they will eat, but they really liked this recipe. The burgers turned out very juicy from the pineapple and blue cheese, without being overpowering. I was worried that since the recipe had so many ingredients in the burger that it would taste too busy, but the flavors ended up working perfectly together.

For the recipe go to Hawaiian Burgers.

Recipe for Grilled Turkey Burgers with Pineapple Salsa

Grilled Turkey Burgers with Pineapple Salsa

With the weather getting warmer it has been project week in my house. During the spring I set aside a couple of weeks to do all the projects that I have put off for the last year. This year it is painting furniture, my dining room and re-staining a few tables. I have completed half of the things that I need to finish so that's a start. It always seems ten times harder to finish anything with a 4 and 6-year-old. My youngest loves doing his workbooks, but hates playing by himself. Plus he is in a phase where he wants to to everything with mommy. So tonight after my husband got home I painted the dining room while he worked on a painting project of his own. I have been a little behind on my posts and cooking this week since I have been busy, but I should be back to normal in another week. This week I tried a new recipe for Grilled Turkey Burgers with Pineapple Salsa from the Food Network Canada.

Pineapple Salsa

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 27 minutes of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First my mother-in-law gave me a number of frozen turkey patties that had sat in my freezer for months. So instead of making the turkey burgers from scratch, I utilized the frozen patties. All the red peppers at my local grocery store where not usable, so I substituted a yellow pepper instead. I chose to include the jalapeno in the salsa, but seeded it since my kids would be enjoying some. I served regular buns for the rest of the family and gluten free for me.

The salsa in this recipe is really delicious. It made the store bought burgers much better and was also delicious as a sweet side salad the next day. The taste of the fresh pineapple was sweet and blended nicely with the strong flavors of the onion and jalapeno.

For the recipe go to Grilled Turkey Burgers with Pineapple Salsa.

Recipe for Burgers with Mozzarella and Spinach-Arugula Pesto

Burgers with Mozzarella and Spinach-Arugula Pesto and Homemade Buns

The weather was beautiful here today. It finally feels like spring with 80 degree weather and the ability to wear shorts without freezing. The smell of BBQ has been all over my neighborhood as well. I absolutely love the smell of BBQ. There are few smells better than walking outside and smelling someone smoking ribs on a big charcoal side smoker. The weather and the rise of grilling inspired me to make burgers this week. There is something about warm weather and burgers that go hand in hand. My husband bought a huge charcoal grill about 5 years ago. However, this year it needs the rust to be sanded from sitting in our basement and my motivation has been lacking. Therefore I settled for making burgers on my indoor grill this week. Today I tried a new recipe for Burgers with Mozzarella and Spinach-Arugula Pesto from Bon Appetit.

Gluten Free Burgers with Mozzarella and Spinach-Arugula Pesto

This recipe has 15 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First I did two versions, one with homemade hamburger buns and the other with gluten free buns. I had one pound of beef that I had ground with chuck a few months back. I combined the ground beef with 3/4 pound of ground lamb. Since I was short on time I did not wilt the spinach. I often make pesto with spinach and never wilt it, I just puree it in the food processor in batches. For the burgers I ended up with a total of 8 burgers. I like to keep my burgers on the small side, especially since they were blended with ground lamb which can be rich.

For this recipe I used heirloom tomatoes. I love heirloom tomatoes, they are great with burgers. Make sure to salt the pesto and the tomatoes. The salt really helps to bring out the flavor of the tomato and the pesto. Blending the lamb and beef gave the burgers great flavor and my family really enjoyed these burgers. There was also enough pesto leftover to use on turkey burgers later in the week.

For the recipe go to Burgers with Mozzarella and Spinach-Arugula Pesto.

Recipe for Chicken Burgers with Mozzarella and Homemade Hamburger Buns

Chicken Burgers with Mozzarella and Homemade Hamburger Buns

Next week is a freezer week for my household. Once a month we eat out of our freezer. Many of the meals that I make during the week make more leftovers than we can eat for lunches the next day so I freeze them for meals later in the month. I normally wait at least three weeks in between leftover meals. That way my kids have forgotten the first meal and it doesn't feel like we are always eating the same recipes. My taste buds get bored easily according to my husband. I literally make a meal once and then rarely make it every again. Without leftovers we would have very few repeat meals. I know some of my boredom with repeat meals comes from being very poor growing up and literally eating the same meal every week. My mother was a great cook, but there were only so many things that can be done with food bank items. Luckily my kids have never had to have the experience of bare shelves and if anything they have my bored taste buds. However, I also have my mother's frugal ways so we clear out our pantry and freezer once a month to ensure that food isn't wasted. Last week I had a number of packages of frozen meat to utilize. Since I had a bunch of frozen ground chicken I tried a new recipe for Chicken Burgers from the March issue of All You magazine.

Gluten Free Chicken Burgers with Mozzarella

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I only made a few modifications to this recipe. I made two versions as I normally do, one gluten free and one regular. For the regular version of the recipe I made homemade hamburger buns. My onion and pepper mixture only took 5 minutes to fully soften, any longer and they would have gotten overly browned. For the gluten free version I used gluten free bread instead of a bun. I made my own BBQ sauce since many BBQ sauces have wheat, plus homemade tastes better.

My two boys really enjoyed these chicken burgers. I would suggest a few changes. I found that the burgers were a little greasy being cooked in the oven. Instead of cooking them in the oven I would grill them on an indoor or outdoor grill. Additionally, I would just use BBQ sauce instead of the mayo BBQ sauce combination. Finally, the cheese on the inside made the burgers too greasy, I would suggest using real mozzarella sliced on top of the burger. This would cut down on the grease and still retain the flavors.

For the recipe go to Chicken Burgers.

Nacho Burgers with Homemade Hamburger Buns

Nacho Burgers with Homemade Hamburger Buns

Burgers. The word can mean a whole paragraph to a lot of people. Growing-up my dad was very lacking in the cooking department, so much so that he was able to ruin boxed macaroni and cheese on multiple occasions. However, he completely redeemed himself when in came to the grill. Not just any grill, it had to be charcoal and it had to be done just so. I'm not exaggerating, there was a whole art. The hamburgers that my dad made on the grill where a treat and one of my favorite foods growing-up. I didn't think I would ever meet another man so much in love with his grill and grilling. Then I met my husband. Over the years I have heard rant after rant after rant about the superiority of a charcoal grill and how great hamburgers can be when done right. In the summer we still grill a lot, but in the winter I have moved our grilling indoors. I agree with my husband and dad that the taste isn't as great, but my feet stay warm and the burgers are still delicious even when done on my indoor open faced electric grill. In the summer we will go back to the giant grill and side smoker, but in the meantime we will enjoy our chicken and beef inside. This week I tried a new recipe for Nacho Burgers from the March 2013 issue of Food and Wine magazine.

Gluten Free Version of Nacho Burgers

This recipe has 7 ingredients in the salsa, 8 in the cheese sauce and 7 ingredients for the actual burgers. It takes 35 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a few changes to the recipe. First as I try to always do I ground my own beef. It really takes very little time to grind your own meat either in a food processor or like with the attachment I use on my mixer. The texture is phenomenal and the quality is significantly superior. Instead of using store bought buns I made my hamburger buns from scratch. They are easy to make and are great for sandwiches. Since I eat gluten free I substituted brown rice flour for the all-purpose in the cheese sauce. When making the sauce add a little bit of milk at a time in order for the sauce to thicken correctly. If you add the milk all at once it will be too thin. I substituted non-fat milk for the milk in recipe since it is the only milk we keep in the house. I cooked the burgers on my indoor electric open faced grill. The cooking time was slightly longer, especially since I make sure that my burgers temp correctly since my kids are eating them.

Food and Wine magazine claim that these are the best burgers ever. Hmm. I did think that the toppings were delicious, the cheese sauce was nice and the salsa was great both on the burger and with the chips as a side. However, it would be a stretch to say it is the best burger I've ever had. The actual patty is just plain beef, no fillings, no nothing. I think that the recipe could be improved by adding more to the patty itself, such as cayenne, garlic powder, ancho something that keeps the flavor but also adds a little bit of moisture. It would be nice if the cheese sauce was in the burger instead of on top, incorporating the cheese or adding more to the burger itself would take this burger from being okay to being great.

For the recipe go to Nacho Burgers.

Pinto and Rice Burgers

When I turned 14 I decided I was a vegetarian. Having grown up in Seattle I was surrounded by vegetarians and vegans and I thought it was natural for me to become a vegetarian myself. My dad was a huge meat eater, but my mom was great about buying me ingredients to make my own meals. It was during these years that I learned to read and create cookbook recipes and modify ingredients to make dishes vegetarian. I stayed a vegetarian until I was in my mid-twenties. When I moved to West Virginia to attend graduate school I added meat back into my diet. Then I met my husband, who is obsessed with pork. My two boys have followed suit and definitely enjoy meat in their diets. While I do love meat, I also try to have at least 1-2 dinners a week that are vegetarian or vegan and our lunches 99 percent of the time contain no meat. With one of the highest levels of childhood obesity in my state I am determined to keep my kids from following this statistic. Veggie burgers are a household favorite so I was excited when the June issue of Everyday Food had a recipe for Pinto and Rice Burgers, which looked very easy and delicious.

This recipe has 10 ingredients, plus toppings. It takes 15 minutes of prep and cook time and makes 8 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. For the toppings I used cucumbers, avocado, mayo and mustard. I found that the burgers took much longer than the 3 minutes per side suggested by the recipe. I prefer that my veggies burgers have a nice brown crunchy exterior so I let my burgers cook approximately five minutes per side. The bunches of scallion available in my area are huge so instead of an entire bunch I used five large scallions in total. Finally I ended up with 6 burgers in total, my family prefers larger burgers so I made mine slightly larger than the recipe. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Everyone in my family loved this recipe! The burger was not dry as many other veggie burger recipes can be and the avocado topping was absolutely perfect. The cilantro added great flavor, without the burger tasting too much like cilantro. The beans, cilantro, scallions and beans blended together perfectly and the burgers browned very nicely in the olive oil. I was very impressed by this recipe and will definitely make it again in the future.

This recipe is currently not available online, but can be found in the June issue of Everyday Food Magazine. Here is a link to another Rice and Pinto Bean Burger recipe.

Food and Wine Nacho Burgers

Burgers are a popular food in my house. Not plain tasteless burgers, but burgers that are thick and juicy and full of toppings. Turkey, chicken, beef, veggie, you name it, my family will devour it with zealous. In the summer I make burgers approximately once a week, but in the fall and winter I scale back my burger making. It has been months since I've tried a new burger recipe and I figured it was about time to try a new one. The January 2012 issue of Food and Wine Magazine had a recipe for Nacho Burgers that looked full of flavor and perfect for a cold weather burger recipe.

This recipe has 6 ingredients in the salsa, 7 ingredients in the cheese sauce and 7 ingredients in the burgers. The  recipe takes 35 minutes of total time and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients with the exception of the blue corn chips which I didn't notice I needed before preparing the recipe. One thing that the recipe neglects to mention is to add the milk gradually to the flour and butter in the cheese sauce. If the milk is added all at once the cheese sauce won't thicken properly. I found that my sauce took a little longer than five minutes to fully thicken and another 5-10 minutes of cooling. I chose to grill my burgers on an indoor grill since it is winter and honestly I find it much easier. Additionally I made my burgers smaller since half of them were for my kids. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

These burgers turned out delicious. The burger recipe is your basic burger recipe, it is the sauce and salsa that make this dish so yummy. The cheese sauce is the best part of the recipe and was very popular with my three-year-old. It also re-heated well the next day with leftovers, and even worked with the veggie burgers I had in the freezer. A great fall/winter burger recipe with delicious toppings.

For the recipe go to Nacho Burgers.

Parents Asian Burgers with Pineapple-Mango Salad

In the last couple of months I have made a large amount of soup and stew recipes. While, my whole family enjoys these dishes, I figured it was about time for a change in my menu plan for the week. My oldest son has been going through a fruit stage where he is literally obsessed with any and every kind of fruit that he can find at the grocery store. I'm proud of his love for fruit, but my husband has less of an enthusiasm for getting in his daily fruit requirements. I fall somewhere in the middle of the debate. I grew up in Washington state and never understood that apple prices at the grocery store could be high until I moved to West Virginia. I remember picking wild blackberries by the community college in our area and eating a large amount of locally produced fruit. I never really thought about whether I liked or didn't like fruit in general. As an adult I haven't been as vigilant about making sure that I eat my daily requirement of fruit, so I recently have begun to try to find recipe using fruit as an ingredient, in an effort to make my family healthier and my oldest son happy. Recently, the September issue of Parents magazine had a recipe for Asian Burgers with Pineapple-Mango Salad, which looked like a perfect way to increase my family's fruit intake.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It serves six and takes approximately 15 minutes. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store, with the exception that I substituted an English cucumber for the seedless variety specified in the recipe. I ground my own beef so that added 15 minutes to my overall preparation time. I chose not to add the parsley to the salad, my children can be picky about parsley in dishes and I knew that without it they would eat the fruit without complaints. I followed the remainder of the recipe as stated.

The fruit salad was the most popular part of the recipe for my two boys. My husband and I loved the flavor of the burgers, but felt that they were very dry. I would suggest adding the hoisin mayonnaise from this earlier blog post of mine. I think the combination of the flavors would be delicious and add greatly to the overall recipe. With the stated modifications I think this could be a great dish.

For the recipe go to Asian Burgers with Pineapple-Mango Salad.

Family Circle Moo Shu Pork Burger

As I've stated numerous times before, we are huge pork fans in our household. I normally make pork once a week, which is far more frequently than I prepare beef. Beef as an ingredient is delicious, but I have never been one to sit down and eat an entire steak in one sitting. I have always loved the taste of pork far better and am always looking for ways to use the meat in new ways. I was given the July issue of Family Circle magazine and was intrigued by the recipe for Moo Shu Pork Burgers.

This recipe has 10 ingredients, and takes approximately 21 minutes to prepare and cook. Since I grind my own pork, that added 15 minutes of additional time, but I prepped in the morning to cut down on dinner preparations. I made a few modifications to the original recipe. First, I am not a fan of light mayonnaise, it tastes off to me, so I used regular mayonnaise instead. Second, I was unable to find cremini mushrooms, so I substituted baby portabellas. Finally, I grilled my burgers on an indoor grill. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My whole family enjoyed this recipe. I used a high quality tenderloin for my ground meat, and the taste was absolutely delicious. I definitely won't be going back to cheaper cuts in the future. My husband's favorite part of the recipe was the hoisin/mayonnaise sauce, which added a sweet taste to the pork. This recipe is a great way to use pork in an interesting way and takes very little time to prepare.

For the recipe go to Family Circle Moo Shu Pork Burgers.  Registration Required. 

Everyday Food Feta-Stuffed BLT Burgers

In the summer my family eats their fair share of burgers. I try to prepare burgers made with a variety of different meats and flavors so my family doesn't get bored. I have found a number of turkey burger recipes that we enjoy, but I have had a harder time finding a stuffed cheese beef burger that lives up to expectations. The burger either ends up greasy or the cheese is overwhelming. The June issue of Everyday Food magazine had a recipe for Feta-Stuffed BLT Burgers, which looked interesting and different from the usual stuffed burger recipe.

This recipe has eight ingredients and takes approximately 35 minutes to prepare. For the beef, I used chuck roast and ground it using my mixer attachment. I left off the tomato portion of the BLT, since my husband isn't a fan of fresh raw tomatoes, so I actually made a bl not a BLT. I had no problem finding any of the ingredients and used Boston lettuce, which is what was available. Instead of pan frying my burgers, I used my indoor grill in order that all the burgers would be finished at the same time, my two boys can be very impatient dinner guests. I served the burgers with buttermilk mashed potatoes and squash gratin using fresh vegetables from a friend's garden.

My husband and I really enjoyed this recipe. Unlike previous stuffed burger recipes that I have tried, the cheese on this dish was not overpowering or greasy. The feta provided a nice contrast to the beef and my two boys got a kick out of the Boston lettuce, which they thought looked like 'baby lettuce'. This is a great alternative to overly greasy stuffed cheddar cheese burgers, and a nice change of pace from the usual BLT.

For the recipe go to Everyday Food Feta-Stuffed BLT Burgers .

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All You Lamb Burgers with Greek Salad

In the last 6 months I have been making an attempt to encourage my two young sons to eat a larger variety of vegetables. Most weeknights I don't have the time to make a separate vegetable dish in addition to the main course, so I look for recipes which incorporate vegetables and protein. Burgers are a popular protein choice in my household, but very few recipes use vegetables as anything other than a topping or coleslaw. I was pleased when the July issue of All You magazine had a recipe for Lamb Burgers with Greek Salad.

There are 13 ingredients in this recipe, all of which I was easily able to find at my local grocery store. The prep took me approximately 10 minutes, with a total time of 20 minutes. I grind my own meat, which I did in the morning, which took another 10-15 minutes. I used an indoor grill for the burgers; I am still trying to convince my husband to scrape and paint our outdoor charcoal grill before it can be used for the season. For the salad greens, I used bagged baby lettuce.

This is a very quick recipe to prepare. The flavors of the burger and salad work well together and are a nice compliment. The star of the dish is the dressing, which is delicious and has a nice citrus taste. This would be a great weekday meal, with no need for a vegetable side dish.

For the recipe go to All You Lamb Burgers with Greek Salad.

Taste of Home Sweet and Spicy Fusion Burgers

We are big burger eaters in my house and I make about one burger recipe a week during the summer months. Most of the burgers that I make are beef, which my family loves, but I have been trying to make a larger variety of ground meats. I have tried a number of different turkey burger recipes, but haven't found one that my family is in love with. The June/July issue of Taste of Home magazine had a recipe for Sweet and Spicy Fusion Burgers, which looked like a contemporary spin on a turkey burger dish.

This recipe has a large amount of ingredients, 16 in total. However, all the ingredients were easy to find at my local grocery store or I already had them in my pantry. I ground my own turkey meat, which I did in the morning and it took about 10 minutes in total. The prep took me about twenty minutes, with a total time of approximately 30 minutes. I used my indoor grill to prepare the burgers, so my grill time was less than if I had used a traditional grill. Instead of spreading the cheese on the naan, I crumbled it over the burger.

My family thoroughly enjoyed this recipe. The taste of the burger is sweet, with a nice bite from the sriracha. It reheated well the next day when my husband took the leftovers for lunch, since only the burger needed to be microwaved. This burger is a knife and fork burger, it isn't very easy to pick-up and hold, which my two sons got a kick out of. This recipe is one that I will use again, it's a great turkey burger recipe.

For the recipe go to Taste of Home Sweet and Spicy Fusion Burgers.

Taste of Home Family-Friendly Stuffed Cheeseburgers

During the summer months, my family goes through a large amount of burgers. I try to vary up the recipes and use different types of ground meat, in order to keep my family from getting bored. My oldest son loves mushrooms, but I have been unable to find a burger recipe incorporating mushrooms which my whole family enjoys. The June/July issue of Taste of Home magazine had a recipe for Family-Friendly Stuffed Cheeseburgers, combining mushrooms and cheese, two of my boys favorite foods.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. The prep work is easy, with only the onion and jalapeno requiring chopping. I crushed my saltines in a plastic bags to decrease on the mess factor in my kitchen. Instead of using an outdoor grill, I used my indoor grill. I made sure to keep the grill open in order to keep the cheese from spilling out. The total prep time is approximately 40 minutes.

This recipe makes 6 very large 1/3 pound burgers. My family enjoyed the recipe, but we all agreed that it was a little too cheesy for our tastes. I think this recipe would benefit from the cream cheese being eliminated and using 1 cup of shredded cheddar, instead of 1 1/2 cups. The taste of the actually burger is delicious, and would go great with a warmed smokey-sweet tomato based bbq sauce. This recipe could easily be made into 8 1/4 pound burgers, which would be a little less drastic on the meat. For an outdoor bbq, this recipe could easily be modified to taste delicious and feed a crowd of hungry cheeseburger eaters.

For the recipe go to Taste of Home Family Friendly Stuffed Cheeseburgers.

Everyday Food Mushroom-Swiss Turkey Burgers

My family eats a large amount of burgers. Since they are eaten so frequently I try to change up the recipes, in order that we don't get bored. Additionally, I have been trying to introduce more types of white meat burgers for my family's health. My two boys thoroughly enjoy burgers made with turkey meat, so I have been making an effort to find new recipes using this meat. Recently, an issue of Everyday Food magazine had a recipe for mushroom-swiss turkey burgers, which looked like something my family would enjoy.

This recipe goes together quickly, with the time from prep to finish taking less than a half an hour. I had no problems finding the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no major substitutions. Instead of using an outdoor grill, I used my foreman grill, which worked great. My total grilling time took less time on the indoor grill than the outdoor suggestion.

My two boys loved this recipe. They have always been fans of turkey burgers and mushrooms, so they were pleased to see them combined into one recipe. My husband thought this was one of the best turkey burger recipes that he has every had. I appreciate that it takes less than thirty minutes to prepare, which makes it a great recipe for a weeknight meal.

This recipe is currently unavailable online, but can be found in the July/August issue of Everyday Food Magazine.