Friday Night Bites: Recipe Re-Do - Turkey Burgers

It takes me a while to "finish" a recipe. Even when I find something I (and the family) really like, I still tweak it a bit each time I make it until it either becomes second nature or the recipe is at the best place possible with no other substitutions or changes needed. Take the turkey burgers I made with the kids for instance. They were delicious but I knew I could make a few changes here and there. Rachel Ray's recipe calls for red peppers but this time I used green and I upped the cumin and chili powder quotient a bit since no one shies away from spicy. I also changed how I cooked them:

For me, the grill pan made a huge difference versus the non-stick skillet Rachel suggests. I used some super thick cut bacon this time around (baked in the oven of course!) and I made sure to use the family's favorite cheese. We added grapes and some sweet potato fries:

Eaten in a flash. My step-daughter prefers turkey burgers to regular burgers now and the flavor and moistness of these burgers make them a good choice for even the current non-turkey burger lover.

Happy Friday everyone! Hope your weekend is full of yummy food!

Cooking with Kids Part II: Turkey Burgers and Cheesy "Smashed Potatoes"

Our second night of kid's cooking this past weekend was based on food my daughter wanted to cook. In fact, this is one often unrealized benefit of cooking with your kids. If you leave it up to them to choose the recipe, you'll be surprised what they pick out! Rebecca picked two recipes out of Rachel Ray's book Cooking with Kids that she really wanted to try: cheesy smashed potatoes and turkey chili, cheddar and bacon burgers. Had it not been for this cooking night, you could never have told me she would eat a turkey burger!

We started on the potatoes first and this time the little guy wanted in on the prep work so I let him and his sister wash potatoes:

While our potatoes boiled, we went to work on making the turkey burgers. As always, her favorite part was mixing the meat with the veggies and spices, this time while her brother watched.

 If you are familiar with Rachel Ray recipes you know she makes different varieties of "smashed" potatoes which is really non-whipped mashed potatoes with added ingredients. These add 2 cups of shredded cheddar, chives, sour cream and salt and pepper.

The turkey burgers cooking in the skillet made the house smell wonderful! 

We sliced our own 2% sharp cheddar to put on top and as always, when a recipe calls for any brand barbecue sauce, we  use Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. We baked our bacon in the oven and served the burgers on sesame rolls.The final plate:

The turkey burgers were the star with everyone devouring them. My family said they thought the potatoes were too dense and I think that was partly due to my over-mashing versus smashing them but probably also a product of the fact they think my mashed potatoes are the best in the world! We saved the leftover potatoes and I'll be adding some warm milk and butter to them and whipping them into cheddar mashed potatoes for a side to go with this weeks Greek flavor chicken.

If you haven't cooked with your kids, give it a try. You'll be surprised at the fun AND learning that takes place and the new things they will try just because they get to make it.