Turkey Burgers with Mango Salsa

So I'm sitting on the couch nursing Timothy today and listening to and watching the other 3 boys play with each other. They're pretending to be superheros with bow and arrows (this may stem from watching Veggie Tales: Lord of the Beans the other day-it's on netflix if you have that) and saving the animals and princesses. They told me they had 100 million each of cows, goats, horses, pigs and chickens to save. When I said that that was a lot of animals and how were they going to save them Ethan said "With daddy milk." ('Mommy milk' is what Timothy drinks when I nurse him.) Curious as to what that was I asked where daddy milk came from. "From the store" he said as though the answer was obvious. Silly me.

It's amazing what kids can make into a game. Take Ryans' recent diaper rash for instance. Ryan's had this terrible rash so-with not a little apprehension-I let him wander about the apartment yesterday without any diaper as per the pediatricians' recommendation. Christopher and Ethan (who may be the only two boys alive under the age of 7 who don't like running around naked) soon started running away from Ryan any time he got close to them screaming "Gross! He's naked! Run away!" Ryan, of course, thought this was hilarious and started chasing them around the apartment laughing. After about ten minutes my desire not to clean up a pee soaked carpet-or worse-outweighed my desire to help his little tushie so I grabbed him before he headed down the hall to get his brothers and put a diaper on him. Moments later Christopher and Ethan came back out into the livingroom and Christopher says in his most mournful voice "But Mommy, we were playing Gross Boy! Now we can't play." Once again mommy ruins a perfectly good game.=)

Okay now for the recipe. Jon and I have made a bet. We took measurements and weighed in and whoever meets their weightloss/measurement goal first gets $50. We only have 16 weeks to get there so we're both trying to make changes in diet and exercise more. I think Jon has an advantage because he has to take not one but 2 PE classes at the college this summer so he will have 5 hours a week of exercise whether he feels motivated or not. My friend Becca said that maybe it's me that has the advantage because I'm breastfeeding and according to the Institute of Medicine that means I'm burning 650 just sitting on the couch feeding Timothy every day. I guess we'll see.

Anyway, I've been trying some new recipes from a magazine I swiped from my OB's office. It's called Clean Eating and it's all about eating things as close to their natural state as possible. It has loads of information, tips and recipes. If the recipes we test are good I'm subscribing. Anyway, yesterday we tried Turkey burgers with fresh mango salsa. It was REALLY good. Yes, I altered the recipe, but not much. I added an egg and some breadcrumbs to the burger mix to make it hold together better and make it moist and I made my own mango salsa instead of buying some of the brand they recommended in the produce section. Even so, it took less than 30 min start to finish. So for the recipe...


Turkey Burgers with Mango Salsa serves 4
*The great thing about these burgers is that you really don't need or even want ketchup or mayo or mustard added to them. The salsa gives it plenty of moisture and flavor and you skip all those added calories and fat*

Burgers
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 tsp chili powder (or more if you like a little kick)
1 egg
1/4 c whole wheat bread crumbs *see note at bottom
1/4 tsp kosher salt
4 slices reduced fat pepper jack or mozzarella cheese

Mix first 5 ingredients in a bowl and grill/pan fry/broil. They're soft so don't fuss them around too much and be careful on the first flip. Put the cheese on top and cook to desired doneness. Serve on buns with some romaine lettuce and mango salsa. They suggested serving them on Ezekiel sprouted grain hamburger buns, but those were a little pricey for me so we used Natures Own Multi-grain Sandwich Rounds.

Quick Mango Salsa serves 4
1 mango, diced small (click here for mango cutting instructions)
1-2 roma tomatoes, diced small (Jon liked more mango so I used 1)
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped (or more to taste)
1 tsp fresh garlic, minced (I use a microplane)
1 green onion, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all together and enjoy.