Why do I do this to myself?

Weather: 80 degrees outside, 85 inside...and HOT HOT HOT!!!
Preparation: 40 minutes

As we're driving home together (remember we are carpooling today) I tell my husband: I can make those meatloaf muffins or I can make hamburger. If I make meatloaf, we'll have mashed potatoes, if hamburger it will be fresh baked fries. He chose the burgers.

I had taken out ground PORK to make this meal, so they were really porkburgers. Anyway, not like hamburgers are made from ham...

Okay, back to it. Remember, I am cooking for 2, so you may need to make more for your brood. Turn the oven on to 475. I took 3 average sized russet potatoes and cut them into strips of about 10-13 strips. Then, soak them in HOT tap water. Just fill a bowl and put them in as you cut. They have to soak for about 10 minutes. While they are soaking, line a baking pan with foil (I do this to make clean up easier. If you don't want to do this, you don't have to. Next, put 3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil (not olive for this, it ruins the taste...well overpowers the potato) onto the foil in the baking sheet. Spread it all over. Then sprinkle some salt and pepper liberally over the oil.

At this point, I move to the pork (1 pound) and slide it into a bowl and pour some bread crumbs, italian seasoning, worceshire sauce, into it. You can add whatever flavors you like, but that's what I use. Squish it together (the same as the meatloaf muffins). Your 10 minutes should be about up for the potatoes at this time; wash your hands and set the meat aside (in reverse order).

Drain the potatoes. I just put my hand over the bowl and dump the water out and shake a bit. Now add 1 Tablespoon oil to the potatoes in the bowl and shake to coat the oil evenly. Lay the potatoes in a single layer on the baking pan. Then put foil over this and put it into the oven for 5 minutes.

Start cleaning up the potato mess: bowl, oil, cutting board, knife, etc... When the 5 minutes it up, take the foil off the top and keep the pan in the oven. Continue cooking for 10 more minutes. During this 10 minutes, I took out my George Foreman. If you don't have one of those, get your frying pan ready on the stove. I used the foil that just came out of the oven to hold my burger patties. Split the meat concoction into 4 sections. Take each section and form it into a burger shape with your hands. Patting it until it is the thickness and roundness you like. Do this four times and put it aside.

Take a break from the WAY TOO HOT KITCHEN THAT YOU ARE MELTING IN!!! When the 10 minute timer goes off get the potatoes out of the oven and flip all the pieces over. They should be a nice golden brown on the side that was down. Put them back in for another 10 minutes. During this 10 minutes, put the hamburger patties into the George Foreman that is warmed up now for 5 minutes; if you are using a frying pan, put them in the pan and cook and flip halfway through.

While the burgers are on the grill, get the bread ready. What do you put on yours? Ketchup? Mustard? Mayo? Whatever you like! Once the burgers are done, take them out and slide them onto the prepared bread. Take out the potatoes and serve them up on the plate as well. Sit down and enjoy!

How does this score:
Appropriate for the weather: 1! I should never have ventured this meal in today's heat. Nope! It was WAY too hot. I was literally melting and ended up not eating much because I was too hot to eat.
Filling: 5. Not for me, I didn't eat. But my husband was definitely filled. And we had 2 burgers leftover and a serving of fries.
Healthy: 4. Using the George Foreman is a plus. Okay, I don't actually believe that it is healthier, but they say it is. I find that it's more water that is dripping out rather than fat, but I still love cooking with it. The fresh fries is what does it for me really. They have a much healthier taste!
Ease: 2. There is a lot going on all at once and you have to stay on top of it. If you can't handle multitasking, this is not a meal for you. You could do one thing at a time; but I'm like Chef Ramsey in Hell's Kitchen this way: everything should come together at the same time.