On the Menu Monday

So I watched an episode on Oprah last week about the food industry and it TOTALLY FREAKED me out. I mean, I thought about going vegan for approximately 1.3 seconds. For those of you who are vegetarian or vegan, I truly am impressed. Knowing that there is no way I can go that route, I am hoping to be a little more aware of what I am feeding my family and myself. For example, switching our "oh so yummy, super fabulous, fluffy, heavenly" Grandma Sycamore bread for whole grain bread. (remember, it needs to say whole grain as the first ingredient for it to be the "good for you" whole grain. Also, I recently tried over the weekend egg whites.....holy yummy! And only 30 calories! I have also placed a big bowl of fruit right in the center of the counter where the kids always sit to color, eat, etc. And you know what? In the middle of coloring they will stop and say, "mom can I have an orange?" Oh happy me. It's not, "can we have three oreos with milk?" So you see, simple changes will make a difference in the long run. Hence the reasoning for my On the Menu Monday recipes. Hopefully you will enjoy....

Turkey Burgers



1 lb ground turkey
1/2 c. dried bread crumbs (whole wheat)
3 Tbs minced onions
2 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp paprika
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp liquid red pepper seasoning (optional)
black pepper to taste
hamburger buns

Mix all ingredients together and pan fry or broil, 5 minutes on each side. And serve with desired toppings!

Sweet Potato Fries



Canola cooking spray
2 sweet potatoes
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Scrub the potatoes and then cut into matchstick pieces (yes, leave the skin on) Place on a aluminum foil lined cookie sheet that has been spray with the Canola. Spray the potatoes with a little bit of the cooking spray and season with the salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes then turn the heat up to 380 degrees and bake an additional 10 minutes.

(images courtesy of Google :)

Yummy St. Patrick's day snacks!

With St. Patrick's just around the corner, I searched for some fun yummy treats to whip up for your family...

Rainbow Cupcakes....recipe here!

Make these cute shamrock pretzels...just head to this post to grab the recipe.

Eclipse

Thought some of you would enjoy this...Ahhhhhhh

On the Menu Monday

Baked French Toast
(because having breakfast for dinner is fun!)



1 cup light maple syrup
1 loaf of French Bread
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 cups skim milk
1 tbls vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Coat a 3 quart oblong baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the maple syrup into the dish. Slice the French bread into eigth 2 inch slices and place over the syrup. In another bowl, beat the eggs, egg whites, skim milk, vanilla, and nutmeg until well blended. Pour the egg mixture over the bread, pressing the bread to soak up the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight (if your doing this for dinner put it in in the morning and refrigerate for 8 hours). Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

A must read

For all of you who use coupons and have been judged because of it or for those of you who are scared to use coupons or better yet people that get annoyed with people that use coupons....please read this post written by the fabulous lady over at Coupon Gal!

Things that annoy me

Sorry. I feel a slight need to vent or rather allow some insight (because I really am in a good mood), but let you know a little more about me and what drives me boonkers. Sometimes it just feels good to let it out.....ya know? so....

- Empty toilet paper rolls....still on the roll! Arrrggghhh...I mean, take the time to put a new roll on while your SITTING there. What else do you have to do?

- Words like ointment, moist, artsyfartsin, yogurt, crisp :) make me cringe. And my family feels the need to use these words as much as possible.

- Drivers that don't use their blinker....can't read your mind people!

- Texting. I just DON'T get it. In the time it takes to text a conversation among two people, you could have called them and been done a lot sooner.

- Previews before movies. Don't really know why. I either paid for or rented the movie and would just like to get to it.

- When your standing in a really long grocery line and a new line opens up and the person behind you goes for the new line. Really? It's just rude don't you think. Next in line people, next in line should go first.

- Women food hoarders. I say women because my shopping experience has only involved them. I get that it's a good deal and you want to feed your family and all, but are you seriously going to use all 50 boxes of granola bars in the next month and a half before they go on sale again? It's called Coupon Common Courtesy :)

- Blue Tooths. I get the need for them, but when your out in public and someone is walking towards you and talking and you can't see the black thing shoved in their ear, naturally you assume they are talking to you. So you try to talk back and realize they aren't talking to you and they give you this "what is your problem" look and you feel like a total idiot and want to crawl under a hole and die. Not that this has happen to me, I'm just sayin....that's what I've heard. lol

- Weird products to buy on tv or anywhere for that matter. Sorry to anyone who may have purchased these things.
bumbit
snuggie
chia pet
shake weight
aqua globes

So I'm done. Rambling about my daily "drive me nuts' "! Thanks for listening. I am curious about yours. So please leave a comment and let it be know :)