Swiss Burgers

Easy and SURPRISE healthy too!! These are not Rachel Ray's recipe, they are my own. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground turkey
1/4 cup oatmeal uncooked
1 tsp. worstechire sauce
salt and pepper
2 TBS. Italian seasoning
1 15 oz. can chickpeas
2 TBS. olive oil
2 TBS.Garlic powder
8 slices swiss cheese
buns

Directions:
-In food processor, chop oatmeal until it resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.
-In food processor, pulse chickpeas, olive oil, and 1 TBS. of olive oil until completely smooth.
-Combine ground beef and turkey, oatmeal, chickpea mixture, all seasonings, salt, and pepper, and worstechire in a large bowl. Mix well.
-Form into patties.
-Broil until desired doneness.
-Remove from broiler and place 1 slice of cheese on each patty.
-Toast buns in stove if desired and place patties on top.

Deconstructed Lasagna

Yum, this was easy, quick and of course Delicious. Courtesy of Mrs. Rachel Ray!!

Ingredients:
Salt and pepper
1 pound long fulili
2 TBS. EVOO
1 pound ground beef sirloin
1 small carrot finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely grated or chopped
1 cup beef broth
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
A few leaves of basil, torn
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 TBS. butter
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
-Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain.
-Meanwhile, heat EVOO in a large skillet over edium heat. Add thae beef, crumbling into bits and cook until lightly browned, 3 to 4 ninutes. Add the carrot, onion, and garlic. Season ith salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are softened, 5 minutes. Stir in the beef broth, then the tomatoes and basil; simmer.
-In a small bowl, stir together the ricotta and parsley.
-Toss the pasta with the butter, then stir in the parmesan and meat sauce. Scoop the ricotta mixture into each of 4 shallow bwls, then top with the meaty pasta.

This was super easy to make. I substitted the butter used to toss the pasta with olive oil. Also, I used Smart Taste Rotini instead of fusili and added ground chickpeas and olive oil to the meat mixture.

Tilapia with Roasted Corn

Here's our recipe from this past Tuesday.

Tilapia:
Ingredients:

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. chili powder
salt
4 tilapia fillets
1 1/2 cup
1 lime cut into wedges

Directions:
-Preheat the broiler. In a small bowl, combine the mayo, chili powder, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
-Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with 1 tsp. of the mayo mixture.
-Place tilapia fillets in he baking dish and coat with the remaining mayo mixture.
-Top with the corn.
-Broil until the corn is lightly browned and the fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
-Garnish with the lime.

Chickpea Salad:
Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 cucumber, diced
2 TBS. olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
-Heat oil in large pan.
-Add all ingredients.
-Saute about 5 minutes, stirring often.
-Remove from pan and place in bowl.
-Refrigerate until ready to serve.
(Best served cold, but can be eaten warm). Also delicious on a salad!!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm taking my inspiration from THE Mrs. Rachel Ray this week. I'm a subscriber to her magazine (hell, I'm a subscriber to A LOT of magazines) and there were some DELICIOUS looking recipes this week. So, without further ado:

Monday-Lean Mean Meatloaf, Papaya salad with honey lime dressing, Mashed garlicky cauliflower

Tuesday-Tilapia with roasted corn crust, chickpea salad, baked corn fritters

Wednesday-Deconstructed Lasagna, Honey flax bread

Thursday-Swiss Burgers with Baked Zucchini Chips

Friday- Inside out Pizza rolls, Peach and Berry salad

Saturday-Fried Chicken roll-ups, Strawberry salad with honey lime dressing, salsa and whole wheat pitas

Sunday- Greek Chicken Salad and Garlic Cottage Fries

Menu Plan Monday

Okay, this is my first 'official' Menu Planning Monday. I actually do this every week, but on paper. I found this great site, Orgjunkie.com that does a link up to like a billion people who do this electronically.

I've not been feeling the greatest today, so I'm only going to post partial info for right now. Tomorrow I will have it completed and with recipe links!!

Monday- (I cheated) Takeout Pizza :(

Tuesday- Bacon, Tomato Bagel Melts (thanks Laura, these sound DELICIOUS!!), kicked up salad, and Homemade Mac n Cheese

Wednesday- Inside out tacos, spanish rice, and sister-in-law dip

Thursday- Black forest Reubens, Homemade potato chips, hummus and grapes

Friday- Pork Chop Balsamico, corn salad, hawaiian rolls, baked potatoes

Saturday- Filet mignon in wine sauce, double baked potatoes, broccoli au gratin

Sunday- Stuffed shells, homemade garlic bread, kicked up salad, white chocolate pudding

I'll post recipe links tomorrow everyone. Check back for them and more posts. I made this AWESOME cranberry bar the other night and just haven't had the energy to post the recipe on here. So that will be up as well as a few more little things. :)