French Toast & Lighter Bean Salad

Okay, obviously we did not have the French Toast and Lighter Bean Salad together!  That would be gross.  We made french toast for breakfast and used "real" french bread...so much better than making french toast with sandwich bread.  I topped mine with blueberries and sugar-free syrup.  

Yesterday, I made a lighter version of my grandma's bean salad.  This is one of those things that you make a day ahead so all the flavors blend and settle.  I basically only changed three things from her recipe.  First, I went from 1 cup of oil to 1/2 cup.  Second I went from 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar to 3/4 cup.  Lastly, I traded out 1 1/2 cups sugar for 1 cup of Splenda...I'm sure my grandma is rolling over in her grave over this one.  It did of course turn out a little differently, but the lighter version is still quite delicious.  Best part, one recipe makes about 8 1/2 cups, so it can be snacked on throughout the week.

Lighter Bean Salad:

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 small jar of pimentos 

1 can shoepeg corn

1 can french style green beans

1 can Le Seur young peas 

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 cup olive oil (original = 1 cup canola oil)

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar (original = 1/2 cup)

1 cup Splenda (original = 1 1/2 cups sugar)

Drain corn, green beans, and peas.  Combine in a bowl with green bell pepper, celery, and pimentos.  Bring the latter five ingredients to a boil; let cool.  Combine with everything else in the bowl.  Refrigerate.  Enjoy.

In other news, the kitchen cabinet doors and drawers all have knobs and pulls, respectively.  Until today, only the top cabinets had pulls.  (The top cabinets are the originals, so they already had the holes for hardware.  I had to measure, mark, and drill holes for the bottom cabinets.)  It was one of those things where I'm glad we have a smaller kitchen.  Same will be true when I get around to the back splash.  Did some other random organizing.  Saturdays are so much fun around here...