This is Some Good Coleslaw

I made this coleslaw a while back, and we really liked it.  The original recipe comes from Chick-fil-A, and if I hadn't changed it, it would taste just like the kind you used to be able to get there.  Or so it says.  I never had it, so I can't say for sure.  I've never even been to a Chick-fil-A.  It was the dry mustard in the recipe that caught my eye.

Then things got really busy, and then we were away from home for a week and a half - and now that I sit down to type up this recipe so I don't forget (because I will be making this again), I'm hoping that I haven't already forgotten.  Mainly I'm questioning whether I cut the sugar down or not, since the original recipe says it's not too sweet - but since what I usually don't like about coleslaw is that it is too sweet, I'm pretty sure I cut the sugar in half, so I'm going with that.  If you like your coleslaw sweet, feel free to use 1/4 cup sugar; it just won't be as good - IMO.  I also shredded my own cabbage, added a carrot (or two), and some green onions. Oh, and black pepper because coleslaw always needs black pepper.

This is Some Good Coleslaw
adapted from shugary sweets

Ingredients:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 4 tsp white vinegar
• 2 T granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp dry mustard
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 4 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 or 2 carrots, shredded
• 4 green onions, sliced

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mayo, vinegar, sugar, dry mustard, salt, and pepper until smooth.
2. Add in shredded cabbage, carrot, and green onions and stir together until until completely coated. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
3. Serve and enjoy!

Spiced Squash Muffins

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is Burnt Apple.  The name of the blog makes me think of this Cinnamon Apple Dutch Baby I made for a previous SRC post - slightly darker than it should have been but still yummy.  However, on this blog, the term refers to recipe fails, where it all started.  And who hasn't had a good recipe fail?  But since that first brick muffin that went through a wall, the busy cook behind Burnt Apple has come a long way - from someone who could not cook to save her life to "master recipe manipulator", adapting favorite recipes and the fun foods kids want to eat to make them more healthy - all using regular ingredients and even possible on a strict budget.

Traci works, goes to school, has three kids to keep up with, and still somehow finds time to make some yummy (and usually healthy) food and share her recipes.  Her blog focuses on healthy, budget friendly and delicious recipes, with just enough sweet treats thrown in for good measure. (She had a bit of a deprived childhood, so there's some making up to be done.) I especially love the Burnt Apple recipe index which clearly indicates the recipes that have been adapted and offer variations for different dietary needs.

Suddenly it's October, and the weather is beginning to cool down so of course it's time for recipes that say Fall.   There are plenty of apple recipes, lots of pumpkin recipes - she's kind of obsessed with pumpkin this time of year - and she's a big fan of anything with cranberries (me, too!), so if you're looking for recipes that scream Fall, be sure to check out Burnt Apple.

Of course, there are lots of amazing sounding recipes for all the other seasons, too.  Here's my short list of recipes to try:

• KFC Healthy Fried Chicken
• 30 Minute Apple Pie Pretzels
• Cranberry Pecan Steel Cut Oats
• Coconut Pineapple Lime Ice Cream (!!!)
• Homemade Horchata
• Sausage, Eggplant, and Feta Penne

Spiced Squash Muffins
from Burnt Apple

Ingredients:

• Topping:
  * 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  * 2 T oats
  * 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  * 2 T cold butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated cane sugar
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup butternut squash puree
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Lightly grease muffin tin.  (12-15 muffins)
2. In a small bowl mix together the topping ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix together the yogurt and sugar until smooth. Stir in the eggs and butternut squash and mix until smooth; add milk.
4. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Stir into wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.
5. Pour batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 2/3 of the way full. Sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of topping over the top of each muffin.
6. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to sit for five minutes in the muffin tins before moving to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

Measure flour and the rest of the dry ingredients on top of wet ingredients,
then lightly mix them together before stirring them in.

These are the perfect muffins for Fall! (They most definitely are not bricks.)  All those spices are so perfect, and that topping is to die for.  It was hard not just nibbling that off the top of all the muffins when they came out of the oven.  I kind of overfilled my muffin tins - the recipe said 12 muffins, so I made my batter all fit - so the muffins overflowed a bit and there were bits of topping to be picked off the muffin tins once I took the muffins out of them.  It's a tough job...

I would suggest greasing the cups for 12 muffins and having another smaller muffin tin standing by and just grease the cups you may need based on the amount of batter and how it fits.  These are just a bit too full...

Store any leftover muffins in the refrigerator because they are very moist, and then just heat them up in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes (or 15-30 seconds in the microwave if you use one) to enjoy.  And since they're healthy, it's OK to have more than one!  Right?

An InLinkz Link-up

Onion Soup Mix

I like to use onion soup mix when I cook a roast, and I added it to my Slow Cooker Pepperoncini Beef for a bit of extra flavor.  When talking to a friend about that beef recipe, I mentioned that I had made my own onion soup mix, and she asked if I could share the recipe.  I had been meaning to post it so that I always have access to the recipe - I currently have it written on a piece of paper, but if the paper ever gets lost I might be in trouble.

So, it's time to share the recipe, for me and for any of my friends who might want to mix some up for themselves. 

Homemade Onion Soup Mix
from Heavenly Homemakers

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup dried, minced onion
• 3 tsp. parsley flakes
• 2 tsp. onion powder
• 2 tsp. turmeric
• 1 tsp. celery salt
• 1tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground pepper

Directions:

1. Measure all ingredients into a jar; cover and shake until well mixed.  (for best results, shake the jar before each use)
2. 4 Tablespoons Onion Soup Mix = 1 packet of  store bought onion soup mix. (adjust amount of mix to your own tastes)
3. Store in a dry, cool place.

That's it.  It's really simple and uses ingredients you probably already have in your spice cabinet.  I did have to buy the minced onion because I was out, but that's a handy ingredient to have on hand so it was time to get some of that anyway.  The original recipe listed turmeric as an optional ingredient, but I've started putting that in pretty much everything, even my morning coffee, so I consider it a necessary part of the recipe.

Lentil and Potato Salad

It's time again for Secret Recipe Club reveal!  My secret blog assignment this month is The Wimpy Vegetarian.  Susan is a mostly vegetarian (hence the 'wimpy') married to a meat-loving man.  Sounds like quite a challenge, doesn't it?  Susan has met that challenge head on, finding healthy ways to pump up the flavors of her vegetarian dishes and making things tasty and interesting enough that her husband began eating more of her vegetarian 'horse food' - alongside his meat - and even going back for seconds.

Susan and her husband are again able to enjoy meals together, and for the rest of us, The Wimpy Vegetarian is a wonderful resource for anyone who is looking to eat more vegetarian and meat free meals, with great tips and ideas on how to adjust those meals so that even the meat eaters are happy.  There were so many recipes that caught my eye, as I'm sure you'll see when you check out Susan's blog for yourself!  Here are just a few:

• Mexican Casserole with Quinoa
• Mexican Street Corn Tart
• Brown Sugar and Plum Pull-Apart Bread
• Chard and Quinoa Gratin (and this Chard and Quinoa Saute - there seems to be a theme here!)
• and because this one was a previous SRC post, I can't use it here, but I am definitely going to have to make this Mac 'n Cheese Impossible Pie.

When I saw the recipe for this salad, I just knew it was the one.  I had never thought to use lentils in a salad, though I love them in soup, so I was definitely intrigued.  I also had a potluck to prepare for and thought this would be good for that because it's a great make-ahead dish that gets better as the flavors have time to blend.

Lentil and Potato Salad
from the Wimpy Vegetarian

Ingredients:
Salad

• 1 cup lentils
• 6 medium potatoes
• 5 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
• 1 seeded jalapeno pepper, minced
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1 T dried parsley
• 2 medium tomatoes,diced

 Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook lentils according to package directions, just until tender (15-20 minutes). Drain and cool.
2. Cook potatoes until tender.  Cool and dice. 
3. Mix lentils, potatoes, onions, jalapeno, celery, and parsley in large bowl.
4. Whisk together the vinegar, oil and seasonings for the vinaigrette; toss together with salad.
5. Add diced tomatoes and toss gently.  Serve immediately or refrigerate to serve later.  Toss gently before serving as the vinaigrette tends to settle to the bottom.

Makes approximately 10 cups

Susan indicated that her recipe would serve 2 (I'm guessing as a vegetarian main dish), so I doubled everything, needing enough to take to the potluck and share.  It made a very nice sized salad, and I even had leftovers to bring home, so I was able to enjoy it with my lunch several days the rest of the week.  Yeah, it made a lot.

This salad turned out quite tasty; I really enjoyed the combination of potatoes and lentils. It is very good on its own or as an accompaniment.  Susan's recipe called for fresh parsley and rosemary, but I settled for dried since that's what I had.  I also used diced tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes, because I am getting tomatoes out of my garden now, and I wanted to use some of those.  Oh, and also used a jalapeno because I'm getting a bunch of those from the garden too.  As always, I think that's the best way to cook - use what you have on hand!

The only thing I think needed adjusted was the salt, so just taste and adjust seasonings according to your own taste.  Susan boiled her potatoes in well salted water (which I only just noticed when I sat down to post the recipe), and I baked mine in my crockpot, so I'm sure that made a bit of a difference.

An InLinkz Link-up

Blueberry Nectarine Sour Cream Popsicles

I made these popsicles a couple weeks ago when my grandson Jason was visiting.  The original recipe used just blueberries, but I had a very ripe nectarine that needed used, and I thought it would go quite well with the blueberries.  So I added it, and I doubled the sour cream and almond milk since I had added extra fruit.

I'd say they turned out pretty good.  The first thing Jason said when he tasted one was, "it tastes like ice cream!"  And they really do taste a bit like ice cream - ice cream with blueberries and chunks of nectarine mixed in.

Blueberry Nectarine Sour Cream Popsicles
adapted from marlameridith

Ingredients:

• 1 (very ripe) nectarine, diced
• 1 T sugar (more or less to taste)
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1-1/2 cups almond milk (I used Caramel, Almonds, and Cashews Nutchello)

Directions:

1. In large bowl, mix nectarine and sugar; mash slightly.  Let sit for a few minutes.  Add blueberries
2. Whisk sour cream and milk together until smooth. Add to nectarine/blueberry mix.
3. Pour into popsicle molds (I used my 2 oz. Tupperware molds) and freeze until solid.  Enjoy!

I didn't have enough popsicle molds to freeze all of the mixture at once, so I stored the mixture in the fridge and made up new popsicles whenever we ate some.  Then Jason decided he didn't really like the whole blueberries, so I added the rest of the mixture to my Ninja with a ripe banana and mixed that up really well - and we had some very purple popsicles to enjoy too.  The banana added a bit of sweetness, because I really didn't add much sugar to the original mix - just enough to draw a bit of juice from the nectarine - and let the sweetness of the Nutchello be enough.  Both options were really good.

I'm not sure why I never thought to use sour cream for popsicles before, but I am ready for some other versions now, like  maybe these Strawberry and Sour Cream Popsicles.  Mmmm, so many possibilities, and they're such a fun treat on a hot summer day.