Sweet and Tangy Coleslaw

I was looking for a dairy-free coleslaw and found an assortment of recipes out on the web. Ultimately, I pulled from several recipes to create this version.

Slaw Ingredients
1 head green cabbage, sliced into narrow strips
1 yellow onion, diced
1 Granny Smith apple, finely diced

Dressing Ingredients
1 cup olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
4 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon garlic powder

Directions
1. Mix the cabbage, onion, and apple to form the slaw.
2. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the slaw mixture.
4. Let marinate overnight and serve.

This coleslaw was great as a side dish or served on top of a tri-tip slider. It stored in the refrigerator for a week and was still tasty.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

For Mother's Day last year, I made a tasty lemon cake. I didn't want to make the exact same recipe again this year, so I found an alternate that was just as tasty. This recipe was adapted from this adaptation.

Ingredients
1 cup whole milk plain unsweetened yogurt
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup lemon juice (I used a Meyer lemon from our tree)
2 eggs
1 2/3 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (the no sodium kind)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour your pan. I used Baker's Joy sprayed into my new Bundt Pan.
2. Mix all the wet ingredients in a bowl.
3. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ones.
4. Stir until just combined.
5. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean.

After letting it cool and turning it out onto a cake stand, I sprinkled it with some powdered sugar to dress it up a bit. The cake was wonderfully moist and light, even on the second day. Next time, I may add some Grand Marnier for an extra citrus kick.

Free Ranging

The newest batch of chicks explored the backyard for the first time on Friday. We were out in the yard and I decided to let them out so we could monitor the introduction between the two generations. White Chicken had been chasing the chicks through the fence for a while, so given the opportunity to actually make progress, she caused some commotion. She was able to get a few pecks in before the new chicks realized they could outrun/outfly her.

Today, was the third day of letting them out of the PVC run. The California Whites are quite adventurous and are always the first two out the fence. A couple of the Golden Laced Wyandottes and one of the Buffs seem to always hang back in the pen. They appear to be more timid than the others.

Hot food on a stormy day...

That sounds like a title one would expect to read in January. But check the calendar, we are nearing the end of May and still having weather that is impersonating Winter. The high here today was 65 degrees F. It has been raining most the day (for the 3rd day in a row!). On the other side of the coin, the hot food. I had all the ingredients on hand to make Mujadara and now there is a steaming pot full of it on the stove. Garnished with a spoonful of plain yogurt, I am thoroughly enjoying my bowl.

Banana Muffins with add-ins

During March, I was on a muffin kick. I was making muffins several times a week. It started with a request for healthy cranberry orange muffins and evolved to many combinations. Many of the combinations are banana based. This was intentional because by using ripe bananas I could eliminate the added sugar. If the bananas were especially ripe, their natural sweetness was just right. Here are few of the banana based muffin combinations I have made.

Basic recipe:

2 ripe bananas (about 1 cup mashed)

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

2 tablespoons oil

1 cup baking mix

Mix all the ingredients together until moistened. There will be some lumps, this is okay. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-18 minutes. Now for the fun part.

Banana Pecan - add 1/2 to 1 cup chopped pecans (or other nut of your choice)

Banana Pecan Oatmeal - same as Banana Pecan, but with 1/2 cup old fashioned oats and some extra milk to moisten.

Banana Chocolate Chip - add 1/4 cups chocolate chips (or more if you want)

Almond Banana - add 1 cup sliced almonds. I was accused of being stingy with the nuts in my recipe, so this was to make sure my dear husband had enough nuts in his muffin. (1/2 cup would probably work too).