Chinese Salad

It's Summer, and it's averaging 100° every day. That's before you add in the humidity, which has been unreal this year (though Karen's got it worse, I know!).

That means most nights we've been trying to eat cooler and lighter. Like salads...LOVE salads!

My new favorite?

Chinese Salad

1 large head Napa cabbage

1 bunch green onions

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 pkgs. Top Ramen

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1/3 cup margarine

3/4 cup Canola oil

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1/2 cup white granulated sugar

(opt) 1 chicken breast grilled with salt and pepper, cooled and diced or sliced

• Chop cabbage and slice onion. Store in fridge until ready to serve.
• Crush Top Ramen, without seasoning packet, and mix with almonds, sesame seeds and melted margarine. Toast in oven on cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 350°. Store in air tight container.
• Mix Canola oil, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar together until mixed well.
• Serve salad either mixed together and coated with dressing, though serve within 1 hour of mixing or it will get soggy. Or, my favorite way to serve this salad is have each item in separate bowls and let people add the ingredients they're interested in. (I'm not a chicken on salad sort of girl, usually)

See, yummy, refreshing, cool, light, delicious Summer meal!

Yogurt Pancakes

I got this recipe from www.favfamilyrecipes.com and it is yummy! Another good way to use your homemade yogurt.

For the pancakes:
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 - 3 c. plain yogurt (or 2 c. buttermilk)
1/2 c. butter, melted
2 c. all-purpose flour

Mix all ingredients. If it seems too thick, add milk a little at a time until it reaches a good "pancake batter" consistency.

The syrup recipe is pretty much the buttermilk syrup recipe I posted earlier. Using yogurt instead makes it slightly thicker.

For the yogurt syrup:
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup butter
3 Tablespoons corn syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring first four ingredients to a boil in a large pot. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and stir constantly for 5 minutes. Add baking soda and vanilla. Remove from stove and serve over pancakes, waffles or french toast. (The syrup will be thin-- this is normal. After it cools off a bit it thickens up. Store any extra syrup in the fridge for later use.)
**The baking soda will make it boil high so make sure you use a large pot.***

Sausage Balls

There are some grocery store items I refuse to buy cheap or alternative versions of.
Top of the list is probably mayonaisse. Cheap real mayo is really gross.
Towards the middle to bottom of my list is sausage. Jimmy Dean is the best. Hands down.

Jimmy Dean Sausage Balls
Ingredients
2 (16 ounce) packages Regular Flavor or Spicy Jimmy Dean Pork Sausage
1 1/2 cups all-purpose baking mix
4 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons minced garlic (if using regular flavor)

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 F. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir well. Form into 1inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet lined with foil; bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven; cool 5 minutes before removing from pan. Serve with cocktail forks or toothpicks. We just eat them with our dinner.

May be prepared ahead and frozen uncooked. To bake from frozen: thaw on baking sheet 15 minutes; bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Variation for firmer texture:
add 3 cups baking mix and 2 cups shredded cheese to the ingredients listed above.

My Momma Says...

I learned pretty much everything I know about cooking from my Mom. Namely, how not to follow a recipe, how to be creative, and how to be willing to try new things.

Thanks Mom.

So when she called today to let me know she found the best recipe for Strawberry Freezer Jam EVER, I kind of have to take her word for it. Plus, she's going to send some home with us in September. Yummy.

So, if you come upon a decent amount of strawberries, and have the time and patience to make jam (it's totally worth it, I swear) use the recipe inside the Ball Instant Fruit Pectin package. I'm told, by Mom (you can all call her that too, she'd love it), that "it has the best fruit to sugar ratio than any of the other brands, and the frozen jam is like eating fresh strawberries."

Mmmm.

She (Mom) also says, "It's really fresh and yummy tasting. I left the strawberries in pretty big chunks. Definitely worth making and extremely easy."

Which, my friends, is why I would even consider it. I live for easy!

Here is a blog that uses this same recipe, includes delicious looking pictures that depict the entire jam making process: http://www.noveleats.com/sauce/strawberry-freezer-jam/ I don't know about the vegan sugar, but it looks really good!

Advertising Gimmicks

This is what I get for looking at the Sunday ads. I spy a great deal on nectarines and immediately decided to pull out the old electronic recipe file for this one recipe that I saw once upon a time that I needed to try, but never have, but it looked so good I made sure I kept it.

All because our local store has nectarines for 69 cents a pound.

It better be as good as it looks.

Plus the jalapenos are on sale too. And it's an hispanic market, so you know they have good jalapenos!

Nectarine Mango Salsa

½ Large Vidalia Onion
4 Nectarines, pitted and sliced
2 Mangos, peeled, pitted, and sliced
2 large tomatoes
4 limes, freshly squeezed
½ c. cilantro
2 T. sugar
½ fresh jalapeno, seeded
1 tsp. salt

Place all ingredients in a blender. Puree until your favorite consistency is achieved. Serve with tortilla chips, over grilled chicken or pork chops, or over steamed sticky rice. Store, well covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days.