Broccoli/Cauliflower/Olive Salad

Broccoli/Cauliflower/Olive Salad (Mary Jane Hall)

My husband used to get this type of salad at the Kroger deli and we really liked it. One day I decided to try and make it myself without really knowing all the ingredients. I'm not sure if I included everything that was in the deli salad, but I loved it from the first day I made it and have been making it for at least 20-25 yrs.

My Own Creation
Broccoli/Cauliflower/Olive Salad

This salad is pretty healthy, with cauliflower, broccoli, sweet onion, black olives, green olives and lots of hard boiled eggs! Sometimes I eat just this for lunch or bedtime snack because it's very satisfying.

Ingredients

*Note: reserve small amount of olive juice (both black & green olives)

3 cups Broccoli, bite size pieces

3 cups Cauliflower, bite size pieces

1 can black olives, drained

1 small jar green olives, drained

½ sweet Vidalia onion, chopped

6 hard boiled eggs

1 cup (or more) mayonnaise - Hellman's is my favorite (not salad dressing)

You will not need salt & pepper, unless you think it needs some

Mix all together, leaving the olives whole. I like to create the boiled eggs but some may like their eggs chopped. I add about a tablespoon each of olive juice. Just go by your taste, bc you may not even need it. 

Cheesy Instant Mashed Potatoes

 This will be the easiest potato dish you've ever made! I promise. And it's just as delicious as it is easy and always a big hit no matter what kind of event you take it to or what kind of meat you fix to go with it!

I have never liked instant potatoes. I know they're real potatoes, but I just never liked the way they tasted. Believe me, though, when I tell you, that when you taste these mashed potatoes, you won't be able to tell they are instant! 

One of the best things about this recipe is that you don't have to go to the bother and time it takes to peel the potatoes. Plus I like the fact I don't have to whip the potatoes with my mixer or dirty up more dishes to wash. You do everything in ONE pot! This is very quick to make! At the most 15 minutes to heat the water and mix all the ingredients in. 

Cheesy Instant Mashed Potatoes

In the 80's, there was a senior citizens group at our church, called "Super Sixties" that gathered together once a week to visit and eat. There was always entertainment and a Bible study ready for them to enjoy. Occasionally, since I was the ministers wife,  I would help the ladies in the kitchen prepare the meal. They are the ones who taught me how to make these super easy mashed potatoes. An idea, is if you're going to take this to a potluck or dinner at someone else's house, would be to make a big batch and keep it warm in the crockpot. I think this could easily be baked in a dish if you want to do it that way. If you do that though, you'll need to add more milk and butter so it won't get too dry.

Instant Cheesy Mashed Potatoes         4-6 Servings

Note: to feed a larger group of people, double or triple this recipe. If I were making it for a potluck, Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, I would triple or quadruple this and keep it warm in my crockpot.

2 cups instant potatoes
1¾ cups water
3 Tablespoons butter
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
---------------------------------------
2/3 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheese (Velveeta, Colby or cheddar). I use Velveeta.
2 Tablespoons Hellman's mayonnaise
1/3 pkt Hidden Valley Ranch dry mix  (OR makes your own with: (add to taste)
Dill weed
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Fresh or dry parsley

Directions
Cook potatoes in saucepan on top of stove, according to directions using first 5 ingredients.
After potatoes are done, add rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.  You can add more of all these ingredients if you think it needs more or to your taste.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you want a quick potato salad, use instant potatoes for that too! Just add the ingredients you normally would for a regular potato salad. My friend, Jean Parker, from Midland, Texas taught me how to do this and it's great!

Instant Potato Salad - Texas Style

(add everything to your taste)

Instant potatoes (any amount already prepared, as on the package)

Add the following to your taste:

Sweet onions, chopped

Celery, chopped

Sweet Pickles, chopped

Dill Pickles, chopped

Hard Boiled Eggs, grated (cook number of eggs you think you'll grate into the salad, plus 1 more egg to slice on top

Mayonnaise (I like Hellman's best)

Mustard, to your taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

Green Olives, sliced

If you want to give it a little more taste, add some of the dill pickle / sweet pickle juice from the jar. Not too much. You dont want your potato salad to be runny!

I always put sliced hard boiled eggs and sliced green olives on top and sprinkle with Paprika

Baked Feta Pasta - One Dish

I'd be very surprised if you haven't heard of or seen the Baked Feta Pasta dish that went viral on TikTok. It's been shared on every social media site and quickly got 3 million views! I made it & absolutely love it. But if you watch the original video you'll see that I have experimented & tweaked it to my liking. 

 I make this gluten free and its just as good as the original if you use the right GF pasta. I buy this or this GF pasta brand

Baked Feta Pasta. I add
Sun Dried Tomatoes, (not in original recipe) because cherry or grape tomatoes are not always sweet enough.

 Block Feta Cheese - I cut my tomatoes in half but you don't have to.

Feta Crumbles - Be sure to add Cream Cheese and extra virgin Olive Oil if all you can find are the crumbles

Baked Feta Pasta

I'm sure you've seen this recipe on TikTok or Instagram. The recipe originated from a lady in Finland around 2019 and quickly went viral. I was curious about it and decided to make it myself, but to my surprise, not even one grocery store in the whole Dayton area had any of the block feta. It was because EVERYONE was making this dish. I was disappointed but a lady at the grocery store told me I could use the feta crumbles, as long as I added cream cheese to the dish toward the end. Since then, I have made it 4 other times, but with the block feta.  I found it at Trader Joe's & Aldi has the best price. Really, I can't tell a big difference in using the crumbles with cream cheese verses the block feta, but the block is creamer. You can also add more olive oil.

The first 3 times I made this, I cooked the pasta separately, but one time I decided to try cooking the dry pasta in the pan with the feta & tomatoes & I'm so glad I did! It turned out great & the pasta got done in the oven with the added water to the pan. That's one less pot to wash!

I have a little bit of a different take on this recipe. Sometimes supposedly "sweet" cherry (or grape) tomatoes are not sweet at all, so my secret ingredient is sun dried tomatoes. (I add in with the cherry tomatoes). Since they're sweet, it really adds to the dish. I've been buying the dried version but for what I'm fixing today (Dec 30, 2021)  I bought the soft sun dried tomatoes in a jar with oil. I crave this dish!

Gluten Free Pasta I Buy

Ingredients - Heat oven to 400º

8 oz block Feta cheese (the block is creamer than the crumbles, but if you can't find the block, you can use the feta crumbles, adding some cream cheese & maybe milk or Half and Half to it toward the end of it being done. It's just as good & has always turned out great.

1 pint cherry or grape  tomatoes (the ones "on the vine" are sweeter!)

4 large cloves garlic, chopped or whole. (I cook this in the dish with everything but add a little more chopped fresh garlic after everything is done, if you like a lot of garlic like I do!)

½ - ¾ cup Sun Dried Tomatoes, chopped into small pieces (dry or in the jar)

Fresh mozzarella cheese or regular mozzarella (grated). Could add parmesan cheese if you like 

(Note: I'm going to use Butter cheese or Havarti next time (after everything is mixed together) because they're creamer).

8 - 12 oz dry pasta (3 cups dry - see note below). If you use 12 oz, you'll need to add more olive oil and heavy cream + pasta water.

½ cup extra Virgil olive oil (can add more after everything is mixed together)

3½ - 4 cups water (or enough to cover the pasta) If you're cooking your pasta separate, ignore this step

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh basil, chopped (if you dont have fresh, use dried but fresh is so much better

Red pepper flakes, optional (or fresh red pepper)

My other additions I haven't seen in other recipes - cut up fresh mushrooms & fresh onions & add to the tomato mixture before baking. I LOVE the addition of the mushrooms!

Note: any kind of pasta - spiral, penne, bow tie spaghetti, linguine, macaroni, etc, but I use gluten free pasta. My favorite brands below.

Directions

Place the cherry tomatoes in a 13"x 9" dish. Add chopped garlic, olive oil, pasta, salt & pepper, sun dried tomatoes, basil & water. Mix all together. You can add mozzarella if you want & red pepper flakes if you like a little heat. After everything is stirred together, place the feta cheese in the center making sure it touches the bottom of the dish. Pour olive oil on top. 

Cover with aluminum foil for the first 20 minutes so there'll be enough moisture to soften the pasta. After 20 mins take the aluminum foil off & bake 25-30 mins more. 

(Note - this time I made it (January 2024) I decided to cook the pasta separate in a different pan & I decided I'd rather do it that way.

Bake at 400º for 45-50 mins total or til the tomatoes have popped & feta cheese is brown. If you need to, put it under the broiler to toast it a little. (Note: original recipe says to cook at 400º for 30 mins, then turn it up to 450 for 10 minutes to brown the top).

You can either add the fresh chopped basil to the other ingredients or put it in the dish after everything is done. I've seen it done both ways. 

* If cooking the pasta with the feta & tomatoes in the oven, make sure the pasta is covered with water or it might turn out too dry. This happened the first time I cooked the dry pasta with the dish, so if this is your first time making it, you should probably cook the pasta on top of the stove in a separate pan.

After it's done, add more mozzarella & stir. You can add a little milk or cream if you want. After stirring, it's time to eat! I really, really love this dish! Let me know what you think of the added ingredients & if yours turned out ok cooking the dry pasta with the other ingredients.

Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping GF

The Best Sweet Potato Casserole

I've tasted a lot of sweet potato dishes, but this is my absolute favorite to have with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Some are way too sweet and this one has just the right amount of sweetness. I experimented till I came up with the perfect blend of ingredients. It's a must with a turkey or ham dinner!
Even though this is good with orange sweet potatoes, I prefer the oriental sweet potatoes that are white on the inside.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3-4 large sweet potatoes

1 small can crushed pineapple, drained (sometimes I use only ½ the can)

½ cup sugar (or less)

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2-3 Tb butter

¼ cup cream or milk

Topping

1 cup coconut

1 cup pecans, chopped

¼-½ cup butter 

You can add a little sugar & flour if you like, but I make this gluten free (without wheat flour) and its just as good as the original. I get asked to make this all the time! Not only for Thanksgiving and Christmas but throughout the year as well. I don't think I've ever seen another recipe with pineapple, but believe me, it's one of the ingredients that makes this dish so special!

Favorite Broccoli Casserole

My family always requests that I make this Broccoli casserole for Thanksgiving or Christmas. A friend, Mary Osborne, gave me the recipe in the 80's and I've been fixing it for years. I always double this for a larger group and there is NEVER any left!

Broccoli Casserole 

Preheat oven to 350º 

Serves 6-8

2 -10 oz boxes frozen broccoli or 1 bunch fresh broccoli, steamed 

2 sticks butter (1 cup)

1 lb ORIGINAL Velveeta cheese, in small cubed (16 oz, which is ½ large box)

2 rolls Ritz or Town House crackers, crushed. You'll be putting half the cracker crumbs on the bottom of the casserole, as well as on top. I like Town House best!

 Thaw broccoli at room temperature or in the microwave (but do not cook!) and squeeze out the water. Melt 1 stick butter in soup pot on LOW heat. Add cubed cheese. After adding cheese keep it on very low heat and keep stirring, because if you don't, the cheese will burn on the bottom & the whole dish will be ruined. (even on on low heat).  

After cheese is melted add thawed broccoli (with water squeezed out). OR add fresh steamed broccoli if you're using that.  Stir to coat the broccoli with the cheese mixture. Remove from heat. Melt the other stick of butter and add to the crushed crackers. Stir to coat crackers. Spread half the crumbs on the bottom of a 13"x9" oven safe dish that is been sprayed with oil. Pour the broccoli/cheese mixture on top of the cracker crumbs and spread it all over. Then spread other half of cracker crumbs on top of the broccoli. 

Bake for 15 minutes at 350º. This is easy to cook too long, especially if you're using a glass pan. But you want to make sure it's heated all the way through. There have been times I didn't let the frozen broccoli thaw enough and it was still cold when I mixed it with the cheese. 

You can thaw the broccoli in the microwave for a couple of minutes, but you just dont want to cook it, because to me, there's nothing worse than overcooked broccoli! On the other hand, if you're using fresh broccoli, you don't want to mix it in the cheese raw, or it won't be done after baking in the oven. That's why I steam it first. When in the oven you're basically just heating it and toasting the crackers.

I hope you enjoy this! Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Sweet Potato Coconut Casserole - Gluten Free

Gluten Free Sweet Potato 
Coconut Casserole 

Many years ago (in the 1980's) I wanted to find a special sweet potato casserole, because I never was crazy about the candied sweet potatoes my mom fixed with toasted marshmallows on top. (Sorry mama, up in Heaven!) I don't know why I didn't like that. Maybe it's because they were canned? So I set out for a search in my collection of cookbooks. Please understand, this was before the internet and before Pinterest where you can go to find any recipes you want in a matter of seconds!

I found 3 recipes that sounded good, but I did what I usually do and took ingredients that appealed to me from all 3 recipes and came up with my own. It was the most decedent, delicious sweet potato casserole and I called it  "Sweet Potato Pie Casserole". It was absolutely deliscious and everyone lovel it, but there was one problem. It was more like a dessert than a side dish! So most people wanted it as their dessert. (Even me)

Then my youngest son, Tracy, grew up and married the sweetest  daughter in law, Ashley, who's from the south too. She's from Nashville, where my family roots go back 6 generations.  One year she brought her own sweet potato casserole to our family holiday dinner in Ohio and we love it. I did tweak her recipe a little by cutting way down on the sugar and also added a small can of crushed pineapple. This ingredient would be optional, but believe me it adds a little bit of sweetness which is great, considering I cut down on the sugar.

You CAN use the canned sweet potatoes, but I sure don't recommend that, because it's much better with the fresh ones. My family is crazy about this dish, but I noticed they didn't really want the leftovers when I used the canned. They usually fight over who gets the last of it! I didn't eat the leftovers either when I used the canned potatoes & actually threw it in the trash! That's very unusual for me because I am such a frugal person & almost never throw any food out! The secret to a good sweet potato casserole is the fresh ones. You can peel and cook them in water, bake them, or even cook them in the microwave. 

UPDATE: (November 24, 2o23)

   ***I didn't mention before that I always dreaded making this recipe because even though, it's super quick mixing everything together in like 5 minutes, I hated trying to peel and cut up the HARD sweet potatoes before cooking them! That took me forever, but this time I decided to cook the sweet potatoes (after pricking them whole) in the microwave first. And WOW, what a difference that made! I didn't even peel them first but after they were tender, I took them out of the microwave, cut them in squares, then after cooling,  just peeled the skin right off with my fingers! I'll never do this any other way again! I might try peeling then with a potato peeler first next time before putting them in the microwave. I can't tell you what a difference cooking them in the microwave made! Now I'll probably make it more often (keep reading) ***

This recipe is special because of the coconut and crushed pineapple. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that it's gluten free because I left out the flour that was in the original topping ingredients. I didn't miss it at all! But if you want to, you can putt a little regular flour (or GF flour) as part of the topping.
I hope you try it! If you do, please let me know what you think.

Sweet Potato Casserole
with Coconut

Main Ingredients:
3 lg sweet potatoes 

(cooked and mashed) OR 1 lg can sweet potatoes (about 4-5 cups mashed) Fresh sweet potatoes make this taste SO much better. It's worth the extra work. (Read my comments between the ***'s!)

½ cup milk or cream
½ cup melted butter
½ cup sugar
1 cup coconut
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained (this is not in Ashley's original recipe, but I put it in because I saw it in a recipe on TV and it is delicious-a touch of sweet since there's not a ton of sugar in the potatoes.

Topping
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup chopped pecans
Dash of salt

Mix all of  the main ingredients together with a mixer and put in a casserole dish.
Then mix topping ingredients and spread over the top.
Bake in 350º oven for 30 minutes.

Curried Rice

Curried Rice

This is a side dish I like to fix when I make Coconut Chicken, but I also make it with many other main dishes. Curry goes with so many things and it is eaten in many cuisines such as Thai, Chinese, Indian and African dishes. I learned to love curry chicken when I was a little girl in the Philippines where my parents were missionaries. In fact, I have the  recipe for Chicken, Curry and Rice my mom fixed HERE.

Curried Rice

Ingredients
1 cup white rice (or brown)
6 Tb butter (or coconut oil)
1 cup onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1-2 tsp yellow curry powder (I like it best with 2 tsps)
1 cup water
1 cup coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional- golden raisins, ¼ cup sweet coconut flakes
Note: if you don't have coconut milk you can use 2 cups chicken broth or 2 cups water, instead of 1 cup coconut milk and 1 cup water, as in the recipe. I like the taste of the coconut milk, but have used all chicken broth many times. It kind of depends what main dish you're fixing with it.

Instructions
Saute onions and celery in butter (or coconut oil) in large frying pan or large sauce pan (this makes about 6 cups rice when it's finished so make sure your pan is large enough).
Cook onions and celery till onions are translucent. Add rice and curry powder to the onion mixture and stir all together for about 2 minutes to coat rice. Add water and coconut milk. When it boils, cover pan and reduce heat to low.  Simmer until rice is tender and rice is absorbed, about 18-20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, and coconut if desired.
Note: If using brown rice, you'll need to cook it longer than that and probably add more liquid.

I hope you enjoy this!

This Curried Rice goes
 great with Coconut Chicken.
The recipe I use is
HERE

Creamed Spinach Bake

I love, love, love this recipe and hope you will too! I've combined 2 recipes that I have used for 40 yrs and like this version best. Everyone asks me for the recipe! . Enjoy!

Creamed Spinach Bake
The Best Recipe!

Ingredients

• 3 - 10 oz. packages frozen spinach (thawed and drained) To make it easier, you can use canned spinach, but I think it's much better with the frozen spinach.
• 
  
• 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
• 
  
• 8 oz sour cream
• 
  
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 
  
• ½ packet/envelope Lipton Onion Soup (dry-comes in a box)
• 
  
• 6 oz can Durkee French Fried onions, divided in half
• 
  
• 1cup slivered almonds 
• (Note: you can use the almonds raw (which I've done many times) but if you like a little crunch you can toast them. Also, in my opinion they taste better when they are toasted. You can either put them in the oven or on top of the stove to toast, but I do the easy thing and toast them in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Stir them after 1 minute. If they're not toasted enough, then put them in for another minute  till they are starting to get darker. You can even taste one to see if they are crunchy enough). If you're in a hurry, don't worry about toasting them. This is great either way! Most of the time I don't toast them.
• 
  

• 
  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Thaw and drain spinach (drain the spinach really well- squeeze out any extra liquid by draining spinach in a colander and pressing out as much liquid as possible.)
3. Mix together spinach, cream cheese, sour cream, mushroom soup, Lipton Onion Soup, ½ the almonds and ½ of the French's onions.
4. Pour into greased casserole dish.
5. Add remaining French onions and almonds to top.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until heated through (make sure not to let onions brown too much.)

Veg - All Casserole

Veg All Casserole

Given to me years ago by my southern friend from Athens, Georgia -  Diane Moore
One of my favorite recipes!

I fix this for Thanksgiving and Christmas

Combine first 7 ingredients and put in greased 2 qt. casserole dish.

1. 1 (1 lb) canned whole corn, drained
2. 2 (1 lb) cans Veg-all, drained
3. 1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
4. 1/2 small onion, chopped
5. 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
6. 3/4 cup of Hellmann's mayonnaise
7. 3/4 cup of sour cream
8. 1 package Town House or Ritz crackers, crushed (Town House are more buttery!)
9. 1 stick melted butter

Mix all ingredients except crackers and butter and place in greased casserole dish. Spread crushed crackers mixed with 1 stick melted butter and pour over vegetable mixture. Bake at 350 until it bubbles.(20 - 25 minutes) I love this recipe! I think the original one my friend gave me did not have sour cream, but my mom added it and we like it that way.

You can substitute french fried onions for the crackers but I like the crackers best

Mary Jane's Green Beans

Mary Jane's Green Beans 

(tastes fresh from the can)

1. 1 huge can green beans - (The $2.89 size in the bulk section of your grocery store) OR 6 or 7 - 15½ oz size cans
2. 3 teaspoons brown sugar
3. 3 teaspoons Jamison's Soup Base (should be w/ the chicken bullion in the grocery store)
4. 1 medium onion, peeled
5. ¼ - ½ cup liquid shortening (like Wesson, Crisco, Olive Oil or Canola)

Drain about ½ of the water from each can. Put beans (and rest of liquid) in big pot. Pour enough water in beans to come about 2 inches below top of beans. Never cover beans with water. This is very important. Add about 3 teaspoons brown sugar, 3 teaspoons L.B. Jamison's Beef Flavored Soup Base, and ¼ - ½ cup liquid shortening. Then put 1 whole onion (peeled) in middle of beans. For a big pot, I would use a medium size onion. Cook beans at about medium high (uncovered) for about 1 hour, or until all liquid is gone. (This is very important. This is what gives the beans a lot of flavor) Stir beans only a couple of times the whole time they are cooking. This is important too. You may need to turn the heat down to medium toward the end.
You also might need a little more brown sugar and soup base for this many beans. If you don't have Jamison's soup base, try beef bullion, but I think it tastes better with the soup base.
Making the beans this way, makes them taste fresh and they always get eaten up when I cook them for dinners or a carry-in! I get lots of requests for this recipe. My mother in law taught me how to do this over the years.

Recipe by Mary Jane Hall

Creamy Corn Casserole - Recipe

Without the green chilies (see other version below)

The corn casserole I'm posting is probably one you may have been making for years, but the other day a friend of mine asked for the recipe. I was surprised because I thought everyone in the world had this recipe. She had never made it, so I thought I'd post it just in case someone else out there doesn't have the recipe. It is one of the easiest things to fix if you are in a hurry, and all you do is pour the ingredients into a bowl. You can make it like the original recipe says, but sometimes I'll add green chilies or a little chopped green pepper and sweet onions, to make it more like a Mexican dish. Cheese on top goes great with this version. (see photo below)  This corn casserole goes well with any kind of food, and is great for company or a carry-in dinner. I usually double it for something like that.

  

Creamy Corn Casserole

Corn with green chiles or green pepper

Ingredients
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1 (8 oz) package Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, UNdrained
1 (14.75 ounce) can creamed corn
1 cup sour cream
Optional : shredded cheddar cheese for top
If you like green chili's (they're not hot) they go very good in this casserole if you want a change

Directions
Preheat oven to 350º F (175º C), and lightly grease a 9"x9" baking dish.
In a medium bowl, combine butter, eggs, corn bread mix, whole and creamed corn and sour cream. Spoon mixture into prepared dish.
Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the top is golden brown.

Recipe - Crunchy Asian Salad

I love this salad and hope you will too! Some people call it Chinese Cole Slaw, but I renamed it since I added some of my own ingredients I haven't seen in other salads that are similar. You could even add some peanut butter to the dressing to have more of a Thai taste. (which I love also!) This is delicious and one of my favorite recipes! When I take it to family gatherings or carry-in dinners, people go crazy over it.
Suggestion: to make this a dinner salad, add grilled chicken. Kroger has frozen grilled chicken slices that are great!

Crunchy Asian Salad

2 packages Cole Slaw mix (or 1 head cabbage, chopped in bit size pieces)
½ cup butter
½ cup slivered almonds (sliced are ok, but slivered are best for this and more crunchy)
1/2 cup sesame seeds (found in Asian section of the store-but also in bags where the health food section is)
4 packages Ramon Noodles-add this last so they won't get soggy (flavor packet discarded) - Doesn't matter what flavor
6-8 sliced green onion
Edamine Peas (you can buy them fresh or frozen)
Optional: Water chestnuts, sliced

Fry slivered almonds and sesame seeds in butter until toasted. In the meantime, put cabbage or sole slaw mix in very large bowl. Do not put Ramon Noodles in yet or they'll get soggy. They're supposed to be crunchy. Mix up the dressing (below) and chill it. Right before serving, add the dressing, and almond-sesame seed mixture to cabbage mixture. Break up the Ramon noodles and add to salad. You could even add chopped Romaine lettuce to this to make it go farther. If you like Thai food, add peanuts to the salad and peanut butter to the dressing.

Ingredients for Dressing:
½ cup sesame oil (toasted is a must!)
½ cup avocado oil or Coconut oil
½ cup red wine vinegar
½ cup sugar
1 Tablespoon soy sauce

Mix and chill the dressing, and toss with cabbage mixture right before serving

Green Rice Recipe

The recipe is a good way to get your kids to eat spinach. It's delicious, and there aren't many things that cheese can't hide :) It's a good recipe to fix for a pot luck or carry in dinner. If you have one of those casserole dishes that has the heating pack to put in the microwave (to keep the food warm) this is a good recipe for that. My sister, Judy Drewett, from Tx. gave me this recipe years ago.

Note: make sure your rice is not overcooked because it will cook more in the oven.

Green Rice
Recipe from the Gift Horse restaurant in Foley, Alabama

Green Rice Casserole

1 - 10 oz pkg frozen spinach, thawed 
2 cans cream of mushroom soup

(To make this casserole gluten free, use GF soup)
2/3 cup salad oil
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups cooked rice
1 - 5 oz (small) can evaporated milk
1½ cups grated cheddar cheese
2 small cans mushrooms, drained (Note: would be even better if they were fresh and sauteed in butter)
1 large onion, chopped

 (about ¾ - 1 cup)

¼ - ½ more cheese to

sprinkle on top

Put thawed spinach in a colander and press on it to drain & make sure all liquid is gone.

Mix spinach and both cans of the mushroom soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Combine oil and eggs and add to cooked rice, along with spinach mixture. Then add remaining ingredients (milk, cheese, mushrooms and onion) Turn into greased shallow baking dish and sprinkle more cheese on top. Bake at 350º  for 1 hour. If doubled, this will have to cook longer. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!