Mom on the Make

Finding fun amidst the chaos of Motherhood

Need More Veggies?

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I was feeling like my body needed more veggies, so I pulled up one of my favorite veggie dishes as featured a few months ago on my blog: Spicy and Sweet Cabbage Salad.

This really is a good one if you need to incorporate more veggies into your menu plan.

The recipe calls for a homemade dressing of orange juice, lemon juice, curry powder and sea salt.  Its really easy to whip up, but today I did not have the orange juice, so I decided to use my Cilantro dressing from Trader Joe’s.

So, the point is, you can really dress this salad with any of your favorite dressings, and it will be equally as delicious.

In the photo below, I tried to highlight the delicious veggies with my new camera.  I’m trying to become more proficient with the aperture settings.  Still have some work to do. :0

Now, go eat your veggies and have a Fantastic weekend!

Cabbage salad

 

Cabbage salad 2

Spicy and Sweet Cabbage Salad

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Cabbage Salad

Spicy and Sweet Cabbage Salad

This is a yummy and very healthy salad that I’m so excited to share with you all.

I’ve always known that there are countless health benefits to red cabbage, but was never quite sure how to incorporate it into my diet.

Well, I’ve finally figured out how to do it.

With this salad.

With carrots, cucumbers and a special sweet dressing that is very easy to make, the flavor combination helps to subdue the sometimes harsh taste of cabbage.

Mountain Man and I found ourselves making this salad again, after we finished the first bowl.

Here are the steps:

Cabbage Salad Ingredients

Ingredients include red cabbage, carrot, cucumber, orange juice, pumpkin seeds (I actually used a mixture of pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and soy nuts), sea salt and cumin.

Cabbage salad veggies

Chop the cucumber, carrot and cabbage

Dressing for Cabbage Salad

Mix orange juice, lemon juice, cumin and sea salt

Cabbage salad

Pour dressing into chopped veggies

Cabbage Salad

Add pumpkin seeds to tossed salad

Delicious Sweet and Spicy Cabbage Salad

Delicious Sweet and Spicy Cabbage Salad

I found this recipe from Beautiful on Raw and am so thankful.  I followed the recipe with only two changes: I did not add cilantro and I used a nut mixture of soy nuts, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds instead of solely pumpkin seeds.

SPICY and SWEET CABBAGE SALAD

Ingredients

Salad

1 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup carrots, thinly sliced
1 cup cucumbers, thinly sliced
¼ cup pumpkin seeds, soaked and dried
¼ cup (tightly packed) cilantro, leaves only

Dressing

2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 ½ Tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
¼ tsp. Celtic sea salt, or to taste
¼ tsp. ground cumin
small pinch cayenne pepper

Instructions
  • Combine the first five ingredients in a bowl and gently toss until mixed. Place the remaining five ingredients in a small bottle and shake well. Pour over the vegetables and serve.

The Perfect Macaroni Salad

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Perfect Macaroni Salad

Perfect Macaroni Salad

July 4th was looming and I had not found a macaroni salad recipe that I was excited about yet.  I had found a few that I was considering, but nothing that I knew would be a slam dunk.  Then, I ran into a recipe on The Pioneer Woman blog that sounded exactly like what I was looking for to complement our picnic.

I made the salad, with a few changes to the ingredients and measurements, and we ALL loved it.

The best part about this salad is that it is light.  There is not a lot of goopy mayonnaise and grease surrounding the fresh pasta and veggies.  The sauce is just the right amount to lend a great taste with no grease.

 

Steps to the Perfect Macaroni Salad

Macaroni Salad Ingredients

Perfect Macaroni Salad Ingredients

The pieces to the perfect macaroni salad puzzle:  red peppers, olives, spring onions, mayonnaise, relish, elbow macaroni, salt, pepper, pickle juice, distilled white vinegar, and sugar.

Perfect Macaroni Salad Pasta Cooking

Perfect Macaroni Salad Pasta Cooking

Boil the elbow macaroni until it is at a perfect softness.  I go past the al dente stage.  I like it to be softer.  After finished, strain the noodles and run cold water over it, and set aside.

Perfect Macaroni Salad Sauce

Add 1/2 mayonnaise, 1T white vinegar, 3t sugar, 1/4t salt and pepper and stir

To make the sauce pourable, we will add milk next.

Perfect Macaroni Salad

Add 1/4 cup milk or more to make it pourable.

Perfect Macaroni Salad

Add a splash of pickle juice to the sauce for a little kick-YUM!

Now, time to mix the noodles and sauce together…..

Perfect Macaroni Salad

Add the sauce to the noodles and stir well.

Perfect Macaroni Salad Chopped Veggies

Chop two red peppers and 4 green onions

Perfect Macaroni Salad Add Veggies

Add the chopped red pepper and spring onions to the noodle and sauce mix.

My family LOVES olives, so we added an 8 ounce can of sliced black olives as well as relish for a kick.

Perfect Macaroni Salad Add Olives

Add 8 oz can of sliced black olives and stir. We also added in 4 tablespoons of relish.

Perfect Macaroni Salad All ready for the Picnic

The Perfect Macaroni Salad All Ready for our Picnic!

Here’s the recipe with all of my alterations today…..

8 cups elbow macaroni

2 Freshly Chopped Red Peppers

8 oz of sliced black olives

4 Chopped Green Onions

4T Relish

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1T distilled white vinegar

2T pickle juice – adjust to your taste

3t sugar

1/4t salt

Black Pepper – as much as you like

Boil the Macaroni until soft, then strain and run under cold water.  Set aside.

Mix mayonnaise, distilled white vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and milk to create sauce.  Pour sauce into noodles and stir well.

Chop the red peppers and spring onions, then add to the noodle and sauce mixture.  Add can of olives and stir well.

At this point, you can do a taste test and decide if you would like to add more relish or pickle juice.

SO, SO YUMMY!!!  Enjoy!

Follow the instructions above and you will be all set with the perfect macaroni salad for ANY occasion.  So light and refreshing. Absolutely Delish!!

 

Delicious Broccoli Salad

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Delicious Broccoli Salad

Delicious Broccoli Salad

The following are the reactions I envision when a group of people are asked the following questions:

Who Loves Feta Cheese?  YAY!!!

Who Loves Candied Walnuts?  YIPPEE!

Who Loves Creamy Greek Salad Dressing?  Yum!

Who Loves Broccoli?  No response except low grumbles from the audience.

We all know how incredible broccoli is for us, and we all know that our bodies would love it if we consumed more of this vitamin packed veggie.  However, the taste and the smell are very hard to take for most people.  The good news is that there are many ways to make this veggie super delicious and something you look forward to eating at least a few times a week.

The first three ingredients mentioned above are all included in this salad, and you can add a few more as you see fit.  With the base of these ingredients, you will be set for a delicious salad.

Simple Recipe

Broccoli

Feta Cheese

Candied Walnuts (I buy mine from Trader Joe’s)

Greek Goddess Dressing (Trader Joe’s)

Just throw these ingredients together in a bowl and toss until mixed evenly.  When I first started making this salad about a year ago, I always used a sweet poppyseed dressing, which also works very well.  I felt more like a savory taste today, so I used the Greek Goddess dressing, and it was fabulous.  

You can also toss in some craisins for a sweet touch.  

Every time I make this salad, I wonder why I’m not tossing this together more often.  Try it.  I think you’ll like it a lot.

 

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