Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Asian Coleslaw Crack

Time for a new post cause this is a new repeat meal for our family and I need to have quick access to the recipe.   I first heard about this "addictive" meal on Facebook and was so intrigued with the comments, I had to look into it further.  Many version of it and this is mine.   The name alone is catchy and fun to share as a meal!  Plus it is full of great wintry vegetables like cabbage which we could use more of in our diet.  You can get creative with all that you add to it too.  Please note my "measurements" on the veggies are really just guesses.  Feel free to add more or less.  And for the record, my kids call this one of their favourite meals!!  Totally worth making.




Asian Coleslaw Crack



1 lb ground meat (beef, pork, chicken, turkey)
1 small onion - chopped
2 cloves garlic - pressed
1- 2 inch fresh ginger - grated
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 - 3 cups cabbage (purple & green is nice)- sliced
2 carrots - shredded
1 red pepper - thinly sliced
1 1/2 cup fresh pineapple - diced
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/4 Tamari sauce (or soy sauce)
1 Tbsp honey (or apple butter/maple syrup)
dash of hot sauce
1/4 c fresh cilantro - chopped
2 tsp sesame oil *


In a large skillet, brown the meat and crumble to liking.  Add in the onion, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper until fully cooked.  Add in the shredded cabbage, carrots, pepper, pineapple and saute until it is tender.  Finish with the rice vinegar, tamari sauce, and honey.  Add the hot sauce now or allow people to add it to their plates.  Finish with a good sprinkle of fresh cilantro and the drizzle of sesame oil.  (Just look at the different pictures with and without cilantro and one with purple cabbage too!)

The sauce is easy to tweak and adjust.  I will taste it and see what I feel it is missing....like more ginger or perhaps more sweetness.  Please feel free to adjust yours to your liking.


Serve over cooked rice of choice.  Our family preference is brown basmati rice.

Cook Notes:

Sesame Oil - I use this oil to just finish the dish once it is done cooking.  I have learned that this oil is very fragile in it's structure and cannot handle heat without becoming harmful to your body.  Good sesame oil should always be stored in the fridge to avoid it going rancid.





Sunday, February 12, 2017

Lemony Sweet-Heart Cookies

This recipe is special to me cause it is fully my own!  Using recipes as inspiration, I used my own calculations and heart that put this together  a Lemony Sweet Heart Cookie which uses maple syrup (excluding icing if you put that on).  I quite like the nutty taste and texture with spelt flour and the way it rolled out.  Of course the heart-shape is most appropriate for this week too.  Hope you enjoy it.
Lemony Sweet-Heart Cookies

1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg
1 1/2 cup whole spelt flour (or your choice of flour)
1/2  tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
zest of half a lemon (or 4 drops essential lemon oil)
1/4 tsp xanthan gum (needed for spelt flour)


In a large bowl, cream the butter with a hand-mixer.  Add
the maple syrup,  egg and  beat until light and fluffy.  Add in the soda, powder, salt vanilla and lemon zest and mix well.  Then add the flour and mix until blended.   Cover the top of the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate an hour or so.  The dough rolls better if it is slightly chilled.  

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 F.

On a clean surface, lightly sprinkle with flour to keep the dough from sticking.  Remove about 1/2 of the dough to start with.  Sprinkle the top and bottom of the dough with flour and roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch in thickness.  Using a heart-shaped cookie cutter (or a preferred shape of your choice), cut out the cookies and place on a parchment- lined cookie sheet.  Continue to reuse the dough scraps until all the dough is cut up into cookies.

Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake about 6 - 7  minutes or until the edges are just slightly golden.

This makes approx 4 dozen small heart cookies - about 2 inch in size.



If you like an icing glaze, I did this lemon glaze with 1 cup icing sugar, 2 tbsp water, a pinch of turmeric for yellow color, and a 2 drops lemon oil (or zest).  
For a natural sugar icing, you could mix honey with coconut oil (or butter I suppose).  I just don't have time to test it out right now but I will post that once I get to it.