A Fresh Lettuce Mix

Celebrate The First Official Day of Summer! . . . Make A Lettuce Mix!

Keep it in your spinner container in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh at least 5 days, ready for your additions for all sorts of healthy salads.

Chop or slice the Romaine into your salad spinner. Wash and spin it dry, then add the remaining sliced or chopped vegetables:

2 Romaine hearts

purple cabbage

green cabbage

1 carrot

1/2 lg. purple onion

Serve this as is, for a simple green salad, or add whatever you'd like to make it a side salad, or a whole meal. Shown here with leftover taco type beef, corn and beans. I also added 1/2 an avocado and a drizzle of mayonaise-sour cream-Greek yogurt dressing with pepper, garlic salt and dill. 

It's salad season!

Make a lettuce mix, then be creative! . .Lin

Healing Vegetable Comfort Soup

Sauté the first group of chopped vegetables in a couple tablespoons of EVOO:

2 big carrots
1/2 lg. green pepper
1/2 head of green cabbage

1 qt. chicken bone broth

6 med. tomatoes or 28oz. can diced tomatoes

9 big cloves of garlic

1t salt free seasoning blend

1/2t black and cayenne pepper

1 dark green Romaine

1 drained can of corn

zest of a whole lemon

2-3T lemon juice

Let the first vegetables cook on low-medium heat a little while. Once they start to sizzle, stir in a little of the bone broth. Cover and simmer 10 minutes or so.

Today I used frozen tomatoes. As they thawed, they peeled and chopped easily at the popsicle stage.

Add the tomatoes, chopped garlic and seasonings. Stir in a couple tablespoons of chicken Better Than Bouillon, then simmer another 15 minutes. 

Slice then chop the Romaine. Add that and the corn, stir and bring back to a simmer. Cover, turn off the heat and just leave it on the burner 15 minutes before serving up nice steamy bowls, with some crusty garlic bread. 

This went together quickly and is a great comfort soup.

After a day or so, if you tire of the chunkiness, you could blend it. This almost turns it into a whole different soup! . .Lin

Cooking For Oliver 🐶

My Sweet Boy, Oliver, has some shoulder joint arthritis that causes him pain. Our Vet put him on prescription dry food that's supposed to help with that. I didn't notice much, if any, improvement. So, at over $6.00 a pound. . .I switched him back.

I've cooked for my dogs in the past and it seems it might be a good idea to try that again. Even if it doesn't help with his limping, it'll be a great healthy way to supplement his dry food. He gets a cup of dry food in the morning. In the evening I'll give him 3/4c to 1c of this mixed with a little bit of the dry. This recipe today breaks down to $1.40 a pound.

The 4 quart pot I used was too small, so, in a 5 quart pot, lightly sauté the rice, olive oil and the meat until the meat starts to brown and the rice is snapping.

1# ground meat - turkey, beef or chicken

1/3c single source extra virgin olive oil

2c brown rice

Add 4c of fresh cold water and simmer, covered, 15 minutes before adding the following vegetables to the pot.

8oz. frozen California Blend vegetables

- - well chopped

8oz. frozen peas

8oz. green cabbage

1 chopped sweet potato

2 additional cups of water

Simmer this another 5 minutes then stir in 1 finely chopped Romaine lettuce. Cover the pot and turn off the heat. 

You can put this in portion-size small bags and freeze until needed. Thaw on the counter an hour before feeding time. Add the dry food and a little hot water. Stir then stand back and watch them gobble it up. . .Lin

A Simple Basic Coleslaw

1/2 lg. head of green cabbage

1/2 lg. Vidalia onion
1/4 red bell pepper
2 celery heart ribs 
1 big carrot

2T white vinegar
garlic pepper seasoning
Brianna Poppy Seed Dressing

I love coleslaw and I make it a lot, with only a couple variations.

Slice-chop all the vegetables into a medium-large glass bowl. Add the vinegar, seasoning and dressing. Stir to coat everything.

Let the flavors combine for an hour or so before serving.

This is great to offset overly rich foods. . .Lin

Cabbage Vegetable Medley

1/2 sm. head of green cabbage
2 stalks celery
2 big cloves garlic
2 mini peppers, red and orange
EVOO

Chop-slice everything the way you like into a big non-stick pan. Add EVOO, season with Rosemary Seasoning, cover and sauté over low heat until everything's sizzling. Uncover, stir until the vegetables are. cooked the way you like them. Add some chopped walnuts, or almonds if you like, or serve just as is, as a side dish for chicken or fish. . .Lin

Last Minute Coleslaw

I actually bought this to use in homemade, cooked dog food! 😁

Then my Granddaughter texted to let me know they were doing a spontaneous family cookout. I absolutely had to be there since she'll be having their second child very soon. I so wanted to her and her family and her husband's sweet extended family again. I had healthy frozen chicken sausages to bring, plus. . .some of those mini-crab cakes. . .This took about 5 minutes, and I was off and on the road! Normally, given more time, I would have made it from scratch with whole shredded vegetables, but this is actually an excellent quick option. NO preservatives and very well pre-washed. It's just green cabbage, purple cabbage (yes it's purple, not 'red'!) and carrot. The only thing I had to do was pull out some big thick pieces that the slicer missed.

3/4 or all of a 2# bag of a healthy coleslaw mix

1-2 finely sliced green onions 

fresh ground black pepper

your favorite Poppy Seed Dressing

2T of raspberry white Balsamic vinegar

Mix it well, in a medium to large glass bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and...OFF...YOU...GO... !

Within an hour it'll be great. Toss it and serve with baked beans, potato salad and great things from the grill. . .Lin

Purple Orange and Green Coleslaw

2 stalks celery + tops

6 green onions

1 big carrot

¾t black pepper

⅓t cayenne pepper

2t white balsamic vinegar

⅓ med. purple cabbage

½ lg. green cabbage

⅓c poppy seed dressing

1t-1T more w.b. vinegar

a splash of water

Ohhh, I love coleslaw!! It's something I crave, regularly. I keep saying someday, I'll try making the kind my mom made, with green cabbage, crushed pineapple and mayonnaise (onion? sugar? carrot? celery? salt and pepper?) I don't have her recipe, but hey. . .I've been known to wing it a time or two! 😉 Yet every time the craving hits, I go back to the basic one I created years ago, with slight variations, of course.

Coleslaw with Tuna Steak and Chipotle Ranch Sauce 

Today I sliced, chopped, and shredded the first ingredients into a big bowl. Seasoned it, then sprinkled it with white balsamic vinegar.  Heinz Salad Vinegar is another favorite of mine if you don't have White Balsamic. Toss this, then let it stand while you slice the cabbage VERY thin. Mix everything together, in an extra large bowl. Check your poppy seed dressing, most are pretty thick. If so, thin it out with more vinegar and a splash of water. Pour this over everything combined in the big bowl. Don't over-dress - it should just barely coat everything. Mix and chill, or just let it stand at room temperature for an hour, before serving.

Toss well before serving.  This goes great with just about everything! . . .Lin

Green and Purple Coleslaw

1 med. green cabbage

½ med. purple cabbage

3 green onions

1 lg. carrot

3 1" cubes of dried papaya

salt and pepper

poppyseed dressing

Heinz Salad Vinegar

Finely slice the cabbage, and onions into a glass bowl.
Using a potato peeler type vegetable shredder, shred the carrot.  Add the chopped papaya, seasonings and a little of the dressing and vinegar.  Toss, cover and chill for a couple hours before serving. . .Lin

Smokey Cabbage Soup

2 big carrots

4 stalks celery

1 med. head green cabbage

2T butter

4c water

smokey salt and pepper

1½ c slice-chopped colorful peppers

1½ c sliced leeks
chopped celery tops

2T Better Than Bullion - vegetable

Chop or slice the first 3 ingredients into a 4-5 quart pot with the butter.  Saute' a few minutes then add water a little at a time.  I used Lapsang Souchong tea instead of water this time!  This is a smokey black tea that I really love and felt it would add another dimension of flavor.  It did!

Add seasonings, the peppers, leeks and soup base.  Simmer about 20 minutes when all the ingredients are in the pot.  Serve with crusty bread or croutons. . .Lin

Quick Savory Rosemary Cabbage

½ med. head of green cabbage

1½ lg. carrot - give the rest to your dog 🐶

3 cloves of garlic

1-2T solid coconut oil

½c water, coconut water or chicken broth

a sprinkle of Rosemary Seasoning *

½c roasted-salted pumpkin seeds

fresh grated parmesan cheese

Cut the cabbage into small cubes, mince the garlic and finely chop or shred the carrot, into a large non-stick pan.  Add the remaining ingredients in this group.  Heat and stir until the coconut oil dissolves.  When lightly simmering, cover and cook 5 minutes.  Uncover, stir in the pumpkin seeds and let liquid evaporate over low-medium heat for 5-10 minutes.  Serve with a sprinkle of fresh shredded parmesan cheese.

Cooked cabbage has long had a negative, ethnic connotation.  Largely for the lingering odor it leaves in your home - who wants that?

Before starting this, light a scented candle in your kitchen and realize you're doing your body a huge favor by eating this!  It's healthy and all the flavors come together SO well. . .Lin