Chinese Coleslaw (Cabbage Salad)

Salad Main:
1 large head green cabbage, shredded (heard napa cabbage is the best)
1/2-1 bunch green onions, sliced
2-3 cups chicken, diced (better grilled or cooked in the frying pan--in a pinch you can use canned)
Purple grapes (sliced in half) or mandarin oranges

Dressing:
1 cup oil (lately I use less because it separates and what comes out first is a lot of oil OR spray oil on each portion separately, omitting the oil from the main dressing)
1/4 cup sugar
3 TB soy sauce
2 TB rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. black pepper
2-3 pkgs. Ramen noodle seasonings

Toast these and keep separate for crunch until right before eating (can toast in microwave--stirring and watching closely):
3 pkgs. Ramen noodles, broken up before opening the packages
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup slivered almonds or cashews

(from Jenn)

Biscuits

This is the biscuit recipe I prefer. I do them as drop biscuits instead of rolling out the dough and cutting them out.

Molten Lava Cakes

My jeans are tight lately, so I'm on a bride diet so my dress will still fit me in less than a month.

Naturally, I've got chocolate on the brain, and I think a link to this recipe is called for, from my sis. This is where the picture at the top right of my header comes from.

P.S. I know it's completely against the concept of this dessert, but I like these better cold. Like the next day straight out of the fridge? Mmmmmmmm.

Some of My Favorite Shortcuts

I store the following things in the freezer in freezer bags:

*ground beef and sausage already browned and drained
*onions diced (flash freeze them). I love this because I only have to cry once when I chop a whole bag of onions! (Put on goggles to cut them, and it's even better for your eyes!)
*ham diced for soups, fried rice, etc.
*cheese grated with my food processor
*pizza toppings
*not quite done homemade rolls to throw in the oven and come out just like freshly made
*extra frosting
*my favorite cookies

Bran Muffins

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Mom used to make bran muffin batter and store it in the fridge. We would make our own individual muffins in the microwave (spray a microwaveable bowl and add batter; cook until no longer gooey on top) and then smother them with butter. I still prefer the microwave method to baking them in the oven.

1 ¼ cups flour (I use whole wheat)

½ cup sugar

1 TB baking powder

¼ tsp salt

2 cups bran cereal (like All-Bran--twig-like, not flakes)

1 ¼ cups milk

1 egg

¼ cup oil

Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In large bowl, combine cereal and milk. Let stand about 5 minutes or until cereal softens. Add egg and oil. Beat well. Add flour mixture, stirring only until combined. To cook in the oven, grease muffin tins and bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Tater Tot Casserole

This is my favorite dish made with mixed vegetables (rotating some canned mixed veggies from our food storage!). Not the healthiest stuff out there, but a nice comfort food and extremely easy. Everyone in our family except Cooper gave it a thumbs up!

1 lb. (or less) ground beef, browned and drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 package onion soup mix (about 6 tsp.)
2 cans mixed vegetables, undrained, OR frozen vegetables + 1 1/2 cups water

Mix together and put in greased 9x13 casserole dish. Put a layer of frozen tater tots on top. Bake at 350 degrees for an hour and 15 mins.

(from Camille)