Thankful Thursdays #81: you

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Veronica

Today, as I am most days, I’m thankful for you. Yes you there, reading my blog. Whether you are a noncommittal lurker who stops in from time to time when a particularly tasty recipe nabs your attention (I admit, I’m totally guilty of this on many blogs), a regular reader, a regular reader who leaves comments on occasion or frequently (you’re my favorite! :)), a friend I’ve made online, or a personal friend, co-worker, or family member that also reads my blog, I so appreciate you! My stats tell me you’re there whether you admit it openly, and it really does me good to know it.

When it comes to admitting my feelings for people and making connections, I force myself to be reserved, except for when it comes to those I’m very, very close to and I know they feel the same way about me. I’m perpetually terrified of making a fool of myself by allowing myself to form a connection with someone and ending up liking them more than they like me. (What, you thought people only did this in dating scenarios? Nope, I do it with friendships!) I’m a pretty enthusiastic, loving person, and I could fall so deeply in love with every person I met if I let myself. Even with my barriers in place, I am sad to say some have helped me remove them only to break my heart, and so I’m even more careful now of forming friendships, whether in real life or online.

But today I’m making an exception and taking down my shield briefly to tell you that I love you. I so love you. You make every single day of my life better. Yes, YOU! If you’re wondering how this is possible, let me just skim the surface.

First, the comments. I love comments, and I’m sure other bloggers feel the same way. This is the ultimate gratification in blogging, to receive a comment. I don’t know why it’s such a big deal, but it feels pretty amazing when they appear. Wow! You read my blog! Maybe I’m not totally lame after all! lol

I treasure each and every one but here are some of my recent favorites, that have lifted me out of the depths of despair, brought a breath of fresh air to my day, or just made me laugh with happiness.

Is it possible not to smile after reading a comment that includes hearts, music notes and stars? Mary is always so cheerful!

(Fallon is from Zimbabwe, as I learned from another comment she left me.) I tear up every time I read this. The day I got it was a horrible day and I just bawled–it was such a blessing to me. This is the ultimate comment for me because THIS is why I post my favorite recipes, in hopes that I might bring the same happiness and love to other kitchens and families that they bring to my own. It took a few years, but I’m finally starting to get some “review” comments like this. Those are my favorite and the happiness in them also fills my soul when I read them.

I’m also starting to get a few comments from readers sharing their own recipes, and these always tickle me. I’m still looking forward to trying this one.

And I also get wonderful, encouraging comments that bring me to tears, like this one.

In addition to the readership and comments, some readers have taken it a step further by sending me post cards and even packages in the mail!

One reader from Russia, Becky, who I feel (dare I say it?) pretty close to, saw my mention of our trouble with having children and sent me this book.

Wow. God has blessed me so much through this blog and this is the epitome of that blessing. This book is a comfort to me, and a reminder about what is most important, my love for and relationship with Christ, so that I can keep my head on straight when I’m most tempted to wallow in self-pity.

Another reader, Kerry from Ohio, used my favorite pie crust recipe in three pies she entered at her state fair competition and won ribbons for all three! I was so surprised by the pie dish and carrier I received in the mail soon after, I thought I had a secret admirer until I finally remembered she said she was going to send me a token of appreciation for helping her win. I was expecting a thank you card! I was pretty astounded by her generosity, and very touched by the gesture. But the ultimate reward was helping her win those ribbons. My heart swells with happiness.

And then there’s Suzie. Suzie is really special to me and I’m going to just admit (shriek! totally going against my instincts!) that if we lived closer to one another, she just might be my BFF. She’s definitely my online BFF, and I never told her this but it’s kind of a miracle she managed to break through my barriers since we met right after my previous online bestie (well, I thought she was but the feeling wasn’t mutual-horrifying!) “dumped” me. We have never met in real life, but she has always supported me in blogging and everything I do, and I’m so happy to be able to follow her blog now that she has one (check her out here.) While I’m going out on limbs here, I’m going to tell you, Suzie, that if God ever blesses us with a child, my greatest wish would be you would be able to come all the way from MI to my baby shower so I can finally meet you face-to-face. Being pregnant and meeting you? I can’t think of two things that would fill me with more joy. I’d probably explode.

{Photo source}

Anyway, this wonderful woman spoils me, along with almost everyone she knows, and particularly those she loves. A while back she sent me this glass cornucopia figurine and while it’s actually a candlestick holder, I had other plans for it. This is an antique, and antiques are precious to me because I adore pieces of physical history. It’s Fenton, which is a big deal (I recognized the name from my Dad’s dealing in it–he buys and sells antiques) and dates to the 1930s. I heart it so much!

Every time I think of something I’m thankful for throughout the week, I write it down and fold it up, and put it in the cornucopia. I also add fortune cookie fortunes whenever we eat Chinese because I get a kick out of them. How perfect is this for me, right? A cornucopia full of thanksgivings! At the end of the week, or weeks depending on how long I wait, I read all my thanksgivings to remind myself of everything I have to be thankful for. If you want to feel incredible peace, you might try this. It is wonderful.

OK, now I can’t possibly mention every single person who I am thankful for as a reader, and I got pretty specific with some of them, but I’m still talking to YOU. Thank you for reading. Even my lurkers bless me financially now that I’m getting paid to blog-LOL! But even without the little bit of money, seeing the number who is reading makes me feel like maybe I’m doing something that matters, and maybe I matter in this big world, even if it’s just to you. So thank you. You matter to me too, and I’m so thankful for you.

Love, Veronica

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Posted in Thanksgivings and tagged blogging, comments, readers, thankful. Bookmark the permalink.

Stay tuned…

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Veronica

I have a Thankful Thursday post for you today but I have to first wake up (unfortunately, noon is still early for me–ugh) and take a few pictures, then load them to the draft before posting. So come back around 2 PM CST, it should be up by then! I think you will like this one…because it’s about you. :)

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Cheeseburger Salad

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Veronica

Usually when I want to enjoy a cheeseburger in salad form, I make a hamburger salad and just top it with some shredded cheddar. But I knew I had to try this Pampered Chef version when PW featured it a while back. So glad I did because it’s so much better than my old stand-by! I love how the sauce is mixed into the meat so that you don’t need dressing. Saucy, flavorful meat, crisp lettuce, pickles & onions, juicy tomatoes, cheddar cheese–this salad just can’t be beat!

OK, now Pampered Chef and PW get all crazy and actually turn hamburger buns into croutons by baking them. So cute, right? But grizzle, puh-lease! I may be crazy in certain ways, like adding way too much butter and sugar to my desserts to where they are literally swimming in evil, but I’m not the kind of crazy that likes to bake my own croutons in the summer for a simple salad. If I’m turning on my oven, it’s for something sweet, not for croutons. If you’re not my kind of crazy, you might want to just go to the original recipe for the crouton instructions. As for me, Texas Toast croutons suit my salad just fine.

But, truth be told, this is the way I prefer to eat my cheeseburger salad:

Sans croutons. I mean, the reason I like to turn hamburgers and cheeseburgers into salad is to get away from the bread because it gets in my way, and I like the veggies way more than the bread. Plus, I get enough carbs from sugar. :)

Cheeseburger Salad

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

2 lbs. ground beef
1 ¼ cups ketchup
3 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 small red onions, one sliced into rings, the other diced
8 dill pickle spears, sliced
4 Roma tomatoes, quartered and sliced
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
16 cups chopped Romaine lettuce (about 2 heads)
Texas Toast croutons (optional)

Cook the ground beef in a large skillet over medium heat. Remove from heat, drain the fat, and stir in the ketchup, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Add the diced onions and pickles (you can set some aside for garnish if you like). and stir to combine. Put 2 cups of lettuce on each plate, then divide the burger mixture between them. Top with cheese, tomato, onions and pickles if you set some aside, and croutons if desired.

Makes 8 servings.

Recipe source: adapted from The Pampered Chef

19 Comments

Posted in Main Dishes, My Favorites, Salads and tagged cheeseburger, cheeseburger salad, easy, fall, protein style, salad, spring, summer, winter. Bookmark the permalink.

A glossary for my slicers

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Veronica

I was just writing a post and after saying, “grizzle, please,” in it and thinking once again I would have to rephrase my words in order to be understood by the masses, I changed my mind and decided instead to just create a glossary for my blog. You can check it out here, if you care to. Right now it’s not very long, but will likely grow over time.

No longer will I hold back saying things like, “the Perch blood struck,” and calling you guys my “slicers” when I’m feeling particularly fun-loving and affectionate. Though, actually, I’d much rather call you my Cornicopi-cats. Would that bug you? I kind of love it. Anyway, now you can just refer to my handy glossary every time my words leave you scratching your head, and soon enough, you will become Davis-lingual. (FYI, I was born a Davis, and this is where my odd language stems.)

Happy Tuesday, my little slicer McSlicingtons!

When my sister, Lacey (middle), saw this photo on Facebook, she said “Well lookey there. Three little perches sleeping in the same bed. I like to imagine that we are all laughing at completely separate things. ;)” Knowing us, we probably were. It’s the Perch blood.

What strange words do you have or strange ways do you use words in your family?

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Lemon-Basil Peach Dumplings

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Veronica

So this recipe is totally crazy. Just wanted to warn you before you got too involved and the list of ingredients sent you reeling. I’m just going to put it out there. Right here and now.

This recipe has two whole sticks of butter in it. And 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Both are poured/sprinkled over only sixteen itty bitty peach “dumplings” which are really only slices of peach wrapped in crescent roll dough. And you know what else I poured over the top along with the butter and sugar? Sprite. Yup.

But here’s the deal. These dumplings are so good and totally worth the butt dimples you will get after the little artery-cloggers work their way through your system and your body decides to skip the digesting part and just add them straight to your butt.

I made this for a cooking challenge on Facebook to make a recipe using fresh peaches, Sprite or 7-Up, and fresh basil. So this is what I came up with, based on a cooky Midwestern recipe for apple dumplings (see it on PW’s blog here).

I still have yet to make the original version, but now I know I have to come fall because you would not believe how good this summery version is. Sweet, yes, but not too sweet, incredibly. And the juicy peach is the star, somehow not overpowered by the lemon & basil*, or all that sugar and butter. When I took them out of the oven, the liquid was pretty sloshy but thickened up and seemed to absorb a little more after 10-15 minutes, making the dumplings crispy with sugar on top and gooey on the bottom, but definitely not soggy, which is what I had feared.

They are best warm, but I served the leftovers (after Dennis and I had our way with a few) at room temperature to my family after a barbecue and they went crazy for them. Even my sister, Danielle, who refuses to eat my (beloved) pumpkin gooey butter cake because it has two sticks of butter in it (light weight!), and generally only takes a few bites of my desserts, not only ate one ( a whole one!) but also took one home with her for later. Miracle!

*The fried basil does add a nice color and the mildest of flavor, which I thought was perfect, but if you’re really hoping for a huge pop of basil, I’d double (or more) what the recipe calls for. Or just make extra to munch on–they are even crispier than potato chips!

Fried basil is so cool-it gets transparent and shatteringly crisp. Would also make a great garnish on soup!

While making these, I admit I cringed the whole time I was pouring and sprinkling sugar over the top. I tried to stop myself several times. How could sixteen little bitty teeny weeny dumplings need that much butter and sugar?! But I had to go with the original measurements in the end, and I’m glad I did. Because they are perfect. Besides, divided between 16 servings, it’s really not too bad and actually lower in fat/sugar than most of the cakes I make. Or at least, that’s what I was telling myself when I helped myself to seconds. >:)

Lemon-Basil Peach Dumplings

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

3 medium fresh peaches
2 (8 oz) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough
1 lemon
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 cup Sprite
½ cup fresh basil leaves (not packed)
Coconut or vegetable oil for frying

Fill a pot that is big enough to fit three peaches with water high enough to cover them. Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice and water to have ready to cool the peaches. When the water is boiling, add the peaches and boil for 1-2 minutes, until the skin is easy to remove. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to ice water. Once they are cool to the touch, take them out to peel off the skins. If the skins don’t peel easily, boil again for a minute.

Preheat oven to 350F. Slice the peeled peaches in half around the pit, separate the halves and remove the pit. Slice each half into thirds. You will only need 16 of the slices so feel free to nibble on two of them as you continue with the recipe.

Butter a 9×13 baking dish. Wrap each peach slice in a crescent roll and place in prepared dish. Grate the zest from the lemon and sprinkle over the dumplings (reserve the lemon), then sprinkle 1 cup of the sugar over the top. Melt the butter and pour over the top, then sprinkle the remaining sugar over. Juice the reserved lemon, then add the juice into the Sprite. Pour over everything, then bake for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat ½ inch of coconut or vegetable oil in a small skillet or saucepan to 360F. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can test it by throwing a basil leaf in. If it is ready it will pop and spatter big time so be ready to cover it with a splatter screen or jump away. When the oil is ready, throw the basil in the hot oil, then IMMEDIATELY cover with the splatter screen. Fry until crisp, then remove to a thick layer of paper towels to drain. Once cool to the touch, about a minute or two, crumble up with your fingers and set aside. The oil makes the basil stick to your fingers so just get as much off as you can.

Remove the dumplings from oven and sprinkle the fried, crushed basil over the top. Serve the dumplings warm with ice cream, spooning the sweet sauce from the pan over the top.

24 Comments

Posted in My Favorites, Pie and tagged baking, basil, dessert, fried basil, lemon, peach dumplings, sprite, summer. Bookmark the permalink.

Thankful Thursday #80: beyond white light

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Veronica

(10 Points if you can name that album!)

It’s been a while since the (in?)famous Dennis Miller wrote a guest post for me. But truly, it is hard to come up with so many Thankful Thursdays, and I begged his help this week. He graciously agreed to help me out. Please welcome my hubby back!

***

White light, when seen through a prism, shows that it is really made up of the entire visible color spectrum.

This proves to me that even plain things, when looked at differently, can show great beauty.

It’s not white light that I’m thankful for, it’s the ability to see what is more.

Anyone who has had a baby knows theirs is the cutest, smartest baby in the world. Pet owners love and adore their pets, even when they have chewed up all their owner’s shoes.

It’s the mind’s ability to see more than meets the eye that makes life much more fun.

Imagination plays a part of this too. Instead of just going to the store with your family or wife, maybe you are with a small elite commando unit sent out by special order to obtain Miracle Whip and return it to base. You are not waiting on the mail man but waiting for agent MM to make a drop that contains vital intel of national importance.

Obviously I have gone from the objective (white light into colored) to the subjective with the last examples but I believe we mainly live in a subjective state.

So it is to you, oh reader of this mighty blog, (see I’m not just writing a blog but I’m William Shakespeare’s retarded cousin, the family calls me Binkie, penning a new missive of much importance)…what ordinary thing may you perceive today that has hidden beauty?

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Posted in Dennis, Thanksgivings and tagged beauty is more than skin deep, finding beauty in ordinary things, thankful. Bookmark the permalink.

Quick Veggie Quesadillas

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Veronica

This month for the Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned to Itzy’s Kitchen. Erica lives a healthier lifestyle than I’m living now (she’s a fitness instructor and has lots of yummy, healthy eats on her blog), so browsing her blog got me back into the “healthy thinking mode.” I wish I didn’t have a switch that was either turned to “healthy” or “totally heart-clogging, butt dimple-building unhealthy,” but unfortunately, this is my history. I have decided to ease myself back into healthier eating as I need to lose the fifteen or twenty pounds I’ve gained since going off the rails in March, and Erica helped me do that.

I have been making quick stove top meals often this summer, and I was happy to find her recipe for veggie quesadillas because they were 1) healthy, 2) quick, ad 3) easy. Perfect summer eating.

We really enjoyed these, especially dipped in salsa. They come together so fast and easy and I know I’ll be making this again. FYI, if you have leftover filling, it’s great as a hot dip mixed with salsa with cheddar melting on top. But maybe not as healthy if you use as many tortilla chips as I did. >:)

Quick Veggie Quesadillas

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed & drained well
1 (11 oz) can Mexican style corn (or 14.5 oz regular corn), drained well
1 teaspoon chili powder, or to taste
¼ teaspoon cumin
Optional: 1 cup additional vegetables
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
8 flour tortillas (soft-taco size)
Salsa & sour cream for serving

Mix the black beans, corn, chili powder & cumin. If you’d like to add any other vegetables (I added onions), cook them in a skillet until softened and stir into the bean & corn mixture. Place one tortilla in a skillet over medium heat (you can oil the skillet if you like, but I didn’t) and sprinkle no more than ½ cup cheese over it, then scatter no more than ½ cup of the bean mixture over the cheese. Top with another tortilla. Once the cheese is melted on the bottom, about two minutes, carefully flip the quesadilla over and cook for an additional two minutes to heat through and crisp up the other tortilla. Remove to a plate and cook the remaining three quesadillas. Cut each into 6 triangles and serve with salsa and sour cream, if desired.

Recipe source: adapted from Itzy’s Kitchen

A special thank you to my friends Kriss and Nicole for generously giving me the Japanese steak plates pictured in this post, along with many other dishes that will be gracing my blog in the future. They are moving their family to Japan this week and not taking much with them, so I was the happy recepient of much of their dishware. It’s hard to say goodbye and feel like I have to do it too often (Japan has already stolen one of my friends!), but I wish you guys the best!

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Posted in Lighter Fare, Meatless, Mexican. Bookmark the permalink.

Thankful Thursdays #79: I don’t have cancer!

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Veronica

For the first year of Thankful Thursdays, I’d list what I was thankful for each day of the week on Thursday. Although I’m not going to do that today, I am feeling a “list”-type TT is in order since I have a bunch of random thanksgivings in my heart right now.
Cold-brewed iced coffee. I’m sipping some now, as I do most mornings. OK, so technically is 12:30 PM but it’s still my morning. So much for the waking up early thing. But I’ve done a little better this week. Baby steps. Anyway, I loves my iced coffee!

I don’t have cancer! Yay! I have a mole on my arm that’s always been misshapen and last Monday it was painful and itching. The redness and pain lasted all week but by the time I saw the dermatologist this Tuesday, the redness had turned darker around the mole and it was no longer painful. He said it didn’t look suspicious but he’d keep an eye on it, and we both supposed I had bumped it and bruised it. Don’t I feel stupid?! The visit wasn’t a complete waste of time as I also got prescriptions for my adult acne. Proactiv just isn’t cutting it. So yay!

I feel a little weird mentioning anything about our infertility battle since that’s a very personal thing, but we are finally taking some action, getting tests done and seeing specialists, and while we do have a problem, I suspected it would be much worse. There is hope for us but it’s looking to be a long road. Some day, I will be a mom!

My bitty sweetheart is finally losing some weight!! She was on Temaril-P for her summertime allergies that make her itch so bad, but when I found out it was likely to blame for her constant hunger and thirst, I took her off of it right away, hoping we could manage the allergies without medication. We have now turned into her full-time butt scratchers to keep her from itching herself to the point of bleeding, but it’s working. She only has a few minor scabs from licking, and she has lost like 10 pounds in the last month because her old summer appetite, the one that refuses treats and only eats half the food recommended (as opposed to twice the food recommended, which is what she was eating while on the meds), has finally returned. I’m so thankful! Excess weight is so hard on a pet and can shorten their lives. Jessie is our baby and we want to keep her around as long as possible.

What are you thankful for today?

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Lemon Zucchini Loaf

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Veronica

I’m not a huge fan of typical zucchini bread that is scented with fall spices. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll gobble it up if it’s nearby, I mean it does have sugar in it, but I’m the kind of gal that doesn’t (usually) enjoy soup or cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves/allspice-laced treats in hot weather. Maybe I had soup for lunch yesterday, and made a big pot of Suzie’s soup last week, and some mouth-watering gingersnaps that same day. But still, I (usually) prefer summery foods in the summer and fall-ish foods in the fall.

This zucchini bread? 100% summer! Nice and tart and sweet and you can’t even taste the zucchini, it just adds moisture and some pretty green flecks. If you peeled them first, I bet you picky eaters wouldn’t even guess there were any veggies in it. Not that the zucchini makes this health food by any means, but it is a very summery, tasty way to use up this proliferous summer squash. It’s so soft and tender, it’s pretty much like eating lemon loaf cake! Thank you, NancyCreative, for this wonderful recipe!

Lemon-Zucchini Loaf with Lemon Glaze

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)
1 ½ cups shredded zucchini

Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Grease and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan; set aside. In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In medium bowl, beat 2 eggs well, then add oil and sugar, blending well. Add the buttermilk, lemon zest & juice, and blend everything well. Fold in zucchini and stir until evenly distributed in mixture. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and blend everything together, but don’t over-mix. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (if your oven tends to run hot, check the loaf after 40 minutes). Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely. Once the loaf is cool, make the glaze…

Lemon Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 tablespoons lemon juice)

In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice until well blended. Spoon glaze over cooled loaf. Let glaze set, then serve.

Recipe source: very slightly tweaked from NancyCreative

15 Comments

Posted in Bread, Sweets and tagged baking, lemon zucchini bread, recipe, summer, zucchini bread. Bookmark the permalink.

KFC Coleslaw

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Veronica

I put random photos throughout the introduction that have nothing to do with anything except the happenings in my life. Hover over for a brief description

I haven’t been blogging much and at first that was really nice, deciding not to blog when all I wanted to do was sleep, clean, spend time with the hubs, play Wii with my nephew, go to the lake with my family, etc. It was very freeing, recognizing that it was my choice. But last week, though I didn’t post at all, I really missed it!

I finally got a “permanent” schedule at work (“permanent” because it is still subject to change, based on the demands of the PO), 2:30-11 PM M-F with weekends off (praise God for that!) and I’m trying to go to bed right after getting home each night so that it won’t be as hard to get up early on Sunday mornings for worship. So that was the main reason I held off blogging, because my intentions were good, to go to bed early, but then I’d get caught up in email/Facebook/Pinterest and I still ended up staying up till 3-4 AM each day, making it also impossible to blog in the morning since I slept through it. And yes, Sunday was a very tired day for me, as always. Week 1 of trying to go to bed early: FAIL.

So I still don’t know how regular I”m going to be while I’m trying to get on a schedule that will allow me to get up at 8 AM each day with 8 hours sleep, but ultimately my posting time will likely start to be in the late morning/early afternoon as I switch from scheduling my posts for 8 AM the night before, to publishing after typing them each day before work.

Anyway, I’m happy to share something with you today and sorry for the rambling personal introduction that has nothing to do with coleslaw! Oh wait! If you can wait one more second, I have something else to share. When I came home from work after a really bad day almost two weeks ago, I found a package waiting for me on the kitchen table. It was the kitchen tile I won from Kudos Kitchen by Renee! It was the happy ending I really needed that day.

She painted it from this image I sent her that I found on Pinterest:

I was pretty demanding for someone who won something (i.e. got it for free!), asking if she could make the colors a deeper red, green and blue to match the colors in my kitchen, and I even went so far as to ask her to change the font to a fancier one. She didn’t complain at all and I’m totally thrilled with the tile and with Renee. If you want to check out her work, visit her Etsy shop here.

Thanks for putting up with me today–it’s hard trying to write a short blog when you’ve been silent for so long! Onto the coleslaw. Finally!

I’m not a huge coleslaw fan, but I have always liked KFC’s coleslaw. Have you met my sweet teeth? (I usually claim they’re all sweet, but a few of my molars are actually partial to savory foods. ;)) Yeah, I think they enjoy the sweetness to it. So when I volunteered to bring the coleslaw to our family’s July 4th celebration, I searched for a KFC copycat recipe and found one on Amanda’s Cookin’. I was pretty stoked to find it there, because I already follow Amanda’s blog and have much love for her since she started the Secret Recipe Club, which I enjoy participating in every month.

This coleslaw is just like KFC coleslaw! So good! And if you have a food processor, man, this comes together in 10 minutes or less. Even easier, you could just buy that bagged coleslaw mix and use the dressing on it. Either way, this is a winner and my family raved over it. Dennis and I ate an entire batch of it last week, so you know we love it too.

KFC Copycat Coleslaw

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

Slaw
1 head of cabbage
2 medium carrots, peeled (about 1/2 cup shredded)
2 tablespoons dried minced onion

Dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Chop cabbage into chunks, discarding the core, and run through your food processor using the shredding blade, or chop fine. Empty into a large bowl. Chop the stems off the carrots and shred them too, then add to the cabbage along with the minced onion. Combine all of the dressing ingredients in a large bowl, whisk well, and pour over the slaw. Stir well, then cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, before serving to allow the flavors to marry. Serve cold.

Recipe source: slightly tweaked from Amanda’s Cookin’