Dressing:
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons rice vinegar

Mix together salad ingredients. Make dressing separately and pour over salad. Toss thoroughly before serving.

My husband loves this salad and asks for it if we have gone a week or two without making it. It is great fresh but also lasts a day or two in the fridge without a problem. I have always used the cole slaw mix, so it may be different with fresh cabbage. [Later note: when using fresh cabbage add a third block of ramen and extra dressing because a head of cabbage is much bigger than a bag. Also, fresh cabbage does better when it has a few days to soak in the dressing, so prepare ahead of time.] The sunflower seeds and almonds are the most expensive ingredients, so we have made the salad without them. It works just fine, but we definitely like it better with them.

I have considered trying a different kind of vinegar as well because I usually don't have rice vinegar on hand. I haven't had the chance yet, but if you're adventurous.... Also, I haven't ever needed to, but I don't see why it wouldn't double or triple well for entertaining.

Mix first five ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Add dry
ingredients, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop
by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet or use a melon baller to
scoop dough. Bake exactly 10 minutes
at 350°F. Cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before removing. To
maintain that just-baked taste, store
in freezer and defrost only the quantity needed.

Combine and stir briefly. I like to add dehydrated bell peppers to it as well. They absorb a lot of water, so it ends up being nice and thick.

1 black beans, canned (15 oz.), drained
1 can green chili peppers, drained
1/4 cup salsa, use what you have
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon garlic, pressed
1 squeeze lime or lemon

Dump it all into a food processor and whir like mad. When it's done,
plop it into a bowl and serve with chips and/or veggies.

Per serving: 14 Calories; trace Total Fat; 1g Protein; 2g
Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 58mg Sodium

from SavingDinner.com April 18, 2008

12 corn tortillas -- or pita, whole wheat tortillas, whatever non-stick spray (health food stores have ones without the propellant or use an oil pump)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet generously with non-stick spray.

Stack the tortillas and cut them into 6 even pieces, sort of like a pizza. Place on the cookie sheet and lightly spray the tortillas. Bake for 8 minutes or so checking to make sure they don't get too brown.

Let cool and serve with hummus or Black Bean Dip. Put a generous portion of veggies out with the chips, too.

NOTE: Make sure you only use the non-stick sprays from the health food store. The others are full of propellant and unless you plan on flying your food, propellant doesn't belong there. Or buy an oil pump that uses air to help spray. Available at Wal-Mart and other stores, for under $10. Great investment.

from SavingDinner.com

Crust:

1 c water
1 tsp salt
2c rye flour (dark or light)
1 c all purpose flour

Combine flours, salt and add enough water to make a stiff but pliable
dough.  Roll into a strand and cut into about 20 small pieces.  Shape
pieces into round balls, flatten them and roll into thin rounds (about
6 inches).  As you make the rounds, stack them and sprinkle them with
rye flour in between the rounds so they don’t stick.

Rice Filling:

1c rice
2c water
3c milk
1tsp salt

Bring rice and water to a boil, lower heat and simmer until all water
is absorbed.  Add the milk and simmer stirring often as the rice will
stick to the bottom of the pan until the rice is thick and grains are
soft (usually about an hour), season with salt and let cool.

Take the rounds and add 1 big tablespoon of the rice filling leaving
about 1 in of the dough visible.  Bring side of dough to center
leaving about 1 in of filled exposed, and crimp the edges of the
dough.  Bake the pastries on baking sheet lined with parchment paper
or lightly greased for about 15 minutes or lightly brown.  Dip each
pastry into the mil glaze making sure all surfaces are wet.  Serve
warm with egg butter on top!

Milk Glaze:

1c milk
1/4c butter

Melt and set aside

Egg butter:

½ c butter, softened
2 hard-boiled eggs
Salt to taste

Soften the butter and mix well with finely chopped hard boiled eggs,
add salt to taste.

From Lilon Merrill: A Finnish Cooking Class (done on March 18, 2008)

Once again, pioneer woman did not disappoint. :)

Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: Difficulty: Easy Servings: 12

Ingredients

* 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
* 2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies) (mild
or original or one of each)
* ¼ cups Chopped Onion
* 1 clove Garlic, Minced
* 1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
* ¼ teaspoons Sugar
* ¼ teaspoons Salt
* ¼ teaspoons Ground Cumin
* ½ cups Cilantro (up to 1 cup to taste!)
* ½ whole Lime Juice

Preparation Instructions

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt,
cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse
until you get the salsa to the consistency you’d like—I do about 10 to
15 pulses. Test seasonings with a tortilla chip and adjust as needed.

Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or
cheese nachos.

My favorite way to prepare fresh green beans. We had it again today and it did not disappoint. :)

The text below is directly from Pioneer's Woman's website. It was so snappy that I didn't do a re-write. Enjoy!

1 lb green beans
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 tablespoons bacon grease (can substitute 1 T butter and 1 T olive oil)
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt (1/4 to 1/2 tsp table salt)
Ground black pepper

Snap the stem ends of green beans, or cut them off in a big bunch with a knife if you’d like. Just don’t tell Granny. Melt bacon grease in a skillet over medium low heat. Add garlic and onions and cook for a minute. Then add green beans and cook for a minute until beans turn bright green. Add the chicken broth, chopped red pepper, salt, and black pepper. Turn heat to low and cover with a lid, leaving lid cracked to allow steam to escape. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes or until liquid evaporates and beans are fairly soft, yet still a bit crisp. You can add more chicken broth during the cooking process, but don’t be afraid to let it all cook away so the onions and peppers can caramelize.

Have a wooden spoon handy to protect your fair share.

from Pioneer Woman