Pesto Lasagna

Christmas dinner in our household was a difficult task when Eric and Sam became vegetarian.  We used to do the traditional turkey dinner but we needed to switch gears so that everyone had something they enjoyed.   The best part is that making Christmas dinner has become a much more pleasurable and relaxing experience.  Lasagna is one of those wonderful meals that you can make ahead and slide it into the oven while everyone is exchanging gifts and catching up.  Serve it with a salad and garlic bread and the meal is complete.

This lasagna recipe came from The Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook.  I’ve written it pretty much as it is in the cookbook, but I have a tendency to be a little heavy handed on the pesto, pine nuts and parmesan cheese.  This year I made the cheese mixture the day before and left it in the refrigerator overnight.   I waited until I put the lasagna together to add in the pine nuts so they stayed firm.

Making lasagna is not necessarily a pasta experience, it’s much more of a cheese experience and those that know me understand my love affair with cheese.   

 

16 lasagna noodles

1 lb fresh spinach, stems removed and chopped

2 lbs ricotta cheese

1 cup pesto

4 large cloves garlic, minced

¾ cup grated parmesan cheese

1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

1 lb mozzarella cheese, grated

Wash and dry the spinach.  Remove and discard the stems and finely mince the leaves. 

Place ricotta cheese in a large bowl, and stir in spinach, pesto, garlic, pine nuts and ½ cup of parmesan cheese.  Salt and pepper to taste and mix well.

Boil the noodles.  Drain and lay them flat on a tray.

Put some olive oil in the bottom of a 9 x 13 in pan.  Place a layer of noodles, spread about 1/3 of the filling over the noodles and sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella on top.  Follow with another layer of noodles, 1/3 of the filling and 1/3 of the mozzarella.  Repeat one more time with everything and top with a final noodle layer.  Sprinkle the remaining ¼ cup of parmesan cheese on top of the noodles. 

Bake for 50 minutes at 350.  If the noodles on top brown too quickly, cover it loosely with foil.

Mexican Casserole

This recipe has been in the rotation for a long time.  I found it in the Parade Magazine from Sunday’s issue of the Boston Globe, where it was appropriately named one of “The Best Casseroles in the U.S.A.” 

I love it!!  It’s simplistic, yet totally satisfying.  Here are my personal notes.   I don’t use the tortilla chips if we’re going to have leftovers.  They’re great for the first meal but  get soggy and don’t heat up well.  I also HATE cilantro – tastes like soap to me so I always pass when I can. 

1 ½ cups crushed tortilla chips

1 pound shredded chicken (I use a whole rotisserie chicken from the grocery store)

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 can kidney beans, drained

1 can corn kernels, drained (I use frozen corn kernels)

1 8-oz can tomato sauce

1 cup prepared salsa

1 cup red onion, diced

1 cup sweet peppers, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

8 oz monterey jack shredded cheese

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 13 x 9 inch baking dish.  Scatter crushed tortilla chips on the bottom of the pan. 

Combine chicken, beans, corn, tomato sauce, salsa, sweet pepper, cilantro, garlic and salt and pepper in a bowl. 

Place half of the mixture in the baking dish.  Cover with one half of the cheese and repeat with the mixture.  Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese on top and bake for 35 minutes.  Serve with the toppings of your choice (sour cream, cilantro, diced tomatoes). 

Marinara Sauce

Today I knew I wasn’t going to want to go through a big production for dinner since we moved the clocks back an hour.  When it starts getting dark out at 4:30, it’s time to ease things up in the kitchen at the end of the day – especially for a week or so. 

I put together a marinara sauce in the slow cooker this morning and it turned out great.  I love recipes that afford you the creativity of putting in a pinch of this and a pinch of that and seasoning to taste.  Here’s the recipe I made but feel free to adjustments as desired or inspired!!  I would have tried adding black olives but Ian wouldn’t have heard of that so maybe I can work on that addition next time.

3 large cans of Muir Glen diced tomatoes

1 large can of Muir Glen chunky tomato sauce

1 can artichokes, quartered

3 tbsp capers

1 onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup sauterne wine (I find it at Price Chopper)

1 cup Porcini mushrooms (I heat up some water and add dry mushrooms, then add to the sauce)

Place everything in the slow cooker and set to low for 7 to 8 hours.  Serve with your favorite pasta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. 

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

The other day, my sister-in-law, Jen, sent me the link to a food blog she found – www.joythebaker.com.  Thanks, Jen!

This is an amazing website which is fun to read, has tons of great recipes and great photography.  Right now I have a list of recipes I want to try but yesterday I happened to have some ripe bananas that needed to be used up and I found this recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Bread!  Who doesn’t love the combination of peanut butter and bananas?  I just had to try it and it ended up being one of the best banana breads I’ve ever had.  It was a nice twist with the peanut butter and sometimes I love to bake when I don't have to use a mixer -- just a couple bowls and a little arm power.  I didn’t happen to have the allspice on hand so I just left that out and I substituted chunky peanut butter because I didn’t have any dry roasted peanuts.  

I just had a slice toasted for breakfast – time to hit the treadmill!!

1 ½ cups mashed ripe bananas

1/3 cup plain or vanilla fat free yogurt

1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

3 tbsp butter, melted

2 large eggs

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup whole wheat flour

½ cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup ground flaxseed meal

¾ cup baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground allspice

¼ cup chopped dry roasted peanuts

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, flaxseed meal, baking soda, salt and spices.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, yogurt, peanut butter and melted butter.  Whisk in eggs and sugar.  Blend mixture well.

Pour the wet mixture into the larger bowl with the dry ingredients.  Fold together with a spatula until everything is blended.  Fold in the chopped nuts.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Remove from oven and allow to cool 20 minutes.  Run a knife along the edges of the pan and invert the loaf onto a wire rack to cool. 

White Bean and Kielbasa Stew

I’d have to say that our All-Clad Slow Cooker is the best kitchen investment we’ve ever made.  I’m a morning person so taking the time to prepare the ingredients first thing is easy for me.   Come dinner time I’m usually ready to crash and the slow cooker allows me the opportunity to enjoy an incredible meal without the late-day fuss.

This is a recipe I found recently in the Real Simple magazine.  I tried it once and enjoyed it but wanted to tweek it a bit.  I made it again today with some adjustments (that’s what I love about cooking, is you can always add your personal touch to a recipe). 

Here are the ingredients I used today which would make a double batch.  I made extra because I plan on bringing some to my dad tomorrow for lunch (depending on whether we get any substantial snow) and extra for him to put in the freezer.   The problems I ran into were that the beans didn’t seem to cook as fast as I would have hoped and absorb as much moisture as I would have liked. After 4.5 hours, they were still pretty hard.  I usually cook on low heat, but turned it up to high for about 2.5 hours and the beans cooked (finally).  I’ll have to admit that I have a lot to learn when it comes to cooking with dried beans.  I usually take the easy way out and use canned beans, but hope to learn more about cooking with dried beans.  This came out absolutely fabulous.  I taste tested more than my share and know it will be a big hit with my dad!

2 pounds dried white beans (Great Northern or Navy – I used Navy)

2 pkgs kielbasa, halved lengthwise and sliced to ½ in thick (I used one turkey kielbasa and one regular)

4 large carrots, diced

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 large onion, chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp dried rosemary

10 oz baby spinach (12 cups)

Soak the beans in cold water overnight.  

In the morning, rinse the beans and add to the slow cooker with the kielbasa, carrots, broth, tomatoes, onion, garlic, rosemary.  Make sure the beans are covered with liquid.   Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours but keep an eye out as dried beans can be tricky.  If they don’t look like they’re cooking after 4 hours, turn them to high for a while.  Add the spinach at the end and serve. 

Blowout Cookies

The other day I was moving my recipe books and found a large envelope with a TON of clipped recipes in it.  I sorted through them and came upon this one.  The clipping is dated 1991.  I never did get a chance to make them until today.  Chunky peanut butter, chocolate chips, honey roasted peanuts and miniature Reese's peanut butter cups -- how could you go wrong.  Believe me, they're absolutely AMAZING! 

2 cups sifted flour

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

½ cup chunky-style peanut butter

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

¼ cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup milk

¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips

¾ cup honey-roasted peanuts

¾ cup coursely chopped frozen miniature peanut butter cups (about 12)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

Beat the peanut butter and butter together until fluffy.  Add the sugars and beat until light and smooth.  Then add the egg and beat for 3 minutes.  Add the vanilla and mix well.  Stir in the flour mixture and beat thoroughly.  Sprinkle the milk over the mixture and beat to soften the dough.  Fold in the chocolate chips and peanuts, then carefully add the candy.

Drop by 2 tbsp clumps onto an ungreased baking sheet, leaving space (about one inch) for spreading. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until just browned.

Apple Crisp

I don’t happen to remember where I found this Apple Crisp recipe but I’ve had it for quite some time.  I love it because it’s so easy to prepare and it doesn’t have oatmeal in it.  When it’s fresh, the topping is crunchy but the apples will absorb into the topping so eat it up FAST! 

I was thinking when I made it today that next time I might try using brown sugar in the apples and stick with granulated sugar in the topping.  I’ll let you know how that goes the next time I try it out. 

4 apples (I use Macs)

½ cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 cup flour

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

1/3 cup butter, melted

½ tsp cinnamon

Peel, core and slice apples.  Mix in apples, ½ cup sugar and lemon juice in a separate bowl.  Arrange in a baking dish (I usually use a 9 inch pie plate but you can use an 8 x 8 pan too).  Mix the flour, ¾ cup sugar, baking powder and salt together in another bowl.  Add the egg and mix until crumbly.  Sprinkle on apple mixture.  Drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle on the cinnamon.  Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.  Serve warm if possible and top with whipped cream.

Turkey with Peppers, Onions and Bove's Sauce

This is truly my happy meal.  What could be simpler than ground turkey with peppers and onions and a little Bove’s sauce covering a bed of pasta!  This is a time consuming dish between cutting the veggies and blending everything but it’s totally worth the time (plus there's always plenty of leftovers). 

1 pkg (93/7) ground turkey

4 sweet peppers (I mix red, orange and yellow)

1 ½ onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 jar of Bove’s Wine and Mushroom sauce (or whatever your favorite is)

Saute the peppers, onions and garlic in a large frying pan.   Remove from pan when they soften.  Brown the turkey in the same pan and remove the fat.  Add the onion and pepper mixture back in with the ground turkey and reheat everything.  Add the Bove’s sauce of your choice and heat again.  Cook some pasta and drain.  Add a little more Bove’s sauce to the pasta and serve everything with a little Parmesan cheese. 

Enjoy!!!

Antipasto

My last canning project this year was to make Antipasto.   Mission accomplished this morning! 

The meaning of the word is “before the meal.”  For several people this means an assortment of meats, cheeses, olives and veggies which, obviously, is a meal within itself.  

Having come from a family with an Italian background, it means a jar of assorted veggies, some tuna and a few anchovy fillets all bathed in a sauce of oil, vinegar, tomato paste and seasoned with spices.   We always had it on the table at Thanksgiving, Christmas and other holiday dinners and would eat it on the side with some good Italian bread to soak up the leftover sauce.  I’ve come to enjoy it on a bed of lettuce with the sauce serving as the salad dressing.  According to my cookbook which has a lot of handwritten notes and old sales slips in it, the last time I made it was 1997.  It’s been a long time and I've promised myself to make it more often, but in smaller batches.  Today I made 22 pints which is a lot but some will be brought to holiday dinners with the family and others given as gifts. 

My grandmother made it, my mother and father made it, my aunts and uncles made it and now my cousins and my siblings and I are carrying on the tradition.  It’s one of those timeless recipes in our family.   Antipasto is truly a labor of love that’s been carried down through generations.

Corn Tomato Salad

When I’m looking for a simple cold vegetable dish, I always turn to this corn salad recipe.  I love corn and this dish is so refreshing and colorful, everyone will want the recipe.

1 ½ package of frozen corn

1 orange bell pepper, diced

½ red onion, diced

15 cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, minced

Ground black pepper to taste

Microwave corn 3 to 6 minutes.  Add bell pepper, onion and tomato.  In separate bowl, mix oil, vinegar, garlic and pepper.  Add oil mixture to the corn and stir.  Chill before serving.

Chesterfield Sauce (Ripe Tomato Relish)

You can use this relish for hamburgers if you’d like but it basically changed my love for hotdogs.  It was love at first bite!  There’s something about the sweet/sour/spiciness that’s amazing.  I know hotdogs aren’t great for you and I do try to refrain from eating a lot of them, but when I do, this is one of my favorite accompaniments. 

Originally the recipe called for 30 ripe tomatoes that need to be boiled, peeled, seeds removed and chopped.  Then you would put it into a large pot with 5 tablespoons of salt; let it stand for an hour, then drain.  I made it that way for many years and then got to thinking, why can’t you just use canned tomatoes.  So I tried it one year and it comes out just as good.  If you’re going to make it with fresh tomatoes, give yourself most of the day to prepare.

Here’s my abbreviated version:

5 cans Glen Muir tomatoes – I use 2 cans of chunky tomato sauce and 3 cans of diced tomatoes

3 medium onions, chopped

2 green peppers, chopped

3 yellow peppers, chopped

1 bunch of celery, chopped

4 ½ cups white sugar

1 quart cider vinegar

½ tsp cloves

½ tsp cinnamon

Cook all ingredients in a large pot over medium heat until desired thickness – usually 2-3 hours.  Put in canning jars and process.  It makes about 12 pints.

Corn Relish

This recipe was given to me years ago by my Aunt Flo.  She shared hundreds of recipes with me during her lifetime and gave me this one when I was doing a lot of canning.  I love corn so decided to give it a try.  It turned out great and I made it for several years and then took a break from canning.  I made it again a couple of years ago and since we’re just about out of that batch, I decided to make it today.  Unfortunately I didn’t know it was going to be in the mid 80s and humid!  The kitchen is steaming but there are these gorgeous jars cooling off -- definitely worth the effort.

14 ears of corn

5 ripe tomatoes, chopped and seeds removed

3 red peppers, chopped

2 orange peppers, chopped

4 medium cucumbers, chopped with peels still intact

2 cups onion, chopped

Pickling Solution:

1 ½ cup white sugar

1 ½ cups cider vinegar

1 tbsp salt

1 ½ tsp celery seed

1 ½ tsp mustard seed

Wash, drain and chop vegetables.  Cut corn kernels from the cobs, and get enough of the cobs scraped so that you get the leftover milk from the kernels.  Combine all the vegetables in a large pot.  Mix the pickling solution separately.  Pour over the vegetables, bring to a boil and simmer for one hour.  Place in canning jars and seal while hot.  Makes about 10 pints. 

Scrambled Eggs with Onions and Tomatoes

This morning I had a little extra time before running out of the house so I decided to try an old favorite my mom used to make for us growing up.  We made these for breakfast once in a while but often had this as our dinner dish – especially on Sunday nights. 

Ian and I try to buy local cage free eggs whenever possible.  The yokes give the dish more color and they taste so much better.    Plus, this time of year the tomatoes are at their best!  This makes enough for 2 people for breakfast.  Increase the quantities according to how many you’re serving.

2 tbsp olive oil

½ onion, diced

1 tomato, diced

4 eggs, beaten in a bowl

Grated parmesan cheese to taste

Put the olive oil in a frying pan and add onion.  Cook the onions until translucent, add tomatoes and continue to cook.  When the tomatoes are heated through, add the eggs and some parmesan cheese and continue to cook the mixture until the eggs are done but not overcooked.  Add a little extra parmesan cheese at the end and serve.

Baked Beans

Hurricane Irene is working its way through Vermont today so yesterday I decided to put my mom’s baked bean recipe on the menu for this evening.  I love these baked beans.  You can cook them on the stove top but I have this fabulous All-Clad slow cooker that does most of the work for me.  When it comes to comfort food, there’s nothing better than putting a meal together and not having to keep an eye on it. 

Cooking time for baked beans does vary depending on how fresh the beans are, etc.  In my slow cooker, I usually let them go for 6 to 7 hours on low.  I do stir them after about 4 to 5 hours so that the beans on the bottom don’t turn to mush.  The molasses goes in at the very end with an extra one-half hour of cooking time after its added. 

I serve them with brown bread and hot dogs (which aren’t terribly healthy, but tasty).   The days are getting shorter and I find myself craving these types of food more often.

2 lbs dried soldier beans

1 onion chopped into large chunks

½ lb salt pork

¼ cup ketchup

2 tsp dry mustard

1 ½ cup brown sugar

¾ cup maple syrup

½ - 2/3 cup molasses

Soak the beans overnight in cold water.  Parboil them with 1 tbsp baking soda until the skin cracks when blown upon.  Drain the beans.  Place the onion on the bottom of the pan and place the beans on top.   Mix the rest of the ingredients except for molasses and stir into beans.  Add enough water to cover the beans.  About ½ hour before serving, stir in the molasses.

Eggplant Parmesan

Yesterday Ian and I had were in Concord, New Hampshire and paid a visit to his favorite farmstand, Dimond Hill Farm.  I love the end of summer when everything is available for harvest and they had a huge selection of fresh fruits and veggies.    We were headed home so we loaded up on fresh corn, tomatoes, green beans, eggplant, garlic and some fresh peaches and sugar plums. 

Summertime is the only time I make eggplant parmesan.  You just can’t beat the taste and firmness of eggplant any other time of year.  This recipe comes from the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites cookbook with some of my own adjustments. 

3 medium sized eggplants, cut crosswise into ½ inch slices

3 eggs

2 cups bread crumbs

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 clove garlic, minced or pressed

1 jar Bove’s Mushroom and Wine Sauce

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup extra parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350.

Slice the eggplant and set aside.  In a large bowl, beat the eggs.  Place the breadcrumbs, 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese and garlic in another large bowl. 

Dip the eggplant in the egg and then coat them with the bread crumb mixture on both sides.  Place on a baking sheet covered by foil (you can use a cooking spray if you prefer) and bake for 20 minutes on each side. 

Spread about 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom of a large glass baking dish and layer the eggplant at a diagonal.  Top with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the mozzarella and final 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese and bake about 30 minutes. 

NOTE:  When I was searching  Google for a photo to insert I came across one of Eggplant Parmesan Panini.   Guess what we’re having for leftovers today!!!

Curry Chicken Salad

When I started this blog, I promised myself that I’d make posts on a regular basis but the past few weeks have been a little insane to say the least, hence nothing new until now.  Busy life = easy recipe. 

This curry chicken salad is a great August meal.  It’s easy to pull together and has a lot of different textures which when mixed with curry gives a new twist on the same old chicken salad recipe we always rely on.  

1 rotisserie chicken, skin and meat removed from bones and chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

3 scallions, chopped

¾ cup Cranraisins

½ cup light mayonnaise

1 ½ tsp curry powder

½ cup slivered almonds, toasted

Combine the mayonnaise and curry powder in a bowl and let it rest in the refrigerator.  Prepare the chicken, celery, scallions and Cranraisins and mix them in a bowl.  Add the mayonnaise mixture a little at a time until you have the desired texture you want.  Mix in the almonds, then refrigerate. 

Raspberry Cake

Growing up, every year my mother would ask me what I wanted for my birthday cake.   Being born in July made it perfect timing for one of my favorites -- Raspberry Cake.  This is a very moist cake with a naturally colored pink frosting that is absolutely delicious.   Thanks Mom!!

If you’re wondering about finding sour milk the easiest  way is to take some fresh milk and mix with a little white vinegar or some lemon juice.   

2 cups flour

1 ¼ cup sugar

3 eggs

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ cup Crisco shortening

¾ cup sour milk

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup raspberries

Sift together dry ingredients.  Blend Crisco and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time.  Add flour alternately with sour milk and vanilla.  Add raspberries.  Fold into a 9" x 13" oblong pan or two round 9" cake pans and cook at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes in the oblong pan or for 30 to 35 minutes in the round pans.

Frosting:

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp pureed raspberries (seeds removed)

2 to 3 tbsp hot milk

Cream butter.  Blend in confectioners’ sugar and pureed raspberries and add the hot milk.  Add vanilla.

Chicken and Peppers in Vinegar Sauce

I found this recipe in Parade Magazine a little over a year ago.  It has everything I love in it and makes a tasty and visually pleasing entrée.  In my food files, I have my mom’s “fried” chicken which I’ll share with you at a later date.   It’s not a typical fried chicken but it’s where I was first introduced to the combination of cooking with vinegar and chicken so when I saw this recipe I knew it was a keeper. 

The original recipe calls for bone-in, skinless chicken thighs.  Obviously the thigh meat has less of a tendency to dry out but it does have a lot of fat in it so I substitute chicken breasts instead.  If you do use chicken breasts be sure not to overcook the meat.

Everyone I’ve made this chicken dish for has asked for the recipe and I’m sure you’ll get the same response!!!

3 tbsp olive oil
4 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or 8 thighs)
2 tbsp olive oil

1 large red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 large yellow bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 large orange bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp clover honey
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock or broth

Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan.  Cook chicken until golden brown (about 4 minutes on one side), turn over and continue cooking (about 3 minutes on the other side). Remove the chicken to a plate.

Add 2 tbsp more oil to the pan with the garlic and peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are slightly soft (about 5 minutes).  Stir tomato paste into pepper mixture and then add the vinegar and cook until reduced by half.  Stir in the honey and broth, cook for 5 minutes. Return the chicken and accumulated juices to the pan. Cook until the chicken until done and remove the chicken to a platter. Cook sauce until slightly reduced, about 5 minutes, pour over the chicken and serve with some rice and a fresh salad.

Bok Choy Salad

Bok choy salad has to be one of my most requested recipes (I think Lindsay could live off of it)!  It’s a great, refreshing salad with a lot of different textures and goes with just about everything.  This is the perfect time of year to find bok choy at your local farmer's market.

I was searching the web to check out other recipes and found a lot of them don’t bake the ramen noodle mixture.  I can’t imagine not, but watch it closely because the noodles will burn if you leave them in the oven too long (I’ve had my share of disasters).  You can adjust the bok choy and onion depending on how many people you’re feeding but the noodle mixture and the dressing makes enough for multiple salads so you should have plenty.

3 heads of baby bok choy -- chopped

½ sweet onion -- chopped fine

Crunchies:

Preheat oven to 450

½ cup sunflower seeds (roasted)

½ cup slivered almonds

¼ cup butter -- melted

3 pkgs ramen noodles -- crumbled (toss out the flavor pack)

Mix together and bake until golden brown -- be careful not to burn

Dressing:

3 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce

¼ cup cider vinegar

½ cup sugar

½ cup oil

Mix together right before serving.