Strawberry Spinach Salad

Strawberry Spinach Salad from Mennonite Girls Can Cook

SALAD:
Use as much prewashed spinach that is needed.
Strawberries, sliced. The more the better.
Green Onions or slivered Red Onion
Toasted nuts, we like almond or Pine nuts (optional, this time due to allergies, we omitted)

DRESSING:
Combine ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid
1/2 cup oil (may use olive)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. sesame seed
1 tsp. poppy seed
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. Paprika

Modifications:
-I did not use poppy seeds.

Shake very well, until sugar dissolves and is well combined.
Dress immediatly before serving or the salad will get soggy.

This is what I started with:

This is how I did it:

#1 I sliced up some strawberries.

#2 Sliced up some green onions.

#3 Then, I added all of the other ingredients into a dressing bottle and shook away.

#4 I added some chopped walnuts to the spinach and strawberries.

The Finished Product:

Review:

This salad was so yummy!  It was summery and sweet.  The poppy seeds added a great little crunch to every bite.  I wish that I would have used a red onion (love them) instead of the green onion but it was still good. 

For a healthier version, you could substitute Splenda for the sugar and maybe even some honey, although that might make the dressing too thick.

This salad was so good that even my dad tried and liked it.  If you knew how picky he is then you would be really impressed!  LOL

Hope you enjoy!

April

Holly's "Whatever You Have" Kind of Banana Bread

A couple of weeks ago my friend, Holly, posted this recipe for banana bread and it looked amazing. On the day she posted it, though, I had just thrown out a couple of bananas. So, I was kind of excited when the kids didn't eat the last couple of bananas of this bunch so I could try out her recipe.

Holly's "Whatever You Have" Kind of Banana Bread Recipe:

1 1/2 c of flour
1c of butter semi melted (pop it in the microwave for 20 seconds)
1c of sugar
1 egg
2 smashed bananas
1/2 c of sour cream
1T of vanilla
Few dashes of cinnamon
A dash of salt

Optional:
1/2 c of juice
1/4 cup of vegetable oil

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. Next, mix the rest of the ingredients in a different bowl. When liquid mixture is blended well, slowly add the dry ingredients until everything is smooth. Make sure to coat your pan with Pam and flour really well because it tends to fall apart when you cool it afterwards. The bread takes between 40 and 50 minutes to bake.

Modifications:

-I added a small packet of pecans.
-Holly says that you can also add some juice to it.

Here's what I started with:


Here's how I did it:
#1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.


#2 In a bowl, I put 1 1/2 cups of flour and 1 cup of sugar and mixed it together.


#3 In a separate bowl, I put an egg, 1 cup of softened butter, 1T of vanilla extract, 1/2 cup of sour cream and mixed it together.








#4 Before I added the dry and wet ingredients, I sprinkled some cinnamon into the flour/sugar.


#5 I put the 2 over-wripe bananas in with the wet mixture and started smashing them and stirring them in.




#6 I added in 1/4 cup of vegetable oil.



#7 Finally, I mixed in 1 small package of pecans.


#8 I sprayed down a pan with Pam and then floured it.



The Finished Product:



Review:

One word describes this banana bread-MOIST! I don't know if it is the vegetable oil or the sour cream but it was so moist and yummy!

Give it a try!

April