Fighting Cancer with Salads

24 Feet of salads!

Health professionals tell us that eating healthy, including salads with lots of fruits and vegetables, will help lower our risks for developing cancer. Last Saturday our local P.E.O. Chapter used a salad luncheon to help raise funds for the Greenwood County Relay for Life, these funds go toward research to help find a cure for cancer.
The array of salads was staggering. Not only did chapter members bring salads, but many other community members as well. Picture 3 tables of 8 foot each laden with salads! Thats 24 feet of salads, and quite a variety was available.
I tried a new recipe for the day. It seemed like a strange combination of foods - apples, pears, onions, and mustard? But turned into a tasty crisp salad, that is healthy also. This recipe is from Taste of Home, but I did a little tweaking. (I reduced the onion and added dried cranberries)

Fresh Apple & Pear Salad       

Fresh and Health salad

4 medium apples, thinly sliced (Granny Smith, Fuji, or Royal Gala)
2 medium pears thinly sliced (green or red Anjou, or Asian)
1 medium cucumber, seeded and chopped
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup apple cider or juice
1 Tablespoon snipped fresh dill or minced fresh tarragon (I used 1 tsp. dried)
1 Tablespoon olive oil (I used Persian Lime infused olive oil - definitely good!)
1 Tablespoon spicy brown mustard
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a large bowl, combine apples, pears, cucumber, dried cranberries and onion. In a small bowl, whisk remaining ingredients until blended. Pour over apple mixture and toss to coat. Refrigerate until serving.
I made this the evening before the luncheon and the apple juice kept the fruit from turning brown. But after bringing the left overs home it did turn brown on the second day. We ate the remaining salad, it still tasted good, just wasn't pretty. 

Mix the chopped ingredients with the dressing

Besides the salads, some members were also asked to bring cakes made from the same recipe. The recipe chosen was simple to make and low fat. No oil or butter is used, the juice from the pineapple is the liquid. The cake was good when fresh, but we did have some left over which we refrigerated and served at coffee time at church the next day. By then it had gotten tough (without fat/oil or butter to keep it tender and moist). So, I'd recommend this recipe as a good cake for a dinner when it can be completely served.

Pineapple Sheet Cake                                            

Pineapple sheet cake served the next day

2 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

20 oz. crushed pineapple

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions: Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased and floured 11-inch x 17-inch cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 cup butter

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions: Beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla together until creamy. Gradually mix in powdered sugar. Frost cake while still warm. Garnish with additional nuts on top. 

A friend and I decorated this table with
the theme "The Language of Flowers"

A fun table with a Fishing theme

Simple and elegant

We got to model several outfits from
a popular clothing store - and to shop
later! 

Hello again, Jello!

Jello has a long history in the United States, it is one of the first "American Cuisine" foods, but it seems to not be as popular with younger cooks now. When asked for Jello/gelatin salads for community meals, fewer people sign up for that. I personally think making a Jello salad is easier than most of the other options.
Research of history of Jello or gelatin foods finds that congeled salads or foods were made since the 1400's from collagen extracted from boiling bones and other animal products. I'm glad that powdered gelatin was developed and patented in 1845. Our American cooks found it easier to use and in 1897 the name Jell-O was trademarked and several flavors were introduced. But it was still slow to be adopted. In 1930, lime flavor was a favorite and in the 1950's the popularity took off. Savory salads were favorites and there were flavors such as tomato and celery to compliment them. The baby boomer mothers of the 1950-60's especially liked the easy to prepare salads and desserts and many fruit flavors that we know today were marketed. However, in 1986, sales slowed again.
It seems that many of today's cooks didn't grow up with Jello sides for their meals and it isn't something they want to prepare.
But here is a recipe that is easy to prepare and tasty. The applesauce and lemon-lime soda add flavor and texture.

Ready to go to a community meal!

Lime Applesauce Salad

Heat 1 6-oz. package of lime jello with 2 16-oz cans of applesauce over medium heat until jello is dissolved. Set aside to let cool. When cool stir in 1 12-oz can of lemon-lime soda pop.
(recipe can be halved) I also like to make it with other flavors, as this strawberry red one!
This can be made in a mold and holds it shape well, or served with a spoon.

Stirring JellO into applesauce mixture

Breakfast for Supper

On of our favorite light meals for evening is Breakfast. Often I don't take the time to prepare a full breakfast at home, and I'm guessing that's the case for many others. When we serve a breakfast-supper meal for Community LinC it is always a popular one.
Community LinC is our local faith-based non-profit organization that provides meals free of charge twice a month. Meals are served in our Methodist Church and usually to 150 - 225 people with several take-outs to those who can't get to the meal site. Last week's menu was Breakfast Casserole, biscuits with butter and jelly, fruit cocktail and juice, milk, or coffee. Fresh fruit is also available on the table for each meal.
Here's the recipe for the breakfast casserole we used, cut back to family size.

Southern Sausage Egg Casserole

4 cups frozen shredded hash browns

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 pound breakfast sausage, cooked

1/2 cup green onion, chopped

2 (12 oz) cans evaporated milk

1/2 - 1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Arrange hash browns in an even layer in the bottom of a greased 9 x 13-inch pan. 

Sprinkle with cheese, sausage and green onion; set aside. 

Combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Blend well. 

Pour over hash brown mixture, cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight (we baked the casseroles soon after preparing)

Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees until the center is set: 40-50 minutes if chilled, 50-60 minutes if refrigerated overnight. 

For our group meal we made 6 pans of double recipes

That meant lots of ingredients - including green onions - to prep

It turned out great!

Kansas Maid for Breakfast

Here in the Flint Hills it is the season for working calves, moving cattle, and burning pastures. Just when I thought things would slow down after calving season and feeding hay two times a day, its just a change of chores. But the days go on and with daughter joining us on the ranch operation that means more help for more work. After a long afternoon and evening of burning pastures everyone was tired, so when rancher-husband asked what the plans were for the next day, new-to-ranching son-in-law said maybe it would be a good day to relax. So, rancher-husband said "Good idea, we'll just move cattle"!



To get the cattle moving day off to a good start, I served a full breakfast of hash brown and egg casserole, fruit with yogurt, and our favorite Kansas Maid braided bread. The bread is one of our local specialities, made in northern Greenwood County and mainly sold as a fund raiser for various youth groups and schools. Luckily the County 4-H Council had just had a fund raiser and my supply in the freezer is good. If it gets low between 4-H sales, I sometimes make a trip to the small grocery store near the production site, the only place that sells the bread retail now.

Kansas Maid bread is a frozen loaf of dough with filling of fruit or cream cheese or cinnamon. Keeps well for months in the freezer, if you don't have occasions to use it, but we like it so well it doesn't last long. To prepare, remove from the freezer and from the plastic package and place on a greased cookie sheet or pan. Let thaw and rise overnight. In the morning, bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes and glaze with the convenient package of frosting that comes with the loaf. How easy is that??!