Asian noodle crunch salad

I have the privilege of choosing anything I wanted for supper tonight and this is what I decided I wanted. I found this at http://www.food.com/recipe/crunchy-noodle-salad-award-winning-136834

And of course I made a few changes. I'll post the list of ingredients as found in the original recipe.

1 x 12 oz bag of coleslaw mix

2×3 oz Oriental-flavour instant Ramen noodles

1 bunch green onion, chopped

4 oz sesame seeds, toasted (optional)

4 oz slivered almonds, toasted

1/2 cup vegetable or sesame oil

1/3 cup white wine vinegar or cider vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

Here's how we made it:

1 tablespoon onion finely chopped

Mix oil and vinegar, I forgot to add the sugar

Add flavour package from Roman noodles

We used sunflower seeds instead of almonds. Heat 1/2 cup sunflower seeds with 3 tablespoons white sugar over medium heat, until sunflower seeds are toasted and caramelized. Spread on a  glass plate to cool.

Add dressing to coleslaw, let sit for flavors to blend. In the meantime, fry up some chicken, or meat of your choice.

Right before serving the salad crush up the Ramen noodles and sprinkle over the salad. If you haven't already eaten all of the candied sunflower seeds, now would be the time to add them. 

I didn't need sugar because of the candied sunflower seeds. I used yellow onion instead of green onion. And we did sunflower seeds of the almonds.

I wonder if I could maybe have done a little less oil in the oil and vinegar ratio.

The Mess of Mother's Day

This piece was written by a woman named Amy, who writes a blog called The Messy Middle.  I tend to represent the "other" categories of women on a day like today, when many women do not feel as celebratory on Mother's Day day due to their life circumstances. This piece below captures my sentiments exactly:

To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you

To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you

To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you

To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you

To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.

To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you

To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you

To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you

To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you

To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience

To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst

To those who have aborted children – we remember them and you on this day

To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children – we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be

To those who step-parent – we walk with you on these complex paths

To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you

To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you

To those who placed children up for adoption — we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart

And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you

This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.

Peanut Butter Cookie Balls

This is from www.gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/. I've made it once and the girls and I loved them!

Ingredients

1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup ground flaxseed or wheat germ
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
1 Tbsp. chia seeds (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Method

Stir all ingredients together in a medium bowl until thoroughly mixed. Let chill in the refrigerator for half an hour. Once chilled, roll into balls of whatever size you would like. (Mine were about 1" in diameter.) Store in an airtight container and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Makes about 20-25 balls.

Notes: (taken from original post)
Ali’s Tip:

Substitution ideas can abound for just about any of these ingredients! Feel free to substitute in your favorite nut butter (almond butter, sunflower seed butter, etc.) for the peanut butter. And you could also add in some wheat germ in place of some or all of the flaxseed. I would caution, though, against substituting agave nectar for the honey, as the honey’s thickness helps hold things together.

Some other fun substitutions for the chocolate chips (or an addition to them) could include:

chopped dried fruit (apricots, dates, raisins, etc.)
dried berries (cranberries, cherries, etc.)
chopped almonds, pecans, walnuts, or sunflower seeds
other chips (butterscotch, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, M&Ms, etc.)
other grains (different kinds of oatmeal, rice cereal, etc.)

Update: Many of you have asked about substitutions for other ingredients. The joy of these bites being “no bakes” is that this recipe is super flexible. If you end up needing to omit one of the dry ingredients (such as coconut or flax), just add in some extra of whatever other dry ingredient is remaining (for example, the oats). If you feel like your energy bites are too dry, add in extra honey or peanut butter. It’s also not required that you refrigerate these, but I find it helps them stick together much better. And for some reason, I love things like this a little bit chilled. Enjoy!!

Leanne's note:

My friend Nikki suggested this! Sandwich the peanut butter ball between slices of banana! Very delicious!