Dinnertime, October 28, 2009

I know many of you probably struggle with making good decisions about your diet--I certainly do.  I have come up with a couple ideas that have helped me make better health choices.  Here's one--take a favorite recipe and make some substitutions to make it healthier.  Case in point tonight is my cousin Pam Turbot's (Colorado Pam, not Alabama Pam) Cole Slaw recipe.  Yep it's mainly cabbage, so how bad can that be!  Well, you add in a big glob of mayo and a few spoonfuls of sugar and pretty soon, it's gone from healthy to hazard!!  LOL

So, what I do is substitute skim milk for the mayo and since we have diabetes in my family, I switch from sugar to sweetner.  My family loves Kentucky Fried Chicken's cole slaw and I think this is pretty close!  Here's the original recipe with my changes in parenthesis:

Country Style Cole Slaw
1 cup mayonaisse (1/2 c skim milk--I gradually switched from part mayo/part milk to milk)
3 T sugar (I use Splenda instead)
3 T apple cider vinegar
1.5 t. Salt (I use my friend Lynn's Seasoned Sea Salt herbal blend--just a couple shakes)
3/4 t. dry mustard
8 cups red and white cabbage (I use one bag prepared cole slaw mix)
1.5 cups shredded carrot (I peel and carrot and then using the peeler, slice in some for color)
1 cup sliced green pepper (I use only part of one as Rod isn't a huge fan of green pepper)
1/4 cup sliced green onion (again, Rod's not a big onion fan so I slice up two stalks)
1/4 t. celery seed

In large bowl, combine mayo/milk and all spices and mix well.  Then add all veggies and toss well.  Chill before serving.  Stores well for a couple days.

I would love to have anyone leave comments or other recipe ideas!