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How to Make Easy Coleslaw

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Trader Joe's Shreadding Cabbage for Coleslaw

Trader Joe’s Shreadding Cabbage for Coleslaw

We enjoy coleslaw almost year round in Tucson. Maybe it is the heat (yes… very likely) but it could be because we just love all the contrasts: crunchy veggies and creamy sweet-tangy dressing.  And we also like how flexible the salad is (you could eat it regular style, or experiment with stuff like apples or celery – whatever you liked).

Shopping at Trader Joe’s makes it easy to love coleslaw. They have the cabbage already sliced up in the bag, ready for what every dressing you wish.

Also when you make the dressing from scratch yourself, you will be amazed at how wonderful it tastes and you will not have another bottle in the fridge with some half-used up dressing for who- know- how- long!  (Then you have to guess if it is still fresh?? Eeks! This stuff is so simple to make you will just love it.

Here is a recipe for an easy, basic, Coleslaw Dressing (all measurements are guessed as I was just tossing them in the bowl…. Sorry….)

Goodies from Trader Joe's

Goodies from Trader Joe’s

What you need (for the dressing):

  • 1Tablespoon sugar
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup mayo
  • celery seed (optional, but AWESOME)
  • Salt and pepper

1 bag shredded cabbage.

How to:

1. Add the sugar and the vinegar into a bowl and whisk together until the sugar dissolves, 1 minute. Then add the mayo and some salt and pepper. Whisk again until smooth and creamy.

Whisking the sugar and vinegar for a minute

Whisking the sugar and vinegar for a minute

Add mayo and whisk until smooth

Add mayo and whisk until smooth

2. Toss ¾ of the dressing with the cabbage in a large bowl.  Then see if you need more dressing for your taste. (I usually add all of it). Taste some cabbage and see if you need more salt or pepper.

WOW that is it!!  We like to make our Coleslaw up a few hours before we serve it, just to allow the flavors to blend together.

Variations:

  • Add a teaspoon (or more) of Trader Joe’s Taco seasoning for a SW coleslaw
  • Add grated apples or sliced celery to the cabbage
  • Add grated carrots or sliced sweet onions to cabbage for color and sweetness

We hope you enjoyed seeing how easy it is to make coleslaw from scratch- how do you like to eat coleslaw? Do you add any wild ingredients or are you a classic coleslaw person??

Leave us a comment below and tell all!

Trader Joe’s Wine: Winnefred Chardonnay, 2009

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Trader Joe's Wine: Winnefred Chardonnay, 2009

Trader Joe's Wine: Winnefred Chardonnay, 2009

A Wine Moment with Delaina…the sipping continues….

Our Trader Joe’s had a Chardonnay that caught my eye the other day…. 

Winnefred Chardonnay 2009 was sitting on an end-cap, just calling me over. I am not sure what attracted me to the wine– if it was the “sassy” State Fair label (I love the State Fair) or the fact that it was $5.99, or maybe we (the bottle and myself) were just at the right place at the right time….

What I do know is what made me put it in the cart and take it home with me.

It was the label’s self description. Ok ….wait before you scoff…. let me quote some of the label. “A Stunning Chardonnay with notes of cinnamon toast, Clementine orange, honey, and pistachio hint at future pie-eating titles! As Winnefred walks away with the gold, we’ll relish this wine’s citrus-driven finish of ripe pear, fennel and lemon oil.”

Now how could I have passed that up.  Seriously!

I am after all a red wine drinker because I like complexity. So even though this wine is white it sounded and is complex.

I agree with the label’s self description, and maybe it was the power of suggestion but I think I even tasted the notes of cinnamon toast.

The label suggest pair this wine with pizza (and I would add pasta in general), BBQ chicken or pesto flatbread (all of these items, are deliciously found at Trader Joe’s).

I would also add that many dishes from India would pair nicely with this wine (I have not tried that just for the record. It just made me think,  hey this would be good with Chana Masala,  as I was drinking it.)

Check out my wine video for more information:

Thanks Trader Joe’s!  It is love at first… sip once again!

Cheers,

Delaina

Easy Strawberry Shortcake

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Easy Strawberry Shortcake

Easy Strawberry Shortcake

I always love to see ripe berries when I go to Trader Joe’s.  There is just something so “summery” about seeing all those containers of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. Recently our Trader Joe’s in Tucson had the nicest looking strawberries. We even purchased two containers thinking…wow the look sooo good!

One plan that was starting to form in my mind on the way back from the store… strawberry shortcake!  While we did not have all the ingredients on hand for traditional strawberry shortcake, we think you will agree that the ones we made were, in their own special way, just marvelous.

Great items from Trader Joe's

Great items from Trader Joe's

What made our strawberry shortcake so unique? Well, we started by using the Trader Joe’s Baking Mix to make our shortcakes (great and easy shortcut!), and then we substituted Vanilla flavored thick Greek yogurt for the whipped cream (a decadent tasting substitute that is for sure!)

What you need:

Scones:

  • 1 ½ cups Trader Joe’s baking mix
  • 3 Tablespoons Sugar + extra for sprinkling (Trader Joe’s granulated Sugar)
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter (cold)
  • 1/3 cup milk (Trader Joe’s whole milk)
  • Dash Trader Joe’s pure vanilla extract

Trader Joe’s  0% Fat, Vanilla Greek Yogurt

Strawberries

How to:

Scones

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Measure baking mix into a bowl, and add the cold butter. Use your fingers to pinch and rub the butter into the baking mix, until it disappears. Add the sugar and mix lightly.

2. Measure out the milk and add a dash of vanilla extract to it. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until a soft dough forms.  Divide into 4 parts and spoon onto a foil lined baking pan (I sprayed mine with non-stick cooking spray first). Make sure you leave some room between these shortcakes- they really grew in the oven! Sprinkle the tops with sugar

3. Bake in the oven until fully cooked, about 10 minutes.  The next time I make these, I am going to leave them in the oven for a few minutes more- I would have liked them to be a bit more golden.   Let them cool to room temperature before you serve them

Strawberries

1. Wash, trim and slice the strawberries while the shortcakes bake.  Toss in a small bowl with a spoonful of sugar- and a dash of vanilla if you like (my secret ingredient).

To make your strawberry shortcakes:

Cut your shortcake in half, and place on a plate. Spoon some strawberries on top and then a spoonful of the yogurt. Add the top of the shortcake and more strawberries and yogurt.

Another way to serve these is to place some strawberries in a dish and crumble the shortcake on top and then add a scoop of yogurt.

These were simply fantastic- and the best part was that we had most of the ingredients in the house already – No special trip back to the store (Thanks Trader Joe’s!)

Give this easy recipe a try and let us know what you think!

Trader Joe’s Olive Tapenade

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Trader Joe's Olive Tapenade

Trader Joe's Olive Tapenade

We found a wonderful new (to us) product at Trader Joe’s this week: Trader Joe’s Olive Tapenade: Traditional.  We have tried a Trader Joe’s tapenade item before, but it was discontinued last year and we have not found another product to take its place- until now.

This wonderful product (which is found in the refrigerated case near the salsa and hummus) is an excellent version of a tapenade.  There are nice big pieces of olives, pimentos and garlic in this spread giving a lot of flavor in each bite.  This is one of those yummy items to have in your frigid to add some pizzazz to an ordinary meal or snack

Are you familiar with the many ways to use Tapenade?   Here are a few ways we like to enjoy this Trader Joe’s Olive Tapenade:

  • Spread thinly on a cracker or slice of bread
  • Tossed with hot pasta and Parmesan cheese
  • Spooned onto a piece of baked fish after cooking
  • As a dip with vegetables
  • But our favorite is in a  cold pasta salad!

This is how we used our container of Trader Joe’s Olive Tapenade. We bought all the ingredients at Trader Joe’s as well- So easy and convenient! First we cooked some whole wheat pasta,  then sliced some cherry tomatoes in ½, added a can of garbanzo beans, sliced some green onions and used the Olive Tapenade and some Balsamic Vinegar as the dressing. We mixed everything all together and …. well…. YUM!

The pasta salad was very colorful and all those flavors combined overnight and the next day the  pasta salad was just fantastic!

Do you like Tapenade? Have you tried this item? What did you think?