A sweet fruit salad named after the apple it features. As long as you can get hold of nice fresh grapes you can make this salad. This serves two as a side, or one as a meal. It’s not a fussy recipe and is easily adjustable to taste. As long as the apples are well coated in yogurt they don’t brown. I make big batches to take to family get-togethers. (To make a big batch use 6-8 Apples, a cup or so of halved grapes, a cup or so of walnuts and almost a whole 32 ounce container of yogurt.) Other apples work as well, though I love the tart crisp Granny the best and all the green is kinda pretty. I’ve also substituted half the apples for fresh pears and that was nice too. I sometimes add a little sliced celery for extra green and extra crunch.

Submitted by BLUEJEM

I get approximately 3 cups of shredded cabbage from half a small head. The other half left unshredded keeps well when tightly wrapped in the refrigerator. We use Splenda to sweeten our slaw and sweeten to taste.

Submitted by BLUEJEM

This is my basic Sweet & Sour stir-fry recipe. I cook this for us fairly often but it is also very versatile and can be easily altered to suit your particular needs or taste. If you like the sauce sharper add more vinegar, if you like it sweeter add more sugar. This recipe is low-sodium, but if you would prefer, you may use regular ketchup and add salt or soy sauce to your taste.

Big Batch Variation: I often do a variation of this recipe in a large batch for family get-togethers. When I’m cooking this for a lot of people I usually cook my sauce first in a big heavy stewpot or dutch oven on the stove. The only difference in the sauce for the big batch is that I add a can of low sodium chicken broth (or homemade) and double the rest of the sauce ingredients, especially the cornstarch, to thicken the extra liquid. I leave the sauce on low in the stew-pot and fry each ingredient separately in my frying pan, adding each one to the stew-pot as I go. I start with the meat until it’s completely cooked and golden brown, then move on through each of the vegetables until everything is cooked and warming in the big pan. I usually do dense vegetables first and delicate ones last to keep the latter from getting overly abused and over done.

Substitutions: You may substitute chicken or even meat-balls made with ground beef or turkey for the pork. If using meatballs cook them separately ahead of time and add them to the vegetables with the pineapple chunks until everything is evenly hot. Preheat the meatballs in the microwave or oven if necessary. I have often done a super sweet version of sweet & sour meatballs for cocktail parties, but it’s not healthy enough for an every-day meal. (You use a little more ketchup and vinegar, and a lot more sugar until the sauce is almost a glaze or syrup.) You may substitute green onions for the regular onions but they cook quicker so add them after the green peppers have had a chance to cook a bit.

Additions: Other additions that work well with this recipe include broccoli, celery, bok choy, zucchini, other sweet peppers, mushrooms, cashews or peanuts. If you add nuts they should be stir-fried too along with the other vegetables to improve their texture.

Submitted by BLUEJEM