100 Days of Pinterest: Day 64 - Copycat KFC Coleslaw and Orange Julius Recipes

Hello again. I hope you all are enjoying your summer. The temperatures in Ohio have finally started to hit that summer time high. It makes it difficult to have my oven on for long periods of time, but I still try to bake in the evening.

Since summer is upon us, I've been working on making things that don't involve long oven times. I have even attempted to make some soft caramels. This was a challenge. I ended up making them three times, because I failed the first two times. I have learned that I need a lot of practice with candy making. I used the Good Housekeeping Beer Caramels pin I found for the recipe. The first attempt was runny, because I obviously didn't get them to that 'soft ball' stage correctly. Instead of throwing the batch out, I put it in a mason jar and stuck it in the fridge to be used for ice cream topping. It is actually really good. The second batch was ridiculous. It was at that "almost soft ball" stage and I ended up just tossing it out. I don't like to waste things, but I don't like to hold on to things that irritate me either. I tried one more time, because I'm one of those people who likes to drive themselves nuts by doing it over and over until I get it right or somewhat right. The third and final attempt came out better, but they weren't soft and chewy. They were a little harder, but chewy once you got them warmed up. Sort of like those Riesen candies. Good enough for me. My husband enjoyed them and he took them to work to torture other people with. They liked them too. If only they knew they were supposed to be soft caramels. Oh well!

Since grilling out is not an option during the summer I also made some Copycat KFC Coleslaw to go along with our burgers and hot dogs. When I was pregnant for my younger son, I ate a lot of KFC coleslaw. So, I'm a KFC coleslaw connoisseur of sorts. When I was making this, I kept thinking "this better be good", because I had already had my share of fails with the caramels. I used my Ninja Ultima to get the head of cabbage to the right coleslawy (no, that's not a word...but I'm using it) perfection. I had to put three separate portions through, because I couldn't fit the whole cabbage in at once. It did the trick perfectly though. I got the right consistency. If you don't want to hassle with the cabbage chopping process, you can certainly buy the bag of coleslaw cabbage that is already prepared at the store in the bagged salad section. It would work just as well, but you may want to chop it up a bit more. 

The slaw dressing recipe from the Pin came from Everyday Mom's Meals. It's super simple, but worth the effort. Here's the recipe:

KFC Coleslaw  From Everyday Mom's Meals
1 head cabbage, finely diced
1/4 c. finely diced carrots
2 TBS minced onion
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. mayo
1/4 c. buttermilk
1 1/2 TBS white vinegar
2 1/2 TBS lemon juice

In a large bowl combine cabbage, carrots and minced onion. To prepare dressing, combine sugar, salt, pepper, milk, mayo, buttermilk, vinegar and lemon juice. Whisk until combined. Pour over cabbage mixture.  Mix well. Cover and refrigerate until serving, or overnight. Before serving, garnish with parsley if desired.
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I let the coleslaw sit overnight and when I went to test it the next day it was a little dryer than I'd like. So, I whipped up another batch of the dressing and poured it on. Worked like a charm! Good stuff!

I know buttermilk is not a common item in regular people's refrigerators. If you buy some for this recipe, you can always make buttermilk pancakes with the leftovers or you can try some Oven Baked Buttermilk Chicken Strips. I'm making these tonight, so I can't tell you if they are good yet, but I'm sure they will be yummy. I mean, it's chicken for pete's sake! When is chicken not good?

Since it's hot outside, I also whipped up some Orange Julius drinks in my Ninja blender.  I had one from Burger King the other day (except they call it an Orange Freeze). Since then, I've been hooked. I know the sugar levels in these are high. So, I've been limiting my intake. I am not a big soda drinker. Water is my thing, but it's nice to splurge on these little gems every once in a while. This recipe is super easy to make and a lot cheaper than buying them at the fast food joints. Here's the recipe I used. I'm sure there are better ones out there. If you know of one, please pass it along to me.

 

Orange Julius

Author: Desiree at The 36th Avenue

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 6 Oz Frozen orange juice concentrate
• 2 Cups of Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• ¼th Cup Sugar (more if needed for sweetness)
• 6 to 9 Ice Cubes

Instructions

1. In a blender, combine all of the ingredients. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and enjoy!

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Simple enough, right? I ended up adding a little more sugar, because the orange juice concentrate was super bitter. I'm not one to add loads of sugar to things, but this sucker needed sweetening. I would really like to find a better recipe. So, pass them along if you have them.

I hope you continue to enjoy your week and as always find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. I'd love to get to know you better and share some recipe ideas.

Take care.

NB