Average Jane

Average Jane Makes Coleslaw

I've been a Kansas Citian my entire life - and the fact that I technically live in a Kansas City suburb now doesn't change that.

One of the staples of my formative years was the creamy coleslaw from Jack Stack and similar local barbecue restaurants. This is not at all a healthy veggie side dish, but it's delicious, so I've been working on trying to make a reasonable facsimile at home.

I found this recipe on Pinterest that appears to be the real deal. However, it turns out to be too sweet for my taste and the dressing preparation seems a little off, so I've been tinkering with it a bit. I think I've finally landed on a version that seems right to me.

Creamy Coleslaw, Kansas City BBQ Style

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup of sugar
2 tsp. celery seed
1 tbsp. minced onion
1/4 cup carrot, peeled and grated
1 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing
2 quarts (1.5 lbs.) shredded or finely chopped green cabbage

For the dressing, combine sugar, apple cider vinegar and onion in a blender or food processor and run for 20 seconds or until sugar is no longer gritty. Add Miracle Whip and process for another 20 seconds. Add celery seed and blend for a couple of seconds until mixed in. Put the cabbage and carrot in a large bowl and mix in dressing until vegetables are thoroughly coated. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This makes quite a bit (although I would dispute the "serves 10-12" notation on the original recipe). For the two of us, I've been halving the recipe with good success. 

Average Jane Starts Over

I kicked off 2020 with a very ambitious yet manageable plan for making my house more livable. And it worked! For the first few months I followed my spreadsheet and did a lot of bite-sized projects and a few big ones.

After I started working from home in March, I got away from the weekly cadence, but I still managed to eke out projects here and there. All told, I completed 25 of my planned projects and skipped 27. I also ended up doing certain things I wouldn't have thought of at the first of the year, like making my patio and deck more inviting. Priorities change, so rolling with new ones just makes sense.

Last year was rough, and just getting my work done for my job and feeding us every day used up a lot of my mental energy. If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's the importance of resting when you need it. I feel pretty triumphant about accomplishing everything I did get done.

So, back on the horse, right?

In anticipation of another year of spending most of my time at home, I made another spreadsheet for 2021 so I can pick up where I left off. Actually, I'm basically just starting over, with a few tweaks. 

A lot of last year's progress will serve to make this year's tasks easier, and there's still no hurry to get to the tasks I missed the first time around. A few items were going to need to be done every year anyway (pantry rearrangement, anyone?) and I added some new ones to reflect changes in the way we're living in the house.

What I learned was that small goals and incremental changes really work for me. Let's see if I can beat my record from this year and make my living space that much nicer.