Wanna See My Mom's Buns?!?

Ha roo, it's me - Zim! Seriously, want to see my mom's buns? Check 'em out:

Ha roo roo roo! Ammy came up with that one for me! Pretty good, huh? Anyroo, Mom made some burger buns and hot dog buns yesterday and I helped. As many of you know, I was named after a Drill Sergeant - and part of my duties include making sure KP duty is done correctly.

More on KP duty in a minute, but here's a side-note to our friends Sunny and Scooter: Yes, I have my own vacuum, but I'm a guy. If you could do sniffies with me, there would be no doubt! It's all part of policing up around here - KP, running the vac, making beds... a drill sergeant's work is never done!

Seriously, I'm a manly pup.

Back to KP duty - I read on Maggie and Mitch's blog about this wonderful cabbage salad they helped their mom make. Our mom makes a similar salad, so I proposed we each post the recipes! Maggie and Mitch put theirs up yesterday; it sounds delicious! Without further ado, here's our mom's:

Cabbage Salad

Two bags of the pre-shredded "deli mix" cabbage, with the added red cabbage and carrots (I don't want to say Mom is lazy for not chopping or shredding her own cabbage...)
Two packages of chicken-flavored ramen
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3 Tablespoons sesame seeds
Mom's secret salad dressing

Break up the ramen into small pieces, making sure some lands on the floor for your helper. Line a small baking sheet with foil (it makes clean-up a lot easier!) and toss the ramen pieces on. Stick that in the toaster oven until lightly browned. You might have to take it out and shake it around, then stick it back in. Set aside to cool. Throw the almonds on the foil-lined sheet and toast those babies up. Set aside to cool. Now take the sesame seeds, throw those on the baking sheet, and hit toast. Watch those - they burn easily.

Get a HUGE bowl and put the bags of cabbage in, along with the ramen, almonds, and 2 tablespoons worth of the sesame seeds. (Retain that other tablespoon!) Pick out a piece of carrot and give it to your helper. Sprinkle ONE packet of the chicken flavoring (the bouillon mix from the ramen package) over the mix. Make Mom's secret salad dressing, pour it over the top, and toss well. Keep in the magic cold box, covered well.

What? You don't know my mom's secret salad dressing recipe? Really? Hmm... what to do, what to do. If I told you... you wouldn't tell anybody what it is, would you? Do you promise not to tell my mom I revealed it to you? Hmmm... OK! Here it is!

Mom's Secret Salad Dressing

1/2 cup canola oil
6 Tablespoons rice vinegar
4 teaspoons sugar (or two packets of Splenda)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Several dashes of Tobasco sauce
That retained Tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds (you did save it, didn't you?)

Put everything in a tall, thin cup and blend REALLY well with one of those stick blender things. If you don't have one of those, use a regular blender. Mom said it's important for the toasted sesame seeds to be all busted up for a burst of flavor. Sometimes Mom adds a smidge of sesame oil. I don't know how much a smidge is. I'd ask, but then she might wonder why I want to know. Remember - mum's the word on this!

I hope you'll give it a try. I can't wait to help Mom make Maggie and Mitch's mom's recipe! For now, I'd best go see if the bed was made correctly!

Play bows,
Drill SGT Zim