My five-year-old son finished preschool today and brought home his “All About Me” book. One of the pages concerned food, and the question asked, “What’s your mother’s favorite food?” He answered, “Salad and peanuts.”

Well, I guess I ought to explain, in case his teacher checks my blog! It’s cole slaw. I’ve become a fanatic lately about cole slaw, which is strange, because I’ve never been that crazy about it.

Most of the cole slaw you buy or see at pot luck suppers is dripping in mayonnaise — uh, no thanks. It’s just soggy cabbage to me, and not at all tasty. But here’s what I’ve discovered. My aging body has become less and less able to handle junk food. If I eat french fries, I feel exhausted an hour later. Same with chips, cookies, anything high carbish. Just can’t eat that way anymore.

These days, when I sit down to eat lunch with my kids, I make myself a huge bowl of this CRUNCHY ALMOND COLE SLAW that is the best stuff! So here I share my non-recipe with you — because really, you just toss a few things into a bowl.

Here’s what you need:

One bag of prewashed cole slaw — the purple and green cabbage is already slivered, and there are lots of sliced carrots in there too.

A jar of cole slaw dressing — the grocery store has it right next to the cole slaw. EASY!

Slivered almonds (or any kind of nuts that go well in a salad, like sunflower seeds)

Grape tomatoes, halved (you have to cut them in half so you make yourself feel special)

Pepper! (Lots of pepper! Freshly milled!)

Here’s the secret. You only use about a tablespoon of the slaw dressing. So that keeps the cabbage crispy. The carrots are so yummy this way — you forget that you’re eating a bowl full of raw vegetables. Mix all this together to taste, and sprinkle lots of pepper on. I love pepper — on just about everything. The freshly milled kind will get your tastebuds going.

If you’ve never been a cole slaw fan, try this. Especially if you’re addicted to eating something crunchy with your soup or sandwich at lunch. Instead of potato chips or french fries, try this cole slaw.

An hour after lunch, instead of feeling sleepy, you’ll have energy! This really works. (Especially if you don’t drink coffee or diet soda with your lunch — but that’s another blog post).

Thank you for reading this. I’m so sad about preschool ending that it made me feel better to come sit down and tap out something that may help someone else who’s struggling with energy and weight gain like me.

Love you!
Heather