Healthy Friday

Makes a return with Apple, Mandarin Orange Pear and Feta Salad with Orange Poppy Seed Dressing 
Cook's Notes: This salad has it all- delicious flavors, bright colors, a variety of textures; salty, sweet and tangy. There's  much to like about this salad and it's healthy!
There are several ingredients that can be interchanged making it also versatile. Another dressing option is Vidalla Onion Poppy seed.
The salad was paired with cranberry orange muffins and really a perfect main course. 
Recipe serves 4 and was adapted from cookingclassy.com   

Salad Ingredients:

• Baby spinach or a mixture of romaine and spinach
• 1 small can of mandarin oranges, drained and patted dry or 2 small clementines, peeled and segmented 
• 2 small red Gala or Honeycrisp apples. diced with skin on 
• 2 Bosc or Bartlett pears, skin off and diced
• 1 cup pecan, toasted and roughly chopped
• 3/4 cup feta or goat cheese crumbles
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries  

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 TB. Dijon mustard
• 3 TB. honey
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 tsp. poppy seeds
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Toss salad ingredients in a large bowl.
• Mix and blend all dressing ingredients in a blender.
• Taste dressing to see if changes are needed.  

Cranberry Orange Muffins
Cook's Notes: Instead of a traditional muffin pan I used a pan that makes square muffins.  Finding this product was a huge time saver. It was in the produce department.   

 I substituted orange juice for the water and added 1 tsp. of cinnamon to the batter.  The baking time was 18 minutes. 

November is Native American Heritage Month  

Established by former President George Bush Sr. in 1990, Native American Heritage Month, also referred to as “American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month,” was created to raise awareness and pay tribute to the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans by providing a platform for Native people in the United States of America to share their culture, traditions, music, crafts, dance, and ways and concepts through special events, ceremonies and festivals. 
Federal Agencies are encouraged to provide educational programs for their employees regarding Native American history, rights, culture and contemporary issues, to better assist them in their jobs and for overall awareness.

This year, in recognition of Native American Heritage Month, I will be featuring a variety of resources, special programs, books, teacher resources and recipes that highlight their heritage. I found this a helpful link. http://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/index.html