Sauerkraut Salad

This is such a fun recipe. I found it in a Tamar Myers book and have been making it for nearly 10 years. It's a great way for me to use up sauerkraut that's been open for awhile. I'm the only one in my family that eats the sauerkraut so it takes a long time for me to go through a jar - this recipe gets the whole family eating it up. It's a sweet and sour sort of recipe and really great cold. Because I use leftover sauerkraut, I don't make a full batch. I often use 1 bell pepper, part of an onion and 1 stalk celery. I do make a full batch of dressing and then use what's needed for the salad and have the rest on other veggies or toss into sweet and sour sauce.

Amish Sauerkraut Salad
Salad:
3 cans (16 oz each) sauerkraut, drained and chopped
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 large red onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
Dressing:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup oil
2/3 cups white vinegar
1/3 cups water
1 teas caraway seed, optional
Combine sauerkraut and diced vegetables
Heat dressing ingredients until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is well blended. Pour over the vegetable mixture and toss to combine. Refrigerate 24 hours before serving. If kept in glass container, the salad will keep in the refrigerate for up to two weeks.

German Pizza

Due to illness last week, I don't have really good plans for this week's posts. I promise to get back into the swing of things next week with the product/information tuesdays and new food thursday (I may actually come up with something fun by Thursday).
This recipe is one I found on Kraft's website last fall. It's a rather fun and interesting recipe. I grew up in a german area so there was always sausages and sauerkraut. For this recipe, make sure everything is fairly dry or you will end up with a soggy crust. We buy handmade german sausages which are fairly smoky in flavor. If you buy raw sausages, add water to the pan you are frying them in - just up to 1/2 the sausage side so they will cook evenly. You can use any pizza crust recipe in place of the tubed crust.

German Oktoberfest Pizza
1 tube (13.8 ounces) refrigerated pizza crust
1 pound smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage, cut into 1/4-in. slices
2 teaspoons butter
2 cups leftover or refrigerated mashed potatoes
1 cup sauerkraut, rinsed and well drained
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
Unroll dough into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan; flatten dough and build up edges slightly. Bake at 425° for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute kielbasa in butter until browned. Spread mashed potatoes over crust. Layer with sauerkraut, kielbasa and cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.