Ranch Dressing/Dip

I have not purchased salad dressing at the grocery store for at least 3 months! Making my own dressing has been really easy and super tasty if I do say so myself. This dressing is so thick you could use it as a veggie dip or if you want to thin it out just add a little milk or buttermilk. I adapted this recipe from one found on allrecipes.com. Enjoy!

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon dried chives
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
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In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

Homemade Granola Bars

It's been a while since my last post, the blizzard and school have made a mess of my schedule but hopefully I am back on track this week. We are crazy about granola bars at our house, they are yummy and portable but its hard to find healthy bars at a decent price so I found a recipe and made my own. This recipe is super easy to make and you can basically add your favorite dried fruit, nuts, chocolate etc to the recipe. I made a second batch yesterday and they were a huge hit. Enjoy!

3 - cups quick cooking oatmeal 1 - cup unsalted almonds (chopped in the food processor) 1 - cup golden raisins 1 - cup dried cranberries 1- cup of coconut 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips 2 tsp cinnamon 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk 1/2 - cup butter, melted Preheat oven to 325. Line a 15x10x1 in baking sheet with aluminum foiland spray with non stick baking spray. Stir all the ingredients together ina large bowl. Pour into prepared pan and spread out the mixture.Press down to make it even. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.Cool 5 minutes in the pan then cut into bars. Place the bars on a wire rack and cool completely. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Fish and Chips

This is our version of fish and chips (salmon and sweet potatoes) with a side of brussels sprouts. Little Foodie and my hubby are huge fans of tempura dishes, I usually buy the boxed tempura mix at the grocery store but this time I decided to find a recipe for a tempura-like batter. I adapted this easy recipe for beer batter from one found on allrecipes.com. Enjoy!

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups beer

In a small mixing bowl add flour, egg, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir in 1 cup beer (you can add more than one cup to obtain your desired texture).

Tacos

I love to try new recipes so I rarely make the same dishes over and over but tacos are a favorite at our house so I make them on a pretty regular basis. The pre-packaged taco seasoning have way too much salt and bad stuff in them so I created my own version of the perfect taco! Enjoy!

Ground Beef

Onion (diced)

Ground Cumin

Black Beans

Salsa

Salt and Pepper

Place the ground beef, sprinkled with a few teaspoons of cumin and onion into a pan and brown, once the meat is brown drain it. Add a can of black beans and half a jar of salsa to the meat, season with salt and pepper. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes and enjoy with your favorite tortillas and toppings!

Eggs in a Basket

This was one of my favorites when I was a little girl! I made this dish for Little Foodie and my hubby for breakfast and it was a huge hit! It is super easy to make and it is super tasty. Enjoy!

Bread

Butter

Eggs

salt and Pepper

Use a small glass (I used a shot glass) to cut a hole out of the middle of the bread. Butter the bread on both sides and place on a hot griddle. Crack the egg into the hole and season with salt and pepper. Gently flip the bread to cook both sides and you can break the yoke if you don't like a runny yoke.

Baked Potato Soup

This is soup was soooo yummy and very inexpensive to make. I love to make huge pots of soup so we can enjoy some for dinner and put the rest in the freezer but this soup was so good none of it made it to the freezer. Of course Little Foodie was in love with the soup because it has BACON in it! I adapted this recipe from one found on allrecipes.com. Enjoy!

• 6 bacon strips, diced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 4 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup milk
• Shredded Cheddar cheese
• Sour Cream

In a large saucepan, cook bacon until crisp. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Set bacon aside. Saute onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. Stir in flour, salt, basil and pepper; mix well. Gradually add broth. Bring to boil; boil and stir for 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, milk and some of the bacon; heat through but do not boil. Garnish with the remaining bacon, cheese and sour cream

Snow Cream

We had a nice little snowstorm over the weekend and Little Foodie and I had a little bit of cabin fever. We worked on a ton of craft projects and we made a batch of snow cream. All you need is fresh clean snow, a little milk, some sugar and vanilla; mix it all together and you have a tasty little treat! Enjoy