Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dip with Greek Yogurt

My apologies for the shadow in the picture. The lens on my camera isn't working at all right now. Until I get to a local camera shop to have it fixed, my blog photos will come from the iphone 4. I promise not to make them too artsy with Instagram.

I am NOT anti-ranch dressing/dip at all.  If it gets my son to eat broccoli, it's fine with me. He's still eating broccoli. How many of us grown-ups regularly eat steamed or raw veggies with no oil, butter, dip, or salt? That's what I thought :) OK, that's not my point. We are a family that loves to dip our veggies. The kids even like to dip everything, not just veggies.  I decided that my job as a mom was not to protect them from the delicious flavor of veggies dipped in ranch. Instead, it is to make sure that they get some quality ingredients from their dips. I do have bottles of thousand island and bbq sauce in my fridge because I'm sometimes missing an ingredient or two for a homemade dip. And some nights I either forget or run out of time to mix up something, but I really do try to make most of their dips. It helps that most commercial ranch dressing gives my son a rash around his mouth, so I have to make the real stuff.

I kept seeing ideas on Pinterest for ranch dip using Greek yogurt. We love greek yogurt and it tastes like sour cream, so I figured it was worth a shot. Ranch dressing packets are pretty expensive, so I decided to use some spices I had around the house to make a dip.  I ended up adding a little bit of buttermilk. I keep it on hand because I cook and bake with it quite a bit. If you leave it out, the dip should be fine.  When I tasted the dip, something was missing...lemon juice. I was out of lemons and didn't feel like thawing the one of the cubes of Meyer lemon juice from the freezer, so I grabbed my Penzeys lemon pepper seasoning. It was perfect! I think this will become a permanent addition to my ranch recipes. This ended up being very kid and adult friendly. We had some for snack and with dinner. Now I need to make more!

As you can see from the picture, my son couldn't keep his fingers out of the dip, even while I was taking pictures.

Just in case you are looking for more dips and dressings to make from scratch, here is a list of some of the recipes I've posted:

Thousand Island Dressing
Parmesan Peppercorn Ranch 
Peanut Sauce (really good with chicken)
Blue Cheese (my favorite)
Honey Mustard

Ranch Dip
Makes 1 cup

1 cup Greek yogurt
1 - 2 tablespoons buttermilk (I used 2)
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon salt (start with 1/4 and add more if you need it)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon lemon pepper (or 1 teaspoon lemon juice + 1/8 teaspoon pepper)

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to use.

My Favorite Chocolate Cake

I know that "favorite" is a strong word. But I mean it when I say that this is my favorite chocolate cake.  Last fall, I was on a very low carb diet. It worked, but at the end of 8 weeks, I really, really wanted chocolate cake. When my chocolate cake craving was at it's peak, friends invited us over for dinner. That's when I discovered this cake. I've made it at least 4 times since November- which is a lot for a cake this rich.  It is a simple recipe- it's the one off the back of the Hershey's Cocoa can. I had the "Special Dark" cocoa the first time I made this, and loved it, so that's the type of cocoa I've been using. The cake is almost black inside because there is so much cocoa.  The recipe calls for vegetable oil. I decided to use coconut oil because it makes more moist baked goods. Just make sure you melt the coconut oil first....otherwise you will be mixing forever. I also use the frosting recipe on the back of the can. You don't even need a mixer for it since the butter is melted.  Once this frosting is cooled in the fridge, it is really hard to work with. I like to bake the cakes in the evening and wrap them in plastic wrap overnight. Then I mix up the frosting in the morning and frost the cake as soon as I've made the chocolate frosting. To add a little something extra, you can be creative with toppings. The one pictured has shaved white chocolate on top. I've considered trying a peanut butter frosting recipe for the middle of the cake. I think my next experiment will be toasted coconut on top. My husband doesn't like coconut, so I guess that means more cake for me!

Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake
from Hersheys.com 

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use unbleached)
3/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark cocoa
1  1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk (whole milk)
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
Frosting (recipe follows)

1) Heat oven to 325 (cakes cook more evenly at 325 than 350). Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2) Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat with a mixer, on medium speed 2 minutes (start on low, otherwise you'll have cocoa powder all over your kitchen...true story). Stir in boiling water. The batter will be very thin. Pour into cake pans.
3) Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pans. Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting
makes 2 cups of frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
2/3 cup Hershey's Special Dark cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency. Add a small amount of milk, if the frosting is too thick. Stir in vanilla.

Rainbow Veggies

My friend Kayla sent me this recipe a few months ago.  Once I made it, I was kicking myself for not making it sooner! It was really easy and tasted amazing.  I served it with a sweet pork tenderloin (recipe coming soon, I hope). The leftover veggies were really good with eggs and sausage the next morning. This wasn't the most kid-friendly side dish for my kids. My daughter loved the purple potatoes and my son ate enough bell peppers to get a second serving of pork. My kids tend to me more into broccoli, carrots, spinach (my son), corn, peas, sweet potato, winter squash, and green beans. This was the perfect side dish for my husband and  I- especially since everything except for the purple potatoes is in season in Florida right now, so it was cheap and really fresh. The original recipe called for vidallia onions. I accidentally left them out and thought it turned out great without them.  I may add cauliflower next time since I've recently discovered how amazing roasted cauliflower is! The biggest change I made from the original recipe was the cooking time. It called for cooking everything together for 40 - 45 minutes. I knew that in my oven the peppers would burn and the squash would be "mushy." Since we prefer crisp peppers and squash, I changed the cooking time a little bit.  I will definitely make this again while these veggies are cheap and in season!

Rainbow Veggies

Serves 3 adults

1 red bell pepper

1 orange bell pepper

1 yellow squash

1 zucchini

4 – 6 small purple potatoes (I used what was in a bag of mixed potatoes)

Olive oil

Seasoned Salt

1) Heat oven to 400.

2) Quarter the small potatoes and cut other veggies to roughly the same size.  

3) Toss the potatoes in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season generously with seasoned salt. Bake for 15 minutes. 

4) Add remaining vegetables, 1 more tablespoon of olive oil, and season with more seasoned salt. Bake for 15 minutes. 

Hawaiian Chicken Tacos

I made up this recipe when we ended up with 2/3 can of leftover pineapple after making Hawaiian pizza last week.  I love teriyaki chicken with pineapple, but wanted to find something more creative (and a little more kid-friendly) than stir-fry. Somewhere along the line, Hawaiian chicken tacos were born.  They were a hit at my house with all 4 of us. Even my 3 year-old who is normally very anti-burrito or taco, gobbled up a chicken, cheese, and pineapple burrito. I think this is going to make it into our normal meal rotation! I decided to save a few calories for ice cream after the gym, so I skipped the tortilla on mine and made lettuce wraps.  My husband, son, and I topped our tacos with a little bit of sweet chili sauce, it added the perfect amount to spice and sweetness to the recipe.

Hawaiian Chicken Tacos
Serves 4

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 tablespoon olive or grapeseed oil
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce (I used one from food.com)
1 can pineapple chunks, in juice
12 fajita-sized flour tortillas
shredded lettuce
4 oz shredded colby jack cheese
Sweet chili sauce (optional)

1) Heat the olive and sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook until chicken is no longer pink inside (about 10-12 minutes).
2) Add teriyaki sauce, and simmer for 5 minutes over medium-low heat.
3) To assemble taco: place chicken in the bottom of a tortilla, top with pineapple, lettuce, cheese, and sweet chili sauce.

Grain-Free Granola

I am NOT on a paleo, gluten-free, grain-free, or super low carb diet, and I don't have plans to follow one of those. I do however, have several friends who for health reasons limit or have completely cut grains or gluten out of their diets, so I enjoy reading recipes on different paleo and traditional food websites. I've been following a lower carb diet since September, but for me, it's mostly meant eating less sugar and not having seconds (or thirds) on bread. Because of this, I've experimented with a few grain free recipes, some have been successful and others not so much.
Growing up and throughout college, breakfast was never much of a priority for me. I'm not a morning person, so I tend to sleep as late as I can, which meant a quick breakfast. Over the last few years, I've discovered how much I love breakfast...except for cereal.  I am the queen of buying a box of cereal, eating 2 bowls, then never touching it again. I get bored with them. I also really dislike cereal that gets soggy in milk. But my #1 problem with cereal: it never keeps me full for more than an hour, so I end up having a much larger snack than I usually would in the morning. One day, while avoiding laundry, I did a search for grain-free cereals, just to see what was out there.  I came across a recipe that used nuts, coconut, coconut oil, dried fruit, and honey (this is NOT a low fat recipe).  I had all of the ingredients except for some of the nuts and the flaked coconut.  The original recipe called for almonds, walnuts, and macadamia nuts.  I had almonds and walnuts, but found the macadamia nuts to be way too expensive, so I used hazelnuts. I would also rather use pecans than walnuts (personal preference), but since I already had the walnuts, I decided to use them since they were already in my freezer and therefore, free food.  I used my food processor to grind the hazelnuts and walnuts, so the recipe took very little time to prepare. While the cereal was baking, I even managed to unload and reload the dishwasher, and throw dinner into the crock pot!
My husband and I both loved this cereal. I was very surprised when I came home and found my husband snacking on it- he doesn't like coconut, so I assumed I'd be eating the whole batch by myself.  We both had a 1/2 cup for breakfast the next morning with milk and bananas. I usually have a snack around 10:00, but didn't feel hungry until 11:00 (we have breakfast at 6:30). My husband said it kept him full until lunch time. This recipe is a keeper. I look forward to experimenting with different nuts and dried fruits for variety.


Grain Free Granola
Adapted from Paleo Parents
Makes about 13 servings, 1/2 cup each

1 1/2 cups sliced or slivered almonds
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
1 cup walnuts (or pecans) finely chopped or ground into a meal
1 cup hazelnuts finely chopped or ground into a meal
1/2 cup fresh dates, diced
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup honey
2 teaspoons, cinnamon

1) Preheat oven to 275.  Combine nuts, coconut flakes, dates, and cranberries in a large bowl.
2) Whisk together oil, cinnamon, and honey in a small bowl.
3) Pour oil-honey mixture over the nuts, coconut, dates, and cranberries. Mix well.
4) Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
5) Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes to prevent burning.
6) Allow to cool on paper towels or coffee filters. Store in an air tight container.

Simple Salmon

We love salmon. I've been wanting to find a recipe that is a little lighter than my usual salmon recipe. This is about as light and simple as it gets.  It's also easy- no marinating and no sauce to make.  The first time I made this, I used 1 pound of salmon for the 4 of us.  My son almost cried when we told him that he couldn't have seconds because there wasn't enough salmon.  I finally understand why cookbooks tell you to plan on 6 ounces of fish per person. I buy a little extra salmon for 2 reasons: 1) I remove the skin, and I'm not good at that, so we lose a little bit of salmon, and 2) we have a dog who loves table scraps.  When I made this last week, I had 1.9 pounds of salmon. All 4 of us ate as much as we wanted and Lucy (our dog) ate less dog food that night because she got a nice piece of salmon.  Next time I will shoot for 1.5 pounds. I use wild salmon, but that is just what my husband and I prefer. The market where I bought my fish charged $1 more per pound for the wild salmon than it did for the farm raised. Our side dishes were corn on the cob and roasted potatoes cut to look like thick potato chips. I don't have exact amounts for the seasoned salt or lemon pepper, use the amount that looks right to you. You can always add more if you need to.

Simple Salmon

serves 4

24 ounces of salmon, skin removed

2 tablespoons oil (I used grapeseed)

2 teaspoons seasoned salt

1 teaspoon lemon pepper 

1) Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat for 4 minutes. Sprinkle half of the seasoned salt and lemon pepper evenly over one side the salmon. 

2) Cook the salmon, seasoned side down for 5 minutes. Season the other side with the remaining seasoned salt and lemon pepper. Turn and cook for 5 more minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

3) Add additional salt and pepper, to taste. Serve with lemon wedge, if desired. 

Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza

Right now my son is pretty adventurous when it comes to trying new foods. He also really likes, pizza, cheeseburgers, bacon, and barbecue sauce.  I decided that I could easily combine those things and make a bacon cheeseburger pizza.  I made one pizza for the 4 of us.  It was just enough, no leftovers.  We were planning on going out for dessert that night, so we all saved room.  If dessert hadn't been part of the plan, I would have needed more pizza.  We only had spicy barbecue sauce in the house, so I decided to make a small batch of my own for the pizza. I'm so glad I did!  The sweet taste from the barbecue sauce went really well with the saltiness of the bacon, cheese, and ground beef. This is definitely being added to the list of things I will make again soon!

Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza

3/4 cup barbecue sauce (recipe follows)
1 1-pound ball pizza dough
4 bacon strips, cooked, drained, and crumbled
1/2 pound ground beef
seasoned salt
Worcestershire sauce
Shredded cheddar and monterey jack cheese (as much as you want)

1) Preheat oven to 375. Roll out pizza dough to desired thickness.  Bake at 375 for 5 minutes (for thin crusts) or 10 minutes (for thicker crusts).
2) While dough is baking, brown ground beef. Add seasoned salt and worcestershire sauce, to taste. Drain ground beef.
3) After the dough bakes for a few minutes, remove from oven.  Top with pizza sauce, 1/2 of the cheese, all of the ground beef, and remainder of the cheese. Sprinkle bacon on top.
4) Bake at 375 for 10 more minutes.

Barbecue Sauce
Makes 3/4 cup

2/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon mustard (I used dijon)
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a small pan.  Heat over medium-low heat until sauce is warm.