Creamy Italian Dressing
I m slightly embarrassed to admit how much I ve been using this dressing since I made it last week. I ve been putting it on literally EVERYTHING. Gahhh! Sandwiches, pasta salads, spinach salads you name it! But it makes everything taste that much better, I promise. Truthfully, with summer approaching I was looking for a bomb pasta salad dressing. I love keeping a big bowl of veggie filled pasta salad in the refrigerator all summer long to have something healthy to eat in a pinch. I kept coming back to how much I really enjoyed the dressing at Olive Garden so I started searching for a knock-off, then tweaked it to fit ingredients that I liked (no vegetable oils, Italian seasoning packets, etc.) What I found so crazy about some of the knockoffs is they were suggesting using an Italian Seasoning Packet. Doesn t that kind of defeat the purpose of a homemade dressing? When I checked out the ingredients in Hidden Valley s Farmhouse Original Homestyle Italian packet guess what the FIRST ingredient was? SUGAR! Am I the only one who thinks something just doesn t add up about that?
Making your own seasoning is super easy and only requires about 2 minutes. Who knew, seriously!?! A few teaspoons of
this and that, whiz it together, and you re done. Simple, easy, and delicious! Not only is this dressing delicious as soon as you make it, it actually gets better and better the longer it sits. 2-3 days later the taste will change ever so slightly each day to give you a robust and classic Italian Dressing taste that you can use in a number of ways (believe me, more recipes to come using this dressing). I also noticed each day the amount of spice from the red pepper flakes died down, so if you aren t a fan of a touch of spice I would suggest making this a few days in advance to let it chill out before using it. Just a note this dressing does include 3 Tablespoons of mayo, which is kind of an issue because most store bought mayo contains a bunch of nasty, unnecessary ingredients. For a really long time I avoided mayo all together because I ve *heard* making your own is kind annoying and the results aren t exactly great. I was never a mayo fanatic, but in a recipe like this it is kind of crucial. Fortunately I found an organic brand that doesn t contain anything weird (no preservatives at all), and uses expeller pressed soybean oil. Being that I don t use mayo that often, I ll take it! If you are looking for a store bought mayo I would suggest looking for one that doesn t contain anything you can t pronounce, and uses and expeller-pressed oils, which aren t as highly refined as their counterparts. I just recently found this product (Wegman s Brand Organic Mayonnaise) and it was the first store bought mayo I have found that I was comfortable with buying. With that being said, Thank You Wegman s for making all my mayo dreams come true!
Homemade Ranch Dressing-mayo free We have all seen recipes claiming to be the best ever. I hesitate to call any recipe that because it is a little bit gimmicky. I m sure at least one of those best ever recipes really wasn t! However, if I were to start coining that term, this would be the recipe I d start with. It truly is like no other ranch you ve had. It is better a lot better! If you ve been going the Hidden Valley route, fear not you ll never want to eat that crap again after tasting real ranch dressing. Real ranch dressing that doesn t contain genetically modified soybean oil or any of it s friends, like EDTA or MSG. The truth is, those ingredients don t have to be in any dressing, including ranch. So instead of hitting up the middle of the grocery store just grab yourself a container of sour cream and a few spices and you will be all set to make your own ranch dressing.
This recipe is going to give you a dry mix of ranch dressing spices. All you need to do is simply add the spices to 1/4 cup of sour cream, and 1/4 of a cup of milk and stir. When you want fresh dressing, no need to measure all the spices out again. Just grab your pre-mixed ranch spices and add them to the sour cream and milk. You ll have enough for that day, and maybe one or two more servings depending on how much you love ranch! You may be wondering, where s the mayo? Well mayo is kind of the same thing as bottled ranch dressing. It also contains soybean oil, preservatives, and other stuff that doesn t need to be there. That is why I choose not to use mayo in my household at all. I ve simply substituted sour cream instead of using mayo because sour cream doesn t contain any random ingredients or additives. The simpler the better!
I just knew everyone was dying to know what my fingernails look like. I asked my husband to be the hand model but his hands just aren t as pretty as mine (he is a construction worker). Well, here mine are in all of their unpainted and unmanicured glory. This is what life looks like with 3 kids people. No time for fingernail painting! Maybe someday Everything You Need To Know About Making Your Own Chicken Stock First, I should say I m really excited about this one! If I had to choose one item I make from scratch that simply makes me happy it is my chicken stock. There is something really amazing about creating a flavorful and versatile ingredient to use in soups, casseroles, meat dishes, and so many other foods, all while knowing it is nourishing and simple. I actually feel guilty for ever purchasing this in a box because doing it yourself is a really rewarding experience.
To be honest, there was always something that disgusted me about boxed stocks. Not only do boxed stocks smell and taste weird, they also contain MSG. I have yet to find a boxed stock or bullion cube that doesn t contain some form of MSG, even the organic versions. If you are on the lookout for MSG in products like these, it will be labeled as Monosodium Glutamate, Autolyzed Yeast, or Yeast Extract. Even products that use the phrase No MSG added on their packaging are most certainly using a different source of the same thing. I stay far away from MSG because I simply don t want to be mind tricked into craving something. I want my body to crave what it needs, not what an additive is making me think I need.
When I began working in restaurants I realized the people really doing things from scratch were making their own stocks. Don t get me wrong, there are some places that sell so much soup that it just isn t a feasible thing to do, but in the chef world using stock bases is really frowned upon. Why? Because making your own is kind of like an art form. It is also budget friendly because employees can collect all of their onion, celery, and carrot scraps and create something out of them. Talk about not wasting anything! Making stock in your home is just as easy, and if you save onion peels, carrot scraps, and the parts of celery you aren t using you could very well create a nice stock out of it if you have enough. My family doesn t collect enough scraps to use scraps alone, but you may or may not find a random bag of onion peels in my refrigerator! There are various ways to do this, but I prefer to make a meal out of it as well, which means I use a whole chicken. I do remove the meat about 45 minutes in, but that way I have meat to make meals with the stock. I also leave the skin on for
flavor and if the chicken came with the giblets I will use them as well. The more you can throw in there, the better! Essentially you put everything into a large pot (I use an 8 Qt. KitchenAid stock pot), cover it with water, bring to a boil, and let it do it s thing. There is nothing labor intensive about it, it just takes a long time. I let mine simmer for at least 6 hours. When I do this, I am not planning on using the chicken or the stock that day. If I am feeling really adventurous I might put the pot on the stove that morning and use the stock for dinner, but most of the time I use it the next day and freeze the remains in jars for various uses. The best part about making your own stock is you will have a freezer stash of stock to put into your other meals! This is a really basic recipe so you can pull this out of the freezer and add other herbs and spices to it to match the recipe you are using. Other then a whole chicken, I use onions, carrots, bay leaves, black peppercorns, and salt in my stock. I don t keep celery on hand but if you do I would suggest adding some. Other options to throw it are garlic cloves and fresh herbs. If you want to throw herbs in there, I d go with thyme, rosemary, and parsley. This will liven your stock up a bit but I ve made it in a pinch with no herbs and still got a beautiful stock. However, like I said this is a basic stock you can use for anything. As far as chopping your onions and carrots, just roughly chop them into big chunks and throw them in. Putting everything together literally takes less than 10 minutes. While the stock is cooking you may notice some stuff floating to the top of the pot. Just take a ladle and scoop it out. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don t. When the stock is finished I strain everything out of it, keep the carrots, and throw the rest away. Straining it is really easy, I use a large colander over a large stainless steel bowl and carefully pour. I ve gone through pretty much the whole process, so here is
the recipe with directions. Homemade Chicken Stock 1 whole chicken 3-4 bay leaves About 1 Tablespoon whole black peppercorns 2 large onions 5-6 large carrots 3 celery stocks optional: garlic cloves (2-3), fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, parsley) 1 Tablespoon Kosher or Pink Himalayan Salt ( added at the end) Freshly cracked black pepper to taste (added at the end) Roughly chop onions and carrots. Put them into the pot along with all other ingredients except salt. Fill with water to cover everything and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for a few minutes then turn heat down and cover. While covered, allow pot to be simmering, but not at a rolling boil. About 45 minutes in remove chicken meat from bones for use later in soups and meals. Put all bones back into pot. Cook for 4-6 hours, checking pot frequently and making sure ingredients are still covered with water. I usually end up adding more water by the half-way mark. Strain the stock by placing a colander over another large pot or bowl. Remove carrots from remains if you are using them in a soup. Be sure to check diligently for small bones that can occur with the use of a whole chicken! Now it is time to season your stock. Start with a teaspoon or two of salt and adjust it according to what you like. This is the trial and error part of the process and you have to decide how much salt you want to add. I add about a Tablespoon which gives me a nice balance between bland and super salty. One thing to note, you want the cooling process to go quickly.
I would suggest dividing your stock between 2 or 3 different containers, as a smaller amount will cool quicker. The Servsafe rules are as followed: Within two hours you should be somewhere around 70 degrees, and within 4 hours you should be around 41 degrees or lower. If your stock is sitting around in a temperature danger zone harmful bacteria can grow. Once this happens, no matter how much you boil it, the harmful bacteria will still be there. To be honest in home cooking I have never had a problem with this, as long as I divided the stock between two pots and gave it breathing room in the refrigerator. Please don t let this scare you into not making it, because really it isn t a huge deal but something I wanted to mention. The next day you may notice a layer of fat has surfaced on your stock. If you wish to remove it, simply take a ladle and submerge the bottom half of it into the middle of your pot (you don t want liquid getting inside the ladle yet). Moving from the middle out, gently move your ladle in circles, pushing the fat to the outside. When you have reached the outside of the pot tilt your ladle and allow just the fat to spill into the ladle. *As pictured and mentioned I do freeze extra stock in mason jars to use for other meals. Once your stock is cooled, just fill a jar leaving extra room at the top for expanding, and freeze.
Strawberry Salad and Poppy Seed
We ve discussed store-bought dressings and how horrible they actually are for our health a few times before. To catch anyone who missed those posts up, turns out store bought dressings are nothing more then highly refined and cheap oils, MSG, abbreviated chemicals, and preservatives. My theory on store-bought dressings is this: If you are going to make a beautiful and nutritious salad why pour a bunch of crap on top of it? It kind of defeats the whole purpose! The other problem with store bought dressings are the unethical companies who make them. They love to pretend they are using olive oil, when in fact if you turn the bottle over you will see the main ingredient is soybean oil. Why label the front Olive Oil when olive oil is the 5th or 6th ingredient? Nothing makes sense about the marketing tactics they use, and I hate to see consumers who are trying to be healthy be fooled by these companies!
With that being said, I am so happy to share this recipe with you! Nothing says summer quite like a strawberry and poppy seed salad. My favorite season is summer simply because of the delicious local produce stands that pop up along the country roads of Central Pennsylvania. I love, love, love local strawberries that are red throughout, small, and sweet. They are vastly different then the grocery store strawberries, and so much tastier! For the salad I used dark, nutritious, leafy spring mix along with feta cheese, strawberries, and walnuts. For the dressing, all you have to do is put a few simple ingredients into a food
processor, and drizzle olive oil into it. After the oil is in, add the poppy seeds and your done! There is no reason to even use store bought dressing when making your own healthy dressing is this easy! Fresh and Preserves Easy Peach
The Preserves Welcome to peach season! Peach season means summer, barbeques, and tons of goodies that include peaches. Right now I am working on a few different recipes that include these preserves but for now here is the preserve recipe. The best part about this recipe is it makes a pretty good amount for only using 4 peaches, and it doesn t contain any refined sugars. I do not believe in making sickeningly sweet preserves and jams loaded with refined sugars so don t worry, this recipe is not one of those! I sweetened these delicious peaches with raw honey, and only used one other ingredient, lemon juice. These preserves keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks but they didn t last nearly as long in my house! Peeling The Peaches Before you put the peaches in the pot to make the preserves you have to take the fuzzy skin off of them. It is really easy to do, just boil a pot of water on the stove and put the peaches in the boiling water for 30-45 seconds. Take them out of the water and run them under cold water while attempting to peel away the skin. If it isn t budging, return them to the hot water and give them a little more time. It shouldn t be hard to peel the skin off once it is ready. Red Wine Vinaigrette
I love this dressing on a spinach salad with feta, strawberries, and walnuts. This can also be used in place of Italian dressing in pasta salad recipes, or use for marinating chicken. It is super versatile and easy to make!
Homemade Ranch Dressing This recipe is simple and easy! Mix the spices together, then mix it with sour cream and milk to make homemade ranch dressing. It can also be used as a dry rub, or seasoning for potatoes or veggies. A versatile and delicious mix of spices! Here is what to mix for the dressing: 1/2 tsp ranch dressing spice mix
1/4 cup sour cream 1/8 cup milk addition cracked black pepper and salt to taste Creamy Caesar Dressing. Mason Jar Style! Have you ever checked the ingredient list of the dressing you are using? Thankfully, I have and all I can say is I will never be consuming store bought dressing again! Something about dumping a bunch of chemicals, artificial flavoring, and preservatives on a beautiful mound of spinach doesn t make sense. Another reason I will never be purchasing store bought
dressing again is the false advertising I have seen from the companies making these products. When I searched for the ingredients I went to the website for Ken s Steakhouse and they were promising to be using only the most select ingredients. They have very clever phrases printed on their packages, for instance Chef s Reserve. This gives the impression your dressing was handcrafted in a steakhouse just for you but unfortunately everything about Ken s marketing is an illusion. Here are the 26 ingredients in the creamy Caesar: INGREDIENTS: Soybean Oil, Water, Distilled Vinegar, Egg Yolk, Parmesan Cheese (Pasteurized Part Skim Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes), Garlic, contains less than 2% of: Salt, Olive Oil, Sugar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Spices, Natural Flavor, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate and Calcium Disodium EDTA as Preservatives, Onion*, Xanthan Gum, Propylene Glycol, Alginate, Molasses, Corn Syrup, Caramel Color, Anchovy (Fish), Tamarind, Titanium Dioxide (for color). *Dried. Not exactly the select ingredients I thought Ken s was talking about! I bolded all of the ingredients I consider questionable in this dressing, and there are a lot! Essentially your consuming genetically modified soy and a bunch of other unknown ingredients. Soybean oil is highly refined, unhealthy, and cheap so I choose not to consume it at all. For more on soybean oil click here. I purchased a special glass bottle to make dressing that had a bunch of recipes printed on the bottle. In theory this was a great idea but trying to put thick ingredients into a small hole just doesn t work out so well. I resorted to a half pint wide mouth mason jar and it was perfect! It fit just right into the jar and I realized this made it super easy to make without creating a bunch of dishes and a mess!