Ranch Dressing Mix

I found we were making my Ranch Dressing recipe quite often.  So of course I wanted to make it even more simple and quick to make.  Now it takes hardly any time to make  I just make this mix up and keep it in my pantry.  It works great!  Plus have you ever read the ingredients in the store bought dressing mix packets?  Give it a try, make your own Ranch Dressing Mix.....it's cheaper, tastes better and is oh so much healthier!

Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix

(all herbs are dried)
1/4 cup basil
1 cup dill
1 cup parsley
1/2 Tablespoon garlic granules
1/4 cup onion powder
1 Tablespoon Real Salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Combine ingredients in a jar stir or shake until well combined.

To make Ranch Dressing:
2 cups Vegenaise
1 Tablespoon of this mix (more or less to taste)
3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar (or to taste)

I just mix the dressing ingredients in a jar and add a little water to desired thickness.

Our Favorite Lentil Soup, in the Crock Pot and now the Instant Pot

I'm going to try this in the Instant Pot tonight 15 minutes on high pressure should do it! I know it will turn out great.....I will let you know if there should be any adjustments.

I love that this soup is so simple to make and that more often then not I have all the ingredients to make it. Super nutritious and full of fiber and.....BIG BONUS the whole family likes it!  Go good on chilly nights.  I hope you will like it too!

Our Favorite Lentil Soup

4 Tablespoons extra–virgin olive oil
1 Large onion, chopped
4 celery stalks with leaves, chopped
2 cups chopped carrots
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 cups water
3 cups dry green lentils
2 Heaping Tablespoons Vegetable Broth Powder
2 (14½–oz.) cans diced tomatoes
Balsamic vinegar to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste


Turn large 5 quart crock pot on high. Place oil and chopped veggies and garlic in, stir. Add the water and lentils. Place lid on and let cook on high for about 3 hours until lentils are soft. After lentils are cooked stir in Vegetable broth powder and diced tomatoes, turn crock pot to low and let warm until time to eat. Just before serving add 1-2 Tablespoons, or to taste, of Balsamic vinegar. Can optionally mash some of the lentils with a potato masher or blend with a hand blender for a thicker consistency or just eat it like it is. Add salt and pepper to taste!

Quinoa Chili, vegetable garden style

On Saturday I was looking through the fridge to see what leftovers would work for dinner. I noticed that we had lots of cooked quinoa and black beans in the fridge and lots of garden veggies needing to be used.

I have tried a few versions of Quinoa Chili where you add the uncooked quinoa. My experience has been that either the quinoa wasn't all the way cooked and a bit crunchy or that it had cooked so long (when I tried it in the crock pot) that it was basically mush.

So I had been thinking about just adding it precooked right at the end.....when I saw the leftovers in my fridge I knew it was a good time to give it a try. When my teenage boy and husband had 4 or more helpings and the rest of us ate it up too I figured I had better hurry and write it down before I forgot what I did.

For sure a recipe we will be making a lot when cold weather sets in. A great way to use up those leftovers!

Quinoa Chili, garden vegetable style

1 Tablespoon coconut or olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 anaheim and/or jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 large carrot, grated or sliced
1 small zucchini, coarsely chopped (optional)
1 1/2 cups corn
4 cups cooked black beans rinsed and drained
2-3 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon Sucanat (optional)
1 cinnamon stick
2-3 teaspoons Real Salt or to taste
pepper to taste
1 can diced tomatoes, or fresh chopped (may need to add more broth)
3 cups vegetable broth (3 cups water with 2 teaspoons Broth Powder)
6 leaves of kale, thinly sliced stems removed
4 cups COOKED quinoa
Juice of 1 lime
Cilantro chopped for garnish (optional)

In a large pot lightly saute onion, peppers and carrots. Add corn, beans and seasonings, vegetable broth and diced tomatoes. Bring to a good simmer stir in the kale and quinoa just until the kale is barely cooked the the quinoa is warm. Stir in the lime juice. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving. Garnish with Cheezy Sauce and cilantro if desired.

Sweet Basil Tomato and Cucumber Salad

So this was part of lunch today and it was so good......bursting with flavor and just a quick summer salad to make up fresh out of the garden.

I love this time of year when I can just go to my garden and basically pick a meal! ;) And I'm sure it's not just me but you can't beat that fresh picked flavor.

This year we planted a couple of Sunsweet Cherry Tomato plants and they are just full of super sweet yellow/orange tomatoes so I threw some of those in but you can use whatever kind you have!

When I dished some up for me I added some dry roasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds that I had roasted yesterday gave it a little extra crunch and made it more filling but it's really good either way.

Sweet Basil Tomato and Cucumber Salad

1 large cucumber, coarsely chopped
5-6 tomatoes, coarsely chopped (if you use cherry tomatoes just quarter them)
1 small handful of fresh basil leaves, sliced into thin ribbons
Real Salt to taste
a splash of Balsamic Vinegar

Combine all ingredients in a bowl stir, taste add more of what you want. ;)

I love my Excalibur Dehydrator only problem is that I sometimes need more than just the nine trays..... especially this time of year. I have had my eye on one of these stainless steel beauties!  
They are 10% off until August 31, 2014 using code 10HARVEST2014 at checkout.

Hearty Vegetable Chili with Lime and Cilantro

I came up with this recipe years ago. We will try other fun chili recipes but we always come back to this one. To this day it is still a family favorite and by far the chili we make most often.

So I'm not really sure it's taken me all these years to get a decent picture of it. It's far from professional but I think the tips I learned from Tasty Food Photography has helped me to greatly improve it. That old picture was the only one I had before and it has bugged and bugged me that it looked like.....ummmm who knows what. But I kept forgetting to take a picture every time we had it. Which like I said has been often. ;)

If you want to see the original post you can go here. I also got an updated baked potato bar picture that isn't super but I know will look better than the one on that post. I can't decide if I just want to update that post with new pictures and add the new with the old or just get rid of it entirely.....I don't know that could cause broken links. I'll have to think on it. The old pictures are kind of fun to compare with. I actually get hungry when I see this picture.....the other one mostly made me nauseous.....maybe I will take it down. ;)

I don't really consider myself a food blogger because I refuse to make a dish just to get a picture of it and blog about it. I make food for my family to sit down and have a meal hopefully more nights than not. If it's a recipe I have been wanting to share I try really hard to remember to get hopefully a decent looking picture of it.

I consider myself a wife and mother who likes to make healthy food for her family and share it with others.....maybe you could call me a share my recipes wife/mom blogger.....mostly I hope you will just call me a friend.

Anyway enjoy this good old recipe with a much more appealing picture and be sure to share it with your friends!

Hearty Vegetable Chili With Lime and Cilantro

2 cans black beans (I usually use 3-4 cups cooked black beans, I like the more homemade flavor it gives it)
1 can pinto or garbanzo beans
1 can kidney beans
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic minced
1 large or 2 medium onions
1 orange bell pepper or color of choice
2 stalks celery w/ leaves, chopped
½ summer squash, chopped
1 small zucchini, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes
1-2 cups frozen corn
1/4 cup Sucanat
2+ Tablespoons chili powder
½ -1 ½ Tablespoon sea salt (to taste)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pepper
Juice of ½ -1 whole lime (to taste)
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Be sure to drain the beans well you can use canned or cook your own dry. Use whatever variety of beans you want. In large pot saute garlic, onion, bell pepper, celery, squash, and zucchini in olive oil for a 3 or 4 minutes. Add the drained beans, diced tomatoes (DON'T DRAIN), and corn. Add rest of ingredients except cilantro, bring to a boil and boil off a bit of the liquid until it is a chili consistency. Remove from heat stir in the cilantro, can reserve some to sprinkle fresh on top. We had this chili on baked potatoes with sesame dip, some fresh sliced tomatoes. With fresh cilantro on top!

Macaroni Salad

When I was posting this weeks meal plan I went to link this recipe and searched and searched and couldn't find it. I thought I had posted it years ago. Come to find out......I hadn't.

We have enjoyed this recipe for many years now. It goes great with picnics or for luncheons or barbeques. Fun and simple and reminds me of the original classic macaroni salad.

Like with most any recipe, don't be afraid to adjust ingredients to fit your tastes and even taking your family's traditional macaroni salad and adjusting it from there. Be sure to give it a try this Summer!

 

Macaroni Salad

1 box macaroni noodles, shells or elbows, cooked
¼ red onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2-4 dill pickles chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh or dried parsley
1 cup olives, sliced
½ cup matchstick size carrots, optional


Cook noodles according to package directions. Let cool completely. Combine the ingredients above in a large bowl. Make sauce and stir it in, mix well.

Sauce:
½ cup water
1 cup raw cashews
¼ cup lemon juice
1 clove garlic
½ teaspoon dry mustard
2 Tablespoons agave or honey
¼ teaspoon celery seed
¼ teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons mustard
1 teaspoon Real Salt
½ cup Vegenaise


Blend everything but Vegenaise until smooth in blender, fold in Vegenaise.

Sweet Potato Soup

We have really been enjoying this soup this Winter and just sweet potatoes in general. Every time we have had it we all MMmmMmmmmm and say how good it is. So comforting, warm and filling. I think that sweet potatoes give you that extra boost of nutrients that is needed in the Winter time.

We seem happier and more content every time we make up a pot.  I have noticed that sometimes the soup is more orange then other times.......don't worry it just depends on your sweet potatoes. It will still be very tasty. If you want to be sure to have a darker color I guess you could throw in a few carrots.

For fun here is a list of some of the other Sweet Potato dishes we have been enjoying:

• Curried Cauliflower with Sweet Potato & Black Beans
• Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry
• Sweet Potato Fries with Southwest Fry Sauce
• Sweet Potato and Mango Tacos
   

I have also been working on a Quinoa and Sweet Potato Grilled Wrap and Black Bean and Sweet Potato Taco Packets that are full of potential and soon to be perfected. We have enjoyed every single trial of them....can't wait to share them with you!

Sweet Potato Soup

4-5 sweet potatoes, peeled
8 cups water
2 Heaping Tablespoons Vegetable Broth Powder
1/2 cup coconut oil
2 teaspoons Real Salt
1 drop natural butter flavor, opt.
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup cashews

In 5-8 quart pot put in cut up sweet potatoes, water, and veggie broth powder.  Cover and simmer until potatoes are soft.  Add the coconut oil and seasonings.  Mash potatoes with a potato masher, or you can blend in the blender in small batches (be careful when blending hot soups). Or you could just use an immersion blender and save yourself a lot of mess and hassle.   Take a cup of the soup and blend it with the cashews until smooth add to the soup and mix in well.  May garnish with nutmeg, cinnamon, or cashews!  Very Simple, really good and a great way to get all those nutrients from sweet potatoes!  ENJOY!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

My slow cooker and I have become very good friends. Especially as the weather cools off and soups become a welcome sight. Soups in the slow cooker are so easy to make and quite literally cook themselves without me having to tend them.

I like not having to tend things.

With this Broccoli Cheese Soup I can throw the main ingredients in the crock pot before church and add the final ingredients as soon as we get home and it's ready. With less than 5 minutes of my effort when we get home! And then it's ready it about 10 minutes.

 I really, really like that! Plus it's filling, comforting, HEALTHY and oh so Tasty.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

4 to 5 potatoes, cubed we use yellow can use any

1 cup sliced carrots

½ cup chopped celery

1 large onion chopped

5 cups broccoli florets

6 cups water

Real Salt to taste I use about 2 teaspoons

3/4 teaspoon pepper

1 drop natural butter flavor (optional)

1/4 cup coconut oil

4 heaping teaspoons vegetable broth powder

2 cups rice milk

5 heaping Tablespoons whole wheat flour

1-2 cups Cheezy Sauce

½ cup Sunflower Seed Sour Cream (totally optional I only use it when I have some already made)

3 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

In a large slow cooker put in the first 11 ingredients. Let cook on high for 4 to 6 hours.

Whisk together the rice milk and flour add to the soup. Add the Cheezy Sauce. Then add the Sunflower Seed Sour Cream and parsley if desired. Cover and let sit to warm through. Super Super Yummy!

Note: Most of my soups can also be made in a pot on the stove at medium/high heat in about 30 minutes or until vegetables are cooked.

Italian Tossed Salad with Creamy Italian Dressing

Sometimes your in the mood for a nice, pretty really good salad!  This one reminds me of something you might get at The Olive Garden but this one is even better for you.  With of course only good ingredients in the dressing.  ENJOY!

Italian Tossed Salad

1 recipe homemade croutons (recipe below)
2 heads romaine lettuce, sliced
1 cup grated carrots
1/4 head purple cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 small purple onion, thinly sliced
1 cup quartered cherry or grape tomatoes
1 can black olives, drained
1-2 banana peppers, sliced (optional)

Toss everything together in a large bowl.  Add croutons and dressing just before serving.  Should only take about 1/4-1/2 the dressing made in recipe below.  If you like more or less dressing adjust to taste.  Toss well and serve.

Healthy Homemade Croutons

6-8 slices whole wheat bread cut into cubes
4 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon Vegetable Broth Powder

Preheat oven to 375°.  Pour oil over bread cubes.  Mix until well coated sprinkle with vegetable broth powder.  Spread on a cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.   Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet.

Creamy Italian Dressing

1 1/2 cup Vegenaise
1/2-2/3 cups Apple Cider Vinegar (depending how tart you like it)
2 teaspoons Olive Oil
4 Tablespoons Sucanat and or Agave
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon Real Salt
a dash of pepper
juice of half a Lemon
1 Tablespoon hemp seed (optional)

Place all ingredients into a wide mouth quart jar.  Stir or shake well.  Keeps in the refrigerator for at least a week.

Minestrone Soup

With all this cold weather we have been loving this recipe!  Ryan has always liked a good minestrone soup and I have tried making them a few times but we were never super excited about them.  They almost tasted more from a can then homemade.  Anyway this one is full of yummy homemade flavor but is so easy to make!  I think the slow cooking is the trick. ;)  Or maybe I'm getting better at this recipe creation thing. ;)  Enjoy and stay warm!

Minestrone Soup

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 small zucchini or summer squash, chopped
3 large carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes or 1 quart bottled
1 can Kidney beans, drained
1 can Cannellini beans, drained
1 can cut green beans, drained
4 leaves kale, sliced into thin ribbons
6 cups water
2 Heaping Tablespoons Veggie Broth Powder
2 teaspoons Real Salt
pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Basil
2 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, minced
dash of Cayenne
2 cups whole grain macaroni

In large (5 quart) crock pot place oil and cut veggies stir add tomatoes and beans.  Stir the water and both powder together add that and the rest of the seasonings to crock pot.  Turn crock pot on high and cook for 4-5 hours (longer if you like softer veggies).  Add macaroni about 10 to 20 minutes before time to eat soup otherwise they will be way overcooked. 

Barley Soup

This soup is so good in the Winter time!  We love having it on our shelves.  To stretch the soup to feed our family using only one or two quarts of it, sometimes we will add a few potatoes some green beans, some cabbage and whatever else we have that sounds good at the time.  By itself or as a soup base it's great either way!  To make this soup be sure you have a very large pretty much HUGE pot!  Unless you cut the recipe in half, because it makes over 20 quarts!  For more info on canning with tomatoes go here!

Barley Soup

1/2 bushel tomatoes, scalded, peeled and mashed
3 cups hulled barley
5 pounds onions, peeled and chopped
1 large bunch celery, chopped
30 carrots sliced
1/2 cup Sucanat
1/2 cup Real Salt
1 large bunch parsley, chopped
1-2 quarts water

Put all veggies together in the water except for the tomatoes and barley.  Add Sucanat and salt cook until barely tender.  Add tomatoes and barley simmer for five minutes.  Pour into clean quart jars, put lids on tight and water bath can....boil for 30-40 minutes.  Remove jars to cool on a heat proof surface.  Let cool to seal jars.  Be sure all jars are sealed before putting them on the shelf.  Makes about 21 quarts of soup.

Raw Southwestern Salad

Another favorite raw dish!  Great for Summertime un-cooking! ;)

Raw Southwestern Salad

4 cups frozen or fresh off the cob corn
6 green onions, sliced
5 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 small bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
juice of 2-3 limes
Real Salt to taste
Southwestern seasonings to taste (we used chili powder and cumin, just a few shakes)

In a bowl combine all ingredients, stir.  Serve fresh or chilled.

Thousand Island Dressing

Thousand Island Dressing

1 cup Vegenaise
¼ cup Ketchup
1/2 Tablespoon Agave
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon fresh onion or 1 teaspoon onion powder
Real Salt to taste (optional)
2 teaspoons Shoyu or healthy Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup Raw Cashews, soaked and drained (optional)
¼ cup Better Bread and Butter Pickles and 1 Tablespoon of the juice


In blender place everything but the pickles, blend until nice and smooth.  Add pickles and pulse until chopped up good or just chop them up and add in after all done blending.

Broccoli Salad

Howdy Folks!

While harvesting loads of broccoli from our garden, I tried to find new and tasty ways to use up the green goodness.
I was trying to imitate the broccoli salad that hosts bacon, which I used to love...back in the day.
Since it was Christmas time, I decided to throw in some dried cranberries and pomegranates.
It's funny how most everything I add pomegranates to, ends up being a big hit 'round here!
Hope your family enjoys it as much as we do.

Broccoli Salad:

1 head fresh broccoli cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup red onion chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pomegranate {seeds}
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Dressing:

1 cup vegenaise
2 tablespoons organic cane sugar {or agave nectar}
3 tablespoons coconut vinegar {or apple cider}

Mix together all salad ingredients.  In a separate container mix together dressing ingredients until well blended.  Pour dressing mixture over salad and toss to coat.

Quinoa Salad, Fiesta Style

We all enjoy this salad warm with dinner or cold leftovers for lunch!  Ryan even likes taking it with him to work.  Great versatile salad that can easily be doubled or just "stretched" by adding more Quinoa!  Makes a great side or main dish, also excellent for picnics and potlucks and of course great with these Quesadillas!  ENJOY!

Fiesta Style Quinoa Salad

Salad Ingredients:
3-4 cups cooked Quinoa (warm or cold)
1 avocado, diced
3 green onions, sliced
1 can olives, sliced
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans rinsed and drained (opt.)
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (opt.)
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
2-3 Large tomatoes, diced

Dressing Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
zest of 1 lime
1/4-1/2 cup fresh lime juice (or to taste)
2 Tablespoons agave
1 teaspoon Real Salt
Favorite Mexican seasonings (optional) I like a little cumin and chili powder

In large bowl stir together the salad ingredients.  In a 2 cup measuring cup whisk together dressing ingredients and pour onto salad.  Stir well and enjoy.   This salad is really good made with warm Quinoa that was just cooked or cold.



Try this post to see an easy way to cook Quinoa!