Ranch Dressing

We have been using a healthy, light, flavorful ranch dressing for all kinds of things lately. We put it on top of salads, dip carrots in it, or even our homemade pizza. The uses for ranch are endless, which is often the problem with the thick heavy processed dressing most people eat when using ranch. Use as much of this as desired, its not just healthIER than regular, its full out healthy!

Just make sure you use it by the use by date on your buttermilk/yogurt.

Buttermilk Ranch Salad Dressing

1/4 cup buttermilk (low fat or full fat)

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp mustard powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp italian seasoning

1/4 tsp dill

Mix all together in salad dressing mixer or old salad dressing bottle. Shake well before each use.

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 7

Fat: 0 g

sodium: 104 mg (4%)

Carbohydrates: 1 g

Protein: 0.4 g

Dark Chocolate Mousse Ice Cream

I asked Dave if he wanted date balls or ice cream for dessert. He said date balls. I don’t know why I even asked because I wanted ice cream. But I started making the date balls anyway, my fault for asking to begin with. Well luckily for me my food processor wasn’t blending them very well. They were too thick I guess. So I decided to just roll with it and turn it into the ice cream I secretly wanted.

It resulted in a completely no sugar added dark chocolate ice cream. And by no sugar added, I mean no stevia, sugar, honey, etc. The ice cream was sweetened only by dates. The ice cream has 4 ingredients and has the best light, mousse like texture.  I churned it for a really long time to get it to double in volume. And the nutritional stats are seriously unbelievable.

And I’ll let the pictures speak for how amazing it turned out!

I did not have to feel remotely guilty letting my babies feast on milk and dates.

Good thing summer is upon us so there will be many hot days where I will have an excuse to make this ice cream! And with a little unsweetened coconut on top, it can’t be beat!

Dark Chocolate Mousse Ice Cream:

8 servings (1/2 cup)

2.5 cups milk*

9 dates

3 Tbs dark chocolate cocoa

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat 1/2 cup milk until almost boiling in a microwave safe bowl or stovetop.

Place milk in magic bullet or small food processor along with the dates. Blend until dates are chopped.

Let it sit for a couple minutes, if needed, to let the dates soften in the warm milk. Then blend again until dates are fully pureed with the milk.

Add cocoa powder and vanilla and blend.

Add  the rest of the milk and let it sit in the refrigerator until chilled. You can let it sit overnight if you want to make it the day before too.

Pour into the ice cream maker and let it churn for 30-45 minutes until its about doubled in size.

Serve immediately.

*I use skim milk because we eat it all in one night. If you plan to eat part of it and freeze the rest, I suggest using whole milk or half and half. If you eat it straight from the ice cream maker though, I honestly can’t tell the different between using skim milk or one with fat. But the fat helps it not get too icy when left in the freezer. So personally I suggest using skim milk and cutting the recipe in half if you don’t have 4 people to serve. So use 1.25 cups skim, 4 or 5 dates, 1.5 tbs cocoa, and 1/4 tsp vanilla. Or just make the whole recipe and only pour half into the ice cream maker, letting the rest sit in the frigde to use the next day.

The nutritional stats are for a standard serving of ice cream, 1/2 cup. But honestly, who eats 1/2 cup ice cream? If you’ve ever actually measured it out, I think you’d be shocked! Each one of my kids had a little over 1 serving, I had 2.5, and Dave 3.5 roughly. But who cares when the stats look like this…

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 57

Fat: 0 g

Sodium: 33 mg (1%)

Carbohydrates: 12 g

Fiber: 1.5 g

Sugar: 10 g

Protein: 3.2 g

Taco Seasoning Recipe

Tacos are one of the easiest and quickest meals to make and we always have the ingredients on hand. Tacos don’t have to be a processed unhealthy meal. By either making my own whole wheat tortillas or using plain brown rice as a base for a rice bowl, there is no need for overly processed flour tortillas. And by making my taco seasoning ahead of time, to avoid the preservative filled taco seasoning packet, tacos are a quick weeknight nutritious meal.

Top them with some lettuce, tomato, greek yogurt, and avocado and the meal is complete and incredibly healthy!

Taco Seasoning:

2 Tbs chili powder

4 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (depending on spice level desired)

Mix all together.

This should season 2-3 lbs of meat, so the equivalent of 2-3 packets of taco seasoning. You can double the recipe and keep it stored in airtight container so you always have it on hand.

Meal Plan 5/12

A rare occurrence is happening over here this week, a date night out! Not just do we never go on dates but we also never go out to eat. For one, eating out is expensive and not as healthy. But also, we don’t use babysitters unless my mom is in town. This week Dave’s parents are in town. We have never left the girls with them alone, but they will be fine and spoiled I’m sure. Dave and I are going to try out a new Indian restaurant in town. Spicy Indian food isnt really kid friendly either so it will hopefully be a good date night option.

Alyssa also graduates from preschool this week (and Kindergarten in 2 weeks since I homeschooled her). She has a little ceremony Tuesday night, so we may do some celebrating of sorts!

Its nice that Alyssa can now read books to Cassidy. She loves feeling like such a big kid reading on her own.

This weeks meal plan is…

Dinners:

Whole wheat pizzas with chicken and mushroom, side salad.

Grilled Chicken, roasted sweet potato, corn on the cob ‘(Easy meal for Dave to make with the girls for mothers day)

Salmon, quinoa, roasted broccoli

Falafel, greek marinated chicken kabobs, okra and tomatoes (recipes to come in a week or so)

Meatloaf, roasted potatoes, roasted green beans

Out to dinner

Leftovers

Breakfasts:

French toast using homemade bread

homemade turkey breakfast sausage and veggie omelet with homemade toast

Greek yogurt waffles and eggs

Greek yogurt pancakes and eggs

Steel cut oats x 3

Lunches:

chicken and avocado sandwiches on fresh bread

salads with feta, leftover chicken, and veggies with italian dressing

Split pea soup (in the crockpot now)

Plain greek yogurt with mashed banana for sweetness and peanuts

leftovers

We also eat nuts, various seeds, and raisins most days as an afternoon snack and we also snack on raw carrots and fruit a lot as well.

Simple Whole Wheat Pancake Recipe

During the week, we eat a lot of my Greek Yogurt Pancakes. They are a moist pancake that are really good without any syrup, berries, etc on top. This means Dave can just eat them in the car on his way to work. I sometimes have to let Cassidy take the remainder of hers in the car since she is my slow eater. I think Alyssa could inhale the entire batch in .5 seconds, so I don’t have to worry about her. And of course as the mom, I am often doing a million things in the morning so I will just wait and eat mine in the car on the way to preschool or ballet.

But on the weekends, when we want a pancake that will soak up a little syrup, these are our go to. They are light and fluffy and all whole grain. I suggest using either white whole wheat flour or whole wheat bread/pastry flour. Both are a little less grainy and result in a fluffier pancake. But we have made them with regular whole wheat and haven’t gotten any complaints either!

Whole Wheat Pancakes:

makes 12 pancakes(serves 4)

2 cups whole wheat flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp honey (or sugar)

1/8 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

2-2 1/4 cups skim milk or buttermilk*

2 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together.

Add beaten eggs, milk, honey, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.

*If you like thin pancakes use closer to 2 1/4 cups milk, if you like them thicker, use only 2 cups. For something right in the middle, just use 2 cups plus 2 Tbs.

Let batter sit for 5-10 minutes while your griddle heats up.

Soaked recipe: Add flour and warm buttermilk (must be cultured, can’t be regular milk) to glass bowl, cover, and let sit overnight in a warm place. In the morning beat eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder, honey/sugar, and salt together PLUS a 1/2 tsp baking soda. Combine with soaked flour.  Let batter sit for 10 minutes for baking powder and soda to activate then cook on preheated griddle.

Nutritional Information: (for 3 pancakes)

Calories: 322

Fat: 3 g

Sodium: 164 mg (7%)

Carbohydrates: 59 g

Dietary Fiber: 2 g

Sugars: 9 g

Protein: 14 g

Mayo Free Cole Slaw

With summer BBQs in full swing, I am often trying to think of what side dish to contribute. I like to bring something healthy so if all else fails and there’s nothing but hot dogs, mac n cheese, and mayo loaded potato salad, we can still try and get something a little healthy in our bodies.

I already have a recipe for Mayo-free potato salad, and now I also have mayo-free cole slaw as an option.

I made this for dinner the other night to go alongside some grilled chicken and corn on the cob. I was actually was planning on making some mixed vegetables for the girls since I wasn’t sure the girls would be patient enough to eat raw cabbage. Neither are picky at all, but I thought it might be too hard to chew and eat still for Cassidy. Well they both tried it off my plate and loved it. Alyssa ate 4ths of it and then finished it off the next day as leftovers. Yes, we ate all 14 servings in 2 days between the four of us.

Cole Slaw (Mayo-free)

makes 14 servings (could cut in half if just making for a family dinner and not a big gathering)

1 head cabbage (green or half green, half purple)

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1/4 cup plain yogurt (greek or regular)

1/4 cup + 2 tbs buttermilk

1/4 cup + 2 Tbs white vinegar

1/4 cup sugar or honey (or 2 Tbs of each)

2 Tbs lemon juice

2 Tbs minced onion (dried or a sweet onion)

2 Tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp celery seed

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/8 tsp seasoning salt

Chop cabbage into small thin strips. Grate carrots. (You could also buy a prepackaged bag of shredded slaw but I’ve never seen it organic and just any other prepackaged food, it wont be quite as fresh)

Mix together the rest of the ingredients and whisk together.

Pour over cabbage and carrots and coat well.

Let sit in refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight before serving.

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 56

Fat: 2.2

Sodium: 126 (5%)

Carbohydrates: 8 g

Dietary Fiber: 2 g

Sugars: 6 g

Protein: 1.2 g

(Regular cole slaw has 126 calories, 10 g fat, 8 g sugar, and twice the sodium!)

Laundry Detergent “Recipe”

Here is another green cleaning product I’ve started making. Its also way cheaper than traditional laundry detergent. It leaves your clothes smelling fresh and clean but not overly flowery smelling, which is better for sensitive skin.

It even makes my husband’s nasty smelling flight suits smell clean, and very little can take that flight suit smell away. Its been working really well on cleaning the kids clothes as well. Although the flight suits are the real test, those things smell like fuel mixed with old sweat! Lovely, right?

Laundry Detergent:

2/3 bar soap (I buy fels-naptha online in bulk)

1 cup borax

1 cup washing soda

essential oil, like tea tree (optional)

Shave bar of soap with a cheese grater. Mix in washing soda and borax. Add essential oil if you want a nice smell to it.

use 1-2 Tbs per load depending on size and how soiled it is.