Ranch Dressing Dry Mix (Heavenly Homemaker's)

I've been on a quest off & on for years to find a healthy version of ranch dressing, but while *I* really like this recipe, the kids didn't (though in retrospect, I think the garlic was too strong for them. Next summer when fresh herbs are readily available, I'll try it again with less garlic and see if they'll go for it).  But in the meantime . . . as I was writing up my menu for Christmas dinner, I decided to try Heavenly Homemaker's recipe for ranch dressing and see how it went over. I figured in a big group dinner like that, if the kids didn't like it, there would be other people to help me eat it, so that I didn't have as much left over, and they were less likely to think it might be something "healthy" than if it was just us. So, I mixed this up the day before, but made it with plain full fat yogurt instead of sour cream or creme fresh (I've been wanting to make creme fresh forEVER but haven't gotten around to it yet, so figured organic yogurt was a healthier option than conventional sour cream, and the grocery didn't have organic sour cream as I was madly doing my grocery shopping the day before). I have no idea if the girls ate any of it on Christmas day, but they just polished off a half-bag of baby carrots with a bowl of the dip for lunch today, and no comment was made about it tasting "weird", much less "gross", so apparently I've accomplished my healthy alternative :)

So, in case the above site ever deletes the recipe, here's Laura's awesome ranch dressing mix recipe:

5 Tbsp dried minced onions
7 tsp parsely flakes
4 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder

Combine and store in an airtight container.

For dip: combine 1 Tbsp dry mix with 1 c sour cream, kreme fesh, or plain yogurt

For dressing: Combine 1 Tbsp dry mix with 1/2 c mayonnaise and 1/2 c buttermilk or sour cream.

Mix at least a few hours in advance to let flavors blend together.

Ranch Dressing

I adapted this from Pioneer Woman's recipe but made it more of a dip rather than a dressing. The girls declared it "too herb-y, but I think it's yummy!

I didn't measure the herbs, so will include the amounts in the original recipe, I just picked some that I thought were about right.

1 clove garlic, chopped
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c mayo (approx)
1 c sour cream (approx)
1/4 c chopped flat leaf parsley
1 to 2 Tbsp chopped chives
1 to 2 tsp chopped dill
2 sprigs oregano, chopped

mash galrlic and salt together with fork. Stir everything together, adjust to taste as needed.

It occured to me as I was finished chopping everything and stirring it together, that the mini bowl of my food processor would probably work great for this. So next time I think I'll just put all the herbs, including the garlic & salt, in the minibowl of the food processor and chop everything up, then add the sour cream & mayo and let it stir everything together.

I really like the flavor of this & it's easy and healthier too! (and cheap when all the herbs but the parsley grow in my garden LOL).

Cream Soup Substitute

Here's a recipe I found online to use instead of cream of whatever soup in recipes (not sure if it's any cheaper, but it's healthier):

4 T butter
4 T whole wheat flour
1 c broth
1/3 c milk
In small saucepan melt butter over med heat. Add flour and stir till bubbly. Slowly add broth and milk, stirring constantly. Cook till thickened.

This is the equivalent of one can of cream of xxxx soup.

I don't know how this would work as a soup, but this was easy to do, and worked well to replace a can of cream of chicken soup in a recipe I made this weekend.

Chicken style seasoning

I was searching for a recipe to make something similar to McKay's chicken flavored seasoning. And found this. Not sure I'd say it's much like McKay's, but it's not bad.

1 1/2 c nutritional yeast
2 1/2 tsp sweet pepper flakes
3 tsp onion powder
2 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp rubbed sage
2 1/2 tsp celery seed
2 1/2 tsp garlic
2 1/2 tsp thyme, ground
1 1/4 tsp marjoram
1 1/4 tsp tarragon
1 1/4 tsp paprika
1 1/4 tsp rosemary, ground
Blenderize fine (I was lazy and just mixed it all up, but yeah a blender or coffee grinder would probably be good). Use 1 T seasoning per 1 c liquid to make broth.

Ketchup

This is adapted from The Optimal Diet, cookbook. I noticed it when flipping through the cookbook and thought it sounded simple enough, and certainly healthier than store bought ketchup, which is great since my kids are typical kids in their love of ketchup on anything & everything. So I figured, why not try it. Last minute, as I was dumping stuff in the bowl, I hesitated to use the honey that the recipe calls for, more because I didn't see how in a room temperature concoction the honey would truly blend together, so I decided in the grand scheme of things, the sugar in this recipe isn't that much, and I'd just use sugar, which wouldn't add the flavor that honey has, and also would for sure mix in evenly (a clump of honey while eating ketchup just grossed me out LOL). So, here's what I did.

1 c tomato sauce (from a can)
1 can (5.5oz) tomato paste
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp basil, crushed
3/4 tsp garlic powder (I used granulated roasted garlic, would assume regular wouldn't change the taste noticably)
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt

Combine all, stir well. Store in refrigerator up to one week, or freeze.

And the "test", I just served it to the girls w/ fried potatoes, they ate it up, licked the plate clean, and asked for more, just like they do regular ketchup, so it gets their stamp of approval. I won't say it tastes exactly like ketchup, but I think it tastes as good or better, then again, I'm selective in what I like ketchup on.

ETA: Bummer, when I got the jar out of the fridge yesterday to put ketchup on the girls' plates at lunch, it was much too "chunky" to pass for ketchup. The recipe indicated that it froze well, and I froze about half the batch, so I'll see how that is when it thaws, if it works ok that way I'll freeze it in small containers from now on and use them that way or something . . . but I'm so bummed that this didn't keep in the fridge at the right consistency. :( I'm going to throw the rest in the freezer and I think I can at least use it mixed into pasta sauce so I don't have to throw it out, but still . . .