Homemade Ranch

Homemade anything is better than store bought, right? Well we are a family of Ranch lovers. It is the condiment of choice and a must have for Pizza night, so I thought I'd try out this recipe from Pinterest. It was easy to whip up and gave me a reason to use the new immersion blender I received for Christmas from my brother in law. It turned out very good and I love it's fresh, vibrant taste. I made it pretty thick and served with raw veggies. Later, I put some in a squeeze bottle and added more buttermilk to make it more of a salad dressing consistency. It totally worked too. Also, since I used reduced fat everything, it is better for you than the regular stuff we buy. We are total Hidden Valley Ranch full fat Original Ranchers in my home. I doubt that will change anytime soon. But I think that this is a nice option to have and will keep it around. In my effort to eat more vegetables, having a great ranch dip on hand makes it a lot easier to scarf down carrots and broccoli!

Homemade Ranch
recipe from smells-like-home.com which can be found here. (I am definately going to try her Buffalo Chicken Pizza recipe next!)

3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 to 1 cup buttermilk
1 small bunch of chives or 2 scallions, roughly chopped (I used 2 TB of dried chives, because I had them on hand)
Small handful of parsley
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients with 1/4 cup of buttermilk in a blender and blend for 10 seconds. Check consistency and blend in additional buttermilk if desired.

my new toy!



ingredients



all whipped up

Beet Lunch

I made these yummy roasted beets and turned them into a salad. I did not take any photos however except for the salad all together so this is going to be a quick post. But it was something yummy, healthy, and unique so I had to post about it. I read about this salad here.

To roast the beets, I scrubbed them and covered them in olive oil. I sprinkled seasoned rock salt on them and wrapped them up in a foil packet. I cooked them at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. I had 4 or 5 smallish beets.

Once cooled from the oven, I used gloved hands to remove the skins, then sliced them as thin as I could.

To make the salad, I brought the components separately and put it all together at my desk during lunch. I put 2 of the beets in a plastic (disposable) baggie. I combined the beets with about an ounce of goat cheese and some sprinkles of balsamic vinegar and put it in the microwave for 1 minute, enough to warm the beets and make the cheese slightly melty, but it was not steaming. It was very, very tasty and different.

Note that I used a disposable bowl. Beet stains scare me! When slicing or using a plate that the beets are on only for a few minutes, I suggest spraying them immediately with a vinegar solution after using. (I keep a solution of equal parts water to vinegar in a spray bottle under my kitchen sink. I use it for EVERYTHING.) Rinse with water and you should be stain free. Please pardon the lovely fluorescent office lighting!

The website where I read about this suggested it as a full lunch. I need more than a couple of beets to get me through the afternoon, so I ate this with some leftover green salad and it satisfied just fine.

Zoo!

This past weekend we went to the zoo. It is the 4th time we have taken Everleigh to the zoo. We just love it and she is finally at an age where she clearly loves it too! The past two times we've gone were in June and September (of the hottest summer on record) and were HOT. This time, it was about 70 degrees outside (exceptionally warm for January, but we'll take it) and a beautiful day. We got there early and were back in the car by naptime. She ended up taking a four hour nap (!) she was so worn out!

Enjoy the pictures. It is so fun seeing things like the zoo through the eyes of a toddler. So much wonder and excitement. I can just see her little brain working trying to figure things out. It's great. This year we are members and have the benefit of free admission. I am so looking forward to many more trips and photos.

Seeing some birds, I think they are her favorite.

 

Watching a pacing Emu. I love the look on her face!





This is one great photo!



  

These guys appeared to be fighting, but I think it was just friendly play.

Matching hairbows!

The goat petting zoo!

The last time we were here, in September, she just stood there, unimpressed.
This time she ran up to every goat, pointed at it, then excitedly ran to the next one. It was very cute!

This is how she pet the goats! :)

Riding a "warthog!"

Turtle!

Prairie Dog tunnel

Fox

"Come on guys, this way"

 



Oh, and in case you noticed our coordinating attire. This was the morning of the Houston Texans first playoff appearance (which we won, Go Texans!) and we wanted to show our support. About 60% of the zoo visitors were also showing their support. It was pretty cool. 

The Best Cupcakes Ever

We made them. Then we ate them. And I miss them. We should have made more, because they were not easy to do and baking is not my forte. But they were oh so yummy it might be worth it to try again.

My sister and I decided to get us in the Holiday spirit, earlier in December, to do some baking. On Pinterest, I found this recipe for Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes. I love Guinness. I love chocolate. I love cupcakes. We both love to drink and eat cupcakes. This was right up our alley!

However, this recipe is geared towards a St. Patrick's Day theme, with it's Irish spirits and minty flavor. We baked these at Christmastime. And besides that I didn't have any Bailey's or Irish Whiskey. But I did have Eggnog (the spiked kind) and Bourbon. Seemed like a logical replacement to me. So we set to it, replacing the 2 liquors with what I had and only making one slight change in the frosting. They came out perfect. And Christmas-y!

*BTW, I meant to post this weeks ago, so sorry for missing the holiday, as it is a holiday post. You can replace the eggnog with any creamy liquor, but I assure you, these cupcakes will be yummy all winter long, eggnog or not!

Chocolate Guinness-Eggnog Cupcakes (makes 12)
Recipe adapted from wearenotmartha.com


Cupcakes:

1/2 C Guinness (or other stout)
1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 C cocoa powder
1 C flour
1 C sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/3 C sour cream (full fat)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring beer and butter to a simmer over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk the mixture until smooth. Remove from heat.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
Beat the egg and sour cream with a handheld or stand mixer.
Add the chocolate stout mixture to the egg mixture and beat until just combined.
Add the dry ingredients in now and mix with a spatula until just combined.
Line your muffin tin and divide the batter among them, filling each about 3/4 of the way.
Bake for 17-20 minutes at 350 degrees.
Let them sit for a minute them remove them to cool completely on a rack.

Chocolate Bourbon Filling:

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1/4 C heavy cream
1/4 C Eggnog (we used Old New England)
1 TB unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp Bourbon (we used Evan Williams)

Chop the chocolate into coarse pieces and heat over a double broiler. Add the heavy cream and stir until the chocolate is melted through and smooth.
Add the butter, Bourbon and Eggnog.

This is a very liquidy filling so we cooled it in the fridge for a while to thicken it up in order to make it easier to fill. You can core your cupcakes and spoon in the filling (I recommend this way). Or you can use the filling tip and a pastry bag. That's what we used and since the filling is very thin, it was a little difficult because it just ran right out of the tip. But it made us laugh and giggle and we managed to fill them all, so it was worth it!


Eggnog Frosting

*I'd like to point out now that I had never made my own buttercream before. It was not only incredibly easy but this was the best frosting I have ever tasted. Way better than anything you can buy in a store. It makes a ton too and is much cheaper than the little cans. I only wished I'd tried something like this back around Everleigh's birthday. Maybe I could have avoided any of several cake disasters.

1-2 C confectioners’ sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 TB Eggnog
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Mix butter in a stand mixer on medium speed until fluffy.
Add the confectioner's sugar a little at a time until you like the consistency and the taste. It will take a few minutes before it looks or tastes like frosting. I only used about a cup of sugar.
Add in the eggnog and nutmeg and whip it until combined. Keep adding sugar as needed.
Load it into a pastry bag with a fun tip and frost those cupcakes. (You can use a knife and frost that way too!)

The baking process was so strenuous (but mostly just so silly) that I forgot to take a lot of pictures until nearly the end. Here is my sister frosting the just filled cupcakes and then the goodness of their insides. Finally, I took some shots of the main attraction posing with the supporting cast. Enjoy and Very Belated Merry Christmas!!

Stuffed Squash

2012 will be the Year of Vegetables for me and my family. This is a great, easy and satisfying dish to get the ball rolling. Honestly, it makes a great fall dish and should have been included on here back then, but time has gotten away from me and I am very slow to post. However, as long as acorn squash, or any other winter squash is available in your market, then this recipe works.

There is a ton of give to this recipe. You can replace the sausage with any kind of meat you'd like. You can replace the stuffing with any flavor, or try rice. You can replace or eliminate the cheese. You can use any kind of squash. You can add anything to the "stuffing" that you might like. So many options.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Italian Sausage
Stove Top stuffing - pork flavored
Mozzarella cheese
1 Acorn squash, halved and seeds removed

Roast your squash. There are a few different methods out there for this. I place mine cut side down in a glass pan filled with about 1 inch of water. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until tender.

Remove the sausage from the casing and saute it with a bit of olive oil. Meanwhile, prepare the stuffing according to the package directions. (In the microwave is easiest) I ended up using about half the box in this dish.

Let your squash cool a bit then scoop out the middle meat. You want to leave about a half an inch of meat in there to serve as the 'bowl' which will be stuffed.

Add the cooked squash to your italian sausage and cook thoroughly. Add the cooked stuffing. Fill your squash bowls with the stuffing/squash/sausage mixture and top with grated mozzarella. (mine were heaping!)

Return the stuffed squashes to the oven and bake about 20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.

I read about this dish on a Mommy Forum I frequent on babycenter.com. I can't believe I never thought about stuffing squash before or thought about using stuffing as stuffing for any vegetable. You don't have to add any other seasonings or bread crumbs and you get that perfect stuffing texture! It would be great in zucchini, butternut squash, pumpkins, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, the list is endless. It's a great way to feature vegetables without feeling like your meal is lacking carbs or protein. (which this one certainly is not). I'm going to serve stuffed vegetables a lot in this new year, both with meat as a main course and without as a side dish. The next combination will be brown rice, ham, cheddar and fresh herbs. Look for it!