Ranch Dressing

Ranch Dressing

2/3 cup cottage cheese

¼ cup milk

1 ½ tsp parsley

¼ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp dill

¼ tsp kosher salt

Directions:

1.     Mix: Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and mix until smooth.

2.     Store: We like to store this in an old honey bottle and date it, so we know when it expires. It will keep until the milk and/or cottage cheese expires. 

Notes:

You could easily double this recipe. We just don’t use it fast enough to need to.

Healthy and Delicious Pancakes

Healthy and Delicious Pancakes

Dry ingredients:                                                          Wet ingredients:

1 cup white whole wheat flour                                    1 large egg

½ cup oatmeal (blended until fine)                              1 ½ cups milk

3 Tbsp flax seeds                                                                                   2 Tbsp applesauce

2 tsp baking powder                                                    1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

Directions:

1.     Mix dry ingredients: Whisk flour, oatmeal, flax seeds, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar together in a medium sized mixing bowl.

2.     Mix wet ingredients: In a small bowl, beat the egg. Then add milk, applesauce and vanilla extract and whisk together.

3.     Combine the wet and dry: Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the wet to the center of the dry ingredients and then mix them together until just combined (don’t over mix).

4.     Let the batter sit: I like to transfer the batter to a 2 cup liquid measuring cup, then let the batter sit in the cup for about ten minutes before cooking (this helps the baking powder to do it’s job to create fluffy pancakes). This is a good time to start warming your skillet (if using one).

5.     Cook and enjoy: Now you just cook them and enjoy!

Notes:

This recipe makes about 12 pancakes. We mix up the dry ingredients and store them in quart sized ziplock baggies. This way, when it comes time to make the pancakes, you just pull out the mix and add the wet ingredients to it. Be careful not to over mix when combining the wet and dry, because it will make your pancakes too tough. You could omit the oatmeal and flax seeds if you want to and just use 1 ½ cups of whole wheat flour. We just add oatmeal for variety and flax seeds because we don’t eat fish.

You can also make a simple syrup by mixing 1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup water in a medium pot. Bring it to a low boil and then add 1 Tbsp vanilla extract and 1 Tbsp maple extract. Stir and enjoy! Any left over syrup can be stored in the refrigerator and then reheated. 

French Toast

French Toast

¼ cup all-purpose flour                                                           4 eggs

¼  tsp cinnamon                                                                      1 cup milk

¼ tsp nutmeg                                                                           2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp brown sugar                                                                 8 slices of homemade bread

Directions:

1.     Mix flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar in a small mixing bowl.

2.     In a large mixing bowl, mix eggs, milk and vanilla together.

3.     Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

4.     Dip the bread (we slice homemade bread into four triangles) into the egg mixture, soaking it for a few seconds.

5.     Butter a skillet and cook the bread.

6.     Serve with homemade syrup recipe or honey.

Tips:

Stir the mixture, after every bread dipping, to help the cinnamon and nutmeg to distribute evenly in the mixture. If you have too much egg mixture just pour a little extra over the last few slices. This isn't a perfectly IC safe recipe due to the nutmeg and cinnamon, so if those spices bug your bladder, just leave them out!

Thanksgiving Stuffing

Thanksgiving Stuffing

1 cup butter                                                                1 Tbsp fresh marjoram (or 1 tsp dried)

10 garlic cloves, diced                                                 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary (or 2 tsp dried)

2 cups chopped celery                                                 1 tsp salt

2 cups finely chopped mushroom                                ¼ tsp pepper

½ cup chopped fresh parsley                                       15 cups dried bread cubes

2 Tbsp fresh sage (or 2 tsp dried)                                3 cups turkey broth (as needed)

1 Tbsp fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)                              2 eggs, beaten

1 Tbsp fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)

Directions:

1.     Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Then add garlic, celery, mushroom and fresh herbs into butter, stirring frequently.

2.     Spoon cooked vegetables over bread cubes in a very large mixing bowl. Season with dry herbs, salt and pepper.

3.     Pour in enough broth to moisten (the bread should absorb all the moisture), and mix in eggs.

4.     Transfer to a slow cooker, and cover (place a kitchen towel in between lid and top of crock pot to absorb moisture). Cook on low for about 4 hours (stirring about every hour, adding extra broth as needed).

Tips: If it is too soggy, remove the lid for the last half hour or so, if it is too dry, add more broth. You can prepare this early too. Just mix all the ingredients, except the eggs into a big bowl. Cover and chill until completely cold, then add the eggs and mix. Cover and refrigerate until morning, then cook on low all day. You could easily halve this recipe and it would still work out just fine. I just usually make it for big family gatherings so I make a ton :)