Tag: from scratch

Chocolate Peanut Butter layer celebration cake

Chocolate Peanut Butter layer celebration cake

“The best gifts come from the heart” This “gift cake” was made for Rich’s mother for her birthday. I knew she loved Chocolate & Peanut Butter so when I came across this cake – I knew I had found the winner! And then when I started 

Baked Onion Rings

Baked Onion Rings

“If I ordered these in a restaurant and they tasted like these, I would be happy.” and “I really hope you are going to make these again” … when those are the phrases I heard from Rich when he was enjoying these, I knew that 

Ranch – version 2

Ranch – version 2

Eating dip with your finger a spoon has never tasted so good! And since I made it myself – I like to think that it has never been better for me either!

When I get home from school, I am often craving a snack (come on, you know you crave a good snack at the end of the day too). Grabbing a cookie or some chips could be so easy, but not as easy to continue losing weight and make healthy choices! I love veggies with dip and like to keep these type of healthier grab & go things close at hand. I love to make my own hummus (so easy too – I’ll post about that soon) but have been on a dip kick recently and found this version of Ranch Dressing after Rich told me the other one I made (although awesome) didn’t taste very “ranch-y”.

Whip out your blender, cut some veggies, and make yourself a nice fresh springtime snack to get you motivated to do whatever it is that you need to do. Snacking is good for the belly, the mouth, and the soul!!

Ranch Dip/Dressing

Ingredients:

  • ¾ cup mayonnaise (light)
  • ¾ cup sour cream (light)
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tbsp. lemon juice (and/or some apple cider vinegar)
  • ¼-1 cup buttermilk (I”m heavy-handed)
  • 1 small bunch chives
  • Small handful parsley
  • 1 – 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 Tablespoon dried dill (more/less to taste)
  • ½ tsp. kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper (1 teaspoon, more/less)

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor starting with just ¼ cup of the buttermilk and blend for 10 seconds. Check the consistency and taste and blend in additional buttermilk as desired. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Get Dipping, dip & snack yourself skinny… no, not “skinny dipping” – “dipping skinny”

Guinness “French” Onion Soup

Guinness “French” Onion Soup

We love French Onion Soup (and when I say “we”, I mean that I have loved it from the time that I was a little kid and Rich had gotten it in restaurants and never really loved it until I made it a few months 

Ranch Dressing

Ranch Dressing

Who doesn’t love ranch dressing!? When we were little kids, ok, well always, we love dipping our veggies (or chips or breadsticks, or whatever) it in! The only bad thing is all the preservatives and who really knows what goes into it. Here is your solution 

Spinach Pancakes

Spinach Pancakes

Now you wait just one minute before you stop reading (actually – you need to start reading in order to start, but don’t stop before you even start… if that even makes any sense). These are not pancakes like you would eat for breakfast… think instead pancakes like potato pancakes, or chick pea patties, or something like that! Yeah – that kind of pancake!

I am continuing my healthy green kick tonight with these Green Spinach Pancakes (which yes – once again are pretty gosh darn healthy for you!). After finding these on  another wonderful WordPress Blog (thanks Five & Spice – these are awesome, and the photos are a lot better – I plan on visiting the blog of this ‘down to earth’ nutritionist a lot more often!), I decided to make these for dinner. But keep in mind that these would make a great side dish or appetizer or part of a “tasting” dinner menu!

Spinach Pancakes: eat fresh

 

Spinach pancakes (with ‘yogurt’ sauce)

  • 1 1/2 cup plain Greek-style yogurt OR sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • [1/2 teaspoon lime zest]
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves OR 1 teaspoon mint extract
  • 1 bag (10ish ounces) fresh spinach
  • 1 small finely chopped onion
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • olive oil for frying

Sauce: In a small bowl, combine the yogurt [sour cream], lime juice, lime zest, and mint leaves. Put in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve the pancakes. Stir once again before serving… just to be safe

Wash the spinach, then put the spinach in a large sautee pan with a sprinkling of water, cover, and cook over medium heat (stirring a few times) until the spinach is wilted. This will only take a couple of minutes. Put cooked spinach into a colander and let it cool down so you can handle it. Once cool, use your hands and squeeze out as much of the liquid from the spinach as possible. Then chop the spinach up well and set aside. [a box of frozen spinach would probably work well here too)

Heat your tablespoon of butter in a sautee pan over medium-high until it is foaming. Stir in the chopped onion and cook until it has gotten nicely browned. Turn the heat down very low and allow to cook for about 3-5 more minutes, stirring occasionally, to get them a bit caramelized.

In a bowl: whisk together the flour, eggs, milk, 2 Tbs. olive oil, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper. Stir in the spinach and onion until all combined. You will have a very thick ‘batter’

Pour enough olive oil into a large sautee pan to coat the bottom. Heat over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering. Drop heaping spoonfuls of batter into the pan & try to make them circular and even thickness (with spoon OR pressing down on it with the spatula). Cook until the bottom sides have turned golden brown, then flip and cook another couple minutes (no more than 5 minutes total for each batch). Transfer the pancakes to a serving platter (if needed, keep warm in a 200F oven) and continue frying – using more olive oil as needed- until all the batter is used up. Serve the pancakes accompanied with the mint-yogurt sauce for generously smearing them with. These reheat well too! 🙂

 

… with all these green recipes: you should be all set for St. Patrick’s Day this year!