Homemade Ranch Dressing. {Hooray!!}

So, one of our highly-processed vices around here is ranch dressing.

Well, not so much for ME...but for these people in my house.

They loves them some ranch dressing, these people.

But I was determined to thwart their store-bought addiction!

I tried a couple recipes that I wasn't thrilled about,

then I found THE ONE.

And the nice news is, it's really simple.

Here's what ya do:

In a jar or zip-lock bag, or whatever, mix these ingredients:

1/4 cup pepper

1 1/2 cups parsley flakes

1/2 cup garlic powder

3 tablespoons kosher salt

3/4 cup onion powder

2 tablespoons dill weed

3 tablespoons dried chives

Now.

You just store that way.

And when you're ready for some WAY-licious ranch dressing, simple mix:

1 tablespoon mix

1 cup mayo*

1 cup buttermilk**

3/4 cup sour cream (FULL FAT!)

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

*Of course, homemade mayo would be BEST.  But I'm not there yet.  YET!

**Instead of buttermilk, you can also do one cup whole milk w/ one tablespoon vinegar.

Mix it all up and let it chill for at least two hours (it gets better and better with time!).

You will really love this, I promise!!!

***The people in my house gave me their stamp of approval.

My work here is done.

Delicious Breakfast Wrap {and HEALTHY!}

My breakfast this morning!

Egg-Spinach-Garlic-Feta Wrap

It's really super easy to whip up a delicious and healthy breakfast every morning, I promise.

Leave those Pop-tarts behind and get creative!

For this wrap:

Saute one cup chopped fresh spinach and one minced garlic clove in a touch of olive oil.

It cooks super fast!

Scramble two eggs in a little coconut oil.

Season with salt/pepper and hot sauce, if you want!

Mix the spinach in with the cooked eggs, top with feta cheese, then roll it up in a warm

whole-wheat tortilla!

Easy!

(Make it your own, add the veggies you love best!)

If you're really crunched for time in the mornings,

get things ready the night before so you can throw it together quickly before you head 

out the door.

You can do it!!

October Unprocessed - 2013

So, I think I'm doing this.

Taking the entire month of October to eat only non-processed foods.

All the details, ins and outs, and what-nots are on

THIS HERE BLOG.

But I'll sum it up with the definition of unprocessed:

Unprocessed food is any food that could be made by a person with reasonable skill in a home kitchen with whole-food ingredients.

In other words,

if you look at the ingredients list on a package of something,

and you can't pronounce half of it, much less even know where to buy

such things, you obviously couldn't possible duplicate that in

your kitchen.

And that makes it processed, very.

But for example,

if you buy a good quality whole-grain pasta with only

a handful of recognizable ingredients,

then that's not considered processed.

Do you get it?

Eating unprocessed foods doesn't necessarily mean you make

everything single thing homemade, 

it just means you are meticulously picky about what you put in your mouth.

Real food!

No chemicals!

No contorted, reconstituted junk!

This will be semi-easy for me because I am already very careful.

But I will tell you,

I have some very weak moments and often buy and prepare foods

that are terribly unhealthy, simply out of convenience.

(I actually used Velveeta twice this month.)

(Gross, I know.)

SO.

I'm going to give it my very best to plan meals in advance, and more carefully.

I will simplify our meals because I'm really not wanting to add more work to my load.

We'll be healthy and mighty by the end!

And we'll see what family members move out in protest.

Now, I want to know how many of YOU are willing to try this also?

(And keep in mind, you can set your own rules, of course.  The gist of it

is to simply get on track to making healthier food choices!)

If you are on board, let me know!

Be sure to check out the site where all the details are.