Ranch Dip

I am kind of funny about what I feed my kids.  Without being overly obsessive about it, I like to be able to pronounce everything we eat.  I have a love hate relationship with labels. Things like preservatives, artificial flavoring/coloring and any additive made from corn is not what I want to show up on our plates on a regular basis.  

While the convenience of grabbing a bottle of ranch from the fridge is an easy do, making your own is not that much more work.  The ingredients are simple and the homemade version is a little more wholesome than the store bought version. The board of ingredients is pretty simple.  You need three things.  That's it!

I am using Sunny Paris seasoning from Penzeys.  And since I love you so much I am going to tell you how to get your own jar for free if you act by July 11, 2011 just pay shipping and handling. You can get any half cup jar of Penzeys spices for free if you use the coupon code at the link above when ordering.  I got my jar for free and I am so delighted.  We LOVE this seasoning.

So, back to the ranch.  Add a heaping table spoon of low fat mayonnaise to a small bowl.   

Add the Sunny Paris Seasoning.

Add the buttermilk.  Buttermilk is thick, low in fat and tangy.  The buttermilk is so good in this dressing.  This recipe makes a thick ranch dip that is prefect for dipping veggies into.  I also us it as a dressing for salads, but I add extra buttermilk to thin it down so it is pourable and coats the lettuce nicely.   

Whisk it all together until it is well mixed. 

The ranch keeps for about a week in the fridge.  It is creamy, full of flavor and oh so guilt free with all those yummy veggies. 

Hubby is going to be home any minute and he always comes home hungry.  Since I do not want hungry to equal crabby, I try to make sure I have a snack ready to go or dinner almost ready to eat.  Nothing says love to that man like food.  He works hard for his company and his family and I appreciate that so much.  Having a HEALTHY snack waiting for him brightens his day and it's my way of saying thank you for all the work he does on our behalf.  The hardest part is keeping the kids from Dad's snack.  :-)      

Willow Cottage Ranch Dip

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Low Fat Mayo
1/2 teaspoon Sunny Paris Seasoning
1 Tablespoon Buttermilk

Directions:

1. Mix ingredients in a small bowl. Enjoy.
2. Keeps in fridge for one week. Makes 2 servings of dip. 

***Note: If you are making this into a salade dressing, add extra buttermilk to make the mixture the consistency of dressing. This recipe is easily adjusted to make the consistency you like best.

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I am linking this recipe to Designs by Gollum: Foodie Friday.

Mexico for Lunch

My kids are hard workers. They play sports, do well in school and help out around the house. By the time the weekend comes, we are all ready for a little fun and a little relaxation. This weekend we invited the kids' friends over for a Mexican inspired lunch and lots of laughs.



I decided to make a favorite of ours, which also happens to be a pretty kid friendly meal.  I made a platter of quesadillas stuffed with peppers, cilantro and cheese.  To go with the quesadillas, I served tortilla chips along with a few toppings so the kids could make their own nachos.  It was a fun meal and all the kids had a great time.



I found this nifty little wire holder.  I added a few half pint canning jars of guacamole, salsa, sour cream, and nacho cheese so the kids could scoop out a few condiments for their tortilla chips.  They loved it and it was so handy.

For fun, I made a tres leches cake.  It was a bit sweet and rich after this meal, but the kids did not care.  They mostly all loved it. Next time I would probably go for a different dessert though.  

Now onto the main attraction.  These are our absolute favorite quesadillas.  They are meatless, but yet still filling and so satisfying.  They are an easy fix for any night of the week and the board of ingredients are simple items that you can find in any grocery store.  I just happened to find these little mini bell peppers in the store.  They were so cute I had to get them. 

To start, we need to cook our bell peppers.  I am going to show you how I cut down peppers.  I start by cutting off the top of the paper. 

The bottom comes off next. 

Then stand the pepper up on the widest end. 

Then cut one side, or one third of the pepper off leaving the ribs and seeds in the pepper.

Then turn the pepper and cut another third off. 

Then cut the last third off.  Your pepper is ready to slice and you can toss the entire middle of the pepper. 

Viola!

Now you can slice the peppers up and get them ready to cook.

I add all the sliced peppers to a bowl and give them a tiny pinch of salt and a generous pinch of black pepper.  Then toss the peppers and seasoning altogether.

In a non stick pan over medium heat add a drizzle of olive oil to the pan and let the pan heat up a bit.

When the pan is heated, add the peppers to the pan. 

Cook them, stirring occasionally until they are slightly charred and softened like this.

Now it's time to assemble the quesadillas.  Start with a few tortillas, the cooked peppers, fresh cilantro and freshly grated cheese.  I am using Colby-Jack cheese.  

Add about 3/4 of a cup of cheese to the tortilla.

Add a few cilantro leaves.  You could also finely chop the cilantro and sprinkle it all over the cheese if you wanted to.  We like the whole leaves.

The trick to the peppers is to make sure you spread them around so you get pepper in every bite.  So yummy.

Top is all off with another tortilla.

Then they go into a dry non stick pan over medium heat.  Keep an eye on them.  They burn so quickly.  I usually make a whole stack of quesadillas and then cook them so I can keep a close eye on them.  Cook the quesadilla on both sides.

When the tortilla is toasted on both sides and the cheese is melted, then remove it from the pan.  I always put the quesadillas right on a cutting board.

Cut it into quarters.

Look at that oozing cheese.

You can see the peppers and cilantro peaking out along the cut lines.  I can't wait to eat this.

Pepper and Cilantro Quesadillas

Ingredients:

3 Bell Peppers, Cut into thin strips
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Fresh Cilantro Leaves
1 Pound Freshly Shredded Cheese
10 Medium Size Tortillas

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add peppers, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Toss the peppers and seasoning until the seasoning is well distributed. In a medium non stick skillet over medium heat add a drizzle of olive oil and peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally until peppers are slightly charred.

2. Lay out 5 tortillas. Divide cheese between the 5 tortillas. Add peppers and cilantro leaves on top of the cheese. Cover with a second tortilla.

3. Cook the quesadillas one at a time in a dry non stick skillet over medium heat. Keep a close eye on the tortillas so they do not burn. Cook on both sides.

4. Put the quesadilla on a cutting board and cut into quarters.

5. Serve immediately with your favorite condiments like low fat sour cream, nacho cheese, salsa, guacamole, or pico de gallo. Enjoy! Makes 5 medium sized quesadillas.

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Tailgate Time in the Livingroom and a Recipe for Turkey Nachos

We are a football family! We love watching our boys on the football field. We love watching college football on Saturday's. We love watching our favorite teams on Sunday's. We all have our own fantasy football teams. We especially love the Super Bowl. We are equal opportunity football fans. We love football so much we had to make rules about how much we're allowed to watch! So if you are parking your butt in front of a game, it better be a game you want to see! My husband makes a point of seeing every University of Michigan game that he can. He is a big fan. He should come with a warning label. So we thought it would be fun if we threw a maize and blue tailgate party for the first game of the season.



My daughter was dressed in her pink Michigan jersey first thing Saturday morning, The boys walked around humming "Hail to the Victors". Someone even dressed our golden retriever up for the game!



So, for some reason, we love Mexican food for football games. As a kid, we had enchiladas for Super Bowl six years in a row. Why? Because they were so good. And while we do not make Mexican food for every tailgate, nachos seem to show up a lot at our house. I do not usually spend the extra money to make nachos with blue corn chips, but since we wanted a blue and maize theme, why not?



This was not an empty bowl on our tailgate table. It is my super easy Mexican salade. Just take two cans of black beans, rinsed in a strainer, two cans of drained corn, a sprinkle of cumin, and enough of your favorite salsa to moisten the whole thing up. You can serve it chilled or room temp. It is always a big hit at our house.



We dressed up a pitcher of cold 7 Up with some frozen blueberries and frozen lemon slices as ice to fit into our blue and maize color scheme.



Dessert was a pile of Paula Deen's lemon bars and a few blueberry cheese cake bars. Anything with sugar is a hit with the kids and it went with the color theme!



So for our lovely nachos, we need a board of ingredients. You can use equal amounts of beef if you would prefer and you can use any tortilla chip you would like.



To start, you need to cook your turkey. Put it in a dry non stick pan over medium heat. Break up the turkey a bit with a wooden spoon. Then add your salt, pepper, oregano and cumin. Get those on the meat right away. The oregano and cumin only get better as they heat up and release lovely flavor. When the turkey is fully cooked, put it aside in a bowl.



Turkey does not have a lot of fat in it, so when you move the turkey to a bowl, you will be left with a tiny bit of fat in the bottom of your pan. That is perfect. Toss the onion and pepper into that same pan with a pinch of salt. You are not sweating these veggies so much as cooking them like a fajitas veggie. They are not cooked in fat and soggy when you get them in a restaurant. They are just amazing and we are kind of trying to recreate that here. When they are finished cooking add the turkey back into the pan along with the entire can of refried beans and 1/3 cup of water.



I lost my picture of the nacho mixture all mixed up so here is a close up of the mixture on the tortilla chips. It looked the exact same way in the pan, so I was hoping you might forgive me this one time for my mistake. Now after everything is mixed up and your refried have melted into the turkey and veggies, you can cover the mixture and set it aside until you are ready for it or you can keep going.



When you are ready to make nachos, put a layer of tortilla chips down on a cookie sheet.



Add a generous layer of your amazing nacho mixture.



Add a generous layer of cheese. I like to let a bit fall over the chips and onto the cookie sheet. Bake the nachos in a 350° oven for five to ten minutes depending on the temperature of your nacho mixture and how melted you like your cheese to be.



And what you get is...



Now all you have to do is add the toppings that you like. We used finely diced shallot, salsa, sour cream and guacamole, but you can do whatever you like here.

Recipe For Turkey Nachos

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Turkey
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Oregano
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Onion, Diced
1 Bell Pepper, Diced
1 16oz Can Refried Beans
1 lb Shredded Cheese
Tortilla Chips

Directions

1. Brown and crumble turkey in a non stick pan over medium heat with the cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook turkey completely and remove from pan.

2. Add onion and bell pepper to the pan and cook until veggies are slightly softened, about 7 minutes.

3. Add turkey back to the pan with veggies. Add can of refried beans and 1/3 cup water. Stir until beans are heated and everything is combined. You can add a bit more water if you want a thinner mixture.

4. Spread tortilla chips on a cookie sheet. Layer nacho meat and bean mixture over chips. Layer cheese on top and bake for five to seven minutes in a 350° oven. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

* Note: One batch of meat and bean mixture is the perfect amount for one bag of tortilla chips and one pound of cheese. So if you put half a bag of chips on the cookie sheet, use half your meat and half the cheese to make the nachos. Just rough estimations are fine. The eyeball measuring system is very important in my kitchen sometimes. I would say this recipe would feed four if you are making it as an entree for dinner and will feed 8 if it is being used as a appetizer or part of a tailgate party like we had. Also, this is a super easy recipe to double and triple, just make sure your pan is large enough to mix everything at the end.

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