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Homemade Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix

April 27, 2013 By 2 Comments

I’ve been looking for a good recipe for ranch dip (those Hidden Valley Ranch dip packets contain a lot of extra ingredients and preservatives – plus they are pricey!) and I have literally tried recipes for a couple of years. I think the search is over now. This one tastes pretty darn close!

Homemade Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Mix

5 Tbsp. Onion Powder

7 tsp. Dried Parsley Flakes

4 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

Stir ingredients together (I crush the parsley flakes with the back of a spoon) and store in an airtight container.

To Make Dip:

Combine 2 Tbs. of mix with 2 cups of sour cream. Let sit in fridge for about 30 minutes before eating for best taste.

Recipe Adapted from Healthy Weight Habits

Filed Under: Side Dishes Tagged With:

Homemade Play Dough

April 24, 2013 By 2 Comments

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We’ve been having some cold spring days lately, so I thought it was a good time to make some play dough. It’s simple to make and fun for kids to help choose the color!

Homemade Play Dough

2 Cups Flour

2 Cups Warm Water

1 Cup Salt

2 Tbs. Oil (I use Canola)

1 Tbs. Cream of Tartar

Food Coloring (optional)

Mix all ingredients together in a pot and stir over low heat. The dough will thicken and begin to resemble mashed potatoes. When the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and begins to clump in the center, remove the pan from heat and allow the dough to cool enough to handle. Knead the dough until it is smooth and feels like store-bought play dough.

Note: If you start to knead the dough and it feels too sticky, you just need to cook it a bit longer. 

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The pic may fool you – but the pan wasn’t hard to clean out!

 

Filed Under: Food

Snow Ice Cream

April 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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I thought we were done with snow until the fall, but this morning we had a few inches. My 4-year-old was excited. He’d been craving one of his favorite treats – snow ice cream. This super-simple recipe is a favorite around here – it was breakfast this morning.

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Snow Ice Cream

Fresh Snow

Vanilla

Sugar

Place the snow in a bowl and pour in a dash of vanilla and a sprinkle of sugar. Pour in a little milk and stir. Add more milk until you reach the desired consistency. Taste and add more sugar or vanilla if needed

 

Filed Under: Desserts

Main Dish Menu Plan – Week of January 14, 2013

January 14, 2013 By 1 Comment

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Planning my menu made my week go a lot smoother! Here is what I am making this week:

 

Steak with Homemade Marinade & Twice Baked Potatoes

Baked Potato Soup

Slow Cooker Macaroni and Cheese, Hot Dogs

Pizza Casserole

Mini Meatloaves & Ranch Potatoes

Slow Cooker Lasagna

French Toast & Egg in a Hole

 

Find more menu plans at orgjunkie – I’m linked up there!

Filed Under: Menu Plans

Slow Cooker Sour Cream & Onion Chicken

January 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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My friend Jilonne shared this easy recipe with me. The end result isn’t beautiful, but the chicken is moist and tastes good! It is nice to find chicken a recipe my beef-loving cowboy husband will eat.

 

Slow Cooker Sour Cream & Onion Chicken

4 Chicken Breasts (I used a pound of chicken breast tenderloins)

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup ( I like to use this healthier version.)

1/2 C. Sour Cream

1 and 1/2 C. Water

1 package Dry Onion Soup Mix

 

Place Chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

Serve over egg noodles.

Filed Under: Main Dishes Tagged With: , ,

4 Ingredient Fudge Cookies

January 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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These cookies are easy to make, taste good and stay soft! My kids really like them.

 

4 Ingredient Fudge Cookies

1 box Devil’s Food cake mix
1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil)
2 eggs
Plus: 1/2 cup powdered sugar for rolling cookies in

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir (or mix using a mixer) cake mix, oil and eggs in a large bowl. A soft, almost sticky dough forms. Shape dough into 1- 1.5″ balls( I just use a cookie scoop). Roll balls in powdered sugar and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 7-9 minutes or until cookie centers are just set. After a few minutes move cookies from pan to a wire rack. Cookies will “stiffen up” after they cool.

Adapted from Six Sisters Stuff

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Main Dish Menu Plan–Week of January 7, 2013

January 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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I have a love/hate relationship with menu planning, but it helps my week run so much more smoothly if I do it, so here goes. To simplify things this year, I’ll just share the main dishes that I am making each night (I will try to include recipes). I just keep fresh and frozen vegetable on hand and usually just randomly them to each meal – and pray I don’t have to spend an hour at the table trying to get my kids to eat them (yes, that has happened before Smile)

Menu Plan

Cheeseburger Potato Casserole

Korean Beef & Rice

Chili, Crackers & Cheese

Hamburger Pie

Steak & Twice Baked Potatoes

Crockpot Sour Cream Chicken (a new one – if it is good I’ll share the recipe!)

French Toast & Eggs

 

Extras: Best Blueberry Muffins

 

Vist orgjunkie for more menu planning ideas – I ‘m linked up there!

Filed Under: Menu Plans

Marshmallow Crispy Squares

October 2, 2012 By 1 Comment

I do a lot of ironing for my husband every week ( the kids and I  just wear wrinkled clothes!). I don’t enjoy ironing much, but it is the perfect excuse to watch some TV! I haven’t seen the Pioneer Woman TV show for a while and the DVR was full, so last week I decided it was time! My 3-year-old loves to watch with me. When he saw this recipe he wanted to go out and buy some marshmallows right away! I tweaked it a little to fit our tastes (2 whole bags of marshmallows in this thing was too much!). The recipe is super-easy and very similar to regular rice crispy squares.

Marshmallow Squares

4 Tablespoons Butter

1 10-ounce bag regular size Marshmallows

1/4 teaspoon Salt

6 cups Rice Krispy (or similar) Cereal

1/2 (or more) bag mini Marshmallows

Rainbow Sprinkles

 

Melt butter on medium-low heat in a pan on the stove top. Add regular-sized marshmallows and melt. Stir in salt. Remove from heat and fold in cereal. Add mini marshmallows and gently stir in. Place in a greased 9 X 13 inch pan and press flat. Top with sprinkles.

Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With:
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