You are here: Home / Archives for Food / Side Dishes

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:

Strawberry Freezer Jam

August 2, 2012 By 1 Comment

img_8086

I found a good deal on some strawberries last weekend, so I thought it was time to try and make some jam! This was so easy (but kind of sticky since I had the help of a 6-year-old) and it tastes really good! Unfortunately, it does take 5 cups of sugar (maybe why it tastes good?)– Yikes! I basically followed the recipe in the box of pectin but omitted the lemon juice– next time I am going to try and use no-sugar-needed pectin and just sweeten with juice and some raw honey. When I buy jam I buy only juice-sweetened.

Making this was fun, and it is worth a try!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

2 C. (about 2 lbs.) Crushed Strawberries (stems removed)

5 cups Sugar

3/4 cup Water

1 box Pectin

(Makes About 5 1/2 Pints)

img_8081

1. Crush strawberries with a potato masher, add sugar, mix and let stand for 10 minutes.
2.In a small pan combine water and pectin and bring to a full rolling boil that can’t be stirred down. Stir constantly. Boil hard for 1 minute, continuing to stir.
3. Add pectin mix to fruit mix and stir for 3 minutes.
4. Ladle jam into containers, apply caps and let stand in refrigerator until set, but no longer than 24 hours. Serve immediately, refrigerate up to 3 weeks or freeze up to 1 year.

img_8082

img_8085

 

Anyone tried to make fruit-juice sweetened jam?

Filed Under: Side Dishes Tagged With:

Easy Hash Brown Casserole

January 17, 2012 By 1 Comment

img_6032

One of my family’s favorite dishes!

 

Hash Brown Casserole

2 lbs. Frozen Hash Browns (Thawed)

1/2 C. Butter

1 tsp. Salt

1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup

2 C. Grated Cheese (I use Cheddar)

2 C. Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and bake in a 9 x 13 pan for about 45 minutes. 

I often mix this up and split into 2 dishes. I freeze 1 unbaked portion and bake later. It works great!

 

*I wish I had a good recipe for homemade cream of chicken soup to use in this. I don’t like using the traditional canned kind, but I’ve tried a few make-at-home versions, and none of them taste as good. Anyone have a great one?

Filed Under: Side Dishes

Pioneer Woman Experiment – Twice Baked Potatoes

October 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I’ve never made twice baked potatoes before (figured they were too much work) but I got the nerve up to try these. They were good and not too hard to make either. (I did leave out the onions and bacon).

The night I made these I stuck a few in the freezer. I flash froze them for about  30 minutes on a cookie sheet and then transferred them to a freezer bag. I only left them in the freezer for about a week, but they came out just like I’d made them fresh. This recipe is another keeper!

Also find the recipe in the Pioneer Woman Cookbook – one of my favorites!

Filed Under: Side Dishes

Pioneer Woman Cooking Experiment – Macaroni & Cheese

October 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I’m a day late posting this like I promised – I hope you weren’t counting!

You know who the Pioneer Woman is right? Most people do. She’s author of a wildly successful cooking and lifestyle blog, city-girl turned ranch wife and host of her own Food Network cooking show.  Her recipes and ranch life intrigue me , so I had to try some of her recipes.

Experiment 1 : Macaroni & Cheese

I feel like I am on a life long search for the perfect mac & cheese. My kids and husband like the kind with Velveeta ,  but I want to find a recipe that just uses whole food ingredients – no processed cheese.  I have a slow cooker mac & cheese that I really like, but I want a creamy macaroni recipe too.

I was excited to try this one because it just uses ingredients like milk, eggs, butter and cheddar cheese.

The Results:

My kids didn’t like the taste at all. I thought it was a little bland, but that may have been because I didn’t have the dry mustard the recipe called for. I give this recipe a B. I’m going to try it again and add the dry mustard, but if it still tastes bland, I’ll keep looking. I do think that this recipe is worth trying. My husband ate a lot. Find the recipe here on her website or check it out in her amazing cookbook.

 

Filed Under: Side Dishes Tagged With:

Slow Cooker Macaroni & Cheese

September 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

We love mac & cheese around here and I’ve been looking hard to find recipes that don’t use processed cheese. This one is easy to put together and tastes pretty darn good – just like an oven baked version. It uses  real food ingredients (though I need to research a little more about what evaporated milk is – this description sounds okay – any opinions?).

The first time I made this I used whole wheat macaroni. The second time I used regular macaroni. The regular tastes a little better, but the whole wheat batch still tasted good. I think I will use whole wheat pasta next time around for the added nutrition.

Slow Cooker Macaroni & Cheese

8 oz. (dry) Regular or Whole Wheat  Macaroni, Cooked (don’t over cook)

3 to 4 C. (about 3/4 lb.) Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese (reserve 1 C.)

13-oz. Can Evaporated Milk

1 1/2 C. Milk (I use whole)

2 Eggs

1 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Black Pepper

Mix all ingredients (except 1 C. cheese) in a greased slow cooker. Sprinkle reserved cheese on top. Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours. (For me, 3 hours has seemed to be enough). Don’t remove lid or stir during cooking.

Filed Under: Food, Side Dishes

Cucumbers & Onions

September 12, 2011 By 6 Comments

When I was growing up, this super-simple dish was a staple in our summer menu. It’s best to let the cucumbers and onions marinate for a few hours before eating. There is no set amount of cucumbers and onions to add to the marinade. When I made this a few days ago I used about 1/4 of a large onion and 2 cucumbers. I could have easy added more if I would have had more on hand. If you add too much though, the vegetables won’t get marinated much.

Cucumbers & Onions

1/2 C. Sugar

1 C. Apple Cider Vinegar

1 C. Water

1/4 tsp. Salt

Peeled Cucumbers

Onion (I usually use white)

Mix first 4 ingredients well. Add cucumber and onion. Refrigerate. (Works best if you let this “marinate” in the refrigerator at least a few hours before serving.)

*Update: I tried this with 1/2 C. raw honey in place of the sugar and it worked well! I just had to stir a lot to make sure the honey got completely mixed in.

Filed Under: Side Dishes

Easy & Amazing Rolls

July 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

This roll recipe is a family favorite around here! I found the recipe about 6 months ago and have already made it dozens of times since! It takes about 7 minutes to put all the ingredients into the bread machine and then about that long to take them out, separate the dough into rolls and throw them in a pan.  I love when a recipe makes me look good! Find the recipe here!

Filed Under: Food, Side Dishes Tagged With: , ,