No Fat Ranch Dressing

I also received this recipe at that Relief Society Meeting.  It was pretty good!

1 C Cottage Cheese
3-4 tsp Buttermilk Ranch Dressing packet
2-4 T Water

Blend ingredients in blender and enjoy as a dip or over salad.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Found this recipe on smells-like-home.com .


3/4 cup mayonnaise (I use light mayo)
3/4 cup sour cream (I use light sour cream)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 to 1 cup buttermilk
1 small bunch of chives or 2 scallions, roughly chopped
Small handful of parsley
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients with 1/4 cup of buttermilk in a blender and blend for 10 seconds. Check consistency and blend in additional buttermilk if desired. Less buttermilk for dipping or pizza “sauce”, more for dressing. Store in an air-tight jar in the fridge.  Leftovers will keep 2-3 weeks.

Homemade Maple Syrup

I've always wanted to try to make syrup.  I hope this recipe from melskitchencafe.com tastes yummy.  Then we never have to worry about if we have enough syrup for dinner.....oh oops, uhh.....I mean.... breakfast.  Okay, who are we kidding, we hardily ever have breakfast for breakfast.  Its always a quick and easy dinner for us.  I don't think my daughter even knows most people eat pancakes and waffles for breakfast.  oh well.  I think I will try this in small batch first.  I don't we would use that much in 2 months either.

*Makes about 10 cups (2 1/2 quarts) of syrup

8 cups granulated sugar

1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

4 cups water

2 teaspoons pure maple extract

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a large 5-6 quart pot, combine the sugars, honey and water. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to low so the mixture gently simmers. Cover the pot and simmer the mixture for 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and let it cool for 20 minutes before stirring in the maple and vanilla extracts. Let the syrup cool in the pot for another 40 minutes, or so, stirring occasionally, before filling jars/containers. Once the containers are filled, let them cool to room temperature uncovered.

Store covered in jars or other containers in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to 2 months in the refrigerator. Gently reheat before serving, if desired.

*Notes from Mel: 

I like to use pure maple extract because the additives are minimal (I think it has caramel coloring in it and that's it) but if you can't find it, you can use the artificial Mapleine extract from the store with similar results.

I’ve had the same issue with crystallization now and again but for me, it only happens when there is just a bit of syrup left in the jar. When I make large batches of this syrup, I let the syrup cool in the pot for about an hour before pouring into mason jars. Then, I leave the mason jars uncovered until the syrup has cooled completely before covering and storing in the refrigerator. I’ve never had an issue with the syrup crystallizing that way. The only times I’ve gotten the sugary crystals is when there is only an inch of syrup in the quart sized mason jar and then sometimes I get sugary layer. Also, I make an effort to pour the syrup that I want warmed up into a separate liquid measure. And if there are leftovers of that warmed syrup, I don’t readd it to the syrup in the mason jar until it is completely cooled. I noticed one time when I warmed up all the syrup in the jar at once that when I refrigerated it again, it formed a crusty, sugary shell. Hope that helps a little bit!

REVIEW:  I thought this good but not wow.  I think it was missing a little flavoring or something.  However, I do like the buttery flavor of Mrs. Butterworth.  But I will stick with this recipe instead of buying the store kind.  Also, I only made a quarter of this recipe because I wasn't sure I wanted to make that much at first and I don't think we would go through that much in a 2 months!

Pizza Sauce

I haven't found a pizza sauce that we love just yet.  I hope this one that I found on Jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com.


1 -14.5 oz can Italian Stewed Tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 t sugar
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried basil
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t lemon juice
pinch red pepper flakes

1. Combine all ingredients into a small food processor and blend. No mini food processor? You could easily just use a whisk to combine it all together.

2. Spread it onto your pizza dough...top with your favorite toppings, some mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

3. Bake your pizza at 475 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Taco Seasoning

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com.  I love that website, you can find just about anything that you are looking for and reviews are awesome b/c they usually tell you about tweaks to make the dishes even yummier! or know which recipes to avoid!

Anyways, I used this season our taco meat a couple of nights ago and it was yummy!  I loved it was ingredients that I already had and minus all the sodium from the mixes in the store.

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt (I left this out b/c I didn't have any. and we didn't even miss it!)

1 teaspoon black pepper

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

I also add some flour to the mixture before adding it to the meat and I added some water to the meat when I was cooking, to make the meat a little saucey.

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

This yet another recipes from ourbestbites.com.  I wonder if I could half this recipe because I'm not sure we would eat it all up before it goes bad.  Let me know if any of you try it!

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Recipe by Our Best Bites

*note that all spices/herbs listed below are dried. If substituting fresh, use the rules 1 part dry = 3 parts fresh.

1C mayo
2/3 C buttermilk
1/4 t white vinegar
1 t parsley
1/8 t dill
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
1 1/2 t dried chives
1/8 t black pepper
1/4 t seasoned salt
1/8 t dry mustard

Combine mayo and buttermilk.  Whisk together until it's lump-free. Add in vinegar and all spices.  Stir, stir, stir...  For best results, make ahead of time and store in the fridge, so the dry herbs have time to let all their yummy flavors out.