Kefir Ranch Dip/Dressing

 I love kefir. Straight-up in a glass, over granola, with chocolate, in smoothies, and even rubbed on my hands when they're really dry :)

But, not everyone around here feels my affections for this nutritious treat, regardless of all the brain-washing that I try to do!

Not only is this a tasty, frugal, healthy dip/dressing, it's a great way to smuggle kefir in your less-than-enthusiastic consumers! (i.e. kids)

I have another recipe that is thinner than this one. We like this one for dipping, especially after a day or so in the fridge.

Kefir Ranch Dip/Dressing

1 cup kefir

1 cup mayo

1 small onion finely chopped

1 1/2 t lemon juice

3/4 t dried chives

1 t dried dill

2 t dried parsley

1/4 t salt

Blend well and store in refrigerator.

This thickens overnight after being well-chilled.

Ranch-Style Kefir Dressing....

1 1/2 cups kefir
2 T heaping, mayo
1/3 cup sour cream
1 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder
1/2 T dried chives
1/2 T dried parsley
3/4 t salt
dash black pepper
1/2 T balsamic
1 t honey

Mix well and store in refrigerator. Makes 1 pint.

Parsley Butter Sauce....

Looking for a way to dress up your meat or a plain veggie?

I love melted butter over beef, but Parsley Butter is a super treat! The other day, I served it over pork.

It's really easy and adds a nice flavor.

You simply melt a stick of butter, toss in a handful of parsley (or other preferred herb), and simmer for several minutes.

I like to brown the butter, not all do that, but it will crisp the parsley which is delightful!

You can use it as a dipping sauce or drizzle it over meat or veggies.

Bean Dips....

I love beans and so does everyone in my family. I think I'm lucky that way! ;-)

When I have enough leftovers, they are a side at the next meal, but when I just have dabs.... oh, I just can't think of throwing them out! Especially if I've soaked them for one day and cooked them for another- and if I've used my precious bone broth in them- NO WAY are they going in the trash!

Well, some types, depending on how soft they've cooked up, can go in the freezer to be tossed in soups or used in 'bean salsa' over salads and as sides.

But, when the beans are already soft, why not just mash 'em all up?!?!
a la bean dip!

You can use any bean for this and add spices, leave plain, or blend in other veggies, sauces, or cheeses.

You can spread them on tortilla chips (which can be made from cut and baked corn tortillas to keep frugal/pantry), dip veggies in, spread in layered casseroles like baked nachos etc, use them in wraps in place in the place of meat topped with cheese and lettuce or whatever you have on hand (quick-fix meal!), use as a side on some lettuce topped with cheese and/or sauce, etc.

You can add leftovers to soups, meatloaves, etc. to stretch and add flavor and fiber.

Above is chili-beans, so they will make a good tortilla chip dip!

But the possibilities are endless as far as using them up, making a quick snack, and not wasting! And again- any bean will work!!!!

Be sure to check out Kitchen Tip Tuesdays for more kitchen tips!

What I did with those peppers I strung from the garden..achooo !

You remember me telling you that you could string your peppers and they would dry and turn red all by themselves?

Well here they are!

And this time I ground up a really big batch of them! (In the past it has been small batches in my mini-processor with a nice tight lid. The lid part is important...read on!)

Well, may I suggest, that if you do a big batch of these yourselves, in a big processor with a nice chute that 'gets some air'...that you take it outside to do this?!?!?!?!?

Yes. Got a plug in on the front porch? No? Run an extension cord!
Trust me- it is well-worth the trouble!

I sneezed, I coughed, my eyes flowed with uncontrollable tears and even after I stopped the machine..I had to wait about 45 minutes to enter the kitchen without coughing.....BUT...I did have some fun with the kiddies...you know, just to see if they had the same experience upon entering the kitchen :-)

They had been playing a game downstairs and as soon as they started up the stairway--- coughing!

I said, "Would you guys go in the kitchen and see if you smell anything funny?" (You can't really smell it but your whole respiratory system will KNOW its there!)

Hmm- whaddayaknow? Same experience!

:-)

Nevertheless, if you have a tightly lidded machine- you won't have this trouble (except when you open it, do dump quickly into the Ziploc! And I wouldn't blame you one bit if you did that out on your porch!).

But this adds a nice kick to any Mexican dish, meatloaves, sprinkled across oven-fried chicken, BBQ chicken, even pizza.

Was it worth the trouble? Absolutely! Free seasoning from my own garden- can't beat it!

Mock Cheese Sauce...

This is 'keeping with frugal' and it is lower in fat :-)

1 1/2 cups milk (can use skim)
1 T all purpose flour
2 T shredded cheese
1/2 t salt
1/4 t dry mustard

Shake milk and flour, in a jar until smooth.
Pour into small saucepan and heat, add cheese, stir until thickened, and remove from heat.
Stir in salt and dry mustard until smooth.

(May need extra salt to enhance flavor.)
*Dash of paprika or cayenne can be added for darker color.

*Served here over steamed cauliflower, with sliced cukes and oven-fried chicken thighs.

Homemade Vanilla Yippee!

Madagascar Vanilla Beans bought with Amazon/Swagbucks:

Cut the beans open, lengthwise:

Scrape into jar. Place beans in the jar.

3 per pint, 6 per quart.

Cover with vodka.

Tuck in the cabinet for 6 months, shaking them every couple of days.

Tartar and Cocktail Sauce...

COCKTAIL SAUCE:

1 cup ketchup

1 T horseradish (or horsey sauce, may need more if using sauce)

1 T lemon juice

1 t Worcestershire sauce

1/4 t salt

1/4 t pepper

dash of cayenne

1 T minced onion

2 T kombucha or vinegar

opt. dash of Tabasco and minced celery

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TARTAR SAUCE

1 cup mayo

1 T pickle relish

2 T minced onion

1T lemon juice

salt & pepper, dash or two each

5 stuffed olives, chopped

opt. dash of Worcestershire and 1 t horseradish (kids may not care for this, but adults will love it)

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Mix and match the ingredients to suit the taste of your family and chill well.

Can be stored in air-tight containers in the refrigerator.

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Be sure to check out Frugal Fridays from more money-saving tips and recipes!

Veggie Dip...

Are your kids hungry all the time? Mine too. I think my older 4 boys could eat from sunup until sundown and then ask to take a snack to bed!

I'm always looking for good snacks that will fill them up and I came across something in Set for Life that I've tweaked to this: Whirl in a small blender or mini food processor:

1 cup of cottage cheese

1/2 t onion powder

3/4 t dill

1 t parsley

2 T plain yogurt

pinch of sea salt

Blend until fairly smooth.

Serve with carrot sticks, celery sticks, brocolli, cauliflower, etc.

Very good, almost a Ranch flavor.

I let my older kids do the veggies while I mix this up ;-)

Works for Me!

Fermented Fish Sauce...

I have wanted to try this for a long time but I never EVER thought that I would pull this off, especially with DH with me! But- I bought a fish- with eyes! (No, not a goldfish- a fish on ice, from the meat department!)


See, I had some wonderful fermented fish sauce some time ago, that I have never been able to get ahold of again, so- I thought I'd make my own!


The lady at the fish counter kept telling me that it had been 'gutted'; part of me wanted to tell her that I really would have liked to have had the guts, but the other part of me was a little glad because -gulp- I wasn't sure if I had the guts!


How did I do making the sauce? Well, honestly, I almost backed out! First, I looked to make sure that it was gutted; I didn't want to find a beating heart, neither did I want it to suddenly fin me! But that was not the hardest part to get past. The worst part, was the eyes! Well- I didn't want it lookin' at me while I was trying to cut it to pieces!

(The kids had asked all the way through the store, "when we get home and dad's not lookin', can you show us the eyes?")

So- I covered the head with the plastic bag, put on a thick pair of gloves, and started cutting at the tail first, working my way up towards the head. Then- I stopped. I tucked the head in the jar because I was NOT going to cut near those eyes that kept looking at me!


I followed most of the recipe in NT, except I didn't have tamarind. Not even sure what that one is! Lemon, bay leaf, peppercorns, garlic, sea salt, whey, filtered water. Ferment 3 days at room temp, fridge for a while, strain, and I will let you know!
Oh and, the brown paper sack? Its staying in there until it is strained because I don't want to hear another word about those eyes!

Peanut Butter Honey Syrup...

If your kids love peanut butter, this will be a hit!


1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cane sugar
3/4 cup natural peanut butter
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup honey

Heat the first four ingredients until thick, slowly whisk in the honey and heat until the consistency of syrup.
Serve warm with whipped cream or with jelly!

Blueberry Sauce for waffles...

The other day, I took some time to make up waffles for the freezer (no leggo my eggo for me!;).

Here's one of the ways that we love them!

3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
3/4 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup water
dash of lemon juice
Heat, stirring often until sugar dissolves and simmer on low for about 15 minutes.

*Served here on a Belgian Waffle with whipped cream!

Liver Gravy +...

I decided that I couldn't just keep tossing out the little bags in the chickens when I made Lil' Roasted Chickens last.

I tossed them (2) into one quart of water with 2 T raw vinegar. I threw in a quarter of an onion, a sprig of thyme, and some fresh black pepper for flavor. I simmered them for 2 hours while the chickens roasted in the oven.

I then strained the broth, keeping the heart, liver, kidneys, and chopping them up very fine. (The beagles got the necks!)

I heated it back up and beat 1T cornstarch with 2 T cold water and added that to the broth. It thickened up very nicely. I then added lots of salt and pepper to make it just right.

How did this go over with the children?

I served the gravy on the table, allowing them to serve themselves if they wanted any.

Well, the older ones were not brought up eating strange things so they rejected it right away.

The younger - they've had their share of strange foods and -they gobbled it up! And I want you to know, that they liked it SO well, that they ask for some in mugs so they could eat it like soup!

Why yes, of course I let them! :-)

Now, what to do with that pack of hearts and gizzards in the freezer...hmm....

Braggs Samples in the mail this week!

These neat samples came in the mail this week and I've been enjoying reading all the info that came with them. Paul and his daughter Patricia Bragg are well-known for being health gurus.

I love the kelp seasoning packet!

I also use Braggs raw vinegar almost daily in some of my water, often along with some raw honey. My kids enjoy the Braggs spray on their steamed veggies!

I am not sure why I got these. Perhaps I signed up on their site? But I'm enjoying all of it!
Do you use Braggs?

More on rendering beef fat........

I was able to pick up another 9lb pack of beef fat strips tonight so I thought I would share more about rendering it. First, it's free so it makes this all the more fun for me! Second, it's supposed to be better for you than manufactured 'fats' and there's nothing added to it, such as preservatives. Some of you may even be able to get 'organic' etc. The best here, so far, is some 'grain fed'.

Ok, to start with, it's looks....it's usually long strips with some meat but mostly fat and it resembles real thick slices of bacon or rib meat. DH asked if he could have a piece to throw on the grill 'just to see' what would happen. No, you can't -smack! .....If you notice in the pic, some of it is thick and almost a solid white color. That's the real good stuff but other bits may be a bit different in looks and texture. Just cut it all up in blocks. (click to enlarge if you want a closer look at how I cut it up and what it looks like)

If you really wanna be super frugal, I mean make the most out of this stuff, you can try trimming some of the meat off. If nothing else, it would be good for flavoring a long simmered soup. But, you do not have to trim the red meat off. It will cook and then be strained off.
Once you've cut the fat into chunks, run it through your processor. It makes a pretty pink mousse looking stuff. DH said it looked like strawberry ice cream! (Maybe I should have fed him before I started this.) Put a little water in the bottom of your pot and turn on the heat from low to medium. You will want to gradually melt the fat, raising the temp is fine once it has started to melt and you have all your fat chopped up.

Keep chopping the fat and adding to your pot. Here's a closer look at that pretty pink stuff.

If you can see, my hand is greasy from touching this. Just running it through the food processor seems to begin bringing out exactly what I'm after!

Now, here's the pot after I have filled it with the ground fat. No, that's not water, that's the fat melted. I wanted you to see the brown stuff in it. It's normal so don't panic. It's just the meat particles.

See? It sorta looks like ground hamburger meat, don't you think?

Yeah, it's okay. Once all pink is gone and you've brought the temp up to a simmer, stirring constantly once you raise the heat; you'll want to simmer for about 5 minutes to make sure all the fat has melted and also the bit of water added will likely cook off.

Then, in a non-plastic strainer, lined with a coffee filter or paper towel, strain the fat into a bowl. (My beagle-dogs outside, love the leftovers!)

And this is what you will have! A nice oil that will solidify once it has cooled. It will be very similar to lard or shortening.

See? Pretty, huh? Cooks great! I fried okra in it the other night! Yummy! Great flavor, no smoke, no burn, no wacky chemicals!

And- it's free! I mean frugal!

Strawberry Preserves

This is heaven on earth to me! Strawberries for $10 a flat!
Mashed into preserves!

5 cups mashed strawberries
2 cups sugar
1 cup of water
1 package of Sure Gel in the pink box (for low sugar or no sugar recipes)

Mix and cook for 2 minutes and pour into jars.

Niki has instructions for 'canning' on these links: http://minimalistmommy.blogspot.com/2008/01/who-in-their-right-mind-would-be.html
AND
http://minimalistmommy.blogspot.com/2008/01/well-tonight-is-continuing-saga-of.html
Her instructions are great for using Mason jars. I knew a lot of my jelly would be gone in a couple of days with this crew, so some of it I just poured in my stash of jars. DO NOT pour into anything plastic!



Here it is on some toast at breakfast. So good, thick with berries!

Salsa, a nice recipe with a kick

3 medium tomatoes, chopped fine
1 medium onion chopped fine
2 fresh chili peppers, seeded, chopped fine
2 t apple cider vinegar
1 t cilantro

Mix and chill for a couple of hours before serving.

LIGHT RUEBEN SANDWICHES- (with lowfat Thousand Island from scratch)

LOWFAT THOUSAND ISLAND
1/4 cup mayo
2T ketchup
2T fresh lemon juice
1T finely chopped onion
1T fresh chopped parsley
2T sweet pickle relish
1/2 t salt
1/2 t fresh black pepper
dash of paprika
dash of cayenne
water if needed
Blend in a blender until smooth. Chill.




toasted rye bread
prepared sauerkraut
lowfat thousand island
thin sliced turkey pastrami
fat free sliced swiss cheese

Preheat broiler.

Heat kraut in microwave.

Layer on toast; dressing, pastrami, kraut, and swiss cheese.

Broil approx. one minute until cheese melts.

Remove and place slice of toast on and slice!

*Served here with sweet potato strings. Sweet potatoes sliced then tossed in a tablespoon of olive oil, cumin, and paprika.

Homemade Yogurt- what fun!

HOW DO YOU MAKE YOGURT????...It's really a cinch! You heat 2 quarts of milk until it reaches 180 degrees. (To have thicker yogurt, add about 1/3 cup of powdered milk to liquid milk when heating.) Remove the milk from the stove. (The heating process kills the bad bacteria that you don't want to grow!) Let the milk cool, this may take an hour or more, until it reaches between 110 and 120. Once it has reached that temperature, preheat oven to 200; and stir in about 6 tablespoons of PLAIN yogurt and mix well. Pour into (2 quart size)mason jars, TURN OVEN OFF, place jars inside and leave overnight with the LIGHT ON. In the morning it should be ready. Easy!


Yogurt is used quite often around here. We use it in smoothies and in our frozen popsicles. Also, several bread and muffin recipes call for it. I like to use it as the base of many 'dips' for fruits and veggies too!

You can make buttermilk in a similar fashion, just pour about 2 T in a jar, cover with milk, shake, and then leave it in a warm place for approx 8 to 10 hours. (I usually leave if overnight..if I do it during the day it cultures faster around the warm stove!)

For more info on the benefits of live cultures in buttermilk and yogurt, here is a good link to read more: http://burganfamily.blogspot.com/2008/02/health-benefits-of-buttermilk.html

Homemade Salsa

This big bowl can be made for the price of one 16oz jar of store-bought salsa and makes more than twice as much!

I used one can of Rotel (bought on sale with a coupon!).

1 can of diced tomatoes

a couple of dashes of lime juice

a few sprinkles of cilantro

a few dashes of ground cumin

one small onion

Sent it on a whirl in the processor and topped with one chopped green onion you see on top.

Cost; about a buck!

(*Can be made less spicy by using 2 cans of diced tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of canned chilies.)