A Ranch Type Dressing + A New Take on a Lettuce Mix

I've been wanting to get back to trying to perfect a Ranch Dressing. It's one of my favorites and I have a couple go-to store brands, but I know those contain some unpronounceable ingredients that can't be the best, so I need to get serious about one - or several - of my own.

Today I used equal parts sour cream and mayonnaise as my base:

4oz. full fat sour cream

4oz. EVOO mayonnaise

1/2oz. apple cider vinegar

1/2oz. grainy brown mustard

Once those were combined I added:

1/4t of my black and cayenne pepper blend

1/2t garlic salt

1t dry dill

Mix everything together well, adding a little water if needed to get to the viscosity you like. Store in an airtight container in the 'fridge.

I recently had some allergy and sensitivity testing done in regard to environmental factors and different foods. One thing I'm 'sensitive' to is Romaine lettuce, which was surprising and hard, initially, since it's been my go-to for many years.

However, since my lettuce mixes are always so varied, I've quickly been able to switch to dark green curly leaf kale. Here's a good mix containing: kale, purple cabbage, yellow onion, sliced sugar snap peas and cucumber.

The lettuce mix will keep well 3-4 days. The salad dressing will last much longer, at least a couple weeks. Today I added tomato, avocado and some sprouted pumpkin seeds before the dressing. . .Lin

A 'Green' Purple Cleanse

It's funny how one thing leads to another. . .
A Facebook friend is having a colonoscopy this morning. This got me thinking how great I've felt after each of mine. Great! Due to the cleansing action of that nasty 'prep' process. 

Then one of my favorite Facebook pages, Food Matters, posted a healthy green cleanse to do at the first signs of a virus. These two things, coupled with the fact that on our semi-annual trip to the cities this past Saturday, my daughter steered me down the Asian candy aisle telling me all about her favorites. I protested, "I don't need to get started on THIS stuff. . ." Too late, I already saw some interesting-pretty-shiny packaging that sucked me in. . .

So, obviously, with my personality -leaning toward addictive- I have WAY over-indulged since then. And, since I believe it's never too late for a do-over. . .that can lead to better choices -VOILA- here we are!

Unlike others, I don't make these things in a juicer. I had one once and hated the idea of all that great, fibrous pulp going to waste. You can compost it, or like me, use it in muffins, but one can only eat so many muffins, ya know!?! So, if you have a juicer, go for it. If not, use your blender!

I loosely followed the ingredients for the juice the mom and her son made on the Food Matters video, omitting one or two and adding several of my own.

1-1/2c frozen blueberries
1 big clove raw garlic
1 big fresh cucumber
3 stalks celery
a couple Swiss chard leaves (no stems)
fresh ginger or some lightly 'candied' ginger
1 lime: zest + fruit with the white pithy part removed
12-16oz. cold, fresh water

Juice -or- blend everything well. This was really good! If you're going more for nutrition than cleansing, you could add a little organic local honey and a banana, but I loved it just the way it is. No added sweetness needed. 

This makes 24-30oz. Enough for 2 big servings.
If you plan to down all of this yourself though -disclaimer- I'd stay home alone for a while afterwards. No long car rides, church, business meetings. Just you, alone, close to the bathroom. Because, as someone recently, so delicately phrased it, "it's never just gas" 😉 It can be surprisingly effective. . .quickly. . .Lin

Summer In A Bowl - Nancy's Garden Gazpacho

I. . .♥️ LOVE ♥️. . .SALADS. . .

To me, one of my wonderful 5 Ingredient Salads is always the best. I had all the ingredients for that, then I saw the beets, 2 lonely cherry tomatoes and a nice cucumber from my daughter, Nancy's garden. I thought, GAZPACHO!?! What else could I add to make Gazpacho!?! Carrots for sure, since those are always in my favorite restaurant Gazpachos. . .then I rummaged, and found all the rest in the 'fridge.

Everything you see above, garlic, onion, green pepper, radishes, celery and tops, etc. . .went into the blender with about 1/2c of that amazing Moroccan EVOO, 2T or so of the vinegar, juice and zest of that lemon wedge, salt, pepper, and about a cup of V-8, since I needed to tomato-this-up a bit. Blend well, or leave it a little chunky, your call.

I wanted to top it with sour cream before serving, but I was low on that. I combined equal parts-just under a cup each-of sour cream and plain Chobani Greek yogurt, a drizzle of water, salt, pepper and a generous amount of dry dill. Stirred and shaken, it was perfect finishing touch to make this Wonderful Saturday Night Cold Soup Dinner! Ahhh, Gazpacho!!←click here for some history on this amazing creation. . . Lin

Fresh Green and Yellow Salad

This is such a simple salad.  No need for an actual recipe.  Just rough peel the cucumbers, slice-chop everything into a bowl, sprinkle with a little sea salt and fresh ground pepper, and add the dressing of your choice.  A simple splash of balsamic and extra virgin olive oil is nice, but today, Buttermilk Ranch is what won out for me.  This adds such a nice fresh touch as a side to a big plate of spaghetti or some other comfort food casserole. . .Lin