What is Hidden in that Valley? Real Ranch for me

First off, I have been meaning to update this blog forever. Since I find myself alone currently with a flat tire and waiting on service, I figure now would be the perfect time. The triplets have reached the phase where dipping food is like super cool. In fact, they have been asking for Ranch dressing with everything! Even pancakes, yikes. But, I figure hey Ranch could be a good healthy source of fat for my skinny kids and it might even get them to eat their carrots. So Ranch it is.

That was until I saw what was hidden in that Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing we have been lapping up.

Here what they are hiding in the Valley-

Vegetable oil, egg yolk, sugar, salt, buttermilk, spices, garlic, onion, vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, MSG, artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, calcium disodium EDTA, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate.

First few ingrediats are not too bad. And I was actually happy to see sugar instead of HFCS. But MSG and Artifical flavors, no thanks.

So I found a fabulous ranch recipe and told the hubby to go ahead and make it. We adapted this recipe from Claire Robinson of the food network. Gosh, I love recipes with only 4 ingredients.

• 2 scallions, trimmed
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup buttermilk

Chop the scallions and garlic as fine as possible, A food processor would come in handy here, but I killed our a few years back, oops. Then wisk together with the buttermilk and and mayo. That is it folks.

4 Ingredients Vs. 18. I have no idea why the Hidden Valley Ranch needs artificial flavors. The flavors on the real ranch was so much better. Of course you could use low-fat mayo and buttermilk if you want. Also, since this is missing all those lovely preservatives it is only good for about a week after you make it. But, if you are like us, no way there will be a drop left. 7 days after making

Bloomin' Garlic Bread

Bloomin Garlic Bread- think like a bloomin onion without the vegetable part.

OMG, this was so good. Seriously, do not go near this recipe if you are dieting. We could not stop eating this, even this kids thought it was super. I made this one up as I was going and it turned out perfect. You could probably come up with some tweeks on this with your families favorite flavors

Here is what you need,

1 store bought round bread loaf.

1/2 stick of butter

Chopped Garlic

1.5 cups of shredded cheese (I used mozzarella)

Italian Spices

Okay, I started off with a plain old Italian round loaf from Kroger. With my serated knife, I made cuts all the way down both horizontally and vertically. You want to cut preety far down, but NOT through the bottom crust. I stopped when I felt the knife on the bottom crust. For those of you that actually get to eat at restaurants that don't heavly feature cartoon-characters on their menu.... this look should remind you of a bloomin onion from Outback Steakhouse.

Next, melt your half stick of butter and mix in the garlic. I let my butter cool enough to be safely handled by my small helpers. Baby A (buscuit) had alot of fun brushing on the butter. Make sure to get in all the little bread nooks you cut.

Baby B (muffin) saw how much fun it was and wanted to join in. I only have one brush, so he used a spoon, which worked out well. And a fight over who got to use the brush did not happen, I know I am shocked too.

Next, I asked the boys the super important question of white or yellow cheeses (Mozerella or cheddar). Personally, I wanted both. The boys agreed for the first time today and went for the white. We sprinkled 1.5 cups of cheese. Again, be sure to get some cheesy goodness in the nooks and crannies you cut. Now, sprinkle with your Italian herbs or spices.

In the oven at 350 for 10 minutes or until warm and bubbly.

Let cool for about 5 minutes, so you can rip into this with your hands. So easy and so yummy. This goes perfect with a big ol' glass of "Mommy Juice", especially if you have toddlers that have been fighting all day :)

Enjoy.

Girl meets Griill

I don't know how you were raised, but growing up the grill was always my Dad's domain. So, I have always had my husband be in charge of the grill and anything BBQ. Seriously, I din't even know how to light the thing. Well, the other day (with some instruction from the hubby) I jumped right in and went for it. My chicken turned out excellent. So today I tried burgers. The triplets have never been a huge fan of hamburgers, they are more chicken lovers like mommy. But, I am really trying to get them to eat more protien. I think part of the burger problem was size. Well, I ran across "slider sized buns" at the store and an idea was born.

"Abby's Silly Sliders"

1 lb of beef (i used 8% fat Laura's Lean)

1/2 a package of onion soup mix

1 egg

Mix and form into small burgers. 1lb of meat yielded me 9 burgers. Which worked out nicely becasue each triplet had 1, Mommy had 2, and Daddy had 3.

Toss on a heated grill on Medium and cook for about 5 minutes on each side. I added a quarter piece of cheese to some of them.

Biscuit (baby A) is wondering why his bun is smiling back at him. He had mostly bun and about 1/2 his burger

Bean (baby C) decided to go bun-less, but did eat the whole burger part

Muffin (baby B) liked his burger but was rather confused by the how to eat the watermelon. I usually cut it up for them, but thought we should try wedges. He REALLY wanted to eat the rind.

Overall, this meal was an easy summertime hit.

Pie Pops- Cake Pops simple country cousin

Pie Pops-

After my last post I swore I would never make cake pops again. But, I did want to make something easy for all the little kids that will be at the Indy 500 post race party tomorrow. I love giving the triplets little treats on a stick (less chance for dirty sticky hands). So, pies on a stick it is. I have made this recipe before and there are many variation you can do to jazz these up. With Memorial day being Monday I thought it best to stick (ha ha) with good ol American apple pie.

All you need for these is Pie dough (you can make your own if you like)

Pie Filling (mine was a bit chunky so I cut the apple pieces smaller)

Cinnamon and Sugar

egg white

and some Popsicle sticks

Next you want to roll out your dough. I used a drinking glass to cut out my dough. But you could use a cookie cutter (heart shapes would be fun). Reroll any left-over scraps for maximum dough utilization.

Now, you want to set up your dough pieces with their partners -ravioli making style. Fill one side with your filling. Be careful not to overfill, you do not want leaky pies (alhough, not nearly as bad as a leaky diaper)

Now it is time for the stick. Make sure to put the sticks high enough to prevent the pies from becoming detached (physically, not emotionally) after they bake. Now put your pies together. You can use an extra stick or a fork to seal the edges. Make sure to seal in around the stick. I started with the stick and then switched to the fork because it was much faster. Once they are cooked it is hard to tell which one were sealed with a stick and which ones with the fork.

Put, them on a baking sheet. Brush with a little egg wash and then sprinkle with cinnamin and sugar. Bake at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.

Yum, can't beat them with a stick.

Cake-pops are the new cupcakes

Have you heard the news? Cupcakes are like so 5 minutes ago. Cake-pops are all the rage. I actually first saw these on Bakerella website. She has really good directions on how to make these and some super creative ideas. In fact, my Mom ended up seeing her book in Target and buying it for me, yeah. Oh, and also they are now selling 3 different varieties of cake-pops at Starbucks. So needless to say I had to hop on this trend and try making these little gems.

Okay, so make sure you have a lot of time and patience before attempting these. Bakerella suggests making a box cake and crumbling it to make the cake balls. I just did not have thetime to make a cake and wait for it to cool, come on now. So I bought a pre-made birthday cake at the store. I removed about half the frosting and crumbled up the cake and frosting. Btw, the cake I bought said it was chocolate, but was actually yellow cake inside, so sad. But, I just went with it, because I did not want to have to take it back, I wanted to get started. Okay, so I shaped the cake into balls and put on a foiled covered sheet. I think the key here is to keep the balls small so they are not to heavy on the stick.
Next, I put these in the freezer over night, because I was sleepy and figured it would be good to get these firmed up. Today, Baby C and I heated up some chocolate melts and stuck the sticks in. The chocolate helps the sticks adhere to the cakeballs.
Do not turn your back on these for even a moment, or baby C might just grab one.
Okay, so this is the labor intensive part. Dip in chocolate and tap tap tap off the excess. Then sprinkle with any fun jimmies you can find.
Now Bakerella suggests put these babies in styrofoam to harden up. I did not have any styrofoam so I had to get all crafty and come up with this.

Well, this was fun and I hope everyone enjoys them because I am not sure I will be taking the time to make them again soon....... I mean I am sure the ones from Starbucks are just as tasty:)