Healthy Veggie Dip

I just came across a yummy recipe for veggie dip. I love snacking on carrots during the day but I need to be able to dip them in ranch. This recipe is perfect because it's pretty healthy so I don't have to feel guilty eating it with carrots. It's easy and you can adjust the seasoning to your preference.




Ingredients

• 1/2 cup low fat Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 cup low fat Cottage Cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 2/3 teaspoon celery salt

Directions

1. Put cottage cheese in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Add yogurt, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, and celery salt and blend until combined.

Source: Adapted from Kalyn's Kitchen

Gluten Free Blackberry Cherry Ice Cream

While looking through gluten free recipes, I found this great blog called Elana's Pantry. This recipe looked so refreshing and light for a summer night. The only thing I did differently was use blackberries instead of strawberries. The ice cream didn't let me down; it was definitely refreshing. I think next time I might use just a little less almond extract. This recipe isn't just gluten free, it's also dairy free and it's so easy!

Ingredients

• 1 (13.5) ounce can coconut milk
• 1 (10) ounce package frozen blackberries
• 1 (10) ounce packages frozen cherries
• ¼ cup agave nectar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender.
2. Pour into ice cream maker and process according to instructions.
3. Serve.

Balsamic Flank Steak

We had some friends over for dinner the other night. The wife has Celiac Disease so the food had to be gluten free. I enjoyed looking around for recipes. I decided to go with a broiled balsamic flank steak because, well...I have a weakness for balsamic vinegar. So once I saw that ingredient I was sold. The flavor was really good and I'll definitely be making this again. Oh and yet again I forgot to take pictures. I promise I'll get back to taking pictures soon.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• Splash of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds flank steak

Directions

1. In a resealable plastic bag or bowl, combine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, garlic, shallots, rosemary, salt and pepper.  Add steak to marinade and turn to coat.  Let marinate for at least an hour. (I marinated for almost 5 hours.)
2. Broil under the broiler for 15 minutes, turning once for medium. When done, remove and let the steak rest to let the juices return to the center of the meat, about 5 minutes.

Source: Adapted from Creative Cooking Gluten Free

Cheddar Cheese Fondue

My parents came over for dinner this past weekend and we had a fondue night! It was a lot of fun. We ate so much food that we were all stuffed! I made a cheese fondue and dessert. We didn't have a main entree because we didn't need it. I've been making this fondue recipe for a long time and to be honest I have no idea where it came from or how I came up with it. It's a great basic recipe. I'm sure you could add whatever you want to it: bacon and scallions or rotel. Some cheese fondue recipes are wine based, but I personally prefer the beer base.

We were too hungry to take the time out to grab pictures first. Sorry for no pictures!

Ingredients

• 1 pound grated cheese (I usually use 1/2 lb cheddar and 1/2 lb swiss. Gruyere and Emmentaler are even better but more expensive)
• 1 Tablespoon flour (enough to cover the cheese. This helps the cheese melt consistently.)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 3/4 cup beer
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• garlic powder to your liking
• Items for dipping - We use bread, carrots, apples (yum!), celery, cauliflower and broccoli - Summer sausage is good too.

Directions

1. Mix the flour, cheese, garlic powder, and dry mustard together in a bowl.
2. Heat the beer until it starts bubbling. I usually do this over the stove and transfer it to my fondue pot because I don't know my fondue pot well enough. However, I read somewhere to put the fondue pot at 375 degrees.
3. Once the beer is bubbling, add the Worcestershire sauce. Whisk in the cheese a little at a time until the cheese is smooth and the consistency you like. You may not use all of the cheese.
4. Once the cheese is melted you can transfer to the fondue pot. Keep the pot on warm. It may need to be stirred a couple of times.

Melting Pot's Strawberries and Cream Fondue

Matt gave me a Melting Pot cookbook for my birthday. I let my dad look through and pick out a dessert to make. He chose the one I knew he'd choose: Strawberries and Cream. It definitely sounds like him! This dessert was really good. I would definitely recommend it.

The only thing was it was really stormy outside and I was afraid the power was going to go out before everything was melted so I took a shortcut and melted it in the microwave. I'm going to post the recipe as it was written in the book because that's how I'll do it in the future.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup quartered fresh strawberries
• Confectioners Sugar to taste
• 4 1/2 ounce (3/4 cup) finely chopped white chocolate
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup raspberry liqueur
• Items for dipping - We used pound cake (yum!!), rice crispy treats, shortbread cookies, and brownies.

Directions

1. Place the strawberries in a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Pour into a small bowl. Add the confectioners sugar and mix well.
2. Combine the chocolate and cream in a fondue pot set over low heat. Heat until the chocolate is melted, stirring constantly.
3. Add the liqueur and stir gently to combine. Swirl the strawberry puree gently on the surface of the fondue. Keep fondue warm over low heat.

Source: The Melting Pot: Dip Into Something Different

Iced Sugar Cookies

I love the blog Annie's Eats and she's always making the prettiest sugar cookies. To be honest, as much as I wanted to make them myself I was afraid because they looked like a lot of work. But, I was meeting a couple of friends for lunch and thought it would be fun to give them each a box of cookies.

The cookies were really easy to make. They tasted good especially once they were iced. I was concerned at first because they were a little drier than I usually prefer. My friends liked them. I'd be interested in trying some other recipes out as well.

The icing was easy to make and for a first time icing sugar cookies, I think I did an ok job. I know I'll get better with practice. I'll learn what the right consistency should be.

Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 ½ t. almond extract
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 t. salt
• 2 ½ c. sifted flour

Directions

1. Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Cover dough and refrigerate until firm. 
2. Roll dough to ¼” thickness on a floured surface. Cut out cookies with cookie cutters and place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 min. You don't want the cookies to brown. 
3. Once cookies have cooled, ice and decorate.

Source: Annie's Eats 

Royal Icing

Ingredients
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. meringue powder
5 tbsp. water
Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix on low speed until glossy (about 7 minutes). Icing should forms stiff peaks. At this point you can add food coloring if desired (gel not liquid). 
2. This is still too stiff to pipe. Add a small amount of water at a time by hand until it's thin enough to pipe. 
3. Use a pastry bag and pipe around the edges of the cookies. Let the cookies stand so the icing sets. When you aren't using the icing, make sure to keep it covered so it doesn't get hard. When you aren't using the pastry bag, you can set it in a glass with a small amount of water at the bottom.
4. To thin the icing for filling, add a little water at a time until the icing drips off the spoon easily.  It should smooth easily into the rest of the icing still in the bowl. The thinned out icing can now be used to flood the cookies that have already been outlined. You can spoon the icing in, transfer it to a squeeze bottle, or a hole plastic bag with a hole in the corner. You can use a toothpick to help the icing to spread into corners. Decorate as desired and set cookies aside so icing can set.

Source: Annie's Eats

Vegetarian Enchiladas

I don't often cook a vegetarian meal. A lot of times when I find a recipe without meat I think it'd be so much better with some chicken or beef and so I modify the recipe. However, I thought this recipe looked really good so I figured I'd give it a try. The recipe was not hard to make but it took a little bit of time only because you had to prepare the filling, assemble the enchiladas, and then bake for about 40 minutes. I think next time it would be nice to find a recipe for homemade enchilada sauce. I enjoyed this meal and will definitely make it again.

I will note that I had good intentions of taking a picture.  However, I completely destroyed the enchiladas while I was plating them. Sorry!

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 2 cups diced zucchini
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen whole-kernel corn
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 cups Enchilada Sauce, divided
• Cooking spray
• 8 (8-inch) whole wheat tortillas
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese, divided

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 cups zucchini and corn; sauté for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat, and stir in beans.
3. Spread 1 cup Enchilada Sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/2 cup zucchini mixture down center of 1 tortilla; sprinkle with 2 tablespoons cheese, and roll up. Place seam-side down in baking dish. Repeat procedure with remaining tortillas, zucchini mixture, and 14 tablespoons cheese. Spread remaining 2 cups sauce evenly over enchiladas.
4. Cover with foil; bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; top with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until cheese melts.

Calories: 348 Fat: 4.2g Protein: 16g Carbs: 47.2g Fiber:7g

Source: Cooking Light