Mandy and Jace

I made this last weekend for the pot luck at church and it turned out very good. I’m not a big fan of goopy ranch, it kind of makes me want to gag. This recipe makes a nice, fresh, thin ranch dressing that tasted great on a salad. It was relatively easy to make too. The original recipe actually calls for less herbs, but I messed up when I made it and actually liked the extra herby flavor. You may start out with fewer herbs and add to taste.

Ranch Dressing
adapted from Serious Eats
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonaise
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Mix the buttermilk, sour cream and mayonaise together in a bowl with a wisk. Pour in the parsley, chives, dill, lemon juice, Dijon, onion powder, salt and pepper. Whisk together. Taste and make sure it is to your liking and add more herbs or lemon juice if needed. Place in an air tight container and refrigerate before using.

We had a great weekend! Saturday I tried my hand at making ranch dressing, and it came out amazing. I’ll definitely put that recipe up soon! Also as you can see in the photo above my amazing, wonderful husband made me biscuits and gravy Saturday night, and they were delicious.

Last week Pioneer Woman put up a recipe for beef stir fry that looked delicious. I’m pretty sure I dreamed about stir fry for a week after that. So, We are making our own version this week. Also we are making my favorite dish on Tuesday so it’s a good week for food!

Here’s this week’s plan.
Tonight: spicy beef stir fry (kind of like this one just with different spices)
Tuesday: sauteed chicken and pasta in a spicy cream sauce
Wednesday: grilled sandwiches and chips
Thursday: take out after practice
Friday: date night

Happy eating!

We have lots of potluck dinners at church…lots. Now, when I think of pot luck my first reaction is normally yuck. It’s a big table full of brown food. You have your few small bowls of veggies and a small bowl of salad that everyone is quick to put on their plate but doesn’t touch, but for the most part brown, high calorie but low in flavor food. Now, I’m not trying to be mean, I’m just speaking my mind and since this is my website I’m entitled to do that right?

So most people bring casseroles because they are easy to fix the night before and serve in one dish. I get it, I like my one pot meals as much as the next girl. I’m picky about my casseroles though. To me they are just a dish of mush that never looks pretty on a plate. Any casserole that I make needs to have some color and it needs to taste great. I think this one hits even my high expectations. It has color, lots of flavor and next to a big salad it looks pretty.

When I make this I like to double the recipe and put half in a casserole dish that I can freeze. That way when I need a quick meal I can pull it out and throw it in the oven.

Chicken Spaghetti
adapted from The Pioneer Woman’s recipe meshed with my best friend Jamie’s recipe

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (boiled, grilled, bought from the store, however you like it)
3 cups dried spaghetti broken into small pieces
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
3 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 can ro-tel tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook your spaghetti until al dente. Remember you are going to bake this later so it will finish cooking then. Drain the spaghetti and combine will all the other ingredients in a big bowl except hold out 1 cup of grated cheese. Pour in one cup of chicken broth and stir together. Pour in the second cup if needed. It needs to be easy to stir but not juicy.

Dump the mixture into the casserole dish of your choosing and sprinkle the remaining cup of cheese on top.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until it is bubbly and delicious.