3 Ingredient Delicious Chip Dip

Please forgive our brief absence we were all hanging out together! 

I have a super simple yet really good recipe for you today. It was a Pinterest find. We had a big family get together on the 4th of July and I served this dip. It was a huge hit!

All you need is cream cheese, sour cream, and ranch dressing mix. Here is the source for the recipe! I used plain cream cheese and it still turned out great. One of my uncles told me it was really good with cooler ranch Doritos.

Have you tried any great simple recipes lately?

Want to follow us on Pinterest to see what we've been pinning lately?

Spice Up Your Veggies

My father- and mother-in-law used to get food from this one food truck all the time and he had great veggies so they asked how he made them. She shared the recipe with us and it is so good! I find that I have to make twice as many veggies as I used to because everyone loves them so much!

Here is how they are made:

Ingredients:
veggies (I used four squash/zucchinis in two batches that I sliced before started)
1 chicken bouillon cube
1-2 Tbsp of olive oil
1/2 Tbsp dried onions
1/2 Tbsp minced garlic

Start by heating up the oil in your pan on medium/high heat. Place the bouillon cube in to dissolve. Once that is heated up add your vegetables (see list of veggies that could work below).

Cook for around 5 minutes stirring frequently. I waited until my squash was starting to darken and get translucent. I then added the onions and garlic. Make sure you wait to add these because they will burn.

I made these last night for dinner and they were delicious! If you make them in smaller batches they cook more evenly and don't get soggy. Doesn't this look like the perfect summer meal?

Veggies that would work with this recipe:

• Green beans- frozen works better but we have also made this recipe with canned. Just make sure to use no salt added. 
• Asparagus
• Squash/zucchini
• Corn (same as green beans with the no salt added) We used butter instead of olive oil and they tasted just like roasted corn on the cob
• Broccoli

What other vegetables do you think this would work with? 

DIY Slushies

I was at a friend's house a few weeks ago and her husband made slusies for us by just putting soda in the freezer. I had some soda that had lost most of its carbonation so I made slushies with it. I didn't have as much room in my freezer so I just put some in a water bottle. Every half hour or so I went in a shook it. After about 2 hours it was a delicious slushie.

One Peach, Two Peach, Simply Peach Pie

Last week, Jasmine was visiting me and she bought us some peaches. And like a dufus, I let them get a bit mushy. What tastes more like summer than peaches?

I only had two worth saving, and what I really wanted was a peach pie. So I dug out one of my mini pie pans and figure out a peach pie for one large peach or two small.

I wanted the peach flavor to be front and center, so I didn't add any other spices. Feel free to customize that!

Simply Peach Pie
Double crust for a 5" pie pan:
1/2 c + 1 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp shortening
~3 Tbsp ice water

pie filling:
2 small or one large peach, pealed & sliced
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp butter (1/3 Tbsp), cut into pieces
splash lemon juice and/or spices as desired

Milk & sugar to sprinkle on crust

Preheat oven to 350F.

For crust:
an adaptation of a pie crust recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book

Mix the flour and the salt in a medium bowl. Using a food processor, two knives or forks, a pastry cutter or your fingertips, cut the shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse pea-sized crumbs. Add the water, one tablespoon at a time, to the flour, gently combining it, until the dough sticks together. Divide in two equal balls. Chill if desired. Roll out each piece to 1/8″ on waxed paper or a floured board. If necessary, carefully use a spatula or pancake flipper to get it off the board. Transfer one crust to pie pan.

For filling:
Combine dry ingredients, then stir in peaches (and lemon juice, if using). Pour into prepared pie crust, piling higher in center. Dot with butter.

Place second crust over top and seal edges. (I used a fork to make the decorative edges.)

Cut 2-3 1" steam vents in top crust with a sharp knife. Brush on milk and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until done. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy!

What's your favorite taste of summer?

A Guide to Strawberry Picking

We went to a wonderful farm last week to pick strawberries! If you have never done this you absolutely must! To find a location near you try here. The farm we went to also had amazing fresh homemade ice cream. We got sweet potatoes as well for some baby food. That night it felt so good to be eating fresh locally grown food for dinner!

We picked about 10.5 pounds and PB left with a red stained face :) I have gone strawberry picking every year for quite a while so I thought I would put together some tips!

Start by doing your research!

1. Try not to go on a weekend.
2. Look for berries that are: completely red, not too soft, deeper in color.
3. With the strawberry between two the pointer and middle fingers gently pull. Try not to squish the berry.
4. We were picking by the container and not the pound so we gently shook the bucket to get more in.
5. Use them quickly so they do not rot!
6. To hull strawberries you can just cut the tops off, use a strawberry or tomato huller (a quick search on Amazon comes up with quite a few options), or you can use a straw. I tried to the straw method and I found the bigger straws you get from restaurants work better than the typical ones you get at the store. 

 A few things I did this year with my berries:

1. Eat them fresh! I cut them up and sprinkle a little sugar on them to bring out the juices.
2. Simple Preserves
3. Frozen slices for shakes. I mixed with blueberries and frozen yogurt to make them extra yummy! I slice them thick and put them on wax paper on a cookie sheet. I flash froze them until they were half way frozen and put them in a bag. 
4. In a Simple Syrup

After enjoying and sharing more than half of what we picked I sorted them into four categories. No bad spots (frozen slices), one bad spot (simple syrup), multiple bad spots (preserves), and inedible (yuck!). Here are pictures of what I was left with.

From L to R Ugly, Bad, Good

Inedible

Frozen whole

Simple syrup is in the closed containers, the pureed preserves are still cooling in the small containers which fit about 1/4 of a cup., and the frozen strawberries ready for the freezer

With some of the preserves I made muffins and I plan on making some pancakes.

Strawberry Preserves Bisquick Muffins

2 cups Bisquick
1/3 cup Sugar
1 Egg
2/3 cup Milk
1/3-1/2 cup preserves (I only used 1/4 and there wasn't enough to taste the strawberry)

Mix together all ingredients but preserves. I had to add a little extra milk to make it the right consistency then add in preserves.. Fill greased muffin tin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 13-18 minutes. Mine were done on the lower end. Since mine didn't have quite enough strawberry flavor we added preserves on top and they were really tasty! Enjoy!

J Dawgs Hot Dogs Sauce

I went to college at BYU and just south of campus there is a little hut that sells amazing hot dogs**. They are huge and so good! Every time we visit Utah I make sure to swing by and pick one up! The thing that sets J Dawgs apart is the secret sauce. About 6 weeks ago I went searching for a recipe and I found a few that are close to the real thing. No they are not the real recipe but they taste good enough for living on the opposite coast!

 J Dawgs Sauce Recipe:

• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp. cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder

I have a few tips to add:

1. Use bratwurst or another good thick hot dog. 
2. Grill the dogs and toast the buns
3. Use sauteed onions and peppers to add to the flavor
4. Don't use any other sauce. 
5. Cut the dogs up inside the bun so the sauce gets into the hot dog
6. Prepare the sauce ahead of time and refrigerate 

I made bratwursts the other day for us and my in-laws and it was a huge hit. They were putting the sauce on their rice too!


**After looking this up I realized they now have two real store fronts and an awesome website found here. If you live close go! You can purchase this special sauce in stores.