Olive Spread

Becca here, with one of my favorite recipes from growing up.  Our Mom would make this Olive Spread just a time or two a year, but it has always been one I looked forward to, so I was excited when she brought it to my last birthday party!  The green olives give it a lot of flavor, the pecans add crunch, and the mayonnaise and cream cheese smooth, creaminess.  We normally have it with wheat thin type crackers, but I ate the leftovers with veggies, and it was just as good!

Olive Spread

6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup green olives with pimientos, sliced
2 Tablespoons olive juice, reserved from the green olives
Dash of black pepper

Combine cream cheese and mayonnaise, and mix well.  Stir in remaining ingredients (pecans, olives, olive juice, and black pepper) until combined.  The filling will be slightly mushy at first.  Refrigerate for a few hours to reach spreading consistency.  Keeps well for a week or two in the refrigerator.  Enjoy!!

Avocado Ranch Dressing

Jana here with a dressing that is delicious on a salad, and could also be used as a dip for vegetables. We have a lot of leaf lettuce growing in our garden right now, so salads have been on the menu more often!  My husband and I were talking about different types of salad we could make, and we came up with this Avocado Ranch dressing.

Avocado Ranch Dressing

1 medium size avocado (ripe)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons ranch dressing
salt and cayenne pepper to taste

1. Remove the avocado from the peel and pit. Combine with other ingredients, and use an immersion blender to blend well.

Enjoy!

DIY Chili Seasoning

Becca here with a cold weather pantry staple!  The chilly air has just started to blow into our area this week, making me want to make all of our favorite soups, stews, and cornbread.  This is a great item to keep mixed up in your spice cabinet to make throwing a pot of chili together a breeze.  It has a great strong traditional chili flavor.  I usually add it to ground meat, lots of beans, and tomatoes.  Best of all, it uses items you likely have in your spice cabinet, and costs less per ounce than the chili seasoning packets.  Plus, it has no unsavory ingredients (like the silicon dioxide that most seasoning packets contain).  The amount that you use will depend on how much chili you're making and the flavor of the ingredients you're adding to it, but I would start with 2 Tablespoons and add more to taste.  You can always add more, but can't take it back out!  Enjoy!

DIY Chili Seasoning

8 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
2 Tablespoons dried onion powder
2 Tablespoons granulated garlic
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons cumin
4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoons ground black pepper

Combine all in airtight container.  Stir (or shake :) to combine.

Start with adding 2 Tablespoons to your chili mixture, add more to taste!  Store in airtight container.

The Best Homemade Pizza Sauce {freezer friendly, makes 1 gallon}

Becca here with a really yummy pizza sauce recipe.  I have tried lots (LOTS) of different pizza sauce recipes and combinations over the years, and many were fine, but I couldn't ever get it just perfect.  My husband requested a really thick pizza sauce, and we like one with lots of flavor.  I wasn't happy with the way some came out too thin and ended up making the crust soggy.  If you think you have trouble getting a good homemade pizza crust, in my experience, the sauce and baking time, temperature, and method have more to do with it than the actual crust recipe.  But we finally have a winner, one that the whole family loves, and my husband (finally) said is a keeper.  I got the original recipe off of the back of the can of tomato paste, although I did tweak it a bit.  I've also added a splash of balsamic vinegar and a can of diced tomatoes to a couple of cups of the pizza sauce to make a tasty marinara sauce for pasta.  Enjoy!

The Best Homemade Pizza Sauce
*makes 1 gallon

1 huge can tomato paste (111 oz.)
2 quarts water
1 Tablespoon granulated garlic
1 Tablespoon onion powder
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons black pepper
2 Tablespoons salt
2 Tablespoons oregano

Combine all ingredients in large stockpot.  Stir well to combine.  Cover, and simmer over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, 20 - 30 minutes.  Use immediately, or let come to room temperature and then freeze in serving size containers.  (I usually freeze in 2 cup portions).

*To make a red sauce for pasta, I just add a can of diced tomatoes & a couple of splashes of balsamic vinegar to 3 cups of pizza sauce.

Creamy Horseradish Dip

Hi everyone!  Today's recipe is so easy and so tasty!  We are a family that loves dips, although I'm not a fan of the calories that come with the store-bought kind.  This dip only requires three ingredients and is super tasty.  We ate it on top of quinoa, with pretzels or chips, or with veggies.

Creamy Horseradish Dip

Ingredients:
1 cup plain greek yogurt
2 TB prepared horseradish
Lemon Juice

Directions: Mix all ingredients together.  I would add about 1 TB of lemon juice first and then taste.  If you prefer, add a bit more.  Enjoy!

Sara

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

Jana here with a recipe for delicious Apple Butter!  If you're not familiar with apple butter, it is a spread typically used on breads. (toast, sandwiches, biscuits, etc)  It is sweet, and can be used as a jelly.  Although it has the word 'butter' in the name, butter is not one of the ingredients.  After doing some research, I learned that the name comes from the spread's thick, soft consistency.  The ingredient list below will yield approximately one pint of apple butter.  You can store the apple butter in a sealed container in your refrigerator, or freeze the apple butter. If you choose to freeze the spread, make sure you leave space at the top of the container to allow the spread to expand as it freezes. I used Gala apples to make mine. You can use any variety of apple, although I would recommend using a sweet(ish) apple.  I used this recipe as my starting point, and then changed several things.

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

2.5 pounds apples, peeled, cored, chopped finely
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup honey*
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1. Once apples have been prepared as described above, place in a slow cooker.  Mix remaining ingredients together in a small bowl.  Pour the sugar mixture over the apples.

2. Cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low, and cook for 9-11 hours.

3. Once the cooking time has passed, check the mixture for the following things: it should have thickened considerably, darkened in color to a dark brown, and most of the moisture should be gone.  If these things have happened, it is done cooking. If not, cook for an additional hour in the slow cooker with the lid removed.

4. Put the apple butter into a blender or food processor, and blend until it has a smooth consistency.

Enjoy!

Avocado Hummus

Jana here with a really tasty snack idea!  I posted another recipe for hummus last year. That one was more of a basic hummus, that would go well with any vegetable, cracker, or even as a spread on a sandwich. When I ran across this recipe for Avocado Hummus, I knew I wanted to try it!  It combines two of my favorite things: avocado and dips! The avocado hummus uses white beans, so it has a very smooth texture. This recipe is so easy to make. It literally took me under 5 minutes, and was really yummy!  Let us know in the comments your favorite thing to eat hummus on or with!

Avocado Hummus

1 can (14.5 ounce) white beans, drained
1 avocado, cubed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

1. Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Process until well combined and smooth!

Enjoy!

Spreadable Butter/Olive Oil (Even Straight from the Fridge!)

Becca here with a basic refrigerator staple that I am SO excited about!  Finding a 'healthy' option for a spreadable butter is no easy task.  Margarine is basically a mixture of unhealthy chemicals, but butter straight from the fridge is too solid to spread on toast.  "Whipped butter" is a more spreadable, healthier alternative we have available at the health food store, but the price for the 'value added' of the air being whipped into the butter is really steep, and not justifiable to me.  My main reasons for wanting a spreadable option, even straight from the fridge, were to go on homemade bread and jam or with cinnamon and sugar, and for greasing my glass loaf pans when I make homemade bread.  The lady I learned to grind the grains and make good homemade bread from admitted to using shortening to grease her pans, since it is more easily spreadable.  I hated to grind my own wheat, and make a healthy bread, just to coat it with shortening!  I'm happy to say that this spread has solved both of my 'problems', and takes just a few minutes to prepare, using items that you likely already have at home.  You could make it in a larger batch if you prefer, but this will last my family quite some time, since we use it sparingly still.  I saw the idea in a Clean Eating magazine, but couldn't find it online to link to.  Enjoy!

Spreadable Butter/Olive Oil (Even Straight from the Fridge!)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup olive oil

Bring butter to room temperature, either by setting out on the counter for an hour or so, or by heating in the microwave in 15 second increments.  In a glass lidded container, combine butter and olive oil until thoroughly mixed.  Cover and stir in the refrigerator until ready to use!

*You could use a food processor or blender to further blend the olive oil & butter, but I don't ever have a problem just mixing it by hand, as long as the butter is nice & soft to start with.

Restaurant Style Salsa

Becca here with a "Pioneer Woman" recipe that I adapted to fit my family's tastes.  My husband is a salsa connoisseur (meaning he's picky about good salsa, ha!) and absolutely loves this salsa.  It has a bit of a kick to it, the kids thought it was a bit spicy, but still ate a bit on chips.  You could easily 'turn up the heat' by using jalapenos instead of the anaheim pepper I used.  Also, feel free to blend or process it in the food processor to reach your desired consistency - I went for a rather thin, without any big chunks, blend, similar to what we get at our favorite local Mexican restaurant here.  This makes a good sized batch, so it's great to make for company, or to have as leftovers.  Enjoy!

1 large can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
2 cans (10 ounces each) rotel (diced tomatoes with green chilies; I used 1 mild, 1 regular)
1/4 cup dried minced onion
2 teaspoons granulated garlic (the dried kind on the spice aisle)
1 anaheim pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup fresh cilantro, loosely chopped
1/4 cup lime juice
2-6 teaspoons salt, to taste (I use Real Salt)

In a large mixer or food processor, combine diced tomatoes & rotel, and process to desired consistency.  Pour them into a large bowl, leaving a small amount (about 1 cup) in the bottom of the blender or food processor (I use the blender attachment for my Bosch mixer).

To the remaining tomatoes in the blender, add remaining ingredients (onion, granulated garlic, anaheim pepper, sugar, cilantro, lime juice, and 2 teaspoons of salt to start with).  Process until everything is very finely chopped, then add to tomatoes in the large bowl.

Stir well to combine, then taste to see if you need to add more salt (be sure and taste with a chip, not a spoon, since the chip will add saltiness when you're eating it!) and serve immediately, or store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.  I filled a quart canning jar & a half with the salsa. 

Honey Red Wine Viniagrette Salad Dressing

Becca here with one of my very favorite recipes.  This salad dressing that I've adapted for our family, is my all-time favorite of any kind, store-bought, restaurant, or homemade.  It's the perfect blend of sweet & tangy, and uses pantry staples, so it's easy to mix up a batch anytime.  I love it with organic spring mix as the base, blue cheese, and then a fruit & a nut.  Here I've just used the pantry staples of craisins & roasted almonds, but I love peaches & pecans, pears & walnuts, and apples with any kind of nut.  The possibilities are endless, and this is a salad that even my non-salad-loving husband enjoys!  A great refreshing quick meal.  If blue cheese isn't your favorite, you could use mozzarella instead, although I very highly recommend the blue cheese!  You can store the dressing in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks, if it lasts that long before being eaten (it never does at my house)!  It will separate & the olive oil will solidify some, so removing it 30 minutes or so before serving will ensure that it shakes and mixes together well again before serving.

Honey Red Wine Viniagrette Salad Dressing

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup honey (I use local honey)
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon salt (I use Real Salt)
1/2 cup olive oil

Combine all in a jar with a tight fitting lid (a canning jar works great!).  Shake well to combine.  Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve, removing to the counter 30 minutes before serving for best results.

Garden Fresh salsa

 Hi everyone! My sweet husband took the opportunity to make us some garden fresh salsa this weekend and what a scrumptious treat it has been! We don't have a garden, but do have access to a fantastic local Farmer's Market, which we frequent often.  Although I buy the bulk of my produce at the grocery store there is truly no comparison between the taste of store-bought produce and home/local grown.  The home/local grown wins every time!

Another fun bonus of having healthy, yummy produce around? It makes a fantastic centerpiece for your dining room table!

Garden Fresh Salsa
Ingredients:
2 large tomatoes
2 mild peppers, such as banana or bell peppers
*Optional-you may also add fresh jalapeno if you want to add some heat. Start small!
1/2 red onion
1/8 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
Few sprigs cilantro

Directions:
Chop the tomato, peppers, and onion small enough to fit in the food processor.  Next, add the rest of the ingredients in the food processor as well and blend until salsa becomes the consistency you desire. 

*Brett also added some basil (about 2 fresh leaves) and minced this in with the salsa.  With the salt, cilantro, and lemon juice feel free to use as your tastes desire!

Happy Eating !
Sara

Simple Strawberry Syrup

Becca here with a super simple recipe that my family loved!  This recipe was my inspiration.  This spring the kids & I picked strawberries at a farm a few miles up the road from us; after making 18 pints of no-sugar-added strawberry jam and eating lots of them fresh, I froze the others after cutting the leaves off (although one of my sons likes to eat the leaves with the strawberry when it's fresh, ha!)  The frozen berries we picked were perfect for this recipe, although you could use strawberries you bought already frozen from the store; sliced would be fine also.  This was so yummy on homemade pancakes, and makes a large batch so you'll have some leftover for another meal!

Simple Strawberry Syrup

1/2 - 1 cup sugar *see note below

3 cups frozen strawberries, any accumulated juice included

Bring water, sugar, and strawberries to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Turn stove down to low & simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Serve immediately, and store leftovers in a glass jar in the refrigerator.

* I just used 1/2 cup of sugar and it was plenty sweet, although the syrup was a bit thin.  It worked great for pouring over pancakes still, I wouldn't add more next time, but if you want a really thick syrup, go for the higher amount of sugar.

'Red Lobster' Pina Colada Sauce (for shrimp)

Becca here with not the healthiest meal I've shared.....for sure....but, while it tastes nearly identical to the super yummy sauce Red Lobster serves with their coconut shrimp, I'm pretty sure it is healthier than theirs, and definitely sure that it costs significantly less, so we'll go with that!  Red Lobster has been one of my favorite places to eat as long as I can remember.  In fact, in the 7th grade, I got my first, second, and third B grades of my entire life in Pre-Algebra the first 3 nine weeks.  So Momma told me that if I got an A the last nine-weeks, she would take me to Red Lobster, just she & I, a really big deal.  So guess what?  I got an A, ha!  Now, with 3 sweet children of my own, it's not worth the hassle or price to me to eat out very often, so I like to make this yummy sauce my friend April gave to me years ago; my recipe is first dated 2004 in fact, although I've made a few minor modifications since.  This tastes best if it's had a chance to be refrigerated for an hour or two ahead of time at least, and makes enough for 2 meals for my family, plus leftovers that we use in a fun way; I'll share that recipe on Thursday.  Enjoy!!

'Red Lobster' Pina Colada Sauce (for shrimp)

1 cup pina colada drink mix (*see note below recipe)
1 cup plain Greek Style Yogurt (I use Fage 0%)
1 cup UNdrained canned, crushed pineapple

Combine all ingredient.  Stir covered in refrigerator.

*This is a mixture in a large bottle in the aisle with things to mix with alcohol.  The kind I found at my local stores (they all carried the same size bottle) was $3 and had enough to make this recipe four times!  I measured out the extra pina colada mix and pineapple into 3 quart size freezer ziploc bags, so all need to do is add the Greek Yogurt next time we want to eat it, and that way the pina colada mix didn't spoil before we could use it all.

Poppyseed Dressing

Becca here with one of my very favorite recipes!  In fact, I can't believe I haven't posted this amazing dressing yet.  It's so super simple and uses just a tiny bit of oil, but tastes SO yummy.  I usually end up making it every week in the spring and summer; it went perfectly with my freshly picked farmer's market lettuce and strawberries I picked this very morning.  I also have served it to company with mandarin oranges & chow mein noodles in the winter, or craisins and almonds....so many possiblities!   I can pretty much guarantee you'll love it!  I've been making it for many years, and can't remember where I got the original recipe; it's scrawled in my not-so-neat handwriting on a piece of scrap paper.  Enjoy!

Poppyseed Dressing

2 T. lemon juice
2 T. white wine vinegar (or if I don't have any I just use white vinegar)
1/4 cup sugar
1 T. olive oil
1 tsp. poppy seeds

Stir or shake well & serve. 

*If I'm serving company, I double the recipe at least.  Store leftovers in the refrigerator.  The olive oil will solidify, just set it out a few minutes before you're ready to use it to let it warm up again & shake before serving.

Homemade "Real" Vanilla Extract

Becca here with a recipe that is a staple in my pantry.  Vanilla is one of my favorite flavors, and I love to use it when cooking.  In fact, I nearly always double it in a recipe I love it so much :)  After trying "real" vanilla extract (as opposed to imitation vanilla extract) a few years ago, there was no turning back.  The flavor is just SO much better, I think they're hardly comparable.  Both Aldi & Sam's Club normally have real vanilla extract for a much more reasonable price than buying it at the supermarket, but it still can be pricy (especially when you're doubling it in recipes, ha!) and it often has corn syrup, artificial color, and/or has extra water added to dilute it and make it more reasonably priced.  I first saw the idea of making your own vanilla extract here and decided to make my own.  I actually did this last fall, October 26, 2011 to be exact, but waited to post the recipe until I had tried the finished product.  While not difficult to make, for best results the vanilla need to sit for several months to 'cure'.  I'm happy to say that the finished product more than meets my expectations!  I think this would make great gifts packaged in a cute recycled jar with a homemade label.  So here's how to make your own:

Homemade Real Vanilla Extract

Vanilla Beans - I ordered mine from a vanilla importer on ebay, here and was very happy with them.  You'll definitely want to order online or, if you live somewhere with better variety in grocery shopping than I do (which isn't hard, I have about 2 options!) you may be able to buy them from bulk bins reasonably, but at my local Harps & Walmart it was approximately $13 for 3 beans.  Yes, only 3 beans.  I spent that same amount online & got 30 beans.  I used 7-8 beans per quart.

Vodka - I personally don't drink alcohol, and didn't think it was appropriate to take my 3 children along with me to the liquor store (ha!) so my husband drove through (is it strange to anyone else that a liquor store even has a drive through?!?) and picked this up for me.  I told him that I wanted the biggest bottle they had of a medium priced vodka, and to tell the sales clerk that I was using it for making vanilla so they might have a recommendation.  The bottle is long gone, so I'm sorry that I don't have the brand or size, but it was massive, at least half a gallon, about $20, and the sales clerk told Samuel that it was a very mild taste, which would be good for the vanilla

Glass container for storing.  You could use the vodka jar if you wanted to, I used quart canning jars with plastic lids.

1) Take the vanilla beans and cut down the center of them, exposing the inside.  This is the really fragrant part.  Use a butter knife to carefully scoop the insides out, and put it into your glass container you'll be making the vanilla in.  Repeat.  I used 7-8 beans per quart of vodka.  Be sure and throw the vanilla pod into the jar after you've scooped the insides out too! 

2) Pour in vodka to fill your jar will vanilla insides & pods.  Cover and set in a cool dark place (mine is inside of my pantry).  I wrote the date on top of the lids in dry erase marker so I'd remember when I made it.  Give it a shake every once in a while.  The vanilla is ready within a few months, and only gets better with time.  Although I haven't done this yet since I made a lot the first time, I have read about people just adding more vodka and a few new vanilla pods to the old pods when their jar gets empty, since the alcohol keeps it preserved & it will never go bad.

I don't have an exact price breakdown for you, but I do know that I made several quarts for less than the price of 1 quart of real vanilla extract from the store - without the corn syrup, water, and artificial coloring.

DIY Fresh Herbs

Becca here with a good way to insure that you always have commonly used fresh herbs on hand - grow your own!  While I love the idea of a garden, I am certainly not known for my green thumb.  At all.  But, even I can quickly & easily get well more than my money's worth out of a few herbs from your local gardening center or supermarket.  These plants cost me just over $3 each, meaning that I will be saving money after just a few harvests of their leaves.  Not to mention the convenience of them being super fresh and ready when I need them!  Just rinse and they're ready to go!

If you're going to choose just one to start with, I would choose basil.  It's very hardy, and the most expensive to buy fresh in the produce department at my local store.  In fact, to get the amount of fresh leaves on this plant alone would cost me as much as the plant did (around $3).  The process of keeping it alive is fairly straightforward; water it, and basil likes lots of sun.  In fact, I successfully kept mine outdoors for most of last summer.  You can harvest some of the leaves for use in cooking about once a week (use common sense, you want to leave enough to keep at alive!) and will want to do so to keep the plant healthy.  If you don't need them right then, you can dry the leaves & use as you would any dried herb.  Be sure and harvest leaves before it gets the tall shoot coming off of the top that will have a small white cone shaped flower on it.  The leaves will taste bitter after that point.

Next is cilantro, my very favorite fresh herb; I love it in all kinds of foods, Thai, Mexican, lots of recipes call for fresh cilantro, and I love the flavor it adds. The cilantro plant also likes sun & moist soil.  It is a bit more 'particular' than basil, but I'm confident you can keep it alive long enough to get several good harvests from it at least!  The main difference from basil is that, as you may know from purchasing fresh cilantro at the grocery store, instead of just plucking the leaves off of the plant, you will actually pull the whole stem off at the ground level, so it looks like it does in the produce department.  It won't hurt the plant.  Random fact, cilantro seeds are called coriander and also used as a spice :)

Last, but not least, is mint.  Besides using it in cooking, you can also either dry the leaves or use them fresh for tea.  My children love to eat the leaves straight from the plant too :)  This is probably the easiest to grow.  In fact, it just about took over our yard growing up, ha!  Again, like the basil, you want to remove any flowers that sprout up, and the leaves taste best before the blooms show up.  If it's really taking off, you can divide the plant and share with a friend. 

You can't beat the feeling of having grown dinner yourself, and starting with a great herb that you know you'll use is an easy way to start & get the kids involved.  Enjoy!

Simple Blender Salsa

Jana here with a recipe you are going to love!  My husband and I have made different versions of homemade salsa in the past.  They have all been good, but very different!  I was given this recipe by a friend who I took sewing classes from, Amanda Gaither.  She copied the recipe from a cookbook called "Homestead Cooking".  I made a few small changes, and I think this recipe is very good!  Mine turned out a little spicy, so decrease the amount of pepper listed if you aren't a fan of spicy foods!  (or leave the pepper out all together)  Being made in the blender, this recipe took me less than 5 minutes to make!  It is perfect for when you are craving some chips and salsa for a snack, or great to accompany a mexican meal you are making for dinner!

Simple Blender Salsa

1 large, fresh* jalapenos
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro (or 1/3 cup fresh cilantro)
4 roma tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
salt to taste

1. Chop jalapeno into small pieces.  Remove core from tomato, and dice.  Add ingredients to blender.

2. Add remaining ingredients to blender. (garlic, cilantro, onion powder, salt)

3. Blend until well chopped and mixed.

4. Enjoy!

*We grow jalapenos in our garden, and put them in the freezer.  It is great to be able to pull one out when you need it for a recipe!  You could do the same thing for fresh jalapenos you buy at the store.  I do think having them in the freezer decreases the 'hot' some.

Flavor, Spice, and everything Nice!

I love food, especially flavorful food! I don't like food that tastes bland or "healthy" or like a diet food. Over the past couple of years as I've tried to learn to cook in a way that is glorifying God, and therefore honoring Him with my body, I've learned a few "tricks". These tricks can add some bold or subtle taste (depending on your mood) to your food and the best part is they are a healthy way to do it!
Spices:
Something I've learned to do when I'm cooking is to not rely so heavily on a recipe to tell me what spices to use. Instead I use my nose. :) As you're cooking I encourage you to smell the spices in your drawer and see what scents you think would accompany your recipe well.  It won't take long for you to learn what flavors compliment each other well. Here are a few to get you started-
Cumin-great with spicy or Mexican food
Oregano, sage, or parsley-Italian food
Lemon Pepper-meats such as fish or chicken, pasta
Other favorites are paprika, and celery salt (use that sniffer to figure out what to add them to! )

Juice/Sauces:
There are many things you can use that will add flavor to salads or veggies-without adding all the fat. In general we try to eat things that aren't creamy....creamy doesn't always mean fat but a lot of times it does. A few things we enjoy are:
Basalmic Vinegar-delicious mixed with olive oil on salad, or recently we've discovered it's even great by itself!
Lemon/lime juice: Both are great for adding flavor to water, veggies, salad, fish, etc.
Honey-God's sweetener. :) Use on bread, or cook with it in many things such as granola or for making a sauce, particularly Asian sauces. (think sweet and sour)

Produce:
Lastly, there are some things found on the produce aisle that instantly add flavor. The great thing about these is that they can be diced and set to the side for whomever wishes to add it to their dish. That's a great option because then your kids (or hubby!) don't have to eat it if they don't want to but can still enjoy dinner.
Cilantro-Yum! One of my top favorite flavors! Great on tacos and burritoes, soup (such as taco soup), nachos, etc.
Onions-Red tend to be a bit "sweeter" in my opinion, white onions go great with garlic which also instantly adds flavor! Try green onions (scallions) for a quick flavor fix too!

Start eating and enjoy!! (and by all means-glorify God with a treat this week too) ;) -Sara