DIY Dips and Dressings Healthified Recipes

It's summer and there's chips and dips and veggie trays and salads everywhere we turn, and oh so many parties! So if your looking to keep on track with your diet or to impress your guests, these dip recipes will do both!

Red Pepper Dip
We lived in Texas for a few years and I grew to be obsessed with red pepper flakes. Obsessed I tell you! It continues to this day. I will put red pepper flakes on almost anything. I have pictures to prove it (of course).  While there I also came across this seasoning mix that was supposed to be mixed with sour cream and mayo, 1:1 ratio. I love mayo but I know in it manufactured form it is not good for us, so I started using less and less until I finally just used sour cream. Now I try to encourage gut health whenever possible so I regularly use a full fat, plain yogurt instead of sour cream. It works in everything except cooking (like my poblano chicken recipe).  And that, my friend, is how this recipe was born. Marrying my love of red pepper flakes, cumin and yogurt. This is awesome with tortilla chips, tacos, salads, eggs, veggies, I'm getting hungry.

All these measurements are to taste in reality, but don't be scared with the heat, it's being mixed in a dairy product so all is good. :)

2 cups yogurt
1 Tblsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
*Here I added Tumeric for the health of it but that's all.

Salsa
Who doesn't love a great salsa that can be ready in 10 minutes or less?
I searched for years to copy Chili's salsa. This recipe is better!
My tweaks are:
garlic powder instead of garlic salt
add salt according to the salt of the garlic salt in addition to salt called for in the recipe
fresh jalopeños,seeded
a healthy amount of cilantro

From Six Sisters:

• 2 cans (14.5 oz each) whole tomatoes, drained
• 3-4 canned, whole jalapenos (not pickled)
• 1 yellow onion, quartered
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons lime juice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place all of the ingredients together into a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Serve with tortilla chips.

Mix the ingredients together and you got yourself a crow-pleaser! BUT the secret to the best results will come if you make this ahead and refrigerate it. The longer it sits the spicier it gets.

Healthy Honey Mustard
On the sweeter side of things is this yummy, smokey, honey mustard. I had this for the first time at a friends house to dip pigs-in-a-blanket in but I use it for so many things now. I love it on salad-I love almost everything on fresh greens-but once again it really goes well with so much: hotdogs, corndogs, ham, veggies, sandwiches etc

This time I usually add just a smidge of olive oil mayo for a thicker consistency but you choose what's most important to you.

1 Cup of plain, full fat yogurt
2 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp honey
1 Tblsp mustard
fresh ground salt and pepper to taste

Gluten Free Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins Recipe - and they're DELICIOUS

We're not strict gluten free people. Maybe that's silly. It is what it is. We try to follow what we think is best for our bodies and health goals most of the time. I probably give in more than my husband. SHhh!

Cutting flour has helped curb some inflammation and digestion issues. It's a good change! But I LOVE to bake. I had to find a way to have some yummy treats without caving on our goals all the time-especially on the weekends. To my excitement I have found that if I mix in a good amount of starch with the gluten free flours and add an extra egg, the texture has been perfect! I started with Martha Stewart's recipe and tweaked it just a bit.

Here's what I did:

2 cups Great Value all purpose gluten free baking mix flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 lemons zested
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsp baking powder

juice of 2 juicy lemons aiming for 1/4 cup
3 eggs
1 stick of butter melted and cooled
1/4 cup yogurt

3 Tblsp poppy seeds


Pre-heat oven to 350F
Mix your dry ingredients. I like to mix my zest in with my dry mix. Then mix your wet, being sure to beat those eggs. Then fold the mixture together. I was in a rush and didn't feel like using my mixer, but had I used it and beat the eggs better they may have turned out better- if possible! If you feel like your dough is just too dry you can add a bit of milk.
I used an ice cream scoop to get the batter. I use the bigger scoop for the traditional size and my tiny scoop for a pan of mini muffins. I got 24 mini muffins and 6 big muffins. Perfect.
I sprinkled the top with a bit of granulated sugar and poppy seeds. We're really trying to be reasonable with our eating so I refrained from a lemon glaze. I won one battle!
I actually did a pan of 24 mini muffins because if I failed in the texture and they were gritty or fell apart then it's a lot less noticeable in smaller bites verses a big bite out of a big muffin. It was an unnecessary move though because the texture turned out great.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Let me know what you think.

*Bonus tip*

I veered away from making poppy seed recipes from scratch for a while because poppy seeds can be expensive and they're not used often, but I was able to find this big container at the grocery store and it was so affordable. Looking for your spices and add ins in this way can save you some dough! Punn intended.

Make Ahead Meal Prep

There's too much to say on food prep. No matter what your reason is for needing some meals ready and on hand (who doesn't love having something ready to warm and eat!?) here's my experience to share with you. *I've had five babies that I've done prep for as well as for vacations, surgeries, just to have on hand...etc I've never been upset to have a meal ready to go to make an meal easier.

It doesn't have to be 30 frozen baggies for the slow cooker!

I have to mention that I have one of the pickiest husbands ever (though he's getting better easier to please!) and he didn't want to have a dinner that tasted like "leftovers." I personally do not like most crock pot meals. Most meat cooked in a slowcooker tends to be dry and tasteless-I do have a few exceptions.

When I think of meal prep I think of what we like to eat, how does it freeze and how do the leftovers tend to do (does it do well warmed up). There's the typical go to recipes: lasagna, enchiladas, soup...but we live in a warm climate now- what to do when I don't want to heat up the oven?? More on that in a moment.

You have to do what works for you! What do you normally eat for dinner? Keep it simple. Bread freezes easy. Cheese and proteins freeze easy and so do *cooked* vegetables. NO, you cannot freeze a salad!!!YUCK. Think of walking down the freezer section and the things that you see? Now make it your way and it can be as healthy or indulgent as you want! And more than likely it will be better for you as well as cheaper.
-Don't limit yourself to casseroles.
-Don't limit your list to dinner!
-Have snacks, BREAKFAST, *DESSERT* and maybe lunch items handy.

-Make sure you have pantry items necessary to complete your meal on hand.

I put as many meals together completely as possible. Sometimes I'll need to add a salad or chips or something of the likes. I like to have them in foil 9x13 pans so they stack nicely. I write cooking directions on the top and sides as to what it is. These can also be defrosted and will fit nicely, with a little force, into the slow cooker.

Rectangular Crock Pot- there are lots of options. The problem I have is that the 9x13 pans don't fit perfectly in them. They have to be defrosted and given a little encouragement to get in there. But then I don't have to warm up the oven or go out to grill!

My list:

Breakfast:

Pancakes-cooked*
Breakfast casseroles*
Quiche Muffins*
Muffins- baked already*
Breakfast cookies*
Waffles (if you have a large enough freezer space)*
Breakfast burritoes
Breakfast sandwhiches
Breakfast Tacos*

Lunch Items to have handy:
Lunch meat
Pantry stable meats like summer sausage...
Cheese Sticks
Crackers*
Dried Fruits
Canned Fruits
Quesadillas -already cooked
Canned soups
Hotdogs
Any dinner items packed individually- I love soup that I freeze in smaller amounts!

Dinner:
  This list could go on forever! Build your meal! I think Protein, Veg, Carb. You can do it how you like it. I try to put them all in 9x13 foil pan so they're ready to put in the oven or the rectangular Crock Pot

Grilled Mexican Chicken, Rice and Beans (serve with salad)
Grilled Chicken leg quarters, brussle sprouts, potatoes
Chicken pot pie
Chicken Pizza (chicken breasts trimmed and pounded thin and topped like your favorite pizza)
Pizza
Chicken Stirfry
Enchiladas
Taco Meat ready for taco salad, tacos, burritos...
Green Enchiladas
Tamales
Brats on hand ready to grill
Raw chicken in a baggie with marineed and seasoning
Grilled Greek chicken with "Greek" seasoned potatoes- serve with salad
Pulled chicken or pork for sandwiches/salads
Burgers seasoned and formed, separated by wax paper


In the picture below is a recent freezer packing I did. On the bottom of the stack is a package of thin, raw, steaks.

*Gluten Free Options are possible

But DO NOT forget balls of cookie dough. Use your ice cream scoop, place dough on a sheet pan, freeze and throw them in baggies. DO NOT pre-cook your cookies! Fresh baked are best. **GF if you your wish. :)

Final step is to make a list and keep it on fridge so that you or anyone helping knows what's on hand!

*Don't forget, this is great to do for camping! The frozen meal is ready to warm and helps keep things in the cooler cold! Win win.

Let me know your favorite freezer meal!

Our Family

Welcome to Life a Day Better! That's my hope. I hope that everyday I grow in someway and make life a little better for myself or anyone around me. We strive to live better in faith, family and fitness! I hope we can help you in someway just by simply sharing what we've learned and experienced. Life is better together so join us on this journey to making life better, one day at a time! I hope to share great recipes, work outs, new fun hacks for the family and faith based encouragement as well!

My name is Jessica, I'm a homeschool mom of 5. I'm as crazy as ever and my favorite quote is "Keep Moving Forward!" from Meet the Robinsons. Life is never perfect and nothing ever goes as planned but we have to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and learn that it's OK.  I love to run, do HIIT workouts, Pilates, Yoga and swim. My husband has always loved to bike so I'm determined to get better at that and he's getting into running again! We're trying to get our kids into all of this with us. God is my author of life and I try to do it all for His glory!