Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Simple Ranch Cucumber Bites

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In just a few weeks, this Simple Ranch Cucumber Bites recipes is going to come in very handy. Why? Because people will be anonymously leaving cucumbers from their garden on our doorsteps and running away. This is how it works every summer when cucumbers grow in abundance in people’s gardens!

I love how simple this recipe is! And if you peel the cucumbers before making these, your seven-year-old might forget that he’s eating cucumbers, eat the entire plate of Ranch Cucumber Bites, and ask for more.

Want more awesome Summer Snack ideas? I have brand new recipes here:

  • They don’t require a stove or an oven
  • They don’t take much time or energy to make
  • They’re healthy, but nobody will notice
  • Each of these recipes calls for 5 or fewer ingredients
  • The whole family will love them!

You will love these as much as my kids do (and my kids don’t usually eat cucumbers!).

See how to get this Perfect Summer Snacks recipe eBook here!

And now for our Ranch Cucumber Bites recipe. So easy. So good. Such a good way to eat all the cucumbers growing like crazy in everyone’s gardens!

Simple Ranch Cucumber BitesYum

Simple Ranch Cucumber Bites
 
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Serves: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
  • 4-ounces softened cream cheese
  • 1 Tablespoon mayonnaise (I use Hain Safflower)
  • 3 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing mix
  • 2 medium-sized cucumbers
Instructions
  1. Mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise, and ranch dressing mix together until smooth.
  2. Cut cucumbers to create ⅙ inch slices.
  3. Spread ranch mixture onto cucumber slices.
  4. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.

Want another great idea? Try subbing the Ranch Dressing Mix with our Italian Dressing Mix! This is also super delicious and fun.

Wondering what to do with the other half of your cream cheese block? Here’s an entire post that shares recipes that call for cream cheese. I heart cream cheese and feel that it makes everything taste better!

 

 

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Simple Ranch Taco Chip Dip

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This Simple Ranch Taco Chip Dip can become a super-fast lunch or supper for your family!

Well now. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve created and posted a new recipe. I blame these people:

And also these.

This picture features the gorgeous people of college students and friends who joined our family for Easter this year. Our home is full and so are our hearts. And I suppose that it goes without saying that our hands are a little bit full too. So lately, I’ve been sticking with my favorite tried and true recipes just to keep life as simple as possible in the kitchen.

How amazing is God, by the way? (Well, so amazing, of course.) But specifically, I love how a few years ago, while He was very well aware of the turn of events that would happen in our home, He started me down the road of creating the simplest recipes ever. It all turned into a cookbook, and these recipes are how I survive now!! I love this.

But all that to say, sometimes I still itch to be creative in the kitchen. And sometimes I have a few minutes to tinker. This recipe is the result of such tinkering! It’s simple and can be stirred together with only one hand (while holding a baby in the other, ask me how I know). Enjoy this dip as a snack, a side dish, or a meal with a side of fruit!

Simple Ranch Taco Chip DipYum

Simple Ranch Taco Chip Dip
 
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Author:
Serves: 6-8 servings
Ingredients
  • 3 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing Mix
  • 2 cups sour cream
  • 15-ounce can black beans, drained
  • 10 ounce can Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chilies), drained
  • 1 cup shredded cheese (we prefer Colby jack or cheddar)
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder (more or less to taste)
  • Your favorite tortilla chips
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients together until well combined.
  2. Cover the dip and chill for at least an hour before serving.
  3. Or just eat it right away, because who can wait an hour?

This is one of those delightful recipes that allows you to quickly dump everything into a bowl and stir it up. All of our kids – even our pickiest eaters – enjoy this dip! See how easy? Dump it in, stir it up, get out the chips. :)

I love dips that can turn into a simple meal for our families!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Peanut Butter and Ranch Dressing – But Not At the Same Time {You Can Do This! eCourse Bonus Tip}

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ECourse1BonusTips

I am very excited that so many of you are taking part in our You Can Do This! The First Five Steps To a Real Food Kitchen eCourse!

As an added bonus – for those of you who are participating in the course and for those who aren’t – each Monday for the next few weeks, I plan to share a Bonus Tip to encourage you along in your Real Food Journey. Remember though, these are just bonus tips. If you take the eCourse, you’ll get loads more information, guidance, downloads, recipes, and worksheets – all for just $5! (Click here to purchase if you are interested.)

Today, I wanted to share a little bit about how my Real Food Kitchen works and how I manage to make healthy, whole foods in a timely way.

Last week, I found that I was out of two items that we eat often:  Ranch Dressing and Peanut Butter. Now, of course, we don’t eat the two together, nor would I recommend it to you. But I did make them at the same time, just as a way of being efficient. (I’ve talked about this a little bit already, and this new post is an example of how I put this method into practice.)

Side Note:  I had to be careful not to pour minced onions or parsley flakes for the dressing mix into the food processor with the peanuts. Wouldn’t that have been…icky. ;)

I first poured peanuts into my food processor, told everyone around me to plug their ears, and turned on the machine so that it could start to make peanut butter.

homemade_peanut_butter

While it was turning peanuts into peanut butter, I looked up my Ranch Dressing Mix recipe and began getting out the ingredients I needed. I then proceeded to go back and forth between the food processor and the ranch dressing mix until I had four jars of peanut butter and a triple batch of ranch dressing mix all ready to go.

ranch_dressing_mix

Beyond encouraging you to be efficient with your time in the kitchen, here is actually the main tip I wanted to share:

When working to develop your Real Food Kitchen, try to plan ahead and work ahead just a little bit as you have time. This will save you time in the long run.

I wasn’t actually planning to serve ranch dressing or peanut butter the day I made them. But I often do need them both, and since I had neither of them on hand, taking a few minutes to make them one afternoon will be very convenient for me later, when all I’ll have to do is reach for them at a moment’s notice!

What is one thing you can make this week that will help you to get ahead in your Real Food Kitchen?

Interested in learning more about our
You Can Do This! The First Five Steps To a Real Food Kitchen eCourse?
We’d love to have you join us!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!