Recipe: Ranch Dressing

A lot of premade dressing contain hidden ingredients, and can be rather pricey. In attempt to cut out preservatives and find a cheaper alternative to the premade salad dressings on the shelf, I found a home made version. The recipe I came up with was inspired by the easy Ranch Dressing at Bake Your Day, so some credit should go to them.

Dry Ranch Seasoning Mix
2 tsp. dried parsley
2 tsp. dried dill
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. onion salt
2 tsp. black powder
1 tsp. dried chives

Mix the ingredients in a sealed container, which will keep for a couple of months.

When you're ready for the actual dressing, mix 1 tbsp of dry mix with 1/3 cup mayo, greek yogurt or sour cream (your preference), and 1/4 cup buttermilk or plain milk. For creamer dressing use less milk. If you want a lighter dressing use fat-free greek yogurt or sour cream with skim milk.

Homemade Bleach Cleaner

I really like to use vinegar as a non-abrasive, natural cleaner, but sometimes you need something a bit stronger. While vinegar is a good a disinfectant, it does not compete against the killing power of bleach. Rodale provides a good article "This or That: Bleach vs. Vinegar."  For the most part, they  prefer vinegar over bleach for normal day-to-day use, but recognize bleach is better at killing food-borne germs. I like to use a homemade bleach cleaner on my cutting boards. Occasionally I use it in the bathroom for a deep clean.

Here is what I use in my 500 ML spray bottle.
1 tbsp bleach
2 tbsp laundry detergent (Do NOT use detergent with bleach alternatives. This will cause a bad chemical reaction.)
Fill the rest with water.

This is certainly a lot cheaper than buying the pre-made version. It is mere pennies a bottle to make your own. Happy cleaning!