Creamy & Delicious Herb Ranch Dressing Recipe || Vegan Option

This herb ranch dressing is creamy, savory and so delicious. Yogurt combined with a zing of lemon and dill herb makes this dressing almost drinkable. I’m in love.

What I love about this dressing is that it is so versatile.

Pour it on a bed of mixed greens
Use it as a base for your pasta salad
Take a little dip with a carrot, celery stick, cracker, or chip.

It’s a simple and quick recipe to whip up and it’s free of all the unnecessary ingredients you find in store-bought dressings.

Want to make this herb ranch dressing vegan?

If you want to make it vegan, simply use a plant-based yogurt instead of dairy. (Siggi’s plain yogurt is a good brand to use).

Herb Ranch Dressing Ingredients

½ cup yogurt (make your own delicious yogurt with this simple recipe)
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice (I love this citrus juicer)
½ tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried dill
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp dried parsley

Herb Ranch Dressing Instructions

To make the dressing, simply add all ingredients to a pint mason jar.
Screw on the lid and give it a good shake, and voila, you have yourself a delicious, healthy, creamy, and homemade dressing that you can use pretty much on anything.

This herb ranch dressing will keep fresh for up to 3 days in the fridge. Be sure to give it a good shake before using it.

Makes about one cup of dressing.

Enjoy!

Creamy & Delicious Herb Ranch Dressing Recipe || Vegan Option

For those of you who like blueberry pie, this recipe is a keeper. Simple, straight forward ingredients make this blueberry pie yummy and easy to make.

Prep Time5 min
Cook Time50 min
Total Time55 min
Ready in5 minutes
Yield1 cup

INGREDIENTS

- ½ cup yogurt (make your own delicious yogurt with this simple recipe)
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried dill
- ¼ tsp ground black
- pepper
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp dried parsley

INSTUCTIONS

1

To make the dressing, simply add all ingredients to a pint mason jar.

2

Screw on the lid and give it a good shake, and voila, you have yourself a delicious, healthy, creamy, and homemade dressing that you can use pretty much on anything.

Jan Howell

My intention for this website is to share tips and tutorials that I have found on my journey of life that has brought me joy, improved health, and peace, in hopes that it will do the same for you. I hope you'll join me on this journey!

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Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.

herb ranch dressing recipe salad dressing Vegan

How To Pick the Best Elastic for Your Sewing Projects

There are a lot of types of sewing elastic out there and knowing how to pick the best elastic for your sewing projects will affect the quality and final results of whatever you are making.

In this post I’m going to go over:

different types
what each one looks like
how to use each one

There are three basic types:

Here are four specialty elastics

All are used in different applications and serve a specific purpose.

They come in all kinds of widths, from 1/4 inch to 3 inches and up. Your pattern will typically specify which width to use, but in general, thinner ones are used for things like swimwear and necklines, while wider ones are used for waistbands for skirts and pants.

TYPES OF ELASTIC GUIDE

Here is a table showing the different types and when you can use them.

Print this out and display it in your sewing room for a quick reference.

DOWNLOAD AND PRINT THE PDF

BRAIDED

Elastic Description

Parallel ribs
Narrows when stretched
Looses stretch if sewn into
Rolls more easily

Uses

Sleeve and Neckline Casings

KNIT

Description

Cross woven
Soft to the touch
Does not narrow when stretched

Uses

Waistbands (pajama bottoms, men’s briefs, skirts)

Lightweight-medium fabrics

WOVEN (Non-Roll)

Description

Horizontal & vertical ribs
Firm
Does not narrow when stretched
More durable

***Tip: use a stronger needle when sewing into it

Uses

Waistbands of pants and skirts with heavy fabrics, houseware items, outerwear

LINGERIE

Description

Decorate loops on the side
Soft to the touch

Uses

Underwear, bras

SWIM

Description

Does not rot or perish
Heat resistant
Chlorine resistant

Uses

Swimwear, leotards

FOLD OVER

Description

folds in half
soft against the skin

Uses

Leotard, underwear, headbands, hair ties, DIY watch bands

CLEAR

Description

Thin and clear

Uses

Gathering knit fabric, shoulder seam stabilizer

Extra Tips

Picking the Right Type

First, consider if you will be sewing through the elastic or placing it in a casing. Remember, the braided and woven elastic doesn’t do as well being sewn through.
Knit or braided types are better for lighter fabrics, while woven is better for heavyweight fabrics.
Use specialty elastics like lingerie, fold-over elastic, and clear elastic for your projects that have special requirements.

Picking the Best Size Elastic

Pick the size based on the size of the casing or insertion area and the location on the garment the elastic will be.
Neckline elastic needs to be much thinner than waistband elastic, for instance! Your pattern will most likely recommend the width needed.
Don’t cut it lengthwise. You’re much better off just getting one that is the right width.

Cutting the Length

Test stretch your elastic to check how much it stretches and if it recovers well.
You may need a shorter length of braided elastic to accomplish the same stretch as a knitted elastic.
Thinner elastics stretch more than wider ones, so take this into account when cutting your length.
Use a safety pin to join elastic and test before cutting.

I hope you foun this helpful.

Please send me a note if you have any questions while choosing the elastic for your projects.

Have fun sewing!

Jan Howell

My intention for this website is to share tips and tutorials that I have found on my journey of life that has brought me joy, improved health, and peace, in hopes that it will do the same for you. I hope you'll join me on this journey!

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Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.

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ELASTIC Sewing sewing tips

How To Grow Comfrey and Use It Safely // A Must in Everyone’s Garden

Growing comfrey in your garden can offer a wide variety of uses and benefits and it’s an herb that I think everyone needs to have growing in their garden. This herb is not only medicinal and will add so much to your herbal remedy tool belt, but it’s also a very attractive plant.

What is Comfrey?

Comfrey is a perennial herb (that comes back every year). The genus name for comfrey is Symphytum, and means to “heal together”. It is well known to assist healing in any part of the body that is torn or broken. Otherwise known as knitbone or slippery root, comfrey plants have been used medicinally since 400 B.C. to stop heavy bleeding and to treat bronchial issues.

Growing Comfrey Plants

Growing this herb is super easy. Propagation can be done with seed, division, or separation. Sow comfrey seeds in fall or early spring directly in the garden or in a cold frame and pot seedlings to be over-wintered inside.

Division of comfrey herb plants may occur at any time, however, spring is suggested. Divide by cutting off 3 inches (8 cm.) of root below the soil level and then plant directly into a pot or another area of the garden.

Propagating Comfrey

I find the easiest way is to find a start. You may need to get a start from someone who already has it growing, as I have not seen it in any nurseries or garden centers.

All you need is a piece of the root and you’re good to go. As comfrey can be an aggressive spreader, you may want to plant within a physical barrier and deadhead flowers to rein in its spreading habit. MAKE SURE WHEN YOU PLANT THIS HERB, THAT YOU PLANT IT SOMEWHERE THAT YOU’LL WANT IT TO REMAIN. Because the roots go down so far, if you ever want to move it, most likely after you dig it up, it will come back.

We made a BIG mistake once in our garden and rototilled a few plants up and we had bits of the root all over and then we had comfrey everywhere. We finally got it under control and have this herb growing where we want it. I find it doesn’t spread if the root it left alone. In fact, I find that weeds do not grow around it either. (Very interesting).

This herb requires very little maintenance once established. It is generally frost and drought-hardy and primarily disease and pest-resistant.

We have grown this herb in our garden for years and use it frequently.

Comfrey Benefits and Uses

As mentioned above, the comfrey herb plant has a long history of medicinal use. Useful not only for staunching blood flow and arresting some bronchial ailments, but comfrey has also been used to heal broken bones. Comfrey tea is often ingested for internal illness and poultices are applied to external ailments. Comfrey contains high amounts of allantioin (also found in nursing mother’s milk) and is said to increase the rate of cell growth, which in turn increases the number of white blood cells. The application of allantoin has been shown to heal wounds and burns more quickly and promotes healthy skin with high mucilage content. I have personally seen it heal chemical burns, and sunburns, and assist rapid healing in deep wounds with no scaring.

A Personal Experience with Comfrey

When my son was in his teens he hit his face pretty hard on a rail while skiing and his lip was pretty messed up (not the first time this has happened), he asked if we had any comfrey to put on it. Even my kids know the many benefits of this plant.

Typically, we would just go out and pick a leaf from the garden, but at the time the comfrey plants were under 2 feet of snow. Luckily I had some already blended up in the freezer.

In the fall I took a bunch of comfrey leaves and washed them and blended them up to make a thick paste. I then spooned it out into ice cube trays and froze it. Then I just popped them out into zip bags and put it in the freezer for times just like this. Then all we have to do is take a cube out, thaw it and apply where needed.

My son just took a blob of green goop and placed it all over his top lip, and sat there while he did his homework. He did this a few times and by the third day, you could hardly tell he even had an injury.

I could go on and on about this amazing plant and give you several more personal experiences on how it has helped us.

In a nutshell, comfrey leaves and roots are used externally as a poultice or ointment for:

bruises
broken bones
wounds
pulled muscles and ligaments
reducing inflammation
sprains
sunburn
burns

I use comfrey to make a wonderful healing salve, which is very easy to make. You can find the tutorial and recipe for the salve HERE.

Having this herb growing where you have easy access to it is a good step in being a little more self-reliant. I feel much more at peace with my comfrey plant just outside my door!

LEARN MORE ABOUT OTHER HERBAL REMEDIES HERE IN MY ALTERNATIVE REMEDIES BOOKLET

Benefits of Comfrey in the Garden

Comfrey is not only good for our bodies, comfrey can be helpful to our garden soil and other plants as well. Comfrey can be made into a “compost tea” which is beneficial for fertilizing your garden. Some of your livestock will happily munch away on this plant, particularly chickens and pigs as well.

This herb is an excellent mulch and fertilizer. It is well balanced with a good combination of potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus. When you use comfrey as mulch, it will mine those nutrients from deep under the soil, and then return them to the soil where other plants can access them.

It is very easy to mulch with comfrey. Simply chop it down, and if possible, chop it into smaller pieces. Lay the pieces around the plants you want to mulch and the comfrey will quickly decompose, allowing the nutrients to go back into the soil.

How to Make Comfrey Tea Fertilizer

If you don’t want to use comfrey as a mulch, you can make comfrey tea to use as a FERTILIZER FOR YOUR PLANTS, NOT FOR YOU. Do not ingest this tea, rather, it is a liquid plant feed.

Place your plant matter – the leaves, stems, etc – into a container and cover it with water. Put a lid on it to contain the odor. You’ll want to let this mixture brew for four to six weeks.
To use it, mix it with 1/3 ‘tea’ and 2/3 water and use it as you would any other liquid fertilizer when you water your plants.

Spring is here and this is a great time to get your hands in the dirt. So be thinking of a place in your garden where you can plant this baby. If you live in Utah, I would love for you to stop by and I can give you a start. Just send me a note if you are interested.

Jan Howell

My intention for this website is to share tips and tutorials that I have found on my journey of life that has brought me joy, improved health, and peace, in hopes that it will do the same for you. I hope you'll join me on this journey!

Share:

Connect:

Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.

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alternative health alternative remedies comfrey garden garden tips healing herbs herbs

Roasted Veggie Orzo Salad Recipe | Simply Delicious

Oh, baby, this warm roasted veggie orzo salad is packed with nutrition and flavor and is super easy to make. The creamy dressing combined with roasted vegetables, and the small pasta pellets is an amazing combination your palate is going to love.

This recipe can be modified to make it vegan and gluten-free if desired.

Makes a great leftover meal the next day and the salad is good cold or reheated.

Feel free to add whatever vegetables you want to roast. I give some other options below.

The dressing for this roasted veggie orzo salad is also really good on other things. You’ll see when you make it and taste it how versatile and yummy this would be on other things, and it is so simple to make!

What is orzo?

Orzo is a thin, oval, rice-shaped pasta that is often used in soups in Italian cuisine, but you can use it in pasta dishes, soups, grain bowls, and other places where a small pasta can come in handy. Here are some tips on how to cook it.

Roasted Veggie Orzo Salad Ingredients

3 cups COOKED orzo (quinoa, rice, or gluten-free orzo)
2 diced red pepper
4 diced large carrots
1 small head of cauliflower (chopped)
2 zucchini (cubed)
1 red onion (diced)
1 15 oz can chickpeas rinsed and drained
1/2 cup feta (optional vegan feta)
parsley: garnish

Other veggie options: asparagus, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and broccoli.c

Dressing Ingredients

1/2 cup hummus (EASY TO MAKE RECIPE HERE).
2 TB lemon
1 TB extra virgin olive oil
2 TB water
1 tsp garlic powder
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)

This roasted veggie orzo salad dressing can be used and is so yummy for all kinds of other salads and dressings, and it is so simple to make!

Instructions Roasted Veggie Orzo Salad

Preheat the oven to 425° F.
Cook orzo following directions on the package. Drain and set aside.
Chop the vegetables and place them in a big bowl. ( I LOVE THIS FOOD CHOPPER). It comes in so handy when making soups, salads, and snacks. I use it all the time).
Drizzle a little olive oil over the veggies, add salt and pepper and mix well to coat veggies.
Place the coated vegetables on a large cookie sheet (You may need two pans if your cookie sheets are small). THE VEGGIES DO SHRINK DOWN QUITE A BIT.
Roast the veggies for 30 minutes.
Warm chickpeas up in the microwave for a minute with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Add all ingredients into a large serving bowl.
Mix dressing together and pour on top. Garnish with parsley!

This roasted veggie orzo salad is a really good salad for parties, family gatherings, and luncheons.

Roasted Veggie Orzo Salad Recipe | Simply Delicious

Jan Howell

This warm roasted veggie orzo salad is packed with nutrition and flavor and is super easy to make. The creamy dressing combined with roasted vegetables, and the small pasta pellets is an amazing combination your palate is going to love.

This recipe can be modified to make it vegan and gluten-free if desired.

Prep Time15 min
Cook Time10 min
Total Time25 min
Yield8
Serving Size1 cup

Course
- Main Course

INGREDIENTS

SALAD

- 3 cups cooked orzo (quinoa, rice, or gluten-free orzo)
- 2 diced red pepper
- 4 diced large carrots
- 1 small head of cauliflower (chopped)
- 2 zucchini (cubed)
- 1 red onion (diced)
- 1 15 oz can chickpeas rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup feta (optional vegan feta)
- parsley: garnish

SALAD DRESSING

- 1/2 cup hummus
- 2 TB lemon
- 1 TB extra virgin olive oil
- 2 TB water
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- salt (to taste)
- pepper (to taste)

INSTUCTIONS

1

Preheat oven to 425° F.

2

Cook orzo following directions on the package. Drain and set aside.

3

Chop vegetables and place them in a big bowl. Drizzle a little olive oil over the veggies, add salt and pepper and mix well to coat the veggies.

4

Place the coated vegetables on a large cookie sheet (You may need two pans if your cookie sheets are small). THE VEGGIES DO SHRINK DOWN QUITE A BIT.

5

Roast the veggies for 30 minutes.

6

Make the dressing while veggies are roasting.

7

Warm chickpeas up in the microwave for a minute with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.

8

Add all ingredients into a large serving bowl and mix well.

9

Enjoy!

Jan Howell

My intention for this website is to share tips and tutorials that I have found on my journey of life that has brought me joy, improved health, and peace, in hopes that it will do the same for you. I hope you'll join me on this journey!

Share:

Connect:

Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.

meatless orzo recipes roasted veggies salad recipe Vegan

The Perfect Pom Pom Tutorial // 2 Simple Methods // 3 Sizes

In this craft tutorial, I show you how to make the perfect yarn pom pom. Oh, there are so many fun things you can do with a colorful pom pom. I’m going to go over 2 simple methods and 3 different sizes that you can make, and I’ll give you some really fun ideas of what you can do with these colorful balls of color.

Materials & Items Needed

yarn
sharp fabric scissors
paper scissors
recycled cracker box/cereal box/oak tag paper
wide mouth canning jar (large pom pom)
pencil/pen
fork
large serving fork
2 empty toilet paper rolls

Here are the three different sizes and how to make them.

Mini Pom Pom Instructions

Take the fork and hold it sideways in your less dominant hand. Leave a small tail and start wrapping the yarn around the fork prongs. DO NOT WRAP TOO TIGHTLY!

Continue to wrap the yard until you get it plump as shown in the photo above. Do not over wrap. Cut the yarn.

Cut another piece of yarn about 12 inches/30 cm. Slide the bundled yarn up a little being careful not to let the wrapped yarn fall off the fork. Stick the end of the yarn into the center bottom space in the prongs.

Pull it out to the other side and bring it up between the top center space in the prongs.

Wrap the two ends of the yarn around twice to form a half knot and pull it tight. NOT TIGHT ENOUGH TO BREAK THE YARN! Slide the yarn bundle off the fork.

Wrap the two yarn ends around to the other side of the yarn bundle and repeat the half knot. Pull tight and knot. Cut the tails to the width of the bundled yarn.

Take the fabric scissors and start cutting the top center of the yarn loops until you’ve cut the whole bundle of yarn loops. Having a pair of SHARP scissors makes this process a lot easier. (Check out the VIDEO TUTORIAL WHERE I SHOW YOU A TIP ON HOW TO SHARPEN YOUR SCISSORS).

Now cut around the edges of the yarn bundle to form a circle. Shake it and turn it sideways. Flatten out the yarn strings and cut the circle edges. Repeat this process until you have a symmetrical ball to your liking.

Roll it between your hands to fluff and even it out.

Medium Size Pom Pom

Repeat the steps for the mini pom pom, but USE THE LARGE SERVING FORK.

Large Size Pom Pom

Make the circle templates. Trace the canning jar top onto the cardboard paper twice to make two circles. Cut out the circles and set them aside.

Take the two toilet rolls and clamp them with your fingers as shown in the photo above. Place the end of the yarn between the two rolls. Start wrapping the yarn around the rolls. (Don’t wrap too tightly). ****Note: Wrapping two strands of yarn will make the process a lot faster. You can also make a variegated pom pom by using two different colors.

Wrap until you have a plump center as indicated in the photo. The more you wrap the more plump the pom pom will be.

Using the same techniques as with the smaller pom poms, tie off the pom pom.

Slide the yarn bundle off the tubes, once you tie off one side. Then bring the ends together on the other side and knot them off.

Cut yarn loops and flatten the yarn bundle by smoothing out the strands of yarn to the outside.

Take one of the circle templates and center it on the yarn bundle. Then take the other template and place it on the bottom to form a “yarn sandwich” with the yarn bundle in-between the two templates.

Start trimming the yarn around the edges of the template. Remove the templates and shake out the bundle.

Turn it sideways and flatten and smooth out the yarn strands. Repeat the sandwich process and flipping until you have a round pom pom.

Trim and clip the ball until you have a fluffy even ball.

What to do with the finished pom poms

Here are five fun ideas of how you can use these cute colorful pom poms.

1- Make a pom pom garland.

2- Sew a mini pom pom onto a baby headband. (SO CUTE).

3- Use them to decorate a gift package instead of a bow.

You may be interested in some other fun ways to decorate a gift package.

4- Cats love to play with the mini pom poms!

5- Attach a mini pom pom to a piece of twine to make a unique ZIPPER PULL.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Get out a pair of sharp scissors, and a ball of yarn, and have fun making pom poms!

Jan Howell

My intention for this website is to share tips and tutorials that I have found on my journey of life that has brought me joy, improved health, and peace, in hopes that it will do the same for you. I hope you'll join me on this journey!

Share:

Connect:

Jan Howell

Whether it’s a new recipe, a fun craft, or some handy tips for your garden and home, I hope to empower and inspire you with skills that you can use to create joy, improved health, and to do it in a simple way.

Want to make this herb ranch dressing vegan?

Herb Ranch Dressing Ingredients

Herb Ranch Dressing Instructions

Creamy & Delicious Herb Ranch Dressing Recipe || Vegan Option

For those of you who like blueberry pie, this recipe is a keeper. Simple, straight forward ingredients make this blueberry pie yummy and easy to make.

INGREDIENTS

INSTUCTIONS

Jan Howell

Share:

Connect:

Jan Howell

Related Posts

There are three basic types:

Here are four specialty elastics

TYPES OF ELASTIC GUIDE

BRAIDED

Elastic Description

Uses

KNIT

Description

Uses

WOVEN (Non-Roll)

Description

Uses

LINGERIE

Description

Uses

SWIM

Description

Uses

FOLD OVER

Description

Uses

CLEAR

Description

Uses

Extra Tips

Picking the Right Type

Picking the Best Size Elastic

Cutting the Length

Jan Howell

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Connect:

Jan Howell

Related Posts

What is Comfrey?

Growing Comfrey Plants

Propagating Comfrey

Comfrey Benefits and Uses

A Personal Experience with Comfrey

In a nutshell, comfrey leaves and roots are used externally as a poultice or ointment for:

Benefits of Comfrey in the Garden

How to Make Comfrey Tea Fertilizer

Jan Howell

Share:

Connect:

Jan Howell

Related Posts

What is orzo?

Roasted Veggie Orzo Salad Ingredients

Dressing Ingredients

Instructions Roasted Veggie Orzo Salad

Roasted Veggie Orzo Salad Recipe | Simply Delicious

INGREDIENTS

INSTUCTIONS

Jan Howell

Share:

Connect:

Jan Howell

Related Posts

Materials & Items Needed

Here are the three different sizes and how to make them.

Mini Pom Pom Instructions

Medium Size Pom Pom

Large Size Pom Pom

What to do with the finished pom poms

1- Make a pom pom garland.

2- Sew a mini pom pom onto a baby headband. (SO CUTE).

3- Use them to decorate a gift package instead of a bow.

4- Cats love to play with the mini pom poms!