Ranch Dip

Have you ever been snacking on some raw vegetables and ranch dip/dressing and said to yourself, "I'm so proud of this healthy snack I am eating!"?  Well, it's possible that only half of that snack was REAL food healthy.  Have you ever considered what ingredients are in ranch dips and dressings?

When I was at the grocery store recently, I thought I would take a look at the ingredients listed in some popular ranch dips/dressings:

-Hidden Valley Original Ranch Dressing:  Has over 21 ingredients.  The first ingredient is vegetable oil, the  forth ingredient is sugar and at least one-forth of the ingredients are long words that I am not sure what they are!

-Hidden Valley Original Ranch Dips Mix: Has ten ingredients.  Of these ten ingredients, the first three ingredients are: maltodextrin (a food additive), salt, and monosodium glutamate (a flavor enhancer).

-Publix Ranch Style Sour Cream Dip: This item has 19 ingredients listed.  Again, lots of preservatives and additives.

I don't know about you, but I don't want all of that STUFF in my body!  I'd rather have dip with minimal and recognizable ingredients!  A delicious and easy alternative is to make your own Ranch Dip.  I keep a container of this mixture in my spice cabinet.  Also, I have found that once the ranch dip is prepared, it tastes best if it sits overnight in the refrigerator.

Next time you are wanting a REAL food snack, whip this up and eat it with lots of colorful raw vegetables!

Enjoy!
~Davis


click here for RANCH DIP recipe
(from: 100 Days of Real Food)

Ingredients:
-dried parsley
-dried dill
-garlic powder
-onion powder
-dried basil
-pepper
-Plain Greek Yogurt*

*The original recipe calls for sour cream, not Greek Yogurt.  There's nothing wrong with sour cream, but I just prefer plain Greek Yogurt, as it's higher in protein.

Ranch Dip