Wednesday, April 3, 2013

52 in 52 #6 - Light Ranch Dressing

So, it's been a little more than a week on the diet.  Can you hear my excitement?  This week I have been dealing with MAJOR chocolate cravings like never before.  My sister gave me a tip a long time ago when we were both first on Atkins when we were like 18 or so that if you have a craving for sweets then you should eat a pickle or an olive.  I have been downing the olives at work like crazy - I say like crazy but I mean 2-3 per day.  Unfortunately you have to keep a watch on that as well because there is a load of sodium in regular green olives. 

I am on a salad kick right now since we don't eat a lot of salads when we are not on our diet.  I make a huge salad for lunch and the entire thing is like less than 390 calories, which isn't too bad.  I have been using this awesome app called 'myfitnesspal' to keep track of what I am eating everyday, the calories that I am allowed to have, my current weight, etc.  I really like this app because it has records of almost every food that I could want to eat and the calories that are in that food.  Once you submit your food, water and exercise for the day, the app calculates a weight for you in five weeks if everyday was like that day.  That is REALLY motivating.  It will also do a rough calculation on the calories that you burn during certain exercise and changes your calorie count to net.  That is neat as well.  This app is really a big help during the day to keep me motivated and on top of this diet.  I have already lost 12.4 lbs! 

Back to the salad - my husband, being the supportive awesome guy that he is, found this recipe on Pinterest for a light ranch dressing.  I was suspect of anything that claimed to be a large portion with little calories.  However, my love for Ranch dressing won over my suspicion.  I have tried other dressings and I still can't help but be loyal to Ranch dressing.  We were raised eating it on salads and I just can't stop. 

Light Ranch Dressing

1 cup Dannon Oikos plain Greek yogurt
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch mix
1/2 cup 1% milk (we used skim and it was just fine)

Mix all ingredients together and chill at least one hour before serving. 

We put the ingredients in a jar and shook it up.  I take the whole jar to work and just pour a bit out when I am ready for lunch.  The entire jar has 255 calories compared to 75ish (low estimate) calories for 2 tbsp of normal Ranch. 

This dressing is amazing!  I can't even tell that it is diet.  It has a different underlying flavor because of the Greek yogurt but I think that it is awesome and I would even eat this if I wasn't on a diet.  You definitely have to make this if you love Ranch dressing like we do!! 

-Sara

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