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A Little Ranch Dressing Isn't Gonna Kill Ya

May 31, 2010   10 Comments

Raw vegetables are probably the healthiest food that you can eat. Low in calories, high in vitamins and fiber, it is hard to go wrong. Why don't we eat more of them?

Veggies and Dip

I would put raw vegetables in the DULL category of foods. No flashy golden packaging on these babies. And, you have to do WORK like wash, peel, and cut to make them edible. Who has time for that?

You do. Why? One example (and this is just one of many) is a carrot. With over 686% of your daily value of Vitamin A in one cup, they are packed with nutrients your body needs to be healthy.

Study after study in medical research refers to vegetables like carrots to prevent cancer, heart disease, and obesity.

So, maybe you are like me and think carrots are dull. Or maybe you are like my six year old daughter, Ruby. Ruby won't eat carrots UNLESS there is a little bowl of ranch dressing and then she eats about 2 large and raw carrots.

Whenever she wolfs these down, I get a little smile on my face for having tricked her into eating healthily. I know that ranch dressing is fatty, creamy, and sweet, but for a little bit of dressing, she eats a whole bowl of carrots! How fantastic is that?

Never under estimate the value of a great dip for your veggies. I know people say that high calorie dressing "ruins" a salad. And, yes, dressing "ruins" the calorie content -BUT, you still ate the vegetables, right? And, those are really good for you, even if they were drenched in blue cheese!

Of course, here on Snack Girl, I have posted about 3 healthy and low calorie dips - Yogurt Dip, Guacamole, and Hot Artichoke Dip. So, you don't have to go to blue cheese if you don't want to for your veggies.

The more delicious you make your veggies, the more you will eat and the healthier you will become. I promise.

What is your favorite veggie and dip combo?

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10 Comments:

I'm a big fan of onion dip made with low fat or fat free Greek yogurt and Lipton onion soup/dip mix. So far, no one has figured out that I'm using Greek yogurt! In the summer, I typically keep a Tupperware full of carrots, cuke, celery, mushrooms, peppers and radishes to snack.

I like hummus as a veggie dip and I have some Marie's yogurt dressing in the fridge that is pretty good at only 50 calories for 2 tablespoons.

We go through a whole lot of ranch dressing at work (i work in a residential setting with 6 kids) and I figure it's worth it to get the veggies in to the kids. But I wish I could find affordable ranch that doesn't have HFCS or MSG in it. They all seem to have one or the other.

Never thought about the dip for veggies quite that way. I love raw veggies but don't eat them because usually I haven't done the work. I do try to find low calorie, healthy dressing to dip them in. I did find a really good creamy Italian veggie dip that isn't too unhealthy.

Hi,

I make a guilt free ranch and I have a whole 1/2 cup of it! I use cottage cheese and put it in the food processor with ranch powder (I try to use a natural version). A half cup of cottage cheese has 14 grams of protein! With a bunch of veggies..that's lunch! yum

I do think ranch is a very clever way to get kids to eat more veggies and Bravo to parents who find clever ways to get the veggies in!! I never use dip for my veggies anymore though and my kids have never had ranch so they know nothing about dipping veggies...people see my 1 year old walking aroung with a fesh green bean in her hands they are amazed :-) I have tried really hard with them to know what food tastes like in it's natural state and they have done very well!!! I was raise drowning my food because I was not taught any better. Suffered from bulemia for years because of weight issues and I just wanted to do better by my kids and I hope I have!! I must say, I don't dip anything any more but I am gonna try the blended cottage cheese dip!! Sounds yummy...I don't like the taste of ranch anymore but will try something else for flavor!! Can't wait!

kids and I hope I have!

I dip carrots in salsa. Not only am I eating carrots, but it cures my craving for chips and salsa.

mmmm! I'm having cuc dipped in my homemade yogurt with onion soup mix now. I can't wait to try it with the cottage cheese! Thanks!

I remember when my son was 4 years old - I would tire of begging him to eat carrot slices, carrot cut in fingers, and cooked carrot (Yuck). Then, one day, we made a salad from sprouted whole green gram, grated carrot, a little salad oil, grated raw mango and shredded green chillies. This is topped off with the juice of a lemon and salt to taste. He loved it, as did we all. Subsequently, I realized that raw grated carrot tossed with mustard seeds(sputtered in a spool of oil), with juice of a lemon was all it took :D. And I thought "Yay"! Still can't get him to eat cucumber though, and we get such a variety in India!

I had a friend bring a vegetable tray and "healthy" dip to a work party once, and now it's my go-to dressing of choice. I love it in my salads and have no need to feel guilty about it. Just buy small-curd low/no-fat cottage cheese and mix in dry Ranch dressing to taste.

Try carrot slices with ketchup! I was hungry so, i absent-minedly sliced a carrot, put some ketchup next to it and dipped and ate! BTW I'm 12, but it's a really good snack, trust me

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