redgirl1974's Journal, 09 January 2016

I always make my own 

I make mine too..but I also buy some. I make a great greek salad dressing  

I make all of mine (although my husband does buy some bottles when he finds them marked down) whether it's small quantities for here at home or gallons and gallons for my campers. I need to put my recipes in here and see what the numbers are...they taste so much better than anything you can buy! 

Bolthouse yogurt dressings, 45 cal in 2 tbsps and delicious, all of the flavors. 

I make most of mine but do buy some vinaigrettes occasionally if they look interesting and are on sale from a natural food store.  

Geez, you guys are handy in the kitchen! I don't think I've ever made dressing. I eat blue cheese usually but I did just buy some Walden Farms Honey Dijon... 

seems that I am allergic to preservative 330 I don't get a lot of choice, one of my favorites is coles organic egg mayonnaise  

Rckc they are so easy to make you can't believe it. Honestly! 

Here's the recipes and variations I use...and they can be tweaked to make them lower fat, or less sweet, or whatever. FRENCH DRESSING 1 c. catsup 1 c. honey 3/4 c. olive oil 3/4 c. red wine vinegar 2 T. minced dried onion (or 1 T. onion powder) 2 t. garlic powder salt and lemon pepper to taste Combine with a whisk, or in a blender, to form a thick, smooth dressing. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until needed; tastes better if made the day before first use. HONEY DIJON DRESSING 2 2/3 c. mayonnaise 2-3 T. grainy dijon mustard (use 2 T. then taste, add more if desired) 1/2 c. honey 1/2 t. Cajun spice blend 2 T. apple cider vinegar or lemon juice Combine with a whisk, or in a blender, to form a thick, smooth dressing. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until needed; tastes better if made the day before first use. This makes the BEST chicken salad ever! I combine it with chopped chicken, finely diced celery and carrot, chopped chives and sesame seed. RANCH DRESSING 2 c. mayonnaise 1/2 c. sour cream 1 c. buttermilk (NOT lowfat!) 2 T. honey 1/2 t. garlic powder 1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce 2 T. parsley flakes 2 T. bacon bits 1 t. onion salt 1/2 t. lemon pepper Combine with a whisk, or in a blender, to form a thick, smooth dressing. Taste it and add more of any seasoning you wish to your own liking (the flavors will not be as strong when it's freshly made; it needs to stand, so don't go too heavy on additions.) Pour into a jar and refrigerate until needed; tastes better if made the day before first use. STRAWBERRY VINAIGRETTE 1/2 c. olive oil 1 c. cleaned strawberries 1 T. raspberry vinegar 1/4 t. onion salt 1/8 t. lemon pepper 1/8 t. crumbled parsley 1/8 t. dry mustard 1 T. honey Blend in blender or food processor until berries are pureed and a thick, smooth dressing forms. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until needed. You can replace the strawberries with raspberries or blackberries, but you need to puree them first and then push the puree through a sieve, to remove the seeds, since they are much larger than strawberry seeds. This is also good made with peaches or nectarines! ITALIAN VINAIGRETTE 1/2 c. red wine vinegar 1 1/2 c. olive oil 2 large cloves crushed garlic (or an equal amount of garlic powder) 3/4 t. onion salt 1 t. lemon or white pepper 1 T. parsley flakes 1 t. dry mustard 1/4 t. dried basil 1/4 t. dried oregano 1 T. honey Blend with whisk, or in food processor, until smooth. Pour into a jar and refrigerate at least a day before using. For raspberry vinaigrette: Substitute raspberry champagne vinegar. Omit garlic, basil and oregano. Add honey, using more to taste if you want a sweeter dressing. You can also add poppyseeds to this. Add a few drops of red food coloring or beet juice to color it (otherwise it's just kind of grey....bleah!)  

OOooops, when I said variations....it would have been helpful if I'd added them. You can make the ranch and before you add the bacon, you can add catsup, sweet relish and a grated hard boiled egg for Russian (Thousand Island) dressing. You can add Parmesan and chopped ham for ham and cheese dressing. You can add it to the Italian vinaigrette for a creamy Italian dressing. My campers love all of these :) 

I'm stealing the post right above this one.  

:)  

I use Ken's 'light' honey mustard dressing on 95% of my salads, the other 5% is anything home made :) 

Hey, that's a great new pic you've got on your profile! 

That's a great picture I don't do to many salads because they upset my stomach. 

I check all my closet and pantry foods at least 3 times a year...also spices..same way with freezer foods...anything thats been in there over 6 months out it goes.....i know some things you can keep longer but i don't .... 

Harley, great point..my DH is really great about FIFO (first in first out) since he is a chef and labels all our freezer stuff..but its easy to forget about your spices too.. Thanks gang for the compliments on the pic. It was time for a new one, "new year new me" crap bahahahaha!  

Just cleaned out my pantry and refrigerate last week. Threw out quit a bit. Won't be buying any more of those things.