Poppy Seed Dressing

Everyone loves Poppy Seed Dressing!!  It's delicious over some fresh spring greens with sliced pear, apple, a few grapes and some nuts sprinkled on top.  YUMMY!!  But don't pay for it $3.50 a bottle, when you can make it in a couple of minutes with supplies from your pantry.  Here I'll show you how:

 1 cup granulated white sugar - (I cut back a little on this so it's not so sweet)
2/3 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup chopped red onion
3 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. salt
2 cups olive or safflower oil (I have used canola oil)
2 tbsp. poppy seeds

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a blender on medium speed until well blended

At this point it will look very thin, and like a red runny mess - but wait, now the magic will happen!!

With the blender on low speed, drizzle the oil into mixture.  Dressing will become thick and creamy, once the oil is incorporated.

See, nice and creamy.  Now stir in your poppy seeds.

There you have it - 4 cups of poppy seed dressing.  Just store it in the refrigerator in a sealed container, or better yet, save a clean poppy dressing container from the store, and the kids won't know it's homemade.  If you want your dressing to be white, like the store brand - just use white onions, (but be sure to let them soak in ice water for 15 minutes to remove any bitter taste from them before you use them).

Now use this over your lettuce and fruit salads!!  You have saved a ton of money and it's delicious!

Thousand Island Dressing

Why are you spending money on salad dressings?  I can show you how to make it for just pennies!!  When my son was growing up, he always thought we bought this stuff in a bottle from the store, now that I'm married and my husband found out that I can make it better than store bought, and in only a couple of minutes, he won't eat the store brand.  Give it a try -

 OK, so  - for just a few items that you already have on hand, let's get started:

1 cup mayonnaise - I use reduced fat to cut calories
1/4 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1/4 cup sugar - you can reduce the amount a little
2 Tbsp. sweet pickle relish
1/2 tsp. onion powder
dash of Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste


That's all that's needed, you can adjust the sugar to taste, if you like it sweeter, add a pinch more.

 Just put everything in a small bowl
Whisk it all together until smooth

see, we just made Thousand Island Dressing in only a couple of minutes

 You can store it in the refrigerator in a sealed container.  Or do like I do, save your empty salad dressing bottles and put the dressing in it so the kids and picky husband won't know the difference.

So here you have it!!  I made 2 salad wedges with crispy bacon crumples and homemade Thousand Island Dressing for under $1, (total).  You'd easily pay $3.50 each in a restaurant for these.









How about you follow me, and try my delicious recipes.  You'll save money and get yummy food without breaking your budget.