KTgreen – Page 379

It’s Wednesday and Michelle is posting about yummy Creamy Italian Salad Dressing.

OK, who out there remembers ‘Creamy Italian’ salad dressing?! Yea, me too. Buying it these days is a whole other matter. I went to my local store thinking no sweat, there are tons of dressings out there. Many of which are lo-cal and I’m sure there’s a good one to try…try again. My store had only one, yes one creamy italian and it was full fat. The produce section has some nice creamy dressings, but not all of the ones made with yogurt make my List of Faves (kinda bitter). Back over in the dressing isle, there was an entire section devoted to Ranch dressings. Various versions, full fat, some fat, no fat, zesty, regular, on and on. And a bunch of ‘creamy’ dressings with ingredient list that read like a Monsanto stockholders report. It seems the Creamy Italian has apparently fallen out of fashion. ‘Sigh’. You know what came next – you bettcha – I hit The Pantry and came up with one of my own (with a little help, of course).

The Recipe:

1 Envelope Good Season Italian Dressing Mix

What, did you think I actually made the spice mix too! – Silly! Now if I was Martha…which I’m not…I’d be all, “…and I went out to my herb garden and picked some oregano, then hung it out to dry in the potting shed. After 3 weeks it was lovely and ready for…” 3 WEEKS!? Fast Forward – ok, where was I? Oh, yes Dressing Mix – if you ask me nice, I’ll post a ‘Copycat version’ ’cause they’re not giving that GS dressing mix away either. (or is it GD dressing mix! ouch)

1 Tbl Olive Oil (the good stuff)

1 Tbl mild Wine Vinegar (I used Champagne, White is fine too)

2 Tbl Lo-Fat Mayonnaise

1/4 Cup Buttermilk (lo-Fat)

4 Tbl Fat-Free Milk

1 Tbl Reduced Fat Sour Cream

Next, whisk it all together. This dressing needs the olive oil and the vinegar or else it’s just a weird version of Ranch, and I can get that at the store. Check the consistency. A good creamy dressing and any gravy/sauce should coat the back of a spoon. Note the creamy ingredients, fat-free is for milk ONLY. Fat-Free mayo and sour cream are horrible and your dressing will be too.

Now, funnel into an 8oz bottle. You know I never toss a perfectly good glass bottle…ok, maybe not ‘never’. Label and enjoy! (but remember to shake it, because the mayo will separate a bit after a few days)

And do you know why you can enjoy it so much? Because it’s only 33 calories and 2.9g of fat for 2 Tbl, and cost less than the $1.49 avg for 8oz. bottle ! Yea, baby – believe it!

Buon appetito!

During our last cornhole tournament, one of the bags split at the seam. We tried a few emergency repairs to no avail. Knowing that we had an even bigger cornhole tournament approaching, we needed to order another set of bags. But, when I found that 8 bags were $23.99 plus $10 shipping, (almost $5 a bag!) I knew that I had a new DIY project!

After surfing the blogosphere for instructions, I discovered that there are “regulation” cornhole bags. Really? Finished size is 6″ square, weigh about 1 pound, must be made out of duck cloth, and the filling has to be field corn–no popcorn allowed! Triple stitched seams with upholstery thread was also recommended.

Off to Jo-anns where I purchased a 1/4 yard of duck clock in each color of gray and orange. Using discount coupons for everything at Jo-anns, the fabric for the two cost $2.75. Upholstery thread was $2.00. Ten pounds of corn at the local feed store was $5.00 and I only used 8 pounds. (The other 2 pounds may go to the undeserving squirrels.) So my material costs ended up being $8.75. Which is about $1.09 a bag.

The duck cloth is very stiff and thick and the upholstery thread was kind of wirey. I had to buy a bigger and sharper needle and still my sewing machine was not happy! I also couldn’t get upholstery thread that matched the fabric even after checking three different stores so I went with a cream color.

Allowing for 1/2″ seams, I cut 7″ squares. 8 of each color. Pinned two pieces together and triple stitched the seams using upholstery thread; leaving a 4″ opening on one side. Trimmed the corners.