The Best Homemade Low Carb Caesar Salad Dressing you will ever taste!

Here ya go, the cheat version of the classic favorite.  If I had started with Raw egg and oil, then I would not have eaten it.  LOL.  Dukes mayo is low carb so using it makes this diet friendly!

2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 teaspoon Anchovy Paste
2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Horseradish Mustard
1 cup Mayonnaise (I am using Dukes because it is low carb)
    (make your own mayo to make it paleo)
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, anchovy paste, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce. 
• Add the mayonnaise, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and pepper and whisk until well combined. 
• Taste and adjust to your liking.

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Easy Pickled Jalapenos

We are much more likely to eat all those excess jalapenos from our garden if we jar them.  I absolutely LOVE picked jalapenos over nachos with that "profit maker" cheese sauce.  Ahh bad for you food but I swear I could just pull up a bucket full!  ;-).

1 cup Water
1 cup White Vinegar
3 cloves of Garlic, Peeled and Cracked
2 Tablespoons of Coarse Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon of Peppercorns

• Sterilize canning jars in dishwasher on sterilize cycle or wash jars with hot sudsy water and boil jars until hot (a few minutes).
• Clean Jalapenos well, remove top and slice into coins.  We like to remove as many seeds as we can for ours, but traditionally they are left in.
• Add Water, Vinegar, Garlic, Salt and Peppercorns into a small saucepan and simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Pack pepper coins into sterilized jars.
• Pour pickling liquid over peppers inside the jar.
• Place top on jar and place inside pot large enough to cover up.
• Boil for 10 minutes in 2 inches of water.
• Cool and store.

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Crunchy Refrigerator Dill Pickle Spears Recipe

I never made pickles before so why now in the midst of all the summer madness?  The excess cucumber harvest forces me to explore new territory.  After all the hard work you put into your garden, you really hate to waste such a wonderful harvest blessing and must do SOMETHING with all this abundance.  For several weeks we were having cucumbers in our green salad, making cucumber dishes like cucumber noodles and cucumber salad made entirely of cucumbers. My dear sweet hubby started giving me pickle suggestions. Okay so pickles......not coming from a family who put up the harvest I had to re-invent the wheel with this.  I started to explore the backs of the pickle jar to see what was in pickles to make my own.

Just wait until you boil up the pickling brine.  The aroma is absolutely heavenly and not at all over powering.  The brine smells just like you would expect pickles to smell like.  I am not overpowering this recipe with too many pickling spices. I want to just keeping it simple.  Lots of recipes on the web add mustard seed and a pinch of fire like cayenne pepper.  The taste I am going for is more of a simple refrigerator pickle.  The kind you find in the refrigerator section of your supermarket.  The kind your KIDS will eat.

6 cups of Water
1/4 cup Salt (Kosher)
2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
2 pounds Cucumbers (about 5 small)
8 large Garlic Cloves, whacked open with a knife
      (minced could also be used)
4 teaspoons of dried Dill Weed
8 whole Black Peppercorns

• Clean the glass jar and lid thoroughly in your dishwasher on Sanitary Cycle or wash with hot soapy water, dry and boil in a large pot on stove top.
• Combine the water, salt and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
• Remove from heat and add Garlic, Dill and Peppercorns.  
• Allow brine to cool to room temperature. 
• Wash the cucumbers well with vegetable brush.  Slice into halfs, then quarters and slice in half lengthwise.  
• Pack the cucumbers and the remaining ingredients in a 2-quart (half gallon) glass jar and pour brine over them, making sure to cover the cucumbers completely with liquid. 
• Store, covered in the the refrigerator. 
• The pickles will be ready in at least 7 days, but its best you wait longer.
• Pickles keep in the refrigerated for several months.

Check out these other great recipes on the Web:

McCormick Refrigerator Dill Pickle Slices

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Homemade Gluten Free Pizza Sauce

I really do not like pizza sauce that comes from the same batch of sauce you eat over top of your spaghetti.  The taste is just not right when you do that to a pizza.  Canned and jarred sauce is exactly how I started out topping my own home made pizza crust though.  I did not exactly have the whole pizza sauce concept figured out and I needed something red on top of my pie right?  Something was never "quite" right.  That is how this particular recipe was born.  I always have tomato paste and diced tomatoes around but not always spaghetti sauce so I started tinkering with ingredients until I ended up with this.

I do not personally feel is not too much trouble to have this on top of the stove on a really low simmer while you are putting the pizza dough together.  As for the taste, I love how the garlic and spices really come though with this sauce.  It is not so spicy, however, that your kids will not eat it.  The taste is reminiscent of those old NY style pizza's  I was accustomed to getting way back when.

one 14-15 ounce Can of Diced Tomatoes
one 6 ounce can of Tomato Paste
2 cloves of Garlic
1 teaspoon Basil
1 teaspoon Oregano
1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Sugar
3 Tablespoons Water

• Puree the can of diced tomatoes and two peeled garlic cloves until garlic is nice and thinly and evenly distributed.  About 3 minutes.
• Add tomato puree, paste, basil, oregano, onion powder, salt, sugar and water into sauce pan.
• Simmer on low for 10 or so minutes or until garlic starts to soften and give off its wonderful aroma. 

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Balsamic Italian Dressing and Italian Seasoning Blend

Make up this seasoning blend in bulk and keep it handy.  It will quickly replace your packets of Italian dressing seasoning mix you buy from the store.  It is so economical to make and the best part is that you know exactly what is going into it.  No preservatives or ingredients you can not pronounce.  But that is not the best part.  The best part is this is one incredibly good Italian salad dressing recipe.

When I was on the Low Iodine diet, this was the salad dressing I lived by.  I grew so fond of it that I continued to make it long after I needed to.  There is nothing better than fresh salad dressing and it is so easy to whip it up real quick.  I absolutely love the taste of the fresh Extra Virgin Olive Oil in this recipe.

2 Tablespoons Onion Powder
2 Tablespoons Sugar
4 Tablespoons Oregano
2 Tablespoons Parsley Flakes
6 Tablespoons Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Thyme
2 teaspoons Basil
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

• Combine seasonings well and store in an air tight container.

To Make Dressing:

2 Tablespoons Dry Mix
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
2/3 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Tablespoons Water

Add to your Container and shake well.
Store what you don't need right away in the refrigerator.

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Japanese Steak House Yum-Yum Sauce or Shrimp Sauce

Going to the Japanese Steak House and sitting at the Hibachi grill is my all time favorite thing to do.  I am love with the rice there.  Lets face it though, it is not frugal nor is it always reasonable considering I have to drive an hour to get there.  I had to figure out this mystery.  Like all mysteries I want to figure out, I started with an internet search.  While there are lots of recipes out there dedicated to this type of sauce, I found a blog that is noteworthy.  This blog is dedicated entirely to the recipe of this very special sauce and has a pretty convincing story of its accuracy.  The Mayo and the slight touch of tomato I figured out at the restaurant.  The rest I came up with using my usual mad scientist methods.

I get why this is called Yum-Yum sauce, but why is it called Shrimp Sauce?  Is it because there is shrimp in there?  No.  Well is it because it is shrimp colored?  Not sure.  But I am sure of this.  It taste's AWESOME on Shrimp.  Maybe THAT is why they call it Shrimp Sauce. :-)

1 1/4 Cup Hellman's Mayo
1/4 cup Water
1 Tablespoon Contadina Tomato Paste (unseasoned)
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Paprika
pinch of Cayenne

• In a blender add Mayo, Water, Paste, Garlic Powder, Sugar, Paprika and cayenne if desired.  
• Blend until all incorporated.  
• Chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours or more to allow the flavor to set up.
• Use with your Japanese Fried Rice or Seafood dish.  We love it with fish sticks.

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Taco Seasoning Blend

Make your own Taco Seasoning blend!


I have tried so many different variations of this recipe over the years. I was trying to find one that tastes like the ones you buy already mixed in the packet at the store.  So many times I have been disappointed.  There were some good ones though, like Alton's Taco Potion #19.  But it just was not what I personally was looking for.  This recipe below is what I believe is the closest thing to the packets I am used to.  


It is so economical to make it yourself.  I have not done the math yet, but the cost is bound to be cheaper.  My mother's dollar stores carry all of these ingredients.  So seven dollars for seven ingredients equals seven packets of the store bought stuff.  Or make it yourself and get way more than seven packets.  

1 Tablespoon minced dried onion
2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 


Get out 10 little snack sized baggies.  
Add each ingredient above one at a time to each bag.
Store for later.


Note:  I personally do not add water to the beef along with the spice.  I think the beef releases enough juices to use and it makes a thicker coating.  My kids hate runny taco meat!

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Super Quick and Easy Gluten Free Brown Gravy

When I was growing up, before we went Gluten Free, French's canned gravy was high on my list of the good things in life.  It was so incredibly good on mashed potatoes and stuffing.  Gravy initially seemed like a thing of the past when we first embarked on our Gluten Free journey. But as you go along, you figure some things out here and there.  This is my gluten free copycat recipe for French's brown gravy or copycat Campbell's canned brown gravy.  It is very quick and easy to toss together and tastes very good!

This recipe does not have to only be for the gluten free.  It uses commonly kept items in the pantry and works with any flour.  No stock, use bouillon.  Next time you run out of your usual stuff, give this a try!!!

1 cup Swanson Beef Stock or Kitchen Basics Beef Broth
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet (called to verify GF Status)
1 tablespoon La Choy Soy (Kroger Soy Sauce is also GF)
1/2 teaspoon Mrs. Dash all purpose spice blend
1 Tablespoon Flour (I have used Bisquick or Rice)

Be extra careful with the ingredients of this recipe.  Only the specific brands above are gluten free.

• Add Stock/broth into a cold sauce pan along with flour.
• Turn on heat to medium low and whisk until thoroughly combined.
• Add soy, spice blend and browning sauce and combine.
• Cook over low until thick.

• Tempt my Tummy Tuesday
• Tuesdays at the Table
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Tasty Tuesdays at a Beautiful Mess
• Tasty Tuesday at Dr. Laura's
• Delicious Dishes
• Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
• Hearth and Soul
• Tuesday Night Supper Club
• Works for me Wednesday
• What's on the Menu Wednesday
• Gluten Free Wednesday
• Pennywise Platter Thursday
• Recipe Swap Thursday
• Ultimate Recipe Swap
• Foodie Friday
• Food on Fridays

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Cranberry Sauce

This is the original Cranberry Sauce recipe I served at my first Dinner back in 1996 . It was adapted from a recipe I found in that years seasonal Bon Appetit magazine.  I have changed it up a bit though.  The original called for currents and walnuts.

I suppose what lured me to this recipe was the Port.  I was young and newly in love and very much into wine with dinner on special occasions.  I splashed this port into my gravy base, into the cranberries, into my glass!  Enjoy!

1 12-ounce package fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup ruby Port
1 medium navel orange, unpeeled, chopped

Combine cranberries, sugar and Port in saucepan.
Bring mixture to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.
Reduce heat to low and add orange.
Simmer until cranberries burst and mixture thickens slightly, about 15 minutes.
Cool cranberry conserve completely.

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Pineapple Gravy

This recipe is not a rocket science.  I'ts just a recipe that was created to copy the glaze that forms on the top of your ham when baked with pineapples on top. Because you NEED extra right?  This and a brown sugar glaze are necessities in your recipe file for the holidays.

OK, so this is not a picture of ham.  LOL.  I happen to think that this is good as a topping for cake too.  Or ice cream for that matter.  Or inside ice cream.  But for on top of ham, I may add some of the ham juices to make it a tad bit savory.

8 ounces of Pineapple Tidbits (pureed until liquid)

4 ounces of Pineapple Tidbits left whole

1 Tablespoon Corn Starch

1/4 teaspoon Brown Sugar.

4 Tablespoons Ham Juices (Optional)

Add 8 ounces of tidbits into food processor and puree until liquid.

Add pineapple puree, tidbits, starch and sugar to cold pan.

Add Ham Juices (Optional)  

Heat on low until thickened.

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