Reubens for Dinner

When making my meal plan for the week, I try and take my schedule into consideration. It is easier to stick with a meal plan when I do that. On days that I have a lot going on I make sure that I have simple meals planned. Tonight, we had Reuben Sandwiches. If we have sandwiches for dinner I prefer them to be hot sandwiches and this is one of our favorites. Homemade Thousand Island  dressing makes this even better!

Thousand Island Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon white onion, finely minced
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Throughly mix all the ingredients in a small bowl.

Salad Dressing

One of the first things I started making when I was changing the way we ate was salad dressings. I have only bought maybe a couple of bottles of dressing in the store in the past 3 + years. I usually mix up a new one every week or so, with Ranch and Blue Cheese being the ones I make most often. 

Last week I made a Baked Reuben for dinner so I needed some Thousand Island dressing. I like to gather my ingredients before starting to make sure I have everything I need.

I will add the ingredients directly in a wide mouth mason jar, which is how I will store the dressing. A few shakes and it is mixed, nice and easy. Sometimes I will use a mini whisk to make sure everything is combined. 

Very little clean up, the jar is great for storage.

 Blue painters tape gets used a lot in my kitchen! Since I do make a lot of our condiments and most are stored in mason jars, I need to label them--the painter's tape comes off easily and doesn't leave a sticky mess.

Thousand Island Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon white onion, finely minced
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Reuben Sandwich and Thousand Island Dressing

One of my favorite sandwiches is a well crafted Reuben. I love everything about them. All of those different tastes just meld together to form a perfect sandwich. We eat out less now, so that means I need to make them at home. 

One of the first processed foods I gave up to start making my own was salad dressings. I loved how quick it was to make them and how easily I could whip up different versions without having to buy one of every bottle in the store--and since I can make as much or as little as I need, I am not wasting it and throwing away half empty bottles. 

Of course a good Reuben needs a good sauce. Here are the ingredients that I started with:

With a lot of the dressings I make, I store them in a plain squeeze bottle, and that works great for smoother ones, but since this one has small chunks of the onion and the relish, these half pint mason jars are what I use.

I am happy to say that not only is the dressing homemade, but I also made that sauerkraut.

Ahhh, perfection on a plate!

Thousand Island Dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 tablespoon white vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon white onion, finely minced
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all ingredients together until well blended.

CSA Basket and a recipe

In this week's basket, we received two kinds of lettuce, some mint, a bag of spinach leaves, onions, strawberries and kale. I know I will be making a strawberry spinach salad this week, these strawberries are delicious.  I had planned on buying eggs when I picked up my share this week, but I forgot to take cash with me so I will have to wait until next week to get my fresh eggs. 

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Dressing:

2 tablespoons of poppy seeds

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar (or white vinegar)

1 tablespoon minced onion

1/4 teaspoon of worcestershire sauce

Mix all ingredients together. I usually add everything to a mason jar then add a lid and shake it to mix it all together. It is easy to pour and then store in the fridge. 

Salad:

10 - 12 ounces fresh spinach leaves torn into pieces

1 quart of strawberries, hulled and sliced

1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Combine all the salad ingredients into a bowl. You can pour the dressing over the entire salad and serve or let each person add their own at the table. I normally make extra salad for our lunches the next day so I don't usually dress the entire salad because it tends to not be as good the next day. If we have people over and know that it will probably be eaten, I do go ahead and dress the entire salad.

• 
  

Blue Cheese Dressing

As were are trying to eat healthier, I have been looking for alternatives to a lot of things that I used to buy in bottles or packets. I make the marinades that I use, I have made a couple of different versions of mustard, steak sauce, dipping sauces and seasoning mixes. I have several new dressing recipes that I alternate making but I believe this blue cheese dressing is a favorite for both of us. It takes less than a minute to mix together and can be eaten immediately, but is even better if you let it sit for 30 minutes or so before serving. I make the dressing as I am starting dinner prep so by the time we are eating it has been mixed for at least 30 minutes or longer.

Here is the recipe that I use:

1 cup mayo

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup buttermilk (plus a little extra)

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2-4 oz. crumbled blue cheese

Mix all ingredients, except the cheese. After everything is mixed together stir in the cheese.

I store my dressings in pint jars. After I get all the dressing in the jar, I will add enough buttermilk to finish filling the jar, leaving enough room that I can still shake the jar.

I am working on learning how to make my own mayo, but I am not there yet. Sometimes it works, but it usually doesn't!