Homemade Croutons

Ingredients:

4 slices of sandwich bread
2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese
¼ tsp each of preferred seasonings (I used Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt...just experiment!)
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Directions:

1. Cut bread into small cubes.
2. In a bowl, mix together parmesan cheese, seasonings and olive oil.
3. Toss in bread cubes and mix well to coat.
4. Spread cubes in one layer on a cookie sheet.  Bake 325 degrees until they are crispy.

Olive Garden Salad

If you love the big salad served at Olive Garden, you can now make it at home.  :) 

Ingredients:

1 bag American Blend Dole Salad (Or, just chop up some green lettuce)

4-5 slices Red onion

4-6 black olives

2-4 banana peppers

½ cup croutons (My homemade crouton recipe coming soon!)

1 small tomato, quartered

Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

Directions:

1. Chill one salad bowl in freezer for at least 30 minutes.  Place bag of salad in bowl.  Place on top of lettuce red onion, black olives, banana peppers, tomatoes, and croutons.  Add some freshly grated parmesan cheese if you like, and add plenty of Olive Garden Salad Dressing on top.

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

½ cup mayo (I use my homemade mayo recipe)

1/3 cup white vinegar

1 tsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. corn syrup (Honey is a good substitute for this)

2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese

2 Tbsp. Romano Cheese 

¼ tsp. garlic salt – or one clove garlic minced

½ tsp. Italian seasoning

½ tsp. parsley flakes

1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tsp. - 1 Tbsp. Sugar 

Olive Garden Salad Mix

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a blender until well mixed.  If this is a little too tart for your own personal tastes, please add a little extra sugar.

Condensed Creamed Soup - Homemade Substitute

This is a great substitute if you need Condensed Cream of Mushroom (or other flavor) Soup and you don't have it on hand.  This recipe substitutes for ONE can of condensed cream of mushroom soup (although you can alterate it to substitute for cream of celery, cream of chicken, etc).

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
1/2 Cup any broth (I usually use a chicken bouillon cube to make mine)
1/2 Cup milk
Mushrooms, chopped and sauteed (I did this with celeries last time I needed cream of celery)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over Med-Low heat.
2. Stir in flour a little at a time until smooth, then remove from heat.
3. Add broth and milk a little at a time, stirring to keep mixture smooth.  Then, stir in mushrooms.
4. Return to heat and bring sauce to a gentle boil; stir constantly until sauce thickens.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.