Packaged make-your-own salad dressings popular again!!! PRODUCT REVIEW

Packaged mixes were very popular in the 1970's and they are back!!  They are fresh.  The bottle doesn't sit in the refrigerator until done. 

The reason I bought the Italian packaged seasoning mix is because I am tired of the bottled Italian Dressings: zesty and otherwise.  Our family and relatives ran some taste tests and found that the bottled dressings are sweeter than they used to be.  Just by taste.  I don't have any OLD bottles of dressing but the more and more additives they put into the dressings, the more they ruin the taste.

So I decided to try: 

• Good Seasons and
• Wish-Bone

The first one I bought was Good Seasons Zesty Italian and the Good Seasons Italian.  Made it and loved it!! Branched out and bought the Wish-Bone.  There is clearly a difference in taste and ...

• The Wish-Bone is clearly sweeter by taste (who wants a sweet Italian dressing for a green salad?).
• The Wish-Bone has 3 g of sugar.
• The Wish-Bone is lower in calories.
• The Wish-Bone is higher in SODIUM but tasted sweeter.  I put salt in it but it didn't do much. I will stick with the winner below!!!

THE WINNER FOR ME IS BELOW!!

• The Good Seasons has a real Italian dressing taste (not sweet).
• The Good Seasons has less than 1 g of sugar
• The Good Seasons is higher in calories.
• The Good Seasons is lower in sodium.
• 
  

All you would ever want to know about salad dressings & popular recipes!!!

About yellow beans

Yellow Beans from our garden. 

• Yellow Beans are less bitey than Blue Lake Green beans. 
• We grow them every year.  Up North they are called wax beans but they aren't waxy.
• The freeze better.  When you freeze green beans that little bitiness or bitterness becomes stronger but yellow beans don't become stronger.
• Good plain with butter, salt & pepper. And with parmesan, romano or other Italian white cheese.  
• One of my favorite and simple recipes:  
• Cut into 1-2 inch slices and cook like you would green beans but a little firmer.  Soggy is not good.  They will get soggier in fridge. 
• Run cold water over them in the pan to chill them down.  
• Cool them to room temperature.  
• Chop some onion, red onion or green onion and add with Italian dressing***  I use Wesson Best Blend
• & fresh ground pepper and marinate in refrigerator.  
• Will keep a few days. 
• Great light lunch ingredient.  
• Travels well for picnics. 
• (Want more color?  Add canned drained sliced pimientos.) 
• (Adventurous?  Add crumbled feta cheese.)  
• (Spicier?  Add some dried red pepper flakes.)
• *** I use the old fashioned now popular again Good Season's Package Dressing Kit (remember those cruets?)  I have found that (even Good Season's) Italian (zesty and other Italian) bottled dressings taste too sweet for my tastes so I use the following:

    

    

Note:  New packaged Thick and Creamy packaged Italian dressing (It takes mayo but you could use Hellmann's Light which is my fave) to cut the calories down. 

OTHER YELLOW BEAN RECIPES:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1738,159183-254201,00.html

http://www.cooks.com/recipe/ax7ng5yp/yellow-wax-beans-supreme.html

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/green-yellow-bean-salad-with-chunky-tomato-dressing-feta-cheese-10000000630014/

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Green-Bean-Yellow-Bean-and-Cherry-Tomato-Salad-103487