Homemade Parsley and Garlic Croutons

If there is nothing I like more, it's a big flipping salad. Sometimes it just sounds so good, especially if I've been eating a lot of not-so-good for you things.

When my husband and I make salads, we make 'em big with lots of toppings. The toppings are (not surprisingly) my favorite part. A while back, I really wanted croutons on my salad and we had none. Thus, homemade parsley and garlic croutons were born.

Want to make your own? You'll need:
• 2 TBSP of butter (you can use less)
• 1 slice of bread (I used whole wheat, it's great with white too)
• a generous dash of parsley flakes
• a generous dash of garlic salt

You'll also want:
• A cookie sheet & oven
• A microwave safe bowl or measuring cup

1) Preheat your oven to 350. I use my toaster oven. Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup. Add a generous dash of parsley and garlic salt. (I probably "dash" the spices 5 or so times into the melted butter)

2) Cut your bread into 1/2" size or so cubes and dunk them in the butter. I use a butter knife to scoot them around and mix the bread so it all gets a nice coating.

3) Your oven should now be at about 350. Arrange the cubes on the tray and let them cook for about 5-10 minutes. Keep your eye on them and move them around so that all sides get crispy and toasted, not just the bottom side burnt (I speak from experience! :)

  

4) Remove them carefully and let them cool for a bit. Add them to your big flippin' salad with other toppings (in this salad, I used chopped chicken, cranraisins, a bit of celery, a boiled egg, cucumber, tomato...) and enjoy!

Green Apple, Cranraisin and Feta Salad + Saving Money

Let's talk salad. And dolla' dolla' bills ya'll.

Sometimes, there is nothing that sounds better to me than a BFS. BFS stands for Big F-bombin' Salad, and it's a term we use pretty frequently around the LOC household, especially with our new diet/lifestyle change.

I wanted to share a recipe (Recipe? Maybe just a good combination) for a salad I made a few days back. When you follow "The Skinny Rules", you are supposed to eat an apple a day, but you're supposed to have no/low carbs after lunch, so I always try to eat my apple at about 10:30 or with lunch. This time, I decided to make the apple part of my lunch.

Pretty isn't it? :) I think it looks like one of those salads you'll pay 8 bucks for at a restaurant and then wonder that while it was amazingly yummy, why you just paid 8 bucks for a salad. You can make it at home and have a few more bucks in your pocket.

Here's what you'll need:

• 1 head of romaine lettuce, or a lettuce or spinach of your choice. We got a three pack for 3 bucks, so $1.
• A bag of cranraisins (use sparingly - they are higher in calories) - We got a pack for about 2.50-3 bucks, so you'll be using just cents of that bag on this salad. We'll say maybe .25 cents for easy math.
• 1 green apple, cut up. - We bought a big bag for $4.99 and used one - so let's use .50 cents for easy math.
• 1-2 tbsp of feta cheese. - Tip: check out the feta in the back with the other cheeses over the cheeses in the front with the fancy cheeses and hummus', etc. It'll be cheaper in the back. We paid about 3 bucks for a tub of it. Let's say about .75 cents of it was used on the salad.

So math.... $2.50 for this whole salad. And when you use a whole head of lettuce, it's definitely plenty for two people... so $1.25 per person. You can't beat that! :) If you use dressing, you'd have to factor in that cost too, but my guess is that it'll still be less than the restaurant price. I used just a hint of lite Italian and ranch mixed together. It was amazing, plus cheap, plus healthy.

Give it a try and let me know how it turned out for you!