Salad Bar Night

I love salad bars. Our kids all love salad bars too. But I don't love salad bar prices. So, we had a salad bar at home instead.

It was fun for all of us to be able to put together our own salads (just like at the salad bar). Our 6 y.o. foster daughter said it was her favorite day and I thought my salad was as good as any $8 salad I've had.

Obviously, there is no recipe here. Just put out all the stuff you like in your salad and go at it. Most of the things I used were canned or produce that required no cooking, just wash and your done. I made hard boiled eggs and homemade ranch, that was the extent of my cooking.

I won the prize for using the most items in my salad (I'm sure this had nothing to do with me being the one putting the salad bar together).

Kidney beans, garbanzo beans, olives, green bean salad, grape tomatoes

Cheese, pickles, beets, hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese(not pictured), bacon bits, croutons, assortment of dressing (including homemade ranch).

I love making ranch at home. It's super easy and tastes so much better than anything you can get in a bottle.

There really isn't a recipe as it is all done to taste and personal preference. But, here's how I make it:

*1 part mayo (any kind - light, fat free, olive oil mayo, whatever)
*1 part sour cream (any kind - light, fat free)

(if you like a more sour flavor, change the ratio to more sour cream than mayo) If I were not using equal parts, I'd use more mayo than sour cream but that's my personal preference.

*Milk (any kind) to thin to your preference. If you like a thick ranch, use less milk, more milk for thin ranch.

*Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder - to taste

In this recipe, I actually use real measurements for a thin ranch coleslaw, if you must measure.

This was perfect for our large family and would be good for a get together. I imagine there would be tons of leftovers for a smaller group though. What would you put in your salad bar?