Ginger Salad Dressing

Tried a new recipe (to me, anyway) for salad dressing. We've eaten at a Japanese steakhouse a couple of times in the past. They have this real unique and wonderfully refreshing salad of simple iceberg lettuce with a ginger dressing. Doing a quick search for the dressing brought up a bunch of results, of which I used loosely to make my own by using substitutes of what I already have in the fridge and pantry. Wow, it worked and it's so good!

Ginger Dressing  
1 small diced onion, about 1/4c
1/8c olive oil
1/8c canola oil
1/6c red wine vinegar
1T water
2T fresh ginger root, grated
1T chopped celery, heaped
1/2T ketchup
2tsp tamari sauce 
1tsp sugar
1tsp lime juice
1/2tsp minced garlic
pinch s&p

Blend all ingredients in smoothie blender cup and chill. Makes about 1c dressing.

Of course, you can replace the sugar with a substitute, as well as use low-carb ketchup or plain tomato paste. I'm not the only one eating the salad and I am not going to panic over that little bit of sugar when I don't use more than a drizzle of dressing, anyway. We used on a simple salad of chopped romaine lettuce and thinly sliced cucumber. Note: I would skip the water next time as this makes a somewhat thin dressing. Water could be added after blending first to check for preferred consistency.

Some of the frugal-going-ons around here:
Hemmed a pair of yoga style pants that I bought on clearance for $6 from Kohl's. While I had the sewing machine out, I also repaired the edges of a bath towel that had been fraying. "A" had a romper that she didn't like because it was uncomfortable in the crotch area and a pain to always have to take off to use the bathroom. I cut the crotch out and hemmed it so it's now a cute little summer top instead.

We've had rain so I haven't had to water the garden for a few days and the rain barrels are full again. Good thing, too, since yesterday and today it's been 80+ degrees. One of the lettuces in my raised bed isn't looking very impressive, so I think I will add in a row of Marvel of 4 Seasons lettuce that Dad had given me from his leftover seed stash. Also garden related, I picked some young rhubarb, cleaned and diced it and put 6 baggies in the freezer for muffin making in the winter. There's more out there but I'm really hoping to be able to empty the freezer soon and defrost it so I don't want to fill it up. Not real crazy about rhubarb either, but it sure is good mixed with berries in muffins. Oh, and I bought 3lbs. sweet red bell peppers that were on sale for $1.99/lb, which is as cheap as they get around here, and cleaned, halved and froze them for winter use.

I received a couple coffee samples in the mail in the past week. Each makes a full pot in our house, which is really just 2 & 1/2 mugs each. But free coffee's nice. Also got a coupon for a razor and shave gel which will make them free. Wasn't expecting that nice little surprise in my mailbox.