My motivation has been found!

After a weekend of fun with my younger sister, Jaclyn, visiting, my body put itself on strike. The mix of weekend mimosas, eating out for basically every meal, and not getting sleep, I was feeling awful come Sunday. So, since then, I have made a personal challenge with myself to stop eating out so much, cut back on going out during the weekends, and actually take advantage of the beautiful place I live in by working out often. It’s only been 4 days and I can already am feeling so much better!

One thing I love to do is experiment in the kitchen. I’ve never attempted to make my own salad dressing before, but it just seemed so easy, and, let me tell you, IT IS!

I’ve talked before about the benefits of making your own marinades, and creating your own salad dressings have a similar pros. Not only do they end up being cheaper, but you won’t believe how much sodium & sugars are in the store bought kind! I was extremely surprised.

I wanted to start off with a classic dressing but put my own spin on it, which is what brought me to last night’s creation of Lite Balsamic Garlic Orange.

You Need:

• ½ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ fresh orange; squeezed
• 1 tablespoon of garlic powder
• ½ tablespoon of ground black pepper

**I bought these little glass containers at Walmart the other day for about $3.00. They’re really cute but a little hard to pour [garlic powder & pepper wise]. I would recommend either having a jar with a larger pour or using something (like simple computer paper) to funnel in the your spices.**

Simply pour in each ingredient into your jar and place in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use! These dressings would have no problem lasting at least 1-2 weeks.

I paired this dressing with a side salad! It had:

• Romaine lettuce
• Kale/spinach blend
• Pecans
• Red & yellow peppers
• Cucumber
• Raw zucchini

Have you ever tried to make your own salad dressings before? I need some new ideas 🙂