Hey, can anyone tell me how I know whether a salad dressing is chemical-free or not??

And for the life of me I can't figure out what G.P.A. stands for. LOL! It's probably a no-brainer.

Buff

Hi Buff..... GPA stands for "grade point average". It all goes along with the foods being rated A, B, C etc.

As for the chemicals....I don't know. I just always use the "lite" dressings.

I'm not sure on the chemicals either - past reading the ingredients to find out if there is anything really bad.

Have any of you tried Enova oil? It is supposed to be burned as energy rather than stored as fat. If you make you own with that as a base it may be better - but I don't know for sure.

Also, does anyone know much about flax oil? That, too, is supposed to be good for you - Omega 3 & 6 - so if used as a dressing base may be better than others.

More questions rather than concrete answers - sorry. But would also like opinions on this.

Funny you mentioned Flax Oil. I just got some the other day to start giving one of my rottweilers! I have a friend that highly recommends herbs, etc. for animals. My vet usually laughs, but says go on and try things. I know for a fact since I started giving my female rottie cranberry capsules that I haven't had to put her on an antibiotic. She started having chronic cystitis (sp?) when she was about 8 weeks old. She's 4-1/2 now. The cranberry took care of it!

Sorry I didn't provide any useful information!

Flax oil: I'm not fond of the taste. And, while some people say it's good for you, others say it has too high a ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3. I use it, but not for a salad dressing. I put it in my protein shake so I don't have to taste it.

I guess I have lived in France too long. I just mix a good tablespoon of Dijon mustard with vinegar & olives oil & it dresses a big salad! I mix the dressing at the bottom of a big salad bowl & toss in the greens. A good thing to do too is to rub the bottom of your wooden salad bowl with a clove of garlic before adding the salad. Yummy! Plus no chemicals!

Shelby

Shelby- that sounds delicious. How much vinegar & oil? I found a recipe for Oriental Sesame Dressing that I'm going to try after getting some ingredients. It has sesame oil in it and I don't know if that is healthy or not - do any of you know?

Just looked sesame oil up on the web & doesn't seem like it would be too unhealthy.

Yes, Shelby! Tell us how much vinegar and olive oil you use for the dressing. It does sound good! I'm going to have to find time to look up some dressing recipes. I know I have some.

I had a thought today. Maybe the chemical-free thing means the same as organic. The only reason I asked is that that's what it says in the FFS book.

Buff

I'm not an expert at French cuisine but my vinaigrette is one thing I do do well.

In a large salad bowl:
1 lg tablespoon of Dijon mustard
Mix with it 1 lg tablespoon vinegar.
Then add oil little by little constantly mixing with a wisk or fork. Keep wisking til it becomes thick. If it doesn't thicken after wisking a while add a little more mustard & wisk again. The key is to wisk constantly while pouring in the oil.
How much? According to your taste buds!

If you have a wooden salad bowl, rub it with a clove of garlic first.

Sorry I can't give you better measures but I have never measured since a French lady showed me how.

Buff,
I think when Jill says "chemical free" that she is recommending foods that are as natural as possible -- without chemical additives and preservatives, if possible. The more basic, natural healthy ingredients, the better.

Shelby, your dressing is wonderful. Glad your husband is home - hope all continues to go well.

Shelby, I can't wait to try your dressing. Have to wait til next week cause I don't have Dijon mustard.

Buff

I just wanted to mention that we have to stay away from fat free foods, they fill them up with starch and sugars which convert in us and get stored as FAT. That is how I gained my last 20 lbs ( you would have thought I would have caught on after the first 10!).

I am new here and hope this is not old news, sorry if it is.

Nancy

by the way I meant to mention we make the same dijon dressing and it is delicious! We buy huge pots of dijon and eat it on everything from salads to beef to chicken. Do make an effort to make this as it is a real hit!