So I heard recently that people are actually tired of bacon.  Could it possibly be true?  That we exhausted ourselves in the excess that is this?  I think that-like with all things-bacon in moderation is absolutely delicious.  I like BLT sandwiches fully loaded with onions, pickles, spices, cheese, avocado and anything else I can fit between two slices of bread.  I thought I could carry that over into a BLT salad with some Blue Cheese Ranch dressing and let me tell you how delicious it was.  mrChaos, who generally tolerates salads for dinner, went out of his way to tell me how good this was.

I updated my blue cheese ranch dip by subbing  buttermilk for the sour cream to make it a little thinner.  You could add as much or as little blue cheese as you like depending on whether you lean towards the blue cheese side or the ranch side.

BLT Salad with Avocado and Blue Cheese Dressing

• 1/4-1/2 pound thick sliced bacon, cooked
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 1/4 red onion, sliced
• 1 large avocado, peeled and diced
• 2 small heads green leaf lettuce, washed and chopped
• blue cheese or ranch dressing

1. Combine salad ingredients, serve.
2. Drizzle with dressing.

Fantastic served alongside steaks.  Salad dressing is one of those things you really shouldn’t bother buying at the store.  Make your own a few times and you will see what I mean.  The flavor of homemade salad dressing is so bright and fresh compared to the bottled stuff, they are hardly comparable.  I have never been a fan of the thick, globby bottled blue cheese dressings, but this dressing tastes both light and creamy with the flavors of herbs and spices rounded out with whiff of blue cheese.  It really makes this salad that much more delicious.  Do you make your own salad dressing?  Or is there a bottled dressing you can’t live without?

Nothing announces summer louder than the smoky wafts of backyard grills.  The smell of charcoal and meat permeates the neighborhood during late, dusky evenings and lazy weekends.  It is a nostalgic smell-like warm summer air, freshly watered lawns, and people coming together around a fire.  I absolutely love food cooked over the grill, nothing beats the smokey, caramelized flavors.

It can be a bit of a pain to get it going, so once we have the grill lit we try to make the most of it.  Grilled corn on the cob is a great summer treat and a super easy side dish!  Or, if it isn’t grilling season where you are, just pop them under the broiler and be immediately transported to a warmer clime.

First, be sure to buy ears of corn that still have their husks and silk.  The husks will protect the corn and help steam the kernels while they are cooking.  There is a big debate in our house over whether you have to pull off the silk before or after roasting the corn: mrChaos peels the husks back carefully and pulls off all the silk, then pulls the husks back over the corn.  I say you don’t have to do that.  The silks come off easily with the husks after the corn is finished cooking.  Also you don’t bother soaking the corn.  The husks get pretty black but you aren’t eating them and they give the corn a great smokey flavor.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

• ears of corn with husks

1. Prepare your grill or pre-heat your broiler.
2. Place ears of corn onto grill or onto a baking sheet a few inches from the broiler.
3. Cook approximately 10 minutes, husks will turn black and smoke a bit.
4. Flip ears of corn over, try to keep them covered by their husks. Cook another ten minutes or until husks are black and the corn underneath looks plump and juicy.
5. Remove from grill or oven, allow to cool enough to handle with a dishtowel.
6. Remove husks, chop off ends, and roll in butter, squirt with lime, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, cayenne, or cotija cheese.

While you’ve got the grill hot, be sure to make extra and save it to add a smokey touch to other dishes like this salad or this one or this creamed corn.

Living within your means can be hard.  Especially if you don’t make much and have a lot of debt to pay off.  We have been working to live on a cash only budget while paying off our debts for several years now, but we got started by reading financial books and blogs and learning the tricks to spending, saving, and living on a small budget.  One of my favorite financial blogs is Wisebread.  While there are many people on the Internet offering financial advice, Wisebread is different in that it consists of an assortment of authors who are regular people trying to save a buck-just like us.  This here blog has even been featured there in the past.  The tips you find at Wisebread can range from the extreme to basic common sense, but chances are you are going to see something you hadn’t thought of before but that could work for you.

I don’t read a lot of personal finance books because it is generally the same information being presented over and over.  Also, long passages about investments cause me to jerk awake at night just knowing that its Finals week and I never attended any classes.  When I was asked to read and review Wisebread’s new book, 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget, I was a little apprehensive.  I was afraid of pages and pages of boring financial drivel and “spend less than you earn” and “every time someone gives you a $5 bill put it away to save”-yeah, right, like I can afford that.

I should have known that it would be different.  Many of my favorite Wisebread articles are written in a list format, giving just enough back-up information to make the point clear and then moving on.  They are easy on the eyes and the brain, and the book is written in the same manner.  It moves along quickly because of it.  I was shocked when I finished the forty page section on Food & Drink after a pretty short read.

Depending on how frugal-minded you already are you may have heard of or already practice many of these tips.  Likely though there is something you haven’t thought of yet.  Personally, I can’t wait to make my own hand sanitizing spray-the Burt’s Bees stuff I buy is $5 for 2 oz.  My favorite section, though, offers tips on finding great, cheap wine as well as what to do with cheap wine that’s not so great.

Anyone who is just beginning to make changes in their spending will find many good tips for making the transition.  Of course, in their customary style, the authors have included many ideas that aren’t necessarily feasible (such as living in a shipping container to be mortgage and rent-free) but they still get your brain working in the right direction. On the other hand, maybe you are an intrepid and penniless college student and living in a shipping container is just the last frugal step in living debt-free.

Not much cooking this week, if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you will know that we recently lost everything in our freezer.  Reading this book has reminded me of how cheaply we filled it up in the past and I am hoping to fill it up again with a few large batch cooking sessions.  The things we lost that I was the most sad to part with? The 12 cups of homemade chicken stock, the ice cream, and a small stash of corndogs that I had just made a few weeks ago.

Wow!  If you thought Greek Salad was so-so, you haven’t tasted this salad.  I wanted a light side dish to go alongside our shrimp risotto and I knew the lemon and feta would pair well with a Greek salad.  I found this amazing salad at Janet is Hungry.  Greek salads can be really good-spicy and flavorful-or really boring.  This one is fantastic.

Greek Salad

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 salt
• ground pepper
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives
• 1 medium cucumber, diced
• 2 cup romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1 cup crumbled feta

1. Combine olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
2. Combine tomatoes, onions, olives, cucumber and romaine.
3. Toss salad with dressing to taste and sprinkle with feta.