About Me and What You Can Expect From This Website

Do you like the idea of making your own food when possible–even things most people buy, like yogurt, yeast bread, condensed cream of mushroom soup, or even, pop-tarts? Maybe you want or need to control the ingredients, customize the taste, or just enjoy the challenge.

Don’t you love the satisfying feeling you get when

Your kitchen experiments turn out good?
Your bread bakes up beautifully and tastes as good as it smells?
You check on the milk you prepared last night and find smooth, thick yogurt?

Then there is the flip side…

The dense loaf of bread that’s too embarrassing to share with a friend
The milk that still looks like milk the next morning instead of yogurt
Spending lots of time on a new recipe that wasn’t worth the time or money

little boy crying — **Disappointment happens to all of us.**

The next time you want to make bread or yogurt, I hope you’ll remember this website. Whether you need a recipe or you run into trouble, I’m here to help.

My mission is to provide instruction, encouragement, and advice for kitchen adventures involving bread machines and homemade yogurt. Beyond that, you’ll find many other recipes with secret ingredients and time-saving hacks.

website owner with bread machine and ciabatta in her kitchen

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT:

Recipes utilizing modern appliances like bread machines, microwave ovens, and food processors to produce delicious food from scratch in less time with less fuss (Alternative methods are often listed if you don’t have a particular machine.)
Recipes peppered with cooking tips and secrets–I collect them like some people collect dishes.
Over 50 yeast bread recipes that incorporate a unique technique that uses a bread machine for what it does best (no more baked “doorstops” at your house)

SIGN UP FOR MY FREE 6-PART EMAIL COURSE: HOW TO MAKE MARVELOUS BREAD WITH A BREAD MACHINE
Instructions for making yogurt in your own kitchen and troubleshooting guides when it doesn’t work out (happens to all of us)

SIGN UP FOR MY FREE 6-PART EMAIL COURSE: HOW TO MAKE THE YOGURT OF YOUR DREAMS
Plenty of dessert recipes: Hate to admit it, but I’m a sugar addict. (Mini Fruit Tarts with Vanilla Pastry Cream is my signature dessert and the most popular recipe on this website.) And yes, I make the tart shells from scratch because they are SO MUCH BETTER! You can, too.

What qualifies you to write this stuff?

My background includes a Home Economics degree (emphasis on food and nutrition), commercial kitchen experience, R & D with a national pizza chain, and a history of teaching microwave-cooking schools. I’ve been working/playing in the kitchen for over 40 years, but I still love to keep up with the latest food trends, kitchen devices, and techniques.

Why the name “Salad in a Jar”?

In 2009, I started SaladinaJar.com to share my unique method for vacuum-sealing chopped lettuce into Mason jars. I call it healthy fast-food. My co-workers called it “salad in a jar.” The name stuck.

PERSONALLY SPEAKING…

I’m an Indiana farm girl turned city kid. After graduating from Oklahoma Christian, I moved to the Dallas area and married a Texan. Besides owning a State Farm Insurance agency, my husband thinks Texas is the best place on earth. It appears I’m anchored here for the duration.