Why does it cost SO much?

Have you ever wondered why salad dressing, namely Ranch Dressing, cost SO much? Well my guess would have to be that it's because of the name brand and the fact that they say it has buttermilk in it. Just for fun now let's look at the ingredients in Ranch Dressing:

Soybean oil. water, sugar, garlic juice, buttermilk, (less than 2% of these): whey, salt, modified food starch, phosphoric acid, monosodium glutamate, vinegar, xanthan gum, citric acid, polysobate 60, spice, natural flavor, egg yolks, with sodium lactate, calcium disodium edta, and natamycn to protect freshness.

So when you look at these ingredients in this certain Ranch Dressing how does it make you feel? For me? I can't pronounce half the words in there so why would I want it on my salad! 

This little rant has brought me to this conclusion. That by my best accord I vow not to buy store Ranch Dressing again. Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE Ranch Dressing. At our house if it's green it better have Ranch! If I give my family some chopped veggies for a snack before supper (because they're always starving right as you start to fix supper)  it better have Ranch with it or else all the cutting up will be in vain.

So yesterday I decided to make my own. Thanks to Heavenly Homemakers recipe for Buttermilk Ranch. It was a HIT! Everyone loved it! I highly recommend it! I stored my in a mason jar but I planned ahead and kept my LAST empty bottle from the store so I will transfer it to that for easier pourage. (is that a word?)  Just fyi from us, the recipe left it a little too thick for us so you might want to add more buttermilk to it. Here is the recipe or you can visit the site above which is where I got it from. 

Ranch Dressing Mix

5 T. dried minced onions

7 t. dried parsley flakes

4 t. salt (I only had regular table salt to I cut it down to 3 t.)

1 t. garlic powder

To Make the Dressing:

Mix 2 T. dry ranch dressing mix

I cup Mayo (I used store bought but plan to make my own mayo some day)

1 cup Buttermilk

Mix together thoroughly. Refrigerate. Umm Yumm!