Salad Bag Bandwagon

Friends, I have jumped on another bandwagon to save time during the busy work week.  I’ll be honest because I’m not too sure if it saves money but the convenience and time saving trade-off is totally worth it (although I usually find them on sale).  I now buy 3 bagged salads when I grocery shop for the week.  I buy one salad to have at home for dinners and then I buy two salads for my lunches, salad in a jar.

Last week I bought a Pear Gorgonzola Mixed Green Salad for home and a Fiesta (Mexican) Salad Kit with a bag of shredded iceberg to top it off with, for my lunches.  (Note: I don’t normally just buy shredded iceberg, I try to buy something with a bit more nutrition but this was all they had this week).The Pear Gorgonzola salad comes with a yummy dressing, nuts and fruit and I can get four side salads out of it so it takes care of two dinner veggies, and there is no way my hubby is eating salad with dinner every night so I have to switch the veggies up anyway.

Bagged salads have also shaved even more time off my lunch prep for the week!  I am lazy and if I don’t have something I can grab and take with me every morning, I would be inhaling cheeseburgers every day.  So on Sunday I whip up 5 delicious salads in a jar in 10 minutes.  Why does it even take 10 minutes?  Because I have to strip the meat off the rotisserie chicken.  And in doing so I am not only getting meat for my lunches, I am also getting enough cooked chicken for at least one dinner.  We make quesadillas, pasta, whatever you can throw chicken in, and it’s already cooked!

So for my lunch salads, I divide the dressing from the kit evenly between the jars (adding a bit more if needed from our home stash), add ¾ cup of cooked chicken, sprinkle whatever cheese or nuts or other fixings that are included in the kit on top of the chicken, and then top with the actual salad mix.  I pack it all down and there is usually another 1.5” which I stuff with the extra salad I bought.  And I usually have a bit of leftovers from the third bag and use them up at some point during the week.

So to sum it up, I save time and we get to eat yummy salads.  Sounds like a win-win to me!

What are your time saving tips?

Save Time: Salad in a Jar

The ratio of my pins and things I have actually tried is like 387,486 to 3 and every few weeks I think, I should really try some of these things.  My favorite things to pin though are cupcakes, cookies, pastas, cheesy dips - basically anything that packs on the pounds - and I am trying to stay away from those things.  I also look for healthy recipes but every time I try one for dinner the hubby is practically calling dominoes as I'm walking over with our plates.  So I am hesitant to try them too often.

What I have seen lately that has intrigued me are salads in a jar, and seeing as lunch is the easiest time for me to run out and scarf down the Taco Bell $5 box without anyone knowing (seriously, can someone pin a recipe for willpower??) I thought these might be a great way to have a healthy, filling lunch ready to go every day.  So this weekend I 'borrowed' five jars from my mom and decided to try it out.

I wanted to include a lot of protein so the salad would fill me up and I also knew I needed something crunchy, plus I made my own vinaigrette dressing because three cheese ranch isn't really the healthiest option.

So this is my first attempt at salad in a jar...

Dressing (made in food processor)

- chop 2 Roma tomatoes then add:

- 1 piece of crushed garlic 

- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar

- 3 tbsp EVOO

- 1 tsp Dijon mustard

- 1 tbsp lemon juice

- 1/2 tsp oregano

- salt and pepper to taste

Salad Build (in the following order):

- 2 tbsp dressing at the bottom

- 1/4 cup black beans (out of a can, rinsed thoroughly)

- 2 oz chicken breast

- 1 tbsp sliced almonds (for a nice crunch)

- 1.5 cups lettuc packed in on top

So easy to make!



 

I made five salads in quart size jars, one for each work day.  I had my first one today and if was delicious! Because there wasn't that much lettuce I wasn't sure if it was going to be enough but I was full.  The chicken and black beans did their job.

I like to eat mine in a bowl but out of the jar works too!



There are still four days to get through and if the salad on Friday tastes as good today's then I will... Well maybe I'll stick with it and lose a couple pounds?  Do you have any idea how great it feels to have my breakfasts AND lunches all ready to go for the entire week??  I love it!

Has anyone else tried these salads? Any tips and other mixtures? 

UPDATE: I have had my third salad and still good with crunchy lettuce!

Weekly Dinner Plan (Take 2)

After a busy Saturday, hubby and I are looking forward to a lazy Sunday.  The sun is out, we have no real plans besides watching football and eating tasty appies (I will try to focus on the veggies!) and getting ready for the week.

Baileys coffee and blogging on a lazy Sunday



We had the best intentions to follow our dinner plan last week but due to a combination of after dinner appointments and PMS cravings, we took the easy way out a couple times.  The only good thing to come out of this was less thinking about dinners for the coming week as we just shifted a couple things.

Here is what we have planned for dinners:



Sunday: Baked Cod with Broccoli-Cheese Rice

Monday: Chicken Lasagna Rollups - Megan's recipe, so sad I missed this one last week! 

Tuesday: Pork Tenderloin with Mashed Potatoes and Veggies 

Wednesday: Breakfast: Ham & Goat Cheese Hashbrown Frittata (found on Pinterest)

Thursday: Pork Leftovers (we're hoping to do some sort of stroganoff... should be interesting!)

Friday: Dinner Out

Saturday: Sushi (Takeout)

I am going to try and prep some of the steps for the chicken lasagna rollups and hashbrowns frittata today - wish me luck!

 

Does anyone have any tips for meal prepping on Sundays? I have my breakfast shakes down to an art and it makes mornings a breeze, imagine if I could do that for healthy dinners all week too?!!

Enjoy the last of the weekend!