Another Day, Another Salad..or Two

Another busy day spent at FabSheteen’s school…we were hungry and they were making cheeseburgers for the kids (a fun reward day…party all day with slides, rock climbing, food, and more) , so FabHubs and I ran home for lunch.

I  was in the mood for salad again…..

So I finished up the last of the salad, topped with my home-grown sprouts and half of last avocado.  It was heavily sprinkled with nutritional yeast and dressed with my new fave…homemade garlic/oil/lemon dressing.  So. So. Good.

But my manly man, tool-wielding, pioneering master, carnivorous husband…look at his lunch…

LOOK WHAT I HAVE DONE TO MY HUSBAND (hahahahaha)

Yes..he voluntarily fixed himself a lunch of a can of sardines packed in water (we read in a recent Eating Well article we should be eating more sardines); a carrot; a banana; and the other half of my avocado (guess who didn’t eat avocados when I married him)!

I am soooo proud!  LOL!  (I am obviously feeling way too much glee over this!)

After lunch we ran back to school to volunteer for the “bake sale” which was really a water bottle and and frozen artificially flavored and colored high fructose corn syrup sale (read water bottles and melting icees…..melting because this is May in South Florida of course!)  I am so NOT happy peddling this stuff to kids, some of whom come back for thirds and fourths! (I did manage to fuss enough about selling sodas though, so they don’t sell them anymore at these weekly sales.  Yes, I am THAT mom.)

Anyway, once that was finished, FabGrumps I mean Hubs and I did a Costco run to re-stock our nearly barren pantry.  We were out of nearly all of our staples!   Garlic, lemons, lettuce (no! not lettuce!), maple  syrup, peanut butter, EVOO, white vinegar for cleaning…and more.

While sampling my way running through the aisles of Costco, I found pizza on sale, two ginormous unbaked pies for $7.99…and they had yummy Margherita pizza!  A bargain like this I couldn’t resist!  Salad and pizza would be perfect (and easy for a change) for dinner.

Once home I couldn’t resist fixing it up some!  I had some leftover grilled eggplant in the fridge just begging to be added to this pizza…as well as a Vidalia onion who couldn’t wait to be sliced and diced and join the melee as well!

They were perfect on top….this pizza was perfection!Next came the salad….Costco organic spring mix topped with whatever was left in the fridge from the last two boxes:  Cukes, carrots, onions, tomatoes, celery, and parsley.

Have I mentioned how much I love salad??????

We are in love with this dressing! 

Simple. 

Lemon juice.  Olive Oil.  Minced garlic.  Parmesan Cheese.  

That is it!  A slight variation on a garlicky lemon dressing my mom used to make!And I can’t say enough about the combination of the dressing spooned over a thick layer of nutritional yeast (over the salad of course!)

While I love salads…I find I love not just any old salad, but mostly MY salads.  I put all sorts of things on them…sometimes beans, cheeses, nuts, tons of veggies, hearty greens, and more. 

Regular old iceberg lettuce with a few carrot shreds just don’t do it for me.  Unfortunately that is what I seem to find mostly when I go out!  I am starting to dread my week away at Boy Scout camp in June when I will not be able to make all of my favorite things and will have no refrigeration…so I will be almost completely relying on a meal plan based on the SAD diet.  How will I get through a week without my beloved salad?????  Or fresh veggies????  Or fresh fruits????

So far my main plan consists of bringing along some sprouting containers, starting them before I leave, so I have some fresh sprouts to munch on!  At least that will be something.  More on that to come.

The rest of the evening was spent family style.  My new best friend is the Blockbuster Movie Express, found in grocery stores where you can rent a movie for $1, for one day.  So after dinner we gathered ‘round the TV and watched The Ugly Truth…very cute movie!

What do you put on your salads to make them fun and exciting?