Whats for Lunch?

Salad, salad, and more salad! I have been on a mission since January to eat a salad every day of the work week for lunch. I have been doing pretty well until this past week and I felt terrible after just one week of eating junk at lunch. Now, you may be thinking "wow its too expensive to eat salad every day" or "I would get so tired of  salad".  This is what I thought as well before actually committing to eat a salad for lunch five days a week. The thing is salad is really inexpensive if you do it correctly and there are SO many variations you can do that you should never get tired of eating salad! Here are a few tips:

Inexpensive salad making:

1. buy whole heads of romaine or leafy lettuce. By  cutting up your own lettuce instead of buying the bagged kind you will save a ton of money.

2. Buy ingredients at discount stores such as Costco or Trader Joe's. The lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and nuts are a lot cheaper at these places.


Salad add on's:

Keep your salad from being boring! Try a few of my fav's and mix and match until you have the salad you love. My favorite right now is lettuce, cucumber, sunflower seeds, cottage cheese, tomatoes and chick peas. I have been using hidden valley light ranch dressing.

1. Sunflower seeds: adds some protein and salt. Trader Joe's has these at great prices and you can buy them raw, salted, roasted, and unsalted. They also have great deals on Almonds and other nuts.

2. Chick Peas: Adds protein and keeps you fuller longer

3. Cottage Cheese: Again this adds protein and is a great way to get your dairy and the creaminess is great with the ranch dressing. Daisy brand cottage cheese is by far my favorite.

4. Cucumbers, grape tomatoes, red bell pepper, shredded carrots: add some crunch and color to your salad!

5. Dried Cranberries and Almonds: Great for a sweeter salad with a nice vinaigrette. 


So, Get out there and find your favorite salad and commit to eating your vegi's at lunch! You will save money because you will not be eating out and you will feel better because you are eating a healthy and natural lunch full of vitamins!