Monday, April 13, 2015

Salad in a Jar makes a quick lunch!

Even though Speedbo is now a memory, we writers never stop writing. So every shortcut we can find is like gold.

Less time cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc. means more time to write. More time to write means more books. More books = happy readers.

Yay for shortcuts!

Writers also spend WAY too much time sitting (or standing) in one place. We all know what happens to sedentary people, and we want to be happy, healthy writers.

One solution? Salad in a jar!

This is an easy-peasy way to make sure you're getting your veggies, even when the rest of your life is crazy busy.

So what do you need?

First, your favorite veggies - -


And did you notice there are some protein sources among the veggies? Protein is what turns your rabbit food into a powerhouse complete meal that sticks to your ribs well into the afternoon.

Second, some one quart canning jars. Five is a good number - the salad will stay fresh in your jar for about five days, so five jars will give you an entire week of salads.


Those plastic reusable lids are perfect for things like this!

Next, sort your ingredients by weight. You want the heaviest and wettest ingredients in the bottom of your jar, and the lightest at the top. Think of the salad we made in the cafe a couple months ago- Ginger's Salad - where we layered the ingredients in the bowl. With the jar, we're going to layer ingredients in the opposite order. So your dressing and toppings go first, and the lettuce or slaw last.

One note before we begin - since I work at home, I opted to leave a few ingredients out of the jars. I'll add them in on the day I eat the salad. The ingredients that will wait until later are salad dressing, slivered almonds, cheese, avocados, and chopped apples. They'll be better fresh.

Let's start assembling our salads!


This one is a Chef-style salad, without the lettuce.



The layers are:
sliced boiled egg
sliced black olives
chopped mushrooms
cooked, diced chicken breast
chopped broccoli/cauliflower mix
shredded cabbage (I use the cole slaw mix)


Here we have a classic salad:




1/4 cup canned garbanzo beans (chick peas)
cooked, diced chicken breast
sliced carrots
sliced radishes
chopped mushrooms
diced red onion
sliced pickled beets
chopped broccoli/cauliflower mix
chopped lettuce



This low-fat salad is going to be filling:



1/4 cup canned garbanzo beans (chick peas)
1/4 cup cooked, diced chicken breast
1-2 Tablespoons dried cranberries
cabbage slaw to the top of the jar


This one is also low-fat:


1/2 cup canned garbanzo beans (chick peas)
sliced carrots
sliced radishes
chopped broccoli/cauliflower mix
cabbage slaw to the top of the jar


And this last one:



1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
sliced carrots
sliced radishes
chopped mushrooms
chopped red onion
chopped broccoli/cauliflower mix
chopped lettuce to the top of the jar


Remember: If you're taking your salads with you to work or school, you'll want to put your favorite salad dressing in the bottom of the jars before layering in the other ingredients.

Stick the jars in the fridge, and you have a week's worth of salads to eat at home or to go!


I think it must be spring, the way my appetite has turned to salads lately. We've been looking for signs of the season and ran across this guy, wooing the ladies at Custer State Park last week.




Isn't he something?

What signs of spring have you seen around your house this week?








24 comments:

  1. Mud! I have mud! Still have snow too, bit it's losing ground, revealing shades of brown...yucky, gooey brown. And my shrubs look naked...and brown. LOL But I'm all about letting that snow melt away!

    And this salad idea is brilliant. Wish I had it back when I was carting a lunch to work. It's uber brilliant for my daughter though, because she could easily make five with chickpeas as her protein source and she'd be good to go for the whole week. There are days she has to be at work at six so food is a major deal for her little vegan self. Thanks for this awesome tip! Says the vegetarian who never thought of putting chic peas in her salad. Duh.

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    1. We would love to have mud, Kav. It looks like we're going to have a dry year - not very much snow during the winter (although we had plenty of cold!), and less than an inch of rain since March 1st. We need rain!

      And I thought of you when I put in the chick peas. But you've never had them in a salad???

      I was going back and forth between chick peas and black beans (which I also love in salads), but knew I'd only be able to use up one can at a time. So the chick peas won this time - next week I'll use black beans :)

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    2. Black beans?! Seriously, you're blowing my conservative little mind. LOL Honestly, I've never thought of adding more than cheese to salad. How strange is that? I've had assorted mixtures when eating out but they always had an interesting sauce or dressing that I assumed would be too hard to make so I never pursued it. Duh! And a friend just split a case of chick peas with me and I was thinking, mercy, what can I do with all these?! Now I know.

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  2. First, the turkeys. My dad has them in his yard.

    Next, the jar lids. These are so great. Were you able to get them where you find canning supplies?

    Third, I am so doing this. I actually may experiment with my small pyrex bowls and lids but I love the layered look of this!

    And KAV, I'm going vegetarian for the next few months at least. We need you to do a post on survival techniques!

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    1. Turkeys! I can't believe how much bigger the western version of the wild turkey is than the ones I knew back East! There are so many of them here that property owners are allowed to hunt them year-round as a "nuisance animal." Relying on hunting season alone doesn't control the population well enough to keep them healthy.

      Jar lids - yes, you find them with the regular canning supplies. I store bulk items in glass jars in my pantry with these lids on the jars. So handy!

      Yes, experiment! I use the veggies that came in my Bountiful Baskets delivery (I blogged about Bountiful Baskets a few years ago here at the cafe - I'd have to look it up), and then supplemented with produce from the store. And the pyrex bowls should work well for you, as long as you have space in the fridge. These canning jars don't take up too much space, and fridge space is at a premium in our house!

      And yes, go to Kav for vegetarian help. I'm definitely an omnivore at heart. I love my steaks :)

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    2. Here's the link to my blog post about Bountiful Baskets: http://yankeebellecafe.blogspot.com/2012/08/fresh-fresh-fruits-and-veggies.html

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    3. Wow to the going vegetarian. Just a word of caution -- it's best not to go cold turkey. Kind of a shock to the system that way. Most experts I've read suggest a gradual decrease in meat over a period of time. So yeah, you could do away with red meat right away, but keep eating chicken and fish...maybe 2 or 3 times a week and then gradually phase them out.

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    4. My DIL gave me the same advice. I will definitely do that. But red meat is a big no no immediately.

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  3. Jan, you're brilliant!! I love this idea!! And I'm also laughing because my post this week is going to be about a week of salads. :)

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    1. LOL, Missy!

      But if you're anything like me, salads can get boring pretty quickly. ANY variation helps me get my veggies in :)

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    2. Go forth and talk salad. I need all the help I can get.

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    3. LOL. Well, mine isn't as homemade as Jan's. I bought bagged salad kits! :)

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    4. I love those bagged kits! I'm with Julie: Go forth and talk salad!

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    5. I love to to toss in nuts, sunflower seeds, a couple of strawberries or a quarter of an apple, chopped up and then use the raspberry vinaigrette dressing. That mix adds a few carbs from the fruit but keeps me from KILLING PEOPLE. A win/win!!! :)

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    6. And those are healthy carbs, Ruthy! Sooo much better than sugar. Straight out of the bag. Not that I've ever done that!

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  4. I love your combinations! I came across a salads-in-a-jar video a while ago that included some different combinations -- fruits in one, and potatoes and eggs in another. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRemVme-3wU ) The variety would have me eating salads every day for sure, as long as I remembered to plan ahead for ingredients.

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    1. The variety is what made me want to try these, too, Carol!

      I chose ingredient combinations that work with my Trim Healthy Mama eating plan, but you can use whatever ingredients you like!

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  5. This is such a great idea!!!! Oh my stars, Jan, I've never thought of this and it's perfect. I always try to have one salad ahead (done in a covered bowl) but it doesn't stay super fresh if I have a day in between... and the fun of salad is that fresh crunch! Thank you for sharing this!

    And I agree, I get tired of raw.... tired of veggies..... BUT.... I need my pants to fit, and I want to be at least somewhat healthy because healthy is good! Why not help the good doctors out by at least doing what we can to take care of ourselves? But yes, a little variety in the greens/crunch department is crucial!

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    1. Staying healthy is my goal!

      And I can't take the credit for the idea - like Carol said, it's been around on Pinterest and YouTube - but I had to try it. No more standing in front of the refrigerator at lunch time wondering what to have!

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  6. This is one of the best ideas I've heard of in a loooooong time! Can't wait to make my jar salads!

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    1. I love these, Edwina! It doesn't take too much time to put them together, but when meal time hits? Oh, so easy to just dump the salad in a bowl, add the dressing, and it's lunch time!

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  7. Those look yummy, Jan! I may start making these for hubby's and my lunches during the week. All too often, our salad stuff goes bad before we get to it. :-P

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    1. My lettuce goes bad so quickly, too! I hate that!

      But with the salads all pre-made, I know I'm going to eat them :)

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    2. Anna, I have the same problem Oh the produce I've wasted. Thanks for that reminder that this is a great way to be frugal!

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