All about that Mason Jar Salad!!!!

Last week, I posted up on Instagram that I had actually meal prepped.

No, the world wasn't coming to an end, though even in my own mind, I felt like it should with me having chopped up & having Tupperware in my fridge of red peppers, cucumbers, broccoli & cauliflower ready to grab & go.  What in the world?

I finally took the time to try the mason jar salads that I keep seeing on Pinterest.

Actually, a few weeks ago, I ran into a friend when I was getting my hair done & she was telling me how she was doing it for her & for her husband & how well she enjoyed it.  She was giving me all sorts of ideas & tips & of course, as soon as she walked out of the door, I totally forgot everything.

... but I did remember she told me to look on Pinterest...

& that's where the idea really took off to do this.

I did remember my friend telling me exactly what these pins were saying - layering is key.

You dont want things getting soggy or things getting so wet that they are mush... ewww....

So it is all about following these charts...

& I headed off to the grocery to load up on veggies & even some fruit & some nuts & beans...
these salads can have all sorts of mixed up combos.

Luckily I had a weekend when I didn't have anything to do & it made it really easy to meal prep for it. Probably not even an hour to clean & cut up everything.

It probably wouldn't take someone else that long, but I'm not really a kitchen kinda gal, & plus, I'm usually watching something on TV & get distracted easily ...so an hour is for all the distractions & my kitchen level skills.

& I also got a lot of ingredients that were already prepped - like those shredded carrots & I bought some eggs that were already boiled so all I had to do was chop them up. I'm nothing if a person who is looking for ways to make life easier.

I let all my ingredients sit in the fridge over night (on a Saturday) & Sunday evening, I went ahead & made up some salads.... again, being sure to follow those diagrams on what should go where...

& I felt very Pinterest-Proud.  That's a thing, right?

But the test... how were they going to work out?  Taste? Hold up?

Well of course, Monday's salad ended up tasting wonderfully fresh.

& I wasn't sure if you were supposed to eat them out of the jar or what, but I did try the jar method thinking if I had these on the road, is it possible?

I have the big mouth Mason Jars & it did indeed work out just find. Of course, it took some mixing. & I didnt try it, but I probably could have even given it a good shake to get some of the dressing mixed in well.  But it was totally doable.

As for fullness... I was full on Monday after eating... at least for a little bit.  My stomach did tend to growl by the time about 2 hours after I ate & I was so ready for snack by the time I got home.

I did learn that I needed a little more.  Some fruit afterwards.... or what I did afterwards, brought some wheat crackers.

I think if I added some protein to my salads, some edamame, or quinoa (YUM!)  or garbanzo beans, it probably would have filled me up even more to not even need crackers.  But who doesn't love crackers? Come on.

& the REAL test... how did it hold up on Thursday.

4 days after I prepped it?
It actually was just as fresh.

I'm not sure if it was the item of using a real Mason Jar, but when I opened them up, it definitely had a little suction pull on those caps & maybe that helped keep them yummy & delicious?  But they did.

This was my Thursday salad - I did end up taking a bowl with me to work & it is MUCH easier to eat this way, or maybe even get a paper plate or paper bowl to throw away if you dont want to deal with dishes at work.

When you dump it, the salad dressing ends up being on top which is super nice...

All in all, I am SUPER IMPRESSED at this & have been looking at more salad combos.

I have ran across some great fruit ones & even some pasta or rice ideas & I'm totally intrigued now.

I also bought a pack of Quart size jars at Target for $11.99 - that's regular price - but I see they go on sale every now & then & that was for a dozen jars. They had a 4 set - in blue (pretty) but they were like $8.99 & I was being smart at thinking about the clean/dirty ratio & the value of paying just a few more dollars for 3 times as many jars.

But if you dont need 12, you can always find a buddy, split that, & each have 6 jars for less than that the blue in a 4-pack costs.

My thinking is, "there is ALWAYS something you can do with mason jars"... amiright? SO RIGHT!

So tell me, have you tried this?

Are you wanting to try it?

Have any questions, let me know - I'll see if I can help.

& just because - here's some Mason Jar Salad ideas & links - just click the pics to find out more

This link is for 11 Grab & go ideas

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first Eggplant dinner

So far, I've enjoyed my New Years Resolution of making 2 - 3 Vegetarian/Vegan meals a week...

I have been a member of E-Mealz for awhile but changed my plan to the Vegetarian Meal plan.

That's where I got this goodie... Easy Eggplant Dish



(Yes, Kroger gets 80% of my paycheck)

 I have never even ATE an eggplant before so this was exciting. 

Going in the store, I was shocked to see there were only 5 eggplants to choice from & 3 of them werent looking good at all... later did I find out that eggplant is out of season.  I didnt even know that much.

Here are the ingredients:

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 t onion powder

1 1/2 c tomato sauce

dash of garlic powder

2 eggplants... sliced thin



Look at my new cutting board... I'm in Looovvveeeeee

I was excited to cut into these babies... have never seen the inside of one.

And I got to put my new cutting board to use. 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400. 

In a shallow dish, mix cornmeal & onion powder together.  Place tomato sauce & garlic powder into a larger bowl.  Dip eggplant slices into tomato sauce, coating well.  Then coat with the cornmeal.  Place slices on shallow cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.

Heavily drizzle sices with olive oil.

Bake for 20-25 minutes

Here is a picture of them all coated & ready to go in the oven.

I will say, I didnt drizzle "heavily" & they turned out alright.  The coating wasnt as baked where the oil didnt hit, but it still tasted just fine.

And here is the finished product.

You can see the one in the back is more "drizzled" so its darker.  Again, the taste was just fine, but the oil covered ones were just more flavorful, I guess... they were more crispy too...

I'll have to play with the "drizzle"... maybe find a spray bottle & find a way to spray them evenly with the oil.

I paired it up with some steamed veggies & some garlic bread... & it was perfection.

I will definitely be making this again.

The eggplant with the tomato coating though tasted like it would be perfect with pasta though.  Ricky agreed so I know next time I make it, it'll be on a heaping pile of wheat pasta... & I'll be keeping that garlic bread with it...

Let me know your favorite dish with eggplant... I'm anxious to find some new ideas to make with it.