
Ridiculous, I know. Y’all are going to quit me if I don’t stop being so inconsistent. One minute I’m a blogging bandit and the next minute I disappear from the blogging universe for months. Let me offer some thanks in advance for clicking on my link again. I’ll continue to be more intentional in the coming months.
I’ve found some success in the weekly lunch menu preparation area these days. The first success is prepping my husband’s lunches for the week. Why do I prep my husband’s lunches for the week, you ask? Well, he was buying the same salad almost every single day, which started to add up. So…we both brainstormed ways to combine all of the things he loves about that salad and make it in advance so he’d have it all week. Saves us money and I don’t have to recreate it every single day. Win. Win. Win. Ding. Ding. Ding.
Basically, I make a huge Greek Salad on Sunday and it lasts all week. I bought a big ‘ol tupperware container for transport. The first few times I made this salad, my husband noticed that it got a little soggy towards Wednesday, so now I do an extra step or two to avoid salad breakdown by mid-week. Here’s how I do it:
2 heads of iceberg lettuce (chopped, rinsed, and left out on the counter to dry for a couple of hours). See? This is where I messed up in the beginning. I’d wash and spin the lettuce and immediately throw it in the container. Obviously, the water collected in the bottom and husband experienced some soggy salad. Now, I let it air dry after the spin (and even pat the leaves dry with a towel for added assistance).
Once the lettuce is mostly dry, add it to the tupperware container
Sprinkle feta cheese on top (I buy in bulk and it lasts me two weeks)
Dice up 1/2 lb of any kind of turkey from the deli and add to the very top. Or don’t add meat at all. It’s YOUR salad, after all. *** Close lid and put in fridge****

Take a smaller Tupperware container and fill it with drained olives, mild banana peppers, sweet banana peppers, hot peppers, and any other kind of peppers you like). Again, this was another lesson learned — keep the peppers stored in another container so the juices don’t add to the soggy salad situation referenced over (and over) again earlier. I just buy a three or four varieties every other week and use half the jar each week. *** Close that lid and put it in the fridge****

Last part: I make homemade salad dressing, but you can buy a bottle of your favorite kind if that makes your life easier. I simply put a bunch of dried herbs, 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard, salt and pepper in the bottom of a recycled pepper jar. Then I fill 1/4 (or so) of the jar with white champagne vinegar and the rest of the jar with olive oil. Put the lid on the jar. Shake. Shake. Shake. Taste test. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Close lid, shake again, and put jar in the fridge.

So there you have it…a week’s worth of salad. Just remember to bring the tupperware dishes BACK to the house at the end of the week (not that I’m saying that it doesn’t happen in my house, but maybe that’s EXACTLY what I’m saying). Kidding, husband. Juuuuuuuust kidding.
I also don’t feel like this is a “ooooooh, look at my bento box full of diced carrots” kind of “lunch in your face” post. Hopefully you feel the same way. This is totally doable and takes me all of 15 minutes (minus that crazy lettuce drying part).
Have a great week!
Tagged: Lunch, Packing Lunches, Plan Ahead, Time-Saving, Weekly Menu