I hate making salads but i like eating them

metulburr

I really hate making salads. But i love eating them. It seems to always take me like an hour to make a salad, cutting up all the veggies i like in it. I seem to always forget something too. I cook eggs and throw away the yolk and just use the white part. I boil chicken and wait for both to cool before cutting them up and putting them in a salad. I make a large portion too. Like 12 eggs, 5 piece of chicken, a half a head of lettuce, 6 carrots, a pepper, 1/4 pound cheese, a stalk of broccoli, 1 cucumber, cauliflower, spinach, celery. But the whole thing is gone in a day or two with 4 people eating it. The bowl is huge, and its just gone in a couple days. It seems like its a daily routine to make this, over and over again.

It also seems like i am doing this every day or at most 2 days. Its seem like a rediculous amount of work. I am used to jsut eating whatever was in the house and not worry about what i eat...there was food all over the place...cereal, rice, spaghetti, frozen dinners, other easy meals.

I am not use to putting so much work into meals. I seem to go through veggies, fruits and lettuce like crazy. I am not even sure i can afford this. I normally buy foods that last all month, but i am putting quite a bit of money towards veggies and fruits.

How do you guys do this month after month?

Hell_Flower

If it's a chore, you'll soon lose any enjoyment from it.

I find when I'm time pressed that just prepping every 3-4 days. So get lettuce etc home, wash, split the leaves and pop them into the salad draw on some kitchen roll - keeps them fresh for a couple of days and you can just grab what you need, when you need.

Chop and tupperware up carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum etc. Keep them all separate in your fridge, then just dump them in a big salad bowl when it comes to mealtimes.

In terms of cost, try and steer away from pre-prepared ingredients - at that point you're paying out for someone elses hard labour! Buying unwashed spinach or lettuce and bulk buying tomatoes etc will help out. Also, shop around a little. The difference in vine tomatoes at the supermarkets near me varies from £1.62 per kg - £3.25 per kg, which is stupid.

You say you're used to frozen dinners etc, so it sounds like you're trying to make a bit of a lifestyle change? (correct me if I'm wrong). If that's the case, then once it's built into your routine it will just become habit and you'll do it without thinking.

Also, if you get bored of salads, try bulk cooking a curry or stew. It's a lot easier than you'd think and if you make enough for 12 portions (which is really two pans worth!), then it would last your family of 4 for around 3 days, which means you only really need to cook twice a week. It also works out fairly cheap per portion. If you're not keen on eating the same things a few days running, then just build up a rota of your favourites to freeze.

I think it's the initial change that's hardest to deal with if I'm honest. Once you get going and find out what works for you, it gets a lot easier. The first month is probably the hardest. But you just get used to it.

metulburr

Yes i am making a huge change in what i eat, the amount i eat, what i drink, and the exercise...well i had NO exercise whatsoever before.

QUOTE: The first month is probably the hardest
Thanks. I will keep pushing on

bwogilvie

If preparing ingredients for a salad takes you an hour, there are a couple of possibilities to consider:

1. Buy pre-cleaned and pre-cut ingredients at the supermarket. They're more expensive, but they can save time.

2. Learn how to clean and chop vegetables more efficiently. Salads are among my easiest meals, because they just require cleaning and chopping, without any cooking afterwards. A salad spinner helps with rinsing and drying, but the best thing to focus on is knife technique. There are ways to dice an onion in 30 seconds, julienne a pepper in a minute, etc., if you seek them out.

120by30

My advice is to pick one day per week to do all your food prep. Just make time in your schedule for it. Cut up your veggies and even go ahead and weigh them and portion them out. Boil the eggs you think you'll need. Peel them and put them in a bowl of water. They should keep for about a week. Cook your chicken and refrigerate/freeze it portioned out.

I also advise you not to think that you can only have salad while losing weight. Enjoy all the food! Just less of it.

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ew_david

Do you toss said salad?

SnuggleSmacks

Who are these other three people eating your salad, and why aren't they helping to prepare it?

wheird

Do you toss said salad?

Every chance I get.

MyChocolateDiet

try googling salads in a jar.

make once at weekend. fridge full of salads for daysssssssssssss.

ur welcome.

Francl27

I could say that about everything I cook, lol. One hour prep, gone in 5 minutes. Sigh. My key is to make prepping fun, so I crank up the music and sing.