I am currently fed up with salads

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  • Ang108
    Ang108 Posts: 1,711 Member
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    Clawsal wrote: »
    Hello. I am trying to eat more fresh produce. I cook only for myself.

    Two weeks ago I ate the same soup for 8 meals. Right then I was fed up with soup. Now I have a bag of green beans to go through (since last week) and I can't even look at them anymore, much less eat them! Then there is salad : again if I buy a bag, I know I will be eating salad the whole week.

    So trying to eat more fresh produce makes me eat the same thing over and over and I am worried I will end up hating fresh produce!

    Does that happen to you? Or maybe you don't mind eating the same food over and over?



    How small are your portions ? If I buy a bag of green beans, I eat exactly two meals from it. I also cook just for a household of one. I make the beans once as a side dish and the other time in one of my favorite green beans & tomato salad on a bed of lettuce.
    I have cooked for several decades just for myself and don't mind eating the same food several days in a row. It beats having to throw out stuff ( and with that wasting money ) I buy just to have a change from day to day.
    It's easy for me, since I only cook what I like from a wide variety of mostly ethnic foods.







  • Revonue
    Revonue Posts: 135 Member
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    Is there any way you can buy a smaller portion? It may seem more expensive but it seems your main issue is getting tired of it and then food going to waste. I'm not sure what you're buying now, but I find that small pre-packaged salad greens at the store are usually enough for three-four salads during the week depending on how big I make them.
  • njitaliana
    njitaliana Posts: 814 Member
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    I get so tired of eating the same thing all the time. So, I switch it up. Some ideas: When you make a pot of soup, put the soup in individual-serve size containers and freeze all but one. That way, you can have one serving a week and not get bored.

    For veggies, if you buy big bags of frozen veggies, just take out enough for one night, and put a rubber band around the bag till you want more. Or buy the little 10-oz boxes. If you want fresh veggies, just buy less. You can buy just a little bit that is enough for one meal. You could do that with several different veggies and have something different each night.

    With salads, I vary it by switching salad dressings and toppings. You could add kalamata olives one night, bacon bits the next, green olives the next, banana peppers the next, and so on. I'm sure you'll get a lot of ideas here. Good luck!
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I prefer my salads WITH things. With a meal. With chicken. Inside a wrap. Maybe it's because I tend to skimp on the dressing.

    ETA: Great thread. I'm getting lots of good ideas.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    needs more fleischsalat
  • RebelDiamond
    RebelDiamond Posts: 188 Member
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    It's all about practice and patience.
    You said you're fussy and you don't like certain dressings etc, but the best way to forge ahead (if you do really want to increase your veggie intake) is to mix it up... for example; olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper is a really simple (not overwhelming) dressing.

    Options to add:
    - cheeses (like feta, tasty, goats, bocconcini etc)
    - olives
    - roast veg (like capsicum, beetroot or sweet potato)
    - simple dressings (olive oil and vinegar)
    - boiled egg
    - tuna
    - chicken
    - turkey
    - crunchy stuff (like red cabbage, carrots and pickles)
    - avocado
    - chickpeas/bean sprouts

    salad is so versatile, make it how you like it :)
  • Clawsal
    Clawsal Posts: 255 Member
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    Thank you all for those answers, they have been very helpful. I have tried some of your ideas. For example, the steamed green beans I couldn't even look at anymore were a lot more palatable once I stir fried them with a bit of olive oil, onion and spices.

    I also tried different vinegars (berry and honey), since I don't like wine vinegar. I also need to try "solid salads" as some of you said.

    However it is impossible for me to freeze any more stuff (or buy frozen anything), which is a shame. My share of the freezer is tiny and already full (one bag of carrots and peas, one bag of shrimp and one bag of white fish). But maybe in a few months I will be able to put those ideas to use.

    And for those wondering, I don't buy in bulk, but my portions of greens/salad are usually so small that one bunch of salad seems to last forever...

    Do any of you use shrimp in a salad? So for protein in my salad I can have: cheese, chicken, egg, tuna and even ground beef! (never thought of that one!)

    Once again thank you for all the ideas! I am trying them little by little.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    Put some in the freezer. I put vegetables and fruits in the freezer. I put meat in the freezer. I even put whole meals in the freezer. ( I have a ready to put in the oven lasagna in the freezer right now as well as several bags of ham and beans soup) granted that would make them not fresh anymore but I don't really see anything wrong with that.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    edited February 2015
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    Clawsal wrote: »
    Thank you all for those answers, they have been very helpful. I have tried some of your ideas. For example, the steamed green beans I couldn't even look at anymore were a lot more palatable once I stir fried them with a bit of olive oil, onion and spices.

    I also tried different vinegars (berry and honey), since I don't like wine vinegar. I also need to try "solid salads" as some of you said.

    However it is impossible for me to freeze any more stuff (or buy frozen anything), which is a shame. My share of the freezer is tiny and already full (one bag of carrots and peas, one bag of shrimp and one bag of white fish). But maybe in a few months I will be able to put those ideas to use.

    And for those wondering, I don't buy in bulk, but my portions of greens/salad are usually so small that one bunch of salad seems to last forever...

    Do any of you use shrimp in a salad? So for protein in my salad I can have: cheese, chicken, egg, tuna and even ground beef! (never thought of that one!)

    Once again thank you for all the ideas! I am trying them little by little.


    Shrimp in a salad is a great idea. So is cheese, chicken, egg, tuna, ground beef.
    You've got this. :)
  • kimw91
    kimw91 Posts: 355 Member
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    I usually cook for only myself too and my tip would be to, if you can't freeze any extras, buy versatile veggies you can use in multiple meals. So for example, if I buy carrots, I may have them steamed as a side dish once, incorporated into a tomato sauce to go with my chicken the next day, diced up in a stir fry a day after and blended to make a carrot soup on day 4. This will work with most veg.

    Also, bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, carrots and most root vegetables will keep relatively long.
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
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    I don't like "fresh produce", I think it's a PITA to deal with.
    My salads are sourced from all-frozen veggies. So they've always been heated up. Cold veggies are nasty, IMO. Got spinach, kale, broccoli, and peppers & onions in a bowl with sweet BBQ sauce. Got hot sauce, got bunches of meat and seasonings and olive oil and scrambled eggs with provolone cheese on top of there too. It's fantastic, it's my most substantial meal of the day.

    I'd suggest you explore your frozen options, maybe you can play with what you've got and trade space. Then figure out your sauces. Dry food is bad food. But look beyond "salad dressing" - that stuff is gross, IMO. There are all these sauces that are branded as "marinades" - those can be general purpose sauces too.

    So what I'm suggesting, meta-wise, is that you're not necessarily "making a salad." You're "eating vegetables" and figuring out the most enjoyable way to do that.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    ... hot salad?

    hm, that's kinda novel.
  • kali_athena
    kali_athena Posts: 26 Member
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    Maybe try getting a veggie that is either smaller or you can eat multiple different ways so you aren't bored...

    A zucchini, little head of broccoli, or a bell pepper can be eaten raw and dipped, sautéed, grilled and covered in salsa, tossed in with pasta and a sauce, or added to a stir fry and they don't go bad the second day like bagged salad.
  • mvexplorer
    mvexplorer Posts: 37 Member
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    The amount of people who keep suggesting freezing things despite it has been said numerous times that freezing is not an option is comical.

    I am not a big salad person, so I try to get my greens in different ways such as cooking fresh spinach into my pasta dishes or roasting other types of vegetables. I have found unless I am making green smoothies, it is not practical for me to buy bags of salad, because I will just waste them.

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