Make your own salad

Asian flavored salads tonight.

Mine consisted of:
- organic baby leaf lettuce
- unsalted cashews
- dried peas
- sesame sticks
- mandarin oranges
- Archer Farm lemon ginger sesame dressing

Chicken salad on pretzel rolls

I bought Gabby's Pretzel Dinner Rolls at Target. These are scrumptious little things.

I make many varieties of chicken salad, and the label 'chicken' salad will take you to them. I liked this one, despite the low volume of crunchy bits.

- one can, 12-ounce, canned white meat chicken, diced
- about 2 teaspoons mayonnaise (I often use vegan mayonnaise, but today I used regular)
- one teaspoon country herb seasoning
- 1/4 cup mandarin oranges (I use a sharp knife to cut the oranges into thirds)
- 1/4 cup chopped apple (leftover from the orchard)
- 1/4 cup blueberries (I let frozen blueberries thaw inside the mix)
- shredded carrots and red cabbage picked out of a Fresh Express Veggie Lover's Salad

Broiled shrimp and salad with homemade croutons

We were given a bag of shrimp which I broiled, five minutes each side, and sprinkled with it's a dilly seasoning.

I had a chunk of homemade rye bread beyond its prime but not reduced to breadcrumbs or compost yet... So I had daughter slice it, oil it lightly and sprinkle it with herbs and heated at about six minutes at 475, flipped them, five minutes more and then turned them one more time.

Took a packaged salad I got at Target ($2.49)and added lettuce from my garden, sorrel, golden raisins, raisins and mandarin oranges. Topped with Newman's Own Raspberry Walnut dressing.

Vegan packed lunch for school

The falafel last night was very good, though chunky since I was too lazy to get out the food processor. I will be trying that again.

Daughter wants to pack today and my typical leftovers approach won't work since pizza and falafel needs to be hot to please the little one's palette.

So, today's lunch involves raiding the freezer. I gave her one dairy slight slide-- a commercially produced rice krispie treat that I no longer have the package/ingredients. Yesterday I poured some apple juice into ice cube trays so her juice could stay cold without getting diluted. The main sandwich is a Morningstar breakfast pattie (sausage) on a homemade multigrain biscuit. And a side of canned mandarin oranges.

Our meals lately have not contained many green vegetables, but every time I buy some they disappear instantly and we're badly in need of a trip to the grocery store. Considering how empty the cupboards are, I think our meals look good.