Saving $$ on salad

I know this is going to prove to the world that I am a complete genius, but I have discovered a brilliant new way to spend less on the salads I make. More greens, less carbs and dairy!


Until now, a salad set before me had a couple of requirements: 1) it must have some sort of cheese on it, and 2) croutons were a must! I love me some cheese! And the combination of cheese and tomatoes in a salad is just heavenly to me. But have you noticed how much the price of cheese just keeps going up and up and up? It's insane. And croutons seem to have risen in price lately too. Plus, I'm really picky about my croutons. They have to be bite-sized. I hate those "restaurant-sized" croutons. Seriously - who can enjoy one of those with a bite of salad without breaking it apart? And my personal rule about croutons is that there must be one for every bite of salad ... which adds up to a lot of croutons!


With the new eating plan that hubby and I are following, a salad consists of up to 3 cups of low carb veggies and up to 2 tablespoons of low-cal/low-carb salad dressing. Last night's salad was 1 cup romaine lettuce, 1/2 cup tomatoes and 1/2 cup mushrooms. Not an ounce of dairy and no croutons to be seen. And I enjoyed every bite! It's amazing how you start to enjoy real food when you eliminate some of the stuff you don't need to be eating! And the bonus is that last night's salad cost about 75 cents per serving. My normal salad, with all the extras would have been more like $1.25-1.50 per serving. I realize that's still not a lot. But every bit adds up these days, doesn't it?!