Tackle It Tuesday: Organizing & Healthy Living

Hi there, Mrs. Happy House here bringing you an informational post about getting organized and eating healthy. Are you tired of opening the fridge and there is nothing to eat? Or worse, opening the fridge and grabbing empty calories? Well I'm here to help. This is just a little tip to help motivate you to choose a healthy side, snack or dinner any night of the week.

Don't waste money on precut packaged lettuce for salads. You can get it MUCH cheaper if you buy it whole. I prefer Romaine Hearts, and if you are part of a warehouse club, you'll save even more! I can get 6 HUGE hearts for just a little over $4. If you buy one of the prepackaged bags of cut lettuce, you might be getting one heart (might...) for more like $2. Plus, is it just me, or are they always brown the next day? Anyway, grab yourself some hearts, and prep them so you have fresh, crispy lettuce ready to go anytime!

Things you'll need:

• Romaine Hearts (or whatever greens you like in your salad. Just remember, darker greens are better, and iceberg carries the least amount of nutrients. But if iceberg is what ya like, then by all means, go for it.)
• Plastic air tight bag (you can reuse the bag week to week too)
  
• 2 papertowels, still joined together
• A lettuce spinner
• Plastic Knife (or a Lettuce Knife)
• Cutting Board

1. Rinse your lettuce. Rinse it good. Be sure to get all the way to the middle.

2. Cut the lettuce with the plastic knife- that will help to prevent it from browning.

3. Spin your lettuce. Spin it good. I like to spin it twice to get it EXTRA dry. If you feel inclined to do it a 3rd time, go for it. The spinning is fun. *Note: Do NOT, I repeat do NOT remove the lid unless the spinner is done spinning. I may or may not know from a college spinning experience that if you prematurely remove it, lettuce will go flying everywhere. EVERYWHERE!

4. Dump the murky green water. Ew.

5. Create a little home for your lettuce by placing the paper towel in the plastic bag- joined part down. This will help to collect any extra moisture and keep the lettuce nice and crispy! You can get about 3 large hearts in the gallon sized bag.

6. Put the lettuce in the bag, squeeze out the air, seal it up and toss it in the fridge.

7. Lastly, in good Happy House form, clean up your mess. I just hand wash my spinner as it does not really care for the dishwasher, plus it takes up a lot of room. Not to mention, how seriously adorable is it drying on my lettuce print towel? Really seriously adorable, that's how.


So now that you have salad ready lettuce at your fingertips, here are a few of the quick salads I throw together because I almost always have all the items in the fridge.

Quick Salad Ideas

Baby Caeser:

• Romaine
• Sprinkle of Parmesan Cheese (In this house, it's freshly grated or it's just not here)
  
• Light Caesar Dressing
• Reduced Fat Croutons (if you must...:) )

Savory Sweet Salad:

• Romaine
• Dried Cranberries (don't overdo these...the calories add up)
• Reduced Fat Blue Cheese
• Green Pepper
  
• Light Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette

Baby Greek:

• Romaine
• Kalamatta Olives
• Reduced Fat Feta
• Beets (if you can stand them...I cannot)
• Mild Peppers
• Light Greek Dressing
  

So are you going to try it? Is it something you already do? Let me know!