Salad-in-a-Jar: A Year Later

Breaking News: In addition to graduating college, my sister also recently got a new job and leased her first apartment!  Talk about some major life changes, huh?  My mom mentioned she was worried about not having money now that she has to pay rent and my mom told her “soon you’ll have to bring salad-in-a-jar to work for lunch!”  Um rude, Mom.  Because, here we are over a year later still rocking that salad-in-a-jar habit and I kinda LOVE it.

In case you, like my mom, think this is a sad times lunch that’s holding you back from what you really wanna do (ahem, eat tacos with guac at Chipotle every day), then I’m here to tell you that’s so not the case and if you’re into this salad-in-a-jar thing with me, here’s 5 more we’ve added to our arsenal since that post I wrote a year ago.  (But totally check out that original post for salad-in-a-jar tips!)

Superfood Salad // A very new addition but it’s a winner because it has what a salad needs to succeed… LOTS of stuff!  The more mix-ins, the better!  Make this in spring/summer when avocados are their creamiest selves… and also their cheapest selves.

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Greek Farro and Chickpea Salad // Fact: I adore a Greek salad.  It’s probably a combo of all the different textures and the salty feta that ropes me in every time.  You can really use any grain for this one.  We usually do barley because of that one time I accidentally bought two bags of the stuff and we’ll be eating it for the rest of forever.  

California Caprese Bowl // I wait all winter for this one that just tastes so much better in the summer when tomatoes are actually in season.  I once made it with thick-cut bacon and honestly preferred the regular stuff.   

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Spinach Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Apricot // The contrast of savory roasted veggies and sweet dried apricots is killer (in a good way!) plus this is one of my very favorite salad dressings.  

Fall Harvest Chopped Salad // I’ve mentioned this one before because the dressing is incredible but the roasted butternut (or sub something more in season), goat cheese, apple, dried cranberry combo is not to be overlooked.  

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In other news: I went on my first pre-work outdoor run this morning and it made me INSANELY happy.  That, plus hammock napping, garden inspecting, iced coffee sipping, Memorial Day planning and actual summer time temps means I’m on track to becoming my happiest self.  Howboutyou?

This Week

On Monday

We had plans to go to the Rockies vs. Cubs game but Mother Nature had other plans and sent the worst hail storm I’ve ever seen instead.  We lost 10 bulbs on our string lights and I’m not sure if our flower pots or garden boxes will recover, but a bunch of people had their car windows smashed, so overall, we lucked out.  It seriously looked like snow, there was so much hail.  The game ended up being postponed and I was not disappointed at being home in my pajamas all night instead.

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On Tuesday

Joey tried his best to clean some of the storm debris out of our garden but guys, it’s a freaking mess outside.  Twigs, branches and leaves EVERYWHERE.  It’s ew.  Afterwards, we spent a couple of hours prepping sides for a BBQ we were throwing the next day.  Most importantly, I made a giant cookie in a cast-iron skillet and was delighted by it.

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On Wednesday

It rained ALL DAY.  Why?!?!  Go figure we were grilling on the rainiest day of the week but it was Joey’s dad’s birthday so rain or not, we were gonna grill and try our hardest to pretend it was summer.  Had the biggest burgers ever from Whole Foods, plus maple baked beans, potato salad (LOVED!), broccoli crunch and, the pièce de résistance, GIANT CHOCOLATE CHIP SKILLET COOKIE!  With vanilla ice cream, obviously.  I was kind of very happy with how it turned out and Joey squeezed my arm VERY hard after taking his first bite so I think he was happy too.  Happy Birthday, Steve!

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On Thursday

It stopped raining, the clouds went away and blue sky/sun returned!  And I got a manicure.  A pre-Nashville vacation manicure!  Is it weird that one of my nails was torn but I didn’t want to rip it off (it woulda been sooo short), so I wore a band-aid over it for two days until they could super glue/Shellac it?  Joey thought it was.

P.S. When are they gonna invent a filter that hides all wrinkles/lines/signs of living in dry-as-can-be-Colorado?  My hands NEED it.

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NAILED IT! (pun intended)

On Friday

MY SISTER GRADUATED COLLEGE!!!!!!!  My mom cried as soon as the ceremony started.  I held it together because I was just so excited for her.  I’M SO PROUD!  Celebrating together tonight after work and I can’t wait!

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Headed to Nashville this weekend for Joey and I’s TEN YEAR DATING ANNIVERSARY!!!  Can you even believe it??  Mostly, I’m excited to coast off somewhere new to eat and drink and explore with my best friend.  Cheers to that!