Anytime Salad

Being healthy is not super fun for me. I wish that I had a grown up palate, but I just don't. I think I only just started to enjoy eating broccoli and asparagus about 5 years ago, but I haven't even ventured into the world of quinoa and brown rice.

Okay, so I'm not super adventurous. That doesn't mean that I eat poorly and I try to fit vegetables in wherever I can in meals. I just don't go out of my way to cut out a nice piece of cake for dessert. In fact, I feel like I need to reward myself when I have an especially healthy meal with dessert. This is a problem.

I'm trying to kick this habit of needing something sweet, because heck, I'll admit that I'm addicted to sugar.

Enter salad and vegetables stage right.

The problem with salad is that having fresh toppings is pretty hard for me to always have on hand. I either use them for other recipes or I just don't have the energy to chop a million vegetables with a baby on one hip and a toddler constantly bringing a chair over to "help" me.

I have found that the best way to make salad interesting enough for me and keep me from my cookie cravings is to keep them fruity. It is also easier to have fruity salad toppings on hand. Canned fruit, dried fruit, and fresh fruit always seem to be on hand in our home. Whereas sometimes our only vegetables on hand are the frozen broccoli florets.

Here is a salad that I threw together with just things that I have on hand.

Anytime Salad
1 pkg. fresh baby spinach
1/4 cup candied walnuts (obviously if you are really serious about being healthy you can get naked nuts)
handful dried apricots quartered (about 10)
handful craisens
fresh parmesan or mozzarella

Dressing
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp mustard
2 tsp poppy seeds
3 TBL olive oil

Spring Salad

It was 70 degrees today! Spring has been slipping in and out of my life for the last couple of weeks, but I think it is ready to stay awhile.

I do enjoy the cold months because I love any excuse to drink hot chocolate and watch a movie in sweat pants (and the sun just makes you feel so guilty if you try to do that in the summer), but I am embracing spring more than I typically do because I have a very bored almost-one-year-old to entertain.

We've been going on walks almost every day which is great for his napping and even better for my thighs, who are just about ready to pull out the swimwear.

Which brings me to the recipe for today. What could be better for your swimsuit body then a wide variety of salads? Okay, salads don't really NEED a recipe but I made the poppy seed dressing from scratch, and it was delicious and so easy. Plus it looked really pretty to me, so I had to take a picture of it and fit it in somehow. I actually took this to a church activity and all the ladies loved it and didn't leave any leftovers.

So here's the recipe:

Salad
1 large romaine lettuce head, torn
3/4 cup craisens
2 sliced gala apples
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup glazed walnuts
1 cup poppy seed dressing

Poppy Seed Dressing
3/4 cup mayonnaise (low fat works if you're into that)
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds

Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl and stir until no lumps remain. Set aside. Slice apples and sprinkle with lemon juice to preserve color. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour dressing in salad bowl, toss, and serve immediately.