So What Do They Say About Salad?

I know they say you can't make friends with salad, but you totally can. Salad could never replace my best friends (i.e. mac n cheese and poutine), but we're friends. It's unfortunate that I only came to this conclusion fairly recently.

When I was articling in Toronto, there was a salad place right across from my office, right around the corner of Bay and Richmond (Sandwich Box - yes, they also makes sandwiches). I used to go there several times a week with my co-workers and we would obsess over how good the salads were. The only thing I didn't like was that my salads would come to $10-12 dollars every time. 

If you're wondering, it's one of those places where you can pick your own ingredients and the price is based on the weight of the final product. So naturally, it gets expensive because the good stuff always weighs more. 

That was my dilemma - I loved the salads there, but I hated spending that much money every time. After a bit of thought, I realized that the reason I liked going there so much was that: 

1. I could control what I wanted/didn't want to put in my salad;

2. I could control how much of everything I wanted to put in my salad; and

3. It was quick and I could easily take it back to work with me or eat it wherever I wanted.

Then I thought...

"Well if that's the reason, why am I spending the money and agonizing over it when I can just do the same thing at home?"

BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE TIME!!!

But, how long does it really take?

I already know what ingredients I like in my salad because I get the same thing every time. It's just a matter of doing groceries and getting everything that I need ahead of time (weekends are usually a good time!). If the plan is to wash and cut up veggies every morning before work to put in my salad, then yes, that would be time-consuming, inefficient, and impractical. But, if it's a matter of spending 30 minutes on a Sunday evening to wash and cut all of my veggies and cook quinoa, tofu, chicken etc. ... then it's well worth it. Meal prep, my friends. Admittedly, I initially thought "meal prepping" was just some obscure phenomenon that fitness fiends rave over. But, now I know better - it's not just for fitness fiends; it's for everyone. It's quick, efficient, and makes me feel productive and prepared for the week. And with that, I embarked on my journey and resolved to commit to meal prepping. It hasn't been easy on weekends where all I want to do is just lounge ... but then again, that's just life. And to be clear, what I'm advocating here is not that I don't enjoy eating out (because I love it!). When I don't feel like making my own salad, I still embrace the indulgence of paying for someone else to make my salad. 

I'm just saying ... 

All it takes is a little preparation and forethought 

(...and a bit of time and commitment)

... to achieve the same results yourself, as you would get elsewhere. Not just for salads!!! So, I guess that's the moral of my story.