Works for me Wednesday: Homemade Salad Bar

I was so excited to find this brilliant idea on the Engine 2 Diet blog for several reasons. First, because I like eating vegetables but often times I forego doing so because I don't like the prep work. Secondly, because I cringe some weeks at the amount of produce that I throw away simply because it's forgotten in the crisper. I also knew that it would be a tremendous time saver and I knew it would be a great way to get my children to eat healthier foods.

After reading about the "home salad bar", I went right out and gathered the supplies I needed to replicate it in my own home. I picked up two cookie sheets from Target for $5 each. I then fit them with reuseable plastic containers--each sheet will hold six containers. Once I got home I labeled the containers and then started washing and cutting my food.

Here are a few pictures of how it fits in my fridge.

I have tomatoes, peppers, onions, cucumber, grapes, and more already washed, cut and ready to eat at easy reach.  I have also made a few non-vegan choices available including ham and cheese.  I think cut up boiled eggs would be good too and maybe some crumbled turkey bacon.

Not only is this great for making salads but my kids also love it because they can easily grab a healthy snack on their own without having to ask for my help. It's cut down on prep work for salads, stir fries, omelettes and other recipes.  And anything that saves me a little time is worthwhile!

In the last few weeks I have used the home salad bar to:

• pack picnic lunches that included fruit salad and cubed cheese
• make an egg scramble using onions, peppers, and ham (much better than cutting up onions at 7AM)
• make black bean tostados with onions and tomatoes 
• grab quick snacks (my six year old can make a meal off of cherry tomatoes and my ten year old can do likewise with a cucumber) 
• put together a stir fry in a matter of minutes
• and of course, to make a salad in two minutes or less

This has been worth every penny in time saved! 

This week I'm linking up with Works for Me Wednesday and What Works at Upside Down Homeschooling.