How to: Mason Jar Salads.

So I've really been trying to make an effort to eat better. I do love salads, however it's such a pain trying to keep the lettuce fresh, and having to make up a salad every morning to take to work gets old fast. The first time I saw these mason jar salads on Pinterest, I knew I HAD to try it! Since I first saw this idea, there have been dozens of reincarnations floating around Pinterest. So here is my take!

First I went out and invested in some wide mouth, quart sized mason jars. Pretty inexpensive, cost me around $11 for a pack of 12.

For my salads I decided to start pretty simple. Here's what went in each jar:

• 2 TBS dressing(Newman's Own Ranch)
• 6 baby carrots
• 4-6 grape tomatoes
• 2 slice turkey lunch meat
• 1 slice ham lunch meat
• Approx 1 oz cubed swiss cheese
• 1 whole boiled egg
• 1/4 large cucumber, peeled
• As much lettuce/spinach as I could fit!

You want to put the dressing on the bottom, then fill the jar starting with the heartier vegetables, like the carrots and tomatoes(don't cut them open). Once you get the jar filled,

Next comes the lettuce! I used this romaine:

It was the only romaine package in the entire store(how bizarre is that?), so I bought some spinach to fill in.

This is where the "wide mouth" mason jars come in handy. You want to cram as much lettuce as you can into the jar, so the veggies aren't moving around(plus it'll be a GIANT salad... YUM!)

And that's it!

Here's what it looks like on a plate:

Honestly, I didn't think that 2 TBS of dressing was going to be enough for a salad this size, but it was perfect! I don't like my salads dripping with dressing anyway.

Yum!

I've read they are supposed to stay fresh for a least a week, so I made one for every day of work this week, and one extra. I will update at the end of the week how they held up.

***UPDATE 8/30/2013***

I have been eating these salads every day all week, and each one was as fresh as the last! I was really shocked and pleased. I was concerned the most about the cucumber, since I had peeled and sliced it, but even after a whole week it was still fresh and crunchy. I am most definitely repeating this for next week!