Salad Bar in the Fridge

This is a post to share one of the better ideas I've had in the last decade.  I call it, "Salad Bar in the Fridge".  I've started spending about an 1-2 hours at the beginning of the week chopping fresh foods for salads and stocking the fridge with ready to eat, easy to throw together, whole foods.  Over the past couple of months, we've started eating different varieties of salads for 8-10 meals during the week (southwest, asian, BLT, nuts/berries, cobb, leftovers).  Topher and Logan have been able to help "cook" lunch/dinner more frequently, and we're all feeling like healthy little rabbits (except when we binge on chocolate cake or something of the sort). 

I rotate items based on what is on sale (and what is growing in the garden out back).  At any given time, I have about 25 of these items on hand.  Here are some of our the items we have tried... in case you want to make your own.

Veggies
spinach
romaine lettuce
chopped red cabbage
shredded carrots
sliced cucumber
red onion
avocado
shoestring beets
olives
chopped celery
tomatoes (fresh and dehydrated from last year's garden)
peas
corn
sprouts
kale
cilantro
basil

Fruits
apples
mangoes
blackberries
blueberries
strawberries
raspberries
grapes
pineapple
mandarin oranges

Other (These are nice because they add protein, keep my husband on board with eating lots of salads, and most of them can be stored longer than the fresh items above.  Even if the item doesn't require refrigeration, I store them in the fridge on a designated shelf.  It makes assembly quick when I'm in a hurry... which is always.)


Parmesan cheese
Bleu cheese
Feta cheese
Mozarella cheese
Cheddar cheese
Goat cheese
Gorgonzola cheese
sunflower seeds
almonds
walnuts
pecans
hazelnuts
bacon crumbles (crisp in microwave for 30 sec)
pepperoni (crisp in microwave for 30 sec and crumble)
chopped cooked chicken
chopped turkey
hard boiled eggs
croutons
kidney beans
black beans
raisins
Crasins
shredded coconut
4-5 dressings