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Summer Salad Stretchers

Sometimes the summer heat evaporates all my cooking ambitions. It's when I roll out the BIG SALAD. Here is when making something in your own kitchen really saves money. Those salad bars are REALLY pricey per pound, and you can save a bunch of cash by building up a salad pantry section of your kitchen.

Dump a few of these in a small container (like a glass jar) and stick the mix in the frig to get cold. Make sure to use it by the next day at the latest ! Then, when you are ready to make a salad, add some of the jar to the bottom of a bowl.

Start your salad like this:
Cut a fresh lemon, add the juice to a bowl with these if you've got them & like them:
Fresh cut carrots, fresh green pepper, a nice hard apple (leave the peal, just core & chop), a nice semi hard pear, chopped celery top & all


Then add in some of your jar. Here is a partial idea list for the jar:

Left over pasta, rinsed and chilled
left over kashi,cooked and chilled
Raisins,crasins, or any other small dried fruit
Hard boiled & peeled egg (s)
Sunflower seed kernels
Peanuts
dried tomatoes
pitted olives

Then add any green you like top top of it all, and don't mix it all up until you are ready to eat...If you are really into luxury, add in some grated cheese or cheese squares. Make some crisp toast, spread some olive oil and pepper on it, and tear it up into the salad...yum!






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