So let's look at the bigger picture:  am I noticing a difference from eating salads every day?  Yes, definitely.  I won't elaborate on the natural results of eating a good helping of fiber daily, but that has been a plus.  I've also been surprised at how filling the salad is - it definitely holds me until the next meal.  I've also found myself craving fruit more.  I don't eat a lot of fruit, so that has been interesting.  A couple of times I've put some apple on my salad because it sounded so good.

Oooh, about the apples.  One of our tenants gave us a box of red delicious apples.  They are small (all the apples are small this year), but sooo good!  Crisp, juicy and full of apple-y flavor.  Absolutely fantastic.  We also got some peaches which went into peach jam (mmmm, peach vinaigrette dressing!), peach ice cream and peach cobbler, and a box of nectarines, plums, apricots and little yellow apples (golden delicious?) that I juiced in our steam juicer and made syrup.  I didn't use a lot of sugar, so the syrup is tart-sweet.  BTW - a little fruit syrup in fizzy water is really, really good! 

I've been hating on Yakima lately, but I must admit I like getting free fruit.  We rarely have to buy fruit during the summer and fall because people are always giving us a whole bunch! 

We did buy the blueberries though - over the mountain in that little town by Morton.  I made blueberry jam and we got 24 two-quart bags of frozen blueberries, plus some fresh ones to munch on for around $70, which is a bargain in the long run.  We eat blueberry crumble all year long.

Right now we are in tomato season, of course.  We've canned 10 quarts of tomatoes so far, plus those we've eaten.  My mother-in-law has frozen around 15 quarts.  And the tomatoes are still coming.  The really big ones are only now starting to turn.  I'm aiming at 24 quarts of tomatoes and 24 pints of tomato sauce.  I also use the dehydrator and dry tomato sauce to a powder and use it in stews and sauces to enrich them.  I suppose if I added a little water it would be just like tomato paste.

Rick picked up mozarella yesterday at the store, so we'll do caprese salads and I love broiled tomatoes with mozarella on them!  And salsa, of course.

 It really needed some onion and something salty, like feta cheese or
something, but it was still quite good.

 The chicken was a leftover from my husband's curried chicken recipe.
He uses a secret blend that he rubs all over the chicken pieces (we
buy whole chickens and cut them up .79 to .99 a lb!). Then he puts
them on the barbecue with indirect heat. Since we have a gas
barbecue, he just turns off the burners under the chicken. Then cook
slowly, turning the pieces every 15 minutes until juicy and delicious
- about an hour. Mmmm.

So, yesterday I climbed back on the ol' wagon with a salad of mixed greens, blueberry vinaigrette, candied walnuts, yellow pear tomatos and panela cheese crumbles.  It was the first time my husband had tried my blueberry vinaigrette and he loved it!  So did my nephew, actually. 

As there is still spinach and arugala left from yesterday, I mixed that with some chopped garden tomatos, some panela cheese and a little julienned roast beef.  I wasn't in the mood for a vinaigrette today so I threw together some plain yogurt, mayo, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper.  Actually quite good.  No crunchies today, though and I find I miss them.

I soooo wanted to cheat today.  I've spent the morning slaving over a project and I could really use to get out of the house.  Additionally my husband went out for lunch with some friends.  Grabbing the car keys was a close thing, but I walked to the fridge instead.  Besides, I don't want to have to eat TWO salads tomorrow!

OK, I just actually took a bit of the salad and got some roast beef and arugala.  There is no way in heaven or hell that a burger and cheesy tots would be better tasting than this.  Yum!

Cost of today's salad:
Spinach (bagged, used 1/3 of bag) $1.16
Arugala (bagged, about 1/6 of bag) $.55
2 oz Panela cheese - $.50
Tomatos (free from garden)
Dressing - .25

Total:  $2.46

Today was a little bit harder.  I really wanted some junk food for lunch; lunch being the weakest spot of my day.  It is the only time I get out of the office/house and see anyone other than my husband, so I really enjoy going out and grabbing something.  I held back, and just went right to the store. 

To my delight, I found they had bags of arugala!  I LOVE arugala - its taste it right up with nuts and cheese - delicious!  I also planned ahead because I'm on my own tonight, so I bought a potato and some plain yogurt for a twice stuffed potato. 

Cost of today's salad:

Spinach (bagged, used 1/3 of bag) $1.16
Arugala (bagged, about 1/6 of bag) $.55
Pecans (.14 lb - a bit too much) $.97
2 oz of blue cheese - 1.50
Vinaigrette - .25
Total:  $4.43

Now, if I'd gone and got what I was craving it would have cost $8.21.  So, a substantial savings!

I am also liking going to the store daily and just buying what I need and what appeals to me.  I picked up a Yoplait Boston Cream Pie yogurt for an afternoon snack and the apricots, plums and nectarines looked so delicious I'm going to devise a salad that incorporates one of them tomorrow.

I'm going to to try and keep track of how much these salads cost.  It will be a little difficult because some salads, like the one last night, was entirely made from stuff on hand and from the garden.  Basically, if it was from the garden I'm going to call it free and the basic vinaigrette ingredients (olive oil, vinegar, etc) I'll give a cost of .25.

Today's salad:

.26 lb mixed greens from store - $1.56
.09 lb bulk pecans - $1.08
2 oz Blue Cheese - $1.50
The blueberry vinaigrette consisted of vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and several tablespoons of home-canned blueberry jam. - $.25

So, a total of $4.39.

And it was really good - crunchy, sweet, salty, tart.  We'll see how it sticks with me for the afternoon.

Basic Vinaigrette Dressing
From Julia's Kitchen Wisdom, by Julia Child.

This is a bare-bones recipe for the simple all-purpose vinaigrette, which you will vary as you wish. Its beauty lies solely in the quality of your ingredients. Note that you will so often see proportions of 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil, but that can make a very acid, very vinegary vinaigrette. I use the proportions of a very dry martini, since you can always add more vinegar or lemon but you can't take it out.

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon finely minced shallot or scallion
1/2 tablespoon Dijon-type mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon wine vinegar
1/3 to 1/2 cup excellent olive oil, or other fine, fresh oil
Freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

Either shake all the ingredients together in a screw-topped jar, or mix them individually as follows. Stir the shallots or scallions together with the mustard and salt. Whisk in the lemon juice and vinegar, and when well blended start whisking in the oil by droplets to form a smooth emulsion. Beat in freshly ground pepper. Taste (dip a piece of the salad greens into the sauce) and correct seasoning with salt, pepper, and/or drops of lemon juice.

Yield: For about 2/3 cup, serving 6 to 8