M did a fine job of filling in this weekend while I was off seeing friends and family in Los Angeles and San Diego. I must say it was nice to be on the reading end of the blog for once.

My goddaughter Charli loves her pancakes and strawberries.

However, M’s gratuitous display of carnivorous delights was a bit much. Especially the ribs.

M knows, and I am sure he exploited this knowledge, that the only two things I ever miss since turning vegetarian are ribs and beef jerky.

Seeing that smoked, juicy, barbecued slab of hot porker made me think, for three whole seconds, about returning to my meat-gobbling ways. But then I thought better of it.

And since M has polluted and dragged my shiny little blog through the best cuts of a pig, I need to veg out a little.

Enter: my lunch.

Bringing salads as a work lunch is always a little tricky. Should I dress it beforehand? What if the lettuce wilts? Is it going to be enough food?

But as someone who loves to eat salads and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, I have devised a fool-proof method.

Chop greens and hard, non-soggy veggies like carrots and celery the night before. Throw in a plastic bag or Ziploc with a paper towel to soak up excess moisture.

Chop wet veggies, such as tomato and other toppings like cheese and olives, and put into tupperware with the makings of salad dressing (balsalmic, pepper, salt, olive oil, cayenne). Cucumbers can go either in the plastic bag or the container. Refrigerate.

At work, pour dressing and marinated tomatoes/toppings into plastic bag. Spin around a few times to ensure airtight closure. Then toss and shake around. I actually did not do that today because I packed a little too much salad and there was no way I could fit all that roughage in my stomach on top of the sandwich.

So I just portioned out how much I wanted and plopped the tomato/dressing mixture on top.

Plate and eat. Grilled cheese sandwiches really are a must. Especially when the break room has a panini machine to make things all gooey and melty.

Mmmmm green vegetables. Not a single shred of pork in sight.

Lunch was delicious and refreshing, but unfortunately I hit a little snafu this morning. My tupperware leaked balsalmic all over my bag so I had to wash and hang out on the patio to dry. Not so fool-proof after all. Must devise a better way of transporting liquids.

xoxo,
Jenn