Mmm, Salad.

There's not many things better in the world than a nice dosage of vegetables. The problem is, exactly how do we get those vegetables in? One of the most obvious answers is, a salad.

I've always loved salads. When I was little, I was obsessed with rabbits, and my mom convinced me that salads were "rabbit food", so of course I loved it. I ate salad at every chance I could get, and I still do.

There are endless types of salads, and not all the ones made in a home kitchen look terribly professional if you just throw some iceburg lettuce in with some carrots and drizzle Ranch dressing. No, some salads need to have style.

Thankfully though, a simple salad doesn't require much work. All you really need for a salad are the obvious things-- lettuce, cheese, dressing, and other things.

Oh, fine, alright. I'll make a recipe. It's redundant, I tell you.

The Simplest Salad

Ingredients:

Lettuce of Your Choice
Carrots, chopped
Cheese of Your Choice (Optional)
Dressing (Optional)

Take the lettuce and put it in a bowl. Add carrots, cheese, dressing, or other things at your own discretion.

Sounds easy, huh? That's because it is.

Here's how my salad went. I picked out the usual spinach leaves, and then found some delicious Butter Lettuce.



Neat looking, huh? That's because it's still alive, instead of just dug up and plopped in a container. It's even got the roots!



That's so cool. It tastes good, too. It's got a nice, buttery taste (hence the name). It's also soft and nice to eat. Almost fluffy.

So here's what I did with my oh-so-delicious butter lettuce.

• Step one: Find a bowl.

Isn't that a cute bowl? Look at the little whale! Awwww.

• Add lettuce to the bowl. Cut up carrots and add them as well.

I even cut my little carrots into hearts, stars, and flowers! It's not really safe to cut them without a professional vegetable cutter, but if you think you can handle it, go for it.

• Add cheese.

I used Gorgonzola. Because it's delicious.

• Add other ingredients of your choosing, such as dressing, croutons, and the like.
  

For my dressing, I used a olive oil vinaigrette dressing sort of thing. It was delicious. And, since I'm a sucker for crackers, I also added my oh-so-loved Pecan Nut Thins.


Blue Diamond Pecan Nut Thins are my anti-drug, no lie. They are so delicious-- whether it be for snacking, adding to salads, or anything else. Granted, they're not ideal for salads, but I like it for a bit of extra crunch. Plus, they're totally healthy for you, and a better substitute for oily Ritz crackers or saltines.

That salad was totally worth all the work I put into cutting those carrot slices into little shapes. I think the cuteness made it taste better. And the butter lettuce was fantastic.

Next time you need a vegetable fix, just try a simple salad. It's practically fail-proof!

You Get What You're Given

Sometimes, you just have to work with what you have, and that proved to be true in today's dinner.

We needed to use our ground beef that wouldn't make it past tonight. Knowing that my dad loves meatloaf, my mom decided to whip up some individual meatloaves. Click the title for a picture. I don't want to post it here because it doesn't do it justice.

Individual Meatloaves

(makes 4-5)

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup oatmeal
Salt
Pepper
Ketchup
Worcestershire Sauce
Brown Sugar
Pam Spray
Mustard

In a large bowl, combine the onions, ground beef, oatmeal, and egg together, along with a dash of ketchup and Worcestershire Sauce. Spray a large pan with Pam, and then divide the mixture into orderly portions in the pan. Put at lid over the pan and let it cook until brown. Turn on low heat and add brown sugar, mustard, and ketchup on the top of the meat. Salt and pepper to taste.

Then, we did a little refrigerator-exploring and noticed that we still had leftover mashed potatoes from a few nights ago. So, we decided to cook up some potato cakes.

Mashed Potato Cakes
(portions depend on how much mashed potatoes you have)
NOT DIABETES SAFE

Ingredients:
Mashed Potatoes
Onions, chopped
1 egg
Olive Oil (We used Extra Virgin)

Add mashed potatoes, onions, and egg in a container of your choice. Add some olive oil into the pan, and spoon out small portions of the mixture into the pan. Use the spoon to push down the mashed potatoes a bit so they are flat. Be sure to use a spatula and turn them over so both sides are crispy.

Oh, and don't do what I did-- let one just drop out of your hand and into the pan. Oil hurts . . . Well, learn from your mistakes, all that jazz. Also, these are not diabetes-safe. Potatoes cause blood sugar levels to soar.


Finally, mom found an eggplant we had bought just a while ago and decided to cook it as well. I'm not one for eggplant, but mom and dad seemed to like it.

Cooked Eggplant
(serving depends on how big eggplant is)

Ingredients:
1 Eggplant
Pam
Salt
Pepper
Parmesan Cheese, grated

Cut the the top and bottom off the eggplant. Then, cut the eggplant into pieces, longways. Spray Pam on the pan, and then place the eggplant portions into the pan. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese over it. Add salt and pepper to taste.

My mom advises you not to eat the skin. It is very bitter and can burn your mouth.


That's it for tonight's dinner. The photographs might not look terribly appetizing, and that's mostly because I cooked, and my cooking is always messy (plus I'm not the greatest photographer in the world). Don't let that put you off-- the meatloaf was absolutely amazing, and so were the potato cakes. Mom says the eggplants were good, so you can take her word on that.