I have done something this week that I never thought I would do.  I certainly never imagined that I would blog about it.   I have stooped to an all new low.  I purchased a salad kit and even justified it to myself.  I know it’s a shock, but before everyone starts yelling at me, let me tell you the whole story.

I was doing my weekly grocery shopping and I noticed that the light Caesar salad kits were on sale for $1 each for the 7.7 ounce size package.  I realize I might have been able to assemble the salad for less than $1, but I considered the prepackaged croutons and dressing to be well worth it.

Did I mention that I have been working a lot of overtime in the non cyber world, and I was very tired?

So, I bought a couple of the kits and took them home.  A few days later, we were having clam chowder in sour dough bowls.  I realized that clam chowder did not meet my requirement for enough vegetables, so I wanted to put together a salad.

I reached into the refrigerator and pulled out one of the salad kits.  One thing to keep in mind regarding light salad kits is that one way they make them light is to remove any cheese.  This kit was no exception.  I also realized that I didn’t want to have just a plain Caesar salad with our chowder bowls, so I thawed 3/4 cup of salad shrimp to add to it.

I also measured out 1/4 cup of an Italian blend of cheeses to sprinkle on top.  (The Italian blend of cheeses contained Parmesan, Romano, Asiago, Mozzarella, and Provolone.)

I poured the lettuce into a serving bowl, and I added the dressing, shrimp, cheese, and croutons.

I tossed it all together just before serving time, and everyone was happy with their salad.  It was a great accompaniment to the chowder.

I know salads in a bag seem like a tremendous cheat, but if you’re tired and hungry and come home and need to face a mountain of vegetables that need to be chopped before you can eat, you might just go grab fast food instead.  Even a fast food salad will cost more than the $2.50 that this salad cost to put together, and it was enough for 4 of us to have side salads.

Check the prices at your local grocery stores and you can use leftover chicken or other meats to mix with the salad kits to make entree salads for your family.

Of course, you can also make some of those salads in a jar that I have been posting about.  They come in quite handy and last for 4 – 5 days in the refrigerator.

There was a reason beyond my salad for this post.  I just want to remind anyone who happens to read this of one important thing.  You need to keep things in perspective when making your shopping and grocery budget.  This particularly applies to when considering the purchase of convenience foods.  A $13 package of store bought frozen lasagna feeds my family of four for one meal with leftovers for two of us for the next day’s lunch.  I can make at least  two of them from scratch for that money, but if I’m too tired to cook after a long day at work, that $13 is still cheaper than the $20+ I would spend on fast food. It’s just something to think about.