Autumn Apple Salad & Meal Prep

Now that I'm back to work following maternity leave, that means that I am back to packing lunches. Womp womp - it's the least favorite part of my job. 😉 I thought I'd share a method and a recipe for packing lunches that works well for me, and helps me knock out the dreaded task of lunch packing in about 30 minutes, instead of packing a lunch each night. It also ensures that I have something wholesome for lunch instead of eating out, or eating something not as healthy. 

Each week when I plan our grocery list, I include the ingredients for a salad each week. I want enough ingredients to make 4 salads that I'll eat (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). On Fridays, our secretary usually orders in lunch for us, which I often take advantage of. On this week I decided to make Autumn Apple salad, so here's the ingredients I needed to make sure I had on hand: 

Ingredients: 

1 bunch green leaf lettuce 

1 package spring mix 

1 large apple (I like honey crisp)

1/2 pound deli turkey 

1 shallot, thinly sliced

Feta Cheese

Dried cranberries

Pecans 

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons maple syrup (use a high quality one!)

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Lemon juice

Salt and Pepper

Directions: 

1. Thoroughly wash and dry your produce and cut up your leaf lettuce.
2. Divide your leaf lettuce and spring salad mix equally between 4 containers. 
3. Slice your apple thinly, and top with lemon juice to keep fresh. Divide equally between 4 containers. 
4. Take your deli turkey and roll into a cylinder. Cut 1-inch slices and divide equally between 4 containers. 
5. Put 1 tablespoon each of dried cranberries, pecans and feta cheese into each of the 4 containers. 
6. Put a few slices of shallots in each container as well. You could also substitute red onion if you want.
7. In a separate bowl, combine olive oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, and salt and pepper. Whisk thoroughly to combine. Divide the dressing into 4 different containers. I like to use these.
8. Seal up your containers well and place in your fridge. If you make these on Sunday, your salads will be fresh through Thursday! 

*Note: On this day I did a couple of short cuts to make my life even easier. Instead of making my own dressing, I used Trader Joe's Maple Vinaigrette dressing. I also used a mix of cranberries and nuts that I found at the store. I am ALL about efficiency these days. 😉