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Easy Lunch Idea: Ziplock Beet Salad

When life gets stressful, I know that I need to rely on healthy eating, workouts, friends & family, and sleep to get through the period without going insane. There are some big, unexpected changes going on in our life right now, which I will hopefully share with you all soon. Therefore, on Sunday I made it a priority to head to the gym and grocery store before the day got away from me.

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I stocked up on lots of healthy ingredients for my desk drawer, office fridge, and our home fridge and pantry so there are no excuses! Lately Bo and I are loving pretzels, grapefruits, string cheese, smoked salmon, and greek yogurt!

I also made sure to pick up the essentials needed for another round of Ziplock salads. If you missed my previous posts you can check out previous ones by clicking on the links: Easy Lunch Idea: Ziplock Greek Salad and Easy Lunch Idea: Ziplock Mexican Salad. I saw beets on sale in the produce section of the grocery store and quickly decided that those would inspire and be a key ingredient in this week’s Easy Lunch Idea: Ziplock Beet Salad!

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This colorful salad is my favorite one so far because the textures and flavors kept each bite interesting while the three different protein sources kept me full for longer than other salad choices. I’ll admit that this salad took a bit more prep work on Sunday since it includes quinoa and roasted vegetables but they are both super simple and were able to roast and simmer while we cleaned the apartment.

  • 4 handfuls of baby spinach
  • 2 handfuls of mixed tomatoes (I’m loving the Zima orange tomatoes)
  • 1 handfuls of chopped red onions
  • Any random leftover cooked vegetables you have in your fridge (this week I have roasted butternut squash and vidalia onions)
  • 1/4 cup quinoa and 3 ounces leftover pork tenderloin (or your favorite protein)
  • 1/4 cup sliced strawberries
  • 1/4 cup sliced beets (canned or roasted)
  • 1/4 cup gorgonzola

Many people have asked whether I put everything in the Ziplock bags at the beginning of the week and the answer is no. I take 5 minutes each night to toss everything into the Ziplock bag so it’s easy to grab and go in the morning. I find that this keeps the salad ingredients fresher versus dividing/combining them early in the week.

When I get to the office I toss some dressing in the bag, shake, put it on a plate, and then enjoy! Inexpensive, healthy, flavorful, and delicious!

I hope you like this week’s creation!

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Easy Lunch Idea: Ziplock Greek Salad

Happy Monday! Today was such a fun day but quite the whirlwind. It started at the early hour of 4:15 as I met Melissa Z for a quick four mile run along with East River before work. It turns out that we both have to be at work early and we discovered only yesterday that we live just 2 blocks from each other!

It was nice to enjoy the gorgeous views while conquering the darkness with a buddy as we kicked off the week in full gear.

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Then, the day didn’t end until 10pm when I left Revolve, where I took my second class with Jason in just as many days. Melissa and Dori hosted a free ride for readers tonight at 8:45. The music was amazing, Jason’s energy was great, and the spin portion was stronger and harder than last time. I still think the Rip Ride will be my favorite but I do love Jason’s dance parties!

Now it’s almost 10:30 and I’m ready to curl up in bed and fall asleep. But, before I do that, I have to share this week’s salad creation with you guys! I enjoyed last week’s Mexican Ziplock salad so much that I created a new one this week while still staying under my goal budget of $30 for a week’s worth of ingredients.

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This Greek salad packs in tons of flavor and lots of different textures while still being healthy! Grab a Ziplock bag and toss the below ingredients into the bag for a delicious salad that won’t even need dressing thanks to the hummus and taboule!

  • 4 handfuls of arugula
  • 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes
  • 3 handfuls of chopped red and orange peppers
  • Any random leftover cooked vegetables you have in your fridge (this week I have sautéed mushrooms)
  • 1 tablespoon hummus
  • 1 tablespoon taboule
  • 1/2 cup grilled/roasted chicken (or your favorite protein)
  • 4 diced sundried tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup low fat feta

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Once you toss it around, serve on a plate when you’re ready for lunch!

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Hope you enjoy this week’s creation!

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Holiday Party Menu and Money Saving Tips

For the 3rd year, we opened our doors last night to 45 of our friends and loved ones in New York City for a fun night of merry making, delicious food, mingling, and dancing in our holiday tackiest. Oh, the Diamond Tacky Holiday Party never disappoints, that’s for sure.

Last night people donned their tackiest and raised the bar for next year. Holiday Party 2IMG_6473IMG_6475IMG_6485IMG_6503

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Yes, once Frank, Melissa’s fiance arrived in his holiday best, I may or may not have screamed, “Santa, I know him!” a few times!

The costumes and great turnout weren’t the only wonderful things about last night. Our food and alcohol selections this year really worked out perfectly! We made some key changes which allowed us to spend less money this year but still have a great presentation and party overall.

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Tonight’s post will share our actual menu that we finalized on and the links to recipes.

Perfect Hors Dourves Menu for A Crowd

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Money Saving Party Tips

  • Don’t spend too much money on alcohol. This year we relied on Trader Joes and friends for our alcohol. Instead of purchasing $15-$20 bottles of wine like we did last year, this year we bought 6 bottles of Trestle Chardonnay from Trader Joe’s wine after many Twitter folks recommended it to us. For liquor we used what we had in our cabinet already versus buying new, in addition to the egg nog. In addition, when friends asked what they could bring we gave them specific requests such as red wine, champagne, or Pinot Grigio since we weren’t offering that! Bo also altered this year’s egg nog recipe after hearing that last year’s was too strong. The new recipe called for half the liquor, which made it cheaper too!
  • Get a bar tender! We have never had a bar tender before and therefore many parties, find ourselves near the wine rack serving drinks most of the night instead of socializing with guests. Last night we were able to chat and enjoy everyone while one of our friend’s younger brother tended the bar for us. He made some extra weekend cash and we enjoyed our party more which made it a win win!
  • Don’t cook too much food! Last year we had enough food to pack our fridge even after the party was over! This year we asked our guests for a final RSVP the week of to ensure the number of people attending. Once we knew that our number was around 45 people we assesed the guest list and calculated that in reality only 3/4 of the people would eat heavily. Normally 1/4 of the people are either party hopping, going to another dinner, or focus more on drinking than eating. Today we have only a few pieces of cheese and some sugar cookies left from last night’s event.

Hope you guys have a great week! This week is going to be a busy one because I have PADI Scuba lessons Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8-11pm each night. Someone bring be a glass of wine when it’s done because I’m super nervous!

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