I learned very quickly after going gluten-free that my fickle, spontaneous eating habits weren't going to work. When I wasn't planning my meals, I was going hungry some nights or eating (gluten free) foods that were not very good for me and not cheap either. That's when I started meal planning. I've only got myself and my fiancé, so we stretch our dinners for multiple days as leftovers. But with no solid breakfast or lunch plans, I was still eating junk too much. Around this time my mom mentioned something she saw online: vacuum sealing salad in jars. She just liked the idea of extending the lifespan of lettuce, but I saw it as a new healthy habit that would help stretch my budget.
We got the idea from an awesome website called http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/ . She has a special section on her blog for jarring salad that covers a lot more than I will in this post. All I do is simple jarring of romaine hearts and, recently, cut onion (by itself in a separate jar). We only buy, cut and jar enough lettuce to last a week, but it absolutely lasts those 7 days without browning or wilting. We do this every week after our weekly grocery trip.
