Years ago when I was researching what people serve for lunches besides PBJ and peaches, I looked into Cafe Zupa’s and all their salads and I thought, “I am going to have one day a week where we eat salads, but it will be a different one each week.”  Have you ever thought through how many types of salad’s there are?  There are fruit salads, potato salads, and quite a few types of green salads.  Then you have to ask, “Is coleslaw a salad?”

I include them all in this section, but in our 5 Week Meal Plan you will see which green salad’s I ended up with for our lunches.  But one problem we were having is that our salad dressings were going bad because the rotation caused us to just not use very much of any one kind.   I thought, “I wonder if I can make my own small batches?” because each salad I picked had a different dressing: Ranch, Honey mustard, Caesar, Creamy Poppy Seed, and an Italian Vinaigrette.

I researched each of my favorite store-bought dressings and when I looked at the real ingredients (not the chemicals and preservatives), they were surprisingly simple.  A few of them are mayonnaise based and so I also include a fail proof mayo recipe in here as well.

Lastly, I combined several salads per page but listed them individually on this post, so be careful not to print up multiples of the same page.

So here is the third of the three sections I ended up with in my lunch categories.  They are: 1). Lunches you cook, 2). Sandwiches and 3). Salad’s & Dressings.

  1. Caesar Salad & Dressing
  2. Chef Salad & Ranch Dressing
  3. Cranberry / Feta Salad & Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing
  4. Cucumber, Romato, Feta & A Light Vinaigrette
  5. Garden Salad & Italian Vinaigrette
  6. House Salad & Honey Mustard Dressing
  7. Mayonnaise
  8. My Dad’s Coleslaw
  9. My Mom’s Broccoli Salad
  10. Summer Fruit Salad
  11. Fall Fruit Salad
  12. My Mom’s Potato Salad (for picky eaters)
  13. Old Fashioned Potato Salad

Here is the picture I use for my “Salad’s and Dressings” divider page in case you want one too.

(Each picture will take you to that specific recipe.  Save each recipe image.  I like to print them and keep them in a three ring binder with plastic sleeves and divider tabs.) 

I have also created a KITCHEN BASICS GUIDE for young women.  If you are starting to build up your kitchen supplies, don’t waste your money on sets.  Just get the best of the basics.

ALL IMAGES ARE PROPERTY OF: Melissa Schworer