Real quick, when your diet calls for salad what do you all buy and how do you keep it fresh? I usually just buy it pre-packed but I never can keep it very fresh.

How long does it usually last you?

I buy my salad prepacked as well. I usually mine at Aldi's, which is a very inexpensive grocery store here in the mid-west. They usually last me about 1.5 - 2 weeks before it begins to spoil.

Steve

Usually lasts around 3-4 days, before starting to spoil. Is there a better way to store it?

I take mine out of the bag, (do not wash) wrap it in a heavy paper towel, place the wrapped salad greens in a gallon size zip lock bag, put in the salad drawer in your fridge. Should last a few days longer this way.

Leslie

thank you leslie, I'll give it a try

We never have a problem with the bagged lettuce -- just put it in the veggie drawer. We also buy bagged cabbage slaw -- which is just shredded green cabbage and carrots. The carrots come inside the bag in an individual pkg. I don't use carrots -- Tom does. I like just the green cabbage. It makes really good and crunch salads. We also use broccoli slaw the same way.

while on the subject....when a diet calls for a "large salad" I make a LARGE salad, like over 1/2 head of lettuce. Is that ok? I heard a whole head of lettuce is only 15 calories, is that correct?

You wanna talk about a large salad (hehehe)
Like many of you, one of my meals is a salad with 8oz chicken and a few TBS of dressing and vinegar. I buy the Fresh Express Greener Selection bags and eat the entire bag for a single meal. Plus a tomato, 1/2 green pepper, 2 mushrooms, mild banana peppers (from the jar), and some diced onion. It completely fills a large Pyrex mixing bowl and takes 30 minutes to eat. Needless to say, it fills me up! Vegetables such as these don't add a significant amount of calories so you can get away with eating pretty much as much as you want.
So you can eat as much lettuce as you want, becuase I don't think anyone could eat enough of it to add significant calories. What will add calories to this meal is too much meat and of course salad dressing. So be sure to measure those closely when pre-contest.