10-Day Salad Challenge

I loved this challenge. I needed to eat healthier to get my A1c back under control and to help with hers issues. This was just what I needed. A few of the recipes I had to substitute some items as I had sensitivity to some ingredients . But I followed them as much as I could ingredient wise and let me tell you they were awesome. I actually just made a small batch of potatoes to do the potatoes salad for tomorrows lunch. I also now eat a bowl of mixed berries (the berry salad almost) as my evening snack. My husband has actually tried a few of them I was shocked when he asked if I could make him the taco cashew salad again. Thank you so much. Hopefully I can keep up with this type of eating.

The salad challenge was fun! I love salads and am always looking for new ideas to change it up. The support group made it fun to see how everyone made their salads and what they served with it. Id definitely do it again! Favorites were the taco salad and the strawberry basil salad!

I learned that I am able to make my own dressings and like them. It is easier than I thought. The secret for me was buying quality olive oil.

I’ve always thought of salads as something you just “throw together” so I really didn’t know what I’d been missing! I’ve almost never followed a recipe for making ANY meal much less salads so getting to be part of the Simple Green Smoothie 10-day Salad Challenge was really special for me!! I’m also a bit of a luddite and shy to boot so after decades of having a Facebook account the pictures of the salads I made this past week were more posts than I’ve done in all twenty years of having Facebook combined. (Embarrassing I know but what a great way to get my toes wet eh?) Ok it must be said – the salads were SO SO yummy fun and nutritious – and I can’t wait to make them all again starting tonight! There are even some great prizes to win just for participating and while I have my fingers crossed for some good luck in that department in truth I have already won because I’m walking at least a mile a day and making salads daily (usually the night before – so unlike me!) and these great new habits are quickly changing my life for the way-better! Taking care of my health and wellbeing has felt overwhelming these last few years and I have gotten pretty out of shape so I doubly appreciated the genius of committing to something manageable which the 10-day Salad Challenge truly is and combining it with the Walk-a-Mile challenge also do-able! I love the option to keep going and look forward to checking out all the other yummy treats Simple Green Smoothie has in store for me! In fact it could be called the “10-day Salad Easy” because Simple Green Smoothie has thought of everything! There are recipes shopping lists guidance mutual support accountability and inspiration! And it was all complimentary! WOW -what a gift!! Needless to say I was very impressed and really enjoyed the event. (Psst…It’s way more than a salad challenge!!). Thanks to the folks at Run the Edge for providing the forum to be accountable to track my miles (23.77 big ones!) to VitaMix who make the BEST blenders in the world and Organic Girl who made all my salads extra scrumptious! And a HUGE thank you to Simple Green Smoothie and everyone who made this event so awesome! Kudos! Y’all RAWK!!

This was a great challenge! I was stuck in a salad rut but this has opened my eyes to how varied and wonderful a salad can be for a meal. I never had arugula or fennel before this challenge and I love them both! The dressings were easy and delicious and i have discovered I have so much more energy eating this way! Bonus: I lost 2 pounds!

As a distance runner I was a bit hesitant to try the challenge thinking there wouldn’t be enough there to fuel my body. Boy was I wrong it game me everything I needed and more! Not only that I didn’t feel as run down in the evening. This was definitely and game changer!

I enjoyed the new salad recipes and the motivation to keep moving each day of the challenge.

This is a great challenge. I found myself eating less as these salads are so filling. As healthy as they are they taste so good and I’m in love with most of the dressings. I will be making a lot of these salad in the future. I also fell in love with arugula during this challenge.vi look forward to day 10 the strawberry arugula salad. Shopping for the produce was also fun. I have lots of left overs so I can continue salads as to not throw away any of these good veggies.

The 10-day Challenge was a bit of a challenge for me. I started off feeling pretty motivated and eager to make each of the daily recipes. But alas, my pesky migraines took over and I just wasn’t up to making anything for a few days. Still, this was a great way to try some new recipes and get some much-needed greens and other healthy ingredients into my system.

This challenge has caused me to try a lot of greens that I otherwise would not have tried. This was my first time having a salad made with Kale. Who knew you should massage your Kale! Also, a first making a majority of the dressings homemade. Thank you for all the new experiences.

This was a very fun challenge. I love getting inspired by the daily recipes. It makes it so much easier to stay on track. I will save these recipes to go back to time after time. Thank you!

This was a fantastic challenge. I always love a good challenge and this exceeded those expectations. For almost all of the ten days of the challenge I was traveling or en route to various places some for fun, happy events while others hard or sad and yet still others were challenging and painful. Participating in this challenge positively oriented me to each day. I didn’t do prep because of not being in one place for very long. I collected ingredients as I went and did my best even with food sensitivity. That said, I was still able to do it creatively. I always appreciate challenging myself in these ways. Every evening I would look up the salad for the next day and each morning / afternoon I would review the recipe and prepare it for my lunch. In the evening I reviewed that days salad post. I loved having this constant of a salad/recipe to follow and structuring my day and meals around it. Depending on where i was or what i was doing, I ate salads in bowls, on plates, tin trays, prep containers, cutting boards, paper wear, etc. Truthfully, I am not known for following recipes, so this was a welcome change and fun exploration. I am also used to using most of the ingredients in the salads and eating variations of these because I love love creating massive salads of all kinds. Even so, I got stretched into learning new things! What I learned most about myself is how much I can enjoy dressings. I’ve never been a dressing or extra flavor person, but this time I tried dressings and really enjoyed them. The lemon tarragon dressing was particularly unique and refreshing for me. I use tarragon regularly and would never have thought to make dressing with it. A favorite salad was the strawberry/fruit arugula salad. The sweet fruits, the spicy arugula kick, and the creamy dressing made for a treat. Admittedly, I also added basil because I love that flavor with the fruits. While in a new store, I discovered pili nuts which made a great stand in for almonds and cashews when I didn’t have those. There are so many ways to make salads fun. Having Run the Edge and the challenge to walk a mile or more each day was great too. I didn’t expect to like it so much and tracking my mileage. I was able to do more than I expected even despite physical health limitations. In fact, it motivated me and put me in better spirits! It was another great way to figure out where I could walk. I had some walks on beaches, down some dark alleys, on windy roads, a hike through a forest, a new neighborhood, around a hospital, and finally at home again. I learned that I do more than I think I do and that tracking really motivates me. The miles all add up and that makes me happy to see I’m not giving up! I’m sad to also not have a daily tracker anymore and will consider creating one for myself in the future. Watching others share and support in the group was a joyful way to keep the momentum. I checked in a few times a day to see how others were doing and shared some ideas or tips too. Also, as I have said, I thank Organic Girl for always saving me. They are my absolute favorite salad brand and through thick and thin (often many hospital travels) they have been there for me. I wish I could order them on delivery. In almost every grocery store that I can find them, always pick up some blends. I even found some new ones in a new a store and got 5 containers of different blends, so I added a few extra different greens to some salads because I was eager to try all the blends before they went bad. The two constants in my life are organic girl greens and walks, so thank you organic girl and thank you Run the Edge for a new motivation. Hopefully smoothies come back in my life soon too. Thank you to Simple Green Smoothies, Organic Girl, Run the Edge, and Vitamix for hosting. I am forever grateful! I hope to be able to use all of your products in the future and spread some love. Because of you all, I have a delicious collection of salads to fall back on as I walk forward, lots of motivation, and eager to save for blending. 🙂 In salad heaven and gratitude,

This 10-day salad challenge was awesome!!! It not only made me discover new salad recipes with surprising delicious dressings, it showed me I can be satisfied with just eating a large salad for a meal even if I omitted the beans (my stomach does not agree with them). I will definitely use the recipes again and again. I joined the last few SGS challenges to learn more about plant-base/vegan eating. I was already eating a healthy diet but needed to be more strict with my diet due to scary lab tests. I had to do some substitutions because of food allergies but overall, SGS is a great introduction to the vegan world. Jen is very generous with her time, a pleasure to deal with, and her team is always ready to answer our questions in the private fb group. Oh, and all the recipes so far are delicious. I say it’s worth signing up for a challenge or the rawk the year group to discover new foods or a new way of eating. Weather you stick to it or not, your taste buds will thank you. As for me, I can say that with SGS help, I am now 85% plant-base/vegan and loving how I feel.

This was such a fun challenge, thank you for creating it! Not only did I get to feel good about what I was putting in my body, I also had the pleasure of knowing this way of eating helps the planet too, since it is more sustainable and less a source of waste than the SAD. I recommend this way of eating for anyone who wants a simple way to help themselves and be kind to the earth.

This challenge was a really great experience! I’m in the process of becoming more aware of what I eat, and I’ve been trying to eat more whole / raw foods. But before this challenge I didn’t really know how to do that practically or affordably. Now I feel equipped with a whole new set of tools to accomplish my immediate nutritional goals, and hopefully to implement some lifelong changes. My favorite aspects of the challenge were the variety among the different recipes and the link to tips on meal prep. The separation of the shopping lists into two sets made the set up easy to follow. My favorite recipes were the taco salad and the lemon arugula salad. (Also—walnut taco meat is AMAZING!!!) Thank you!!!