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A Simple Salad Spinner
June 18, 2012
As promised, I have a little video for you this morning. Video is something I'd like to get more experienced with.
I love talking communicating and interacting with people. And I have so much I want to share, video seems to work well for this but I need more practice so I can speed up the workflow.
In this video I show you a simple trick I've been using this month while living in Montréal - how I spin our lettuce dry without a salad spinner. This is not life changing knowledge, but it's fun and practical.
If you've watched the video you know I have a new e-book coming out about eating large salads, specifically eating a meal sized salad as a regular part of your diet.
For years, on and off, we've been eating salad, as the meal, for our lunch. In this last year though we got serious about our salad and we now consistently eat a salad meal nearly every day. This e-book is about how we went from sandwichs to salads, making it work in your own life and of course, dressing recipes. Because what's a salad without a good dressing?
What makes these recipes unique though is that they are whole food.
No oil, a miniscule amount of refined sweetners (there's one tablespoon of maple syrup in one). Made with ingredients you can source where you live, ie: no plum or fig vinegars.
These are recipes for vibrant health and I created them with your family in mind. It's no joke when I say I'm excited about writing and releasing this e-book. Something as simple as switching one meal a day to a salad (How the heck do you do that? Ah, I wrote a book to answer that!) has huge health benefits. I want to share that with you.
Back to the salad spinner for a moment. I have to give credit where credit is due for where I first saw this idea. Two years ago I had a brief e-mail converstaion with Rachel Meeks of Small Notebook about salad spinners. Mine died and I think I might have mentioned it on her blog in comments. I was not keen to add more plastic to my kitchen.
Rachel kindly directed me to Gadget-Free Salad Spinner on Katie's blog. (I had the privilege of meeting Katie last summer and I even "flew" her plane!)
I tried the idea but it didn't work well for me. There was water all over the kitchen. I wrote Rachel back and said:
Well I tried it and it was good in theory... but left water droplets all over the fridge, the table, the floor. When Damien saw me he insisted "we really must buy a spinner, want me to look on-line?"
We bought a replacement plastic salad spinner that I use almost every day - when I'm living at home. But like I share in this video, I'm not living at home right now, I'm living in a furnished apartment rental this month sans salad spinner.
Katie's idea came back to me and I tried it again, this time with a cloth bag and outside. Works like a charm.
PS. If you're wondering why I'm writing on my photos, I'm experimenting with making certain posts more "pin-able" at Pinterest. If you want to pin this post on one of your boards use the Pinterest button below and then choose the lettuce photo. It makes it clear what the pin is about. I've noticed other bloggers doing this so I'm trying it. Don't worry, not every post will have a photo like that, I find them kind of annoying - just show me a pretty photo.
Also, if you notice something awry at FIMBY - page links not working, commenting giving you grief, whatever - I would love to hear about it. I appreciate constructive feedback so I can make your experience here more enjoyable.
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Tara on June 18, 2012, 1:48 p.m.
I look forward to your e-book on salads. I would love to do more salads as the meal, not just a side, especially now with all the great offerings from the farmer's markets.
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kyndale on June 18, 2012, 2:35 p.m.
Oh, Renee, you crack me UP! You are just so adorable and I love you for that. I have to tell you that our salad spinner broke the other day and this is very timely for me! When it broke I told my husband that I was NOT going to buy another salad spinner because I hate having to add more plastic to our house. I've just been drying it on a towel but we are definitely going to try this! How fun! I'm also going to be buying your e-book. I bought your last one. I don't think I told you that before. But, I'm so excited for this one too. We don't really eat salads for lunch every day but we should really. My kids love our dinner salads. Two of our faves are Salad Nicoise (sp?) and Taco Salad. They eat those up!!
xo Kyndale
Ps. I just spent the week with two Canadian ladies. They were so much fun and I thought about you while I was there. :)
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kyndale on June 18, 2012, 3:35 p.m.
ok, the weirdest thing happened. I wrote a comment and then it disappeared. Then I wrote a totally different one and posted it but the first one is the one that actually shows up!
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renee on June 18, 2012, 3:38 p.m.
Comments are acting kind of weird. I deleted your second comment since I thought you wouldn't want too showing up. It probably is just taking some time for the comment to appear and people think it's not working. I should see if I can add a note in the comment form that says, "It might take a moment for your comment to appear" or something like that. Sorry for teh bother Kyndale.
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heather on June 18, 2012, 2:44 p.m.
ha! this is how i spun my salad for years before i broke down and bought a $2 salad spinner at the flea market. it does work so well!
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renee on June 18, 2012, 3:26 p.m.
You're so good with flea markets and thrift shopping in general (smile). I know I spent quite a bit more than $2 on our spinner.
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Saar on June 18, 2012, 3:02 p.m.
My boyfriend and me eat salads at dinner (he eats a sandwich at work and I mostly eat leftovers from the salads). So I am really looking forward to your book, as I could use some more inspiration to come up with a different salad every day! Enjoy Montreal, Saar
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Kika on June 18, 2012, 4:39 p.m.
I've never owned a salad spinner in my life. Clean tea towels do the trick for us - though I can't imagine going outside to "spin" the lettuce in our winters :) I, too, look forward to your ebook.
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desilou on June 18, 2012, 5:11 p.m.
☆ Great video, Renee! ☆ Checking for pedestrians - LOVE IT :) I've been excited to get your new e-book but now I can hardly wait! I think I will be getting a copy as a gift for a couple of my girlfriends as well - we could all use some fresh inspiration on our daily salads.
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Cindy on June 18, 2012, 5:24 p.m.
I also like the "5 second rule"!! Look forward to your e-book, Renee! I am finding that a lot of times with the stomach problems that I have that raw bothers me. But, I love salads and try to eat them as much as possible.
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Jacinda on June 18, 2012, 8:03 p.m.
Love your videos Renee. Always good to have you chatting away to me in my own home :-)
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Rachel on June 18, 2012, 8:15 p.m.
For years, I wrapped my washed salad in a tea towel and spun it round my head, much to my mother in law's amusement...!
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Emily on June 18, 2012, 11:15 p.m.
Can't wait for your next ebook! Just spent time looking for some salad inspiration online.... so many choices make it hard to start. Glad I will have a 'go-to' book for salads, soon.
Is it possible (or helpful) to pre-order?
Emily
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renee on June 18, 2012, 11:26 p.m.
My friend Heather, from beauty that moves, who offers the 30 Day Vegan courses, is also releasing a salad book this summer. I would recommend that one also as a go-to book. I think she will have a greater variety of salad recipes than I will. I'm teaching strategies and focusing on whole food dressings. Heather's book will take on a bit different take with a few more recipes I think. Oh, and no need to pre-order. You can buy a digital copy as soon as it's published.
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Johanna on June 19, 2012, 1:50 a.m.
Loved seeing you on video!! I love my salad spinner. Many of my friends thought it was odd that that was one kitchen item that I viewed as a "must have." Maybe the fact that I grew up in France? I don't know.
Anyway, I ma SO looking forward to your ebook. We often eat salads as our entire meal. Our kids are young (4, 2, 1) but the two older ones already have no problem eating salad. My husband eats a lot, though, so I look forward to hearing what you do to make it filling!
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renee on June 19, 2012, 12:06 p.m.
Johanna, It's one of my must-have's also. I get it.
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Jennifer on June 19, 2012, 2:21 a.m.
Can't wait for the book! For a while, I was feeding the kiddos (4 under 7) salad everyday for lunch, but that got time-consuming...they eat slowly. I still eat one, but it gets boring (spinach, romaine, bell peppers, a splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar). However, we still have a salad or raw veggies at 2 meals a day; there's hope! I am not sure I could convert the kids away from their beans and rice for lunch every.single.day., but perhaps in conjunction? By the way, both of your arms look plenty strong!
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Erin on June 19, 2012, 5:58 p.m.
How on earth do you get salad to have enough calories without oil, especially with all those mouths to feed! We can eat salad all day long (and do in the summer, with an infinitely abundant garden), but it'll never fill any of us up. Kind of moot for us at this point, I suppose, since the kids will only eat salad greens pulled directly from the garden. Once they hit a plate, it's all over (unless they're blended into a smoothie).
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renee on June 19, 2012, 7:41 p.m.
Beans, nuts and seeds! I address that very question (something along the lines of "how on earth do you fill up on salad?) in my book.
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Becky @ Sowing Little Seeds on June 19, 2012, 7:31 p.m.
Whoa! Pinning this right...........NOW!
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Kathleen on June 21, 2012, 12:21 a.m.
How do your store lettuce and other greens in the refrigerator? The leaves seem to go limp really quickly unless I put them in a plastic bag.
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renee on June 21, 2012, 4:14 a.m.
I use plastic bags for lettuce. Most of the my other veggies I use bags like these ones.
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Christine on June 22, 2012, 3:11 a.m.
What a fun idea! I tried it out today using a clean pillow case and it worked beautifully! My five-year-old daughter really got into it and was shaking the lettuce all over the house!
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Ashley on July 3, 2012, 3:01 p.m.
I have never had a salad spinner, but I do use an old white cotton pillow case. It's my husband's favorite kitchen job - to go outside and whip that thing around!
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Leslie on July 7, 2012, 7 p.m.
I love your salad spinner, Renee! And so fun to see you on video!! I'm also inspired to go eat a salad and I can't wait to know more about meal sized salads. :)
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Tonya on June 18, 2012, 1:09 p.m.
Oh, Renee, as I am sitting here trying to work out a major tooth pain/infection - by putting garlic in mouth, etc... My teeth have been deteriorating over the last many years - probably from so many pregnancies and breast feeding years - but I would love to learn about oil pulling. I think I will google it - We also don't have any dental insurance and Mike and I always seem to put our needs last - as we should - after our children's. Also, your ebook will be perfect as I am working towards a diet nearly free from refined sugars and anything white as I think that is where I need to start to prevent anymore damage. I am just considering vegetarian/vegan vs. some meats and trying to listen to my body about what it needs. Thank you so much for sharing and all you have shared at the 30day vegan. warm wishes, Tonya