U can't make a small salad like you can't make a small batch of chili.

If you buy the already chopped veggies and keep them on hand, maybe but
unless you want to make veggie soup or such with the leftovers, it just
doesn't work. If you want the variety that is. My 2 cents worth.
"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
...
> Angela and I are at the dance studio until late one day a week so I
> decided to pack our dinner at least once in a while. This week I decided
> to make a pasta salad. This is actually a vegetable salad with some pasta
> in it. I use Quinoa pasta which is high in protein. I also add a can (or
> more depending on the size of the salad I'm making) of kidney beans. I
> try to make it about 3/4 vegetables and the rest pasta.
>
> Last time I made this salad, I had 8 quarts. Far too much for the two of
> us. So tonight I thought I would be smart and get as much cut up stuff as
> I could from the salad bar at the local grocery store. I got two
> spoonfuls (smallish spoons) each of carrot shreds, grape tomatoes and
> cucumbers and about 4 spoonfuls of sliced green onions. I also wanted
> mixed bell pepper strips but wanted some of those to put in tonight's
> dinner as well. I had Angela get a separate container of those. Had
> about a cup total, with not quite half going into tonight's dinner.
>
> I also bought 5 radishes. One was black inside so tossed it. Sliced
> those, added them and also two ribs of celery, sliced and a good handful
> of flat parsley, chopped. Added two cans of black olives. Two cans were
> necessary because Angela always sneaks into the bowl and picks them out,
> and a can of drained kidney beans. And by the time the pasta got in
> there, I had a joke! Nice veggie salad, but had to use a magnifying glass
> to find the pasta. So I cooked up the other two servings and added them.
> And what I wound up with was about 4 quarts of salad! Oh yeah and there
> is Italian dressing mixed in too.
>
> I guess it's a really good thing we like this salad. But what can I do
> next time to ensure that I don't have leftovers? We have leftovers from
> tonight's dinner as well. I still can't seem to adjust my cooking for
> just the two of us. I really did try tonight! How can I manage to buy
> less veggies for the salad and still get the variety of stuff that I want?
>