Eating Healthy on the Cheap: Salads

Have you ever read diet or "healthy" cookbooks and sort of ask yourself, "what the HECK is THAT all about?"  Or "What would THAT be good?"  Maybe I'm a simpleton, but sometimes I feel that people try to go "over the top" to be healthy.

 For instance:

A salad.  Here is a salad with goat cheese, cranberries, walnuts, apples.  For me, this does not sound appealing at all.  But I feel like nowadays - "healthy" equals "fancy."  I'll talk to trainers, gym-goers and just overall people in general.  Sometimes I feel that people have to rain on my "trying to be healthy parade."  What do I mean?

I eat an apple.  "Oh, is it an organic apple?  You should really buy organic produce."  
Me:  "Shut up!  I'm eating a friggin apple and not a Snickers bar!"

I eat a package of instant oatmeal everyday.  "You should switch to all-natural rolled oats!  They are great.  You can buy them at bulk at Whole Foods."  
Me:  "The fact that I eat oatmeal everyday is a friggin miracle.  Don't friggin ruin it."

I eat Yoplait yogurt.  "You have to try Greek Yogurt.  So good.  Also, Yoplait is full of artificial colors and other chemicals."
Me:  "I don't care."

You have to pick the degree of healthy for you.  And there are many factors to consider.  Cost, obviously.  Amount of additives.  Convenience.  Me, I need to actually like the crap - a.k.a. Taste.  I don't care how healthy or how cheap Greek Yogurt can be - I'm not eating that crap.  It doesn't jive with me.  Healthy doesn't have to cost a ton.  It doesn't have to be all fancy.  For me, mandarin oranges, pine nuts and funky-animal cheeses in salads are for the birds....

For salads, I like to stick to the "regular" stuff:  Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion and carrots.  If I'm feeling wild, I'll throw some green pepper in.  You might like all the funky, fancy stuff.  But the point is, you don't have to over think or over spend to be "healthy".  Like many things in life, if you just stick to the basics, you'll be okay.