Bring Your Lunch

Here are  five  of my favorite easy lunches to bring to work:

1. Leftover anything. It is easy to make extra the night before and then pack up the leftovers in your favorite storage container. Favorites of mine are chili, lentil stew, risotto, roasted veggies, whole grains with tomato sauce, and leftover sauteed greens. To keep your lunch fresh, a refrigerator is great, but you can also use a cold pack from your freezer.

2. Nut butter and jelly on california protein style bread or whole grain tortilla, carrot, and piece of fruit.  Sometimes I substitute nut butter and banana. Sometimes plain nut butter . It is pretty tasty and keeps you satisfied until the end of the day. Other sandwich ideas: lots of greens, leftover meat, pickles and mustard; mozzarella, tomato and pesto; avocado spread like butter, lettuce, and any bean made into a bean spread (whizz it in a food processor with a teeny bit of olive oil and salt.)

3. Cleaned salad greens, sliced chicken or beef with home made vinaigrette, some nuts, and piece of fruit.

4. Black beans (or any kind of bean), corn, edamame, cherry tomatoes, and leftover grain (rice, barley, quinoa etc…) Mix, add a little vinaigrette, a little yogurt if you  like for creaminess – voila!

5. Hard boiled eggs (2), cottage cheese, whole carrots, fruit.

Here is an easy prep step:

On Sunday make a bunch of hard boiled eggs, cook a pot of beans, bake some sweet potatoes, and wash some carrots. When I cook easy stuff in bulk, and store them in the refrigerator,  I can just grab things on my way out, ensure that I have something pretty healthy to eat, and I know that I’m not going to take a lot of time to prep in the morning. It isn’t always glamorous, but, if you can grab your lunch and head outside away from the computer, chances are your body will feel much better than if you go out for Chinese food or a burrito. You will certainly save money, and you might even have the energy to get a little walk in before you head back to work.