For years, I’ve brought my lunch to work. I do it to keep from being tempted by the cafeteria smells of less healthy food (fried chicken and pizza) or the sights of my fellow diners eating cheeseburgers and fries. I don’t do it to save money, but I estimate I save about $10-$15 a day. My take-to-work bag includes my morning coffee, mid-morning snack, lunch with home-brewed green tea and afternoon snack. The snacks (fruit, black bean brownies or home-made granola bar) keep me from visiting the vending machines when I get hungry between meals. This week, I’ll cover tips to make it easier to pack your food. Next week, I’ll have a round-up of great recipes for lunch packers.
Grill ahead. Buy super value packs of chicken breasts and grill them on the weekend. You can use different seasonings for variety (e.g., Greek with olive oil and oregano, a Cajun rub, a barbecue rub, oriental with soy sauce and ginger). A friend grills peppered-chicken and cuts it in strips to top the salad greens he brings for lunch. You’re not limited to chicken. You can also grill other lean meats such as flank steak or pork tenderloin.
After the meat has cooled, wrap or pack it individually and freeze it or keep it in the refrigerator if you will use it in the next couple of days. To reheat the meat, I thaw frozen meat in the refrigerator. If I have time, I like to take it out of the refrigerator to reach room temperature before heating it in the microwave. I heat it at 60% or 70% power for a slightly longer time so it doesn’t get tough.
You can even grill vegetables for great, healthy sides. Brush them with Italian dressing or balsamic vinegar and oil or Google grilled vegetables.
Bake ahead. Instead of that giant, high-calorie, high-fat muffin in the morning, bake your own muffins using cake mix and applesauce or canned pumpkin in place of the eggs and oil. My favorites are spice cake or chocolate cake. They are amazingly moist and have fewer than 200 calories, whereas many store-bought muffins weigh in at 400-600 calories. Other suggestions include snacks such as Rocco Dispirito’s black bean brownies or home-made granola bars. I put serving sizes of these baked goodies in l containers and freeze them or keep them in the refrigerator.
Cook ahead. Make two or three servings of your dinner and store the leftovers in containers. Pastas, soups, stews and casseroles are perfect for preparing in bulk and splitting for lunches or week-night meals.
Pack ahead. I pack my lunch bag in the evening and put it in the refrigerator. If I am packing a frozen item, I’ll put a sticky-note on the bag to remind myself to get the item out of the freezer before I leave for work. I make a gallon of sun tea on the weekend and pour it into saved 20 ounce bottles, store them in the refrigerator and toss one into my lunch bag when I’m packing it.
Sites with suggestions for Brown Bagging
- BlueHeathAdvantage.com, Packing a Healthy Lunch
- Lifehacker.com, Make Your Brown Bag Lunch More Appealing
- Rubbermaid.com, Packing a Lunch, Food Safety Advice
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