On today’s plate:
Thursday Lunch
- Muenster cheese + raspberry jelly bagelwich
- Baby bell peppers
- Unpictured chicken leg nabbed from a leftover lunch event in the break room
Served on the side was some leftover birthday cake from the work fridge.
Cake for Me!
Now for some lunch packin’ talk…
Packing Healthy Lunches
As you know if you follow this blog with any regularity, I pack my lunch to bring to work almost every single day. This not only saves me money, but it makes eating healthy during the work day nice and simple and makes avoiding greasy downtown restaurant fare much easier.
Packing my lunch typically takes me no more than five minutes. I try to pack my lunch the night before while dinner is cooking. Multitasking at its finest!
When I pack my lunch, I go through a similar process each time:
- Select a vegetable. If I’m enjoying a salad, this is simple, but if I’m not, I make it a point to pack some kind of a vegetable (or two!) to enjoy alongside a sandwich or wrap. Carrot sticks, grape tomatoes, cucumber or bell pepper slices are often my go-to veggies when I’m looking for a side of something nutritious because they taste good raw and are easy finger-foods. I also love dressing up raw slices of yellow squash or zucchini with Italian dressing for a little extra flavor.
Veggie Packed!
- Select a source of protein. It’s no secret that protein helps increase feelings of fullness, so I try to make sure my meals include some kind of protein, whether it be in the form of lean meats, cheese (my personal favorite), Greek yogurt, beans, whole grains or tempeh.
Tuna Salad
- Select a carb. This part is usually quite easy, as I am a big fan of sandwiches, bagelwiches, wraps and English muffin pizzas for lunch. I always try to include some kind of a whole-grain carbohydrate with my meals because they help me feel full much faster than any other food, even if that feeling dissipates quicker for me than the feeling of satiety caused by protein, fiber and fats.
Whole Wheat Bagel with Peanut Butter, Peaches and Chia Seeds
- Select a fat. Adding fat to my meals can be rather tricky. I’m not as much of a stickler for this one and usually allow the addition of fat to my meals to happen naturally, whether it be in the form of an olive oil-based salad dressing or a creamy nut butter. If my lunch doesn’t have a hefty serving of fat, I don’t really worry about it because I snack on nuts, cheese and peanut butter fingers like it’s cool.
And there you have it! 😀
Of Possible Interest
- 10 Creamy Vegan Avocado Recipes (FitSugar.com)
- 20-Minute Fat Burning Workout (WomensHealthMag.com)
- Healthy No-Cook Meals (Health.com)
And some totally random…
- The Fashion page was updated with the pink cupcake dress info!
- If you are a bride-to-be and are considering a Priscilla of Boston wedding dress or Priscilla of Boston bridesmaids dresses, you need to check out the amazing deal on RueLaLa today!
Questions of the Afternoon
- What was your favorite packed lunch when you were younger?
- What is your favorite packed lunch now?
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Packing lunch saves a ton of money. When I used to work in Manhattan I would drop $10 easily on a lunch from a near-by deli. Your lunches always look so yummy. Those baby peppers are super cute! Do they have seeds inside like big peppers do?
they do, but only toward the top, so it’s really easy to eat around them!
I go through a similar process as well! My lunch is not a “lunch” unless it has all 4: wholegraincarbs, protein, veg, fat. So much more satisfying than just a few lettuce pieces!!
As a kid I loved whole wheat bagels with tuna fish. My mom fed us healthy my entire life–I am lucky 🙂
Love your tips/ideas!!
I love this post! I always have the hardest time trying to figure out what to bring with me for lunch! Thank you for some great ideas! 🙂 I love bringing lunch because it saves me so much money! I love those peppers! I’ve never seen any that small! 🙂
me neither! i saw them for the first time at my grocery store on sunday and just had to have them!
Your lunches always look great! I get to go home for lunch every day, so I normally try to accomplish the same things! I love when my plate looks fresh and pretty 🙂 Sometimes that doesn’t always happen though…
My favorite lunch is normally a turkey sandwich with mustard, cheese and lettuce and then cottage cheese on the side! Thats what I had today!!
I have a pretty similar process as you when selecting my lunch, and am also a huge fan of packing it the night before!
My fave packed lunch all through elementary school was PB+J!!! I think I had peanut butter and jam sandwiches nearly every day for like 10 years :). I don’t know what I’d eat if I was in school now with all the peanut allergies!
I still love a good PB&J sammy, but my fave packed lunch these days is a GIANT and filling salad beast. Yumballs.
That’s what I do! My offices have always had lunch rooms with a fridge, microwave and toaster oven. If your office doesn’t, you should ask them to! Having healthy employees (and therefore giving them the opportunity to bring fresh, healthy food to work) should be a priority for every company!
oops…this was supposed to be in response to ellalinea’s question below…my bad! 🙂
No worries, but I agree! Boo to no fridge!!!
Hey Julie..
I was wondering how you keep everything fresh? Do you just pop int he fridge when you arrive at work?
yep! i have access to a toaster, a fridge and a microwave at work.
ok thx! 🙂
ahh! I am so jealous! Its hard to pack good lunches when you DON’T have access to that stuff!
I always had school lunch when I was growing up but on rare occasions that we did have to bring a lunch for a field trip, I always had a turkey and cheese sandwich. Plain. With cherry tomatoes on the side and usually a piece of fruit.
My nana used to make me butter sandwiches after school because I refused to eat PB&J.
Now I usually bring some kind of wrap, a veggie burger, a big salad, or leftovers from dinner to work. I rarely eat out!
The tip about packing your lunch the night before is pretty much the best tip EVER. If I wait until the morning, I’m always rushed and end up with the weirdest lunches ever!
My go to lunch is a veggie flatbread pizza! Flatbread, sauce, lots of veggies, & cheese! I eat like about 4 times a week!!
my bf and I recently started buying good bread (either from the farmers market or whole foods) and it is revolutionizing my lunches. the other day I made a turkey pesto mozzerella sandwich that was to die for.
fave sammie: pb folded… meaning a slice of bread smothered in pb and folded in half. twice the pb goodness!
thats how i do my lunches too!!! sometimes i add a fruit as well! but i LOVEEEE FATS.. i eat such crazy amount.. avocado, nuts, nut butters.. ALL DAY LONG!
Great post, I love seeing your healthy lunches!
I actually use lunch as a time when I try to get the most veggies in out of all three meals. Therefore, I center my meal around veggies (i.e. big green salad and then have a little something extra (cheese, avocado, hummus and/or, pita, etc.)
That way I don’t have to worry as much about dinner! 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
I use the same process! My go-to is either a cut-up red bell pepper and a few grape tomatoes, a giant cucumber that I can slice up at work if I’m short of time, or lightning-fast salad of bagged mixed greens, tomato and cukes.
Easy peasy!
A whole wheat english muffin + cheese and avocado is another quickie choice. If I have to go out for lunch, I’ll usually order a Jimmy John’s #12 unwich 🙂
When I was younger – I was all about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (on white bread. gasp!)! And goldfish.. and Ssips Iced-Tea juice back. Oh the memories.
Now I still love my sandwiches – but I use Ezikel Bread w/ turkey and mustard… carrot sticks, an apple, and some wheat crackers.
Such great tips on how to easily pack a lunch! I always pack mine the night before during dinner prerpartins as well… it makes it seem so easy (well, I guess it is)…it’s a no-brainer now! And saves time 🙂
OMG that is a killer deal for Priscilla of Boston!! Would have loved to taken them up on that offer but I already purchased my dress. That boutique and their dresses are so amazing!!!!!
I KNOW!!! i hope SOMEONE out there can take advantage of it!
I don’t know if this counts as a “favorite” lunch, but every single day I bring the same thing to work: turkey/lettuce/cucumber/cheddar cheese sandwich on whole wheat sandwich thin, baby carrots and celery, and an apple. I also bring along a serving of whatever Trader Joe’s trail mix I have open at the moment and snack on that throughout the afternoon because IT IS THE GREATEST THING EVER. Ugh. So much love.
Also, your paper plate usage totally made me think of the opinion column in this morning’s Red Eye: http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/ct-red-0428-column-bazer-20110427,0,1341601.story
Good tips 🙂 I try to get all that in my lunch too. I never used to bring an extra veg as a side, but now I get hungry so quickly without! When I was younger I love love loved tuna sandwiches… like, I had them everyday. I haven’t had one in yeeeears now cos I definitely OD’d!
My favourite lunch of the mo are cinnamon raisin bagels with PB and wraps stuffed to the brim with anything I can find 🙂
I found those little peppers a while ago at Publix too – they are so cute! I love all your lunch tips. Packing at night is definitely the biggest thing for me. I also love doing batch cooking on the weekend so that I’ve already planned my lunches ahead of time. Right now I’m really into cold salads with quinoa or barley, veggies, beans, and an olive oil & lemon juice dressing…yumm and so filling.
i love this post!your lunches are always so cute and delicous!
I love tuna fish with celery!! It’s the best combination.
I like that the cafeteria where I work gives us free meals. They have the best salad bar. 🙂
Oooh I love this topic! My tastes have totally changed from when I was a kid. In primary school, I LOVED things like Pizza Pockets, Gushers, Fruit by the Foot, and Mr Noodles (eaten raw, because that’s what the cool kids did). Now I can’t stand the thought of any of them! My faves now are things like salads made with the things you listed above – carbs (usually quinoa, rice, couscous, barley etc), protein (tuna is my BFF, but I love edamame, chicken and tofu too!) and fat (sesame or olive oil in my dressings). Your lunches always look great!
Great lunch packing tips. Do you have any tips on how to get it together in the morning so that one actually has TIME to pack a lunch 🙂 I need to be more organized! Or maybe I just need to make more bagelwiches?
Fave lunch as a kid: hmmmm, that is so tough! My mom was never one to let her children have junk food (boo!) but I do remember I was always psyched to have Lunchables. I loved those things. I felt so accomplished as I placed the crackers, cheese and turkey together – like a little child chef hehe.
Fave lunch now: any giant salad packed with lots of fruits, veggies and proteins. Nothing makes me happier than a fresh salad for lunch.
pack it the night before while you’re making dinner! 🙂 it’s a lifesaver for me.
I’m still no good at packing my lunch… I do it after eating breakfast and before trying to catch the bus in the morning! My favorite is restaurant leftoves – already packed and ready to go!
My favorite lunch was PBJ (believe it or not, I used to like 75% jelly on my sandiwch….that changed!) with cheddar goldfish and milk. SO GOOD..I still love it though…lol.. Now, I do a similar process that you do… find a protein, whole wheat carb, & veggie….and then pack like 4 other snacks to get me through the day! I work in Manhattan and I’ve spent up to $15 for lunch and felt half as full as I do when I bring my own!
PS..LOVE the Yoana dress. I worked at a boutique a few years ago and we sold it in every color and sold out every time we re-ordered it! So sad I never got myself one, but she re did the cut in future seasons so maybe it will come back! 🙂
I am a sandwich lover…always have been always will be. I loved sandwiches for kid lunches and I love them now!! haha!
But I do remember on the rare occasion when my mom would let us have hot pockets…the pepperoni pizza flavor was my favorite!!
Hiya – do you structure all your meals like this??
I love to pack up my leftovers for easy & quick lunches!
I always loved leftover pizza as a ki when my mom would make her own. I still love leftovers! It’s perfect and hearty and always different 🙂
When I was younger I loved Lunchables!!! I only got one once per week, but I just loved them. Now I like a salad + sandwich or sandwich + soup or leftovers from the night before.
I was a little too excited when I read the headline and saw CAKE! I thought “Yes cake for lunch!”
Then I read the post a little more and understood 😛
Favorite packed lunch was PB & J then and PB & J now. I never get sick of that delicious little sandwich.
90% of the time, I eat a huge chicken or turkey salad for lunch though.
Thank you for this post! (and for all the comments with even more great ideas). I definitely need to spruce up my lunches quite a bit. I usually either have a salad with greens, olives, tomatoes, and onions or a tuna salad sandwich. I’ve been getting kind of tired of both, and never thought of bringing a veggie for the side! (I always had the standard sandwich + potato chips + cookies kind of lunch growing up so veggies with lunch is a foreign concept to me LOL). I’m definitely not getting enough servings of veggies as it is, though, and bringing them for lunch should help me out with that! I also need to try bagel thins…I pass them at the grocery store and seriously think of this blog everytime haha
I’m a huge creature of habbit so most days my lunch consists of a small chicken breast seasoned with Cajun seasoning & hot sauce 😉 + either mashed cauliflowers or roasted veggies. For my snacks I usually have a fruit + almonds in the morning, and then a larabar in the afternoon or some carrots & hummus.
I cannot imagine eating out every day for lunch…. so much $$$$ !
I think you pack the best lunches. You always seem tp pack in the veggies. I like small cold lunches so sometimes they lack veggies since I am not a huge salad fan. I usually go for yogurts, parfaits, fresh fruit, smoothies and such things. I need to get better about that though!
I used to bring some kind of Lean Cuisine for lunch every day and you’ve inspired me to take a couple (literally a couple) of minutes each evening to pack a fresh lunch. I love having variety in my lunches–salad one day, sandwich another, etc. My fav lunch lately has been a muenster and apple quesadilla with the rest of the apple on the side. So yum!
When I was a kid, I loved bologna and ketchup sandwiches. Guess I’ve come a long way! 🙂
I really love overnight oats as an easily packable lunch. I keep old glass PB jars to store them in, then just throw all the ingredients in and put it in my schoolbag. It’s good because you can make them super dense, so along with a piece of fruit it’s a complete meal!!
What are overnight oats? I keep reading this and have no idea what it is. Sounds like something I would like! =)
i love those little peppers stuffed with laughing cow cheese. It makes the best snack!
When I was younger, my dad would make us fluffernutter sandwiches every day. All the kids though it was so gross. lol. Now I love HUGE salads–roasted beets, kale, avocado and lemon tahini dressing is my current fave. Or a wrap and carrot sticks.
My favorite packed lunch as a kid was a PB&J of course. lol. Now I usually take leftovers of dinner from the night before. I try and do the same thing as you by incorporating a veggie, protein, and whole grain source.
mmm for my lunches i always have a fruit, a vegetable, yogurt, a side (of crackers/tortilla chips/trail mix/granola bar/etc) and a main dish that might include protein or carbs or what not…sometimes its a salad or a sandwich or leftovers from dinner. then i eat one of those things as a snack and the rest as my lunch 🙂
I don’t remember what I had when I was a kid, but in high school I never packed my lunch. My favorite was a bagel dipped in cream cheese and hot nacho cheese, a bag of Doritos and a Fudge Round. Thank God for sports and my mother making me eat healthy at home 🙂
Now I usually pack some combination of salad, soup, sandwich.. or leftovers from dinner the night before. That’s usually the easiest lunch, leftovers.
As a youngster, I enjoyed a butter (yes, only butter!) sandwich and a container of shredded cheese, which was eaten with a spoon, on the side for my lunches. It’s crazy what we like as kids!
I had the same lunch as you except I had a yellow pepper with grape tomatoes and no b-day cake…BUMMER!!
My favorite when I was younger was pb&j or a cheese sandwich. Now, I am still loving cheese sandwiches but add in some raspberry jelly (Thanks, Julie!! :)) or a salad with a side of greek yogurt.
I brought a peanut butter & jelly sandwich with pretzels for lunch every day & was never even open to the thought of bringing something else. It may or may not have been somewhat of an addiction :O)
I love brown bag lunches! My favorite lunch as a kid was left over pizza slices, sandwiched together so that the crusts were on the outside. Now I have grown up lunches, that usually involve a stirfry of rando ingredients (altho i still have the odd Pizza sandwich) . I’m too lazy to make my lunch every evening, so I make a big batch of strifry on the weekend and pack all of my lunches at the start of the week.
I don’t know how you eat peppers whole and raw like that…especially w/o dip!! I wish I liked them that way!
I always had PB&J with chocolate milk as a kid (and probably some Doritos or something nice and processed on the side). Now I love PB & banana wraps or sandwiches (on Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread- it’s the best). I wish I liked raw peppers too!!
My favourite lunchs are “random” salads. I make them themed, Italian, French or Mexican based the ingredients that I have in my fridge.
I add meat/fish for protein, a potato/sweet potato for a starch and avocado or nuts for fat.
when I was little my mom always packed me a bologna and cheese sandwich because it’s all i would eat. now I pick much more nutritious options 🙂
I’m the only person at my work who packs a lunch. Its crazy seeing how much my coworkers spend!