Let’s Do (Healthy) Lunch!

You would think that since I work from home and have a flexible schedule, lunch would be the easiest meal of the day. You’d be wrong. From meal planning to finding the time, a healthy and satisfying lunch can be a challenge. But I’ve scoured Pinterest for my favorite lunch ideas and put them in one convenient place just for you.

Ok, so when I say I scoured Pinterest what I really mean is that my child played in the bathtub for almost two hours over the weekend and I was hungry so I browsed Pinterest for food ideas.

Because I enjoy torturing myself apparently.

Lunch is a challenge for me and apparently I’m not the only one – the topic came up in my Fit2Ride accountability group. Variety? Left overs? Prep ahead? What’s a busy girl to do?

Salad In A Jar

Salad In A Jar is one of my go to lunches. Becky, a member of Fit2Ride, commented that when she looked up recipes she thought it would cost a fortunate in ingredients. I’m sure that would be super easy to do! Apparently, I’m a creature of habit because I go for plain salad with just a few variations.

My base salad is romaine lettuce, red onions, and halved cherry tomatoes. I’ll dress that base salad up with some combination of goat cheese crumbles, shredded cabbage, carrot noodles, fresh corn, black beans, my favorite pomegranate balsamic, hard boiled eggs and cooked chicken. I’ll use the basic salads with leftover proteins from dinners or as a side with dinner when I’ve made a higher calorie side for my family. You’ll find a ton of creative recipes and tips on Pinterest. But Becky is right – it could easily add up and be very meal prep intensive.

To keep things budget/time friendly, base your salad in a jar lunches around the proteins/meals that you’re cooking for dinner so you’re using the same ingredients.

Soup It Up

Disclaimer here: I’m a soup person.

I can eat soup for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Repeatedly. My husband is not a soup person – it’s an appetizer or something to dip his sandwich in. So, if you’re not a soup person than this might not apply to you. For me and my fellow soup people, though, soup for lunch is a great way to get in healthy, filling veggies. I try to choose soups that freeze well, cook a large batch on the weekends and freeze in individual portions for an easy to grab lunch.

One of my favorites is Creamy Roast Vegetable Soup. This soup freezes perfectly so I make very large batches and tend to eat it from a mug when a working lunch is my best option for spending after school time with my son.

Some more recipes to explore:

Black Bean Taco Soup from Our Simple Happy Life (along with some other delicious freezer friendly meals)

This Creamy Cauliflower fabulousity from Produce On Parade (I adjusted the seasoning based on what I had already and it was perfect!)

Shredded Chicken Is Your Friend

I’m actually not a huge fan of chicken for dinner. I have a few go to recipes but it’s just not my favorite. Lunch, however, is a totally different story. Chicken is the perfect lunch protein because it is simple to prep in large batches, can be seasoned in a thousand ways and freezes/reheats well when stored correctly.

Every two weeks, I buy an extra flat of chicken tenderloins during my Costco/Sam’s Club run. During my Sunday prep, I’ll chop my chicken into bite size pieces and bake to use for lunches. When I’m in the mood for variety, I’ll divide the chicken into 3 or 4 marinades or seasoning mixes. To cook the chicken all at once, I simply pop into a muffin pan keeping all of each “flavor” chicken in its own row. The muffin tin makes it super easy to dish the cooked chicken directly into individual serving containers to put in the freezer.

The best part about having this constant supply of chicken in the freezer is that I can take one out the night before and stick it in the fridge to thaw without deciding what exactly I want for lunch until its time to eat. When I’m having indecisive days, this is a god send. There are days I simply warm up my chicken and munch on it with some cut up raw veggies.

Or I can toss it over a salad in a jar.

Or add it to some soup for additional protein if I’ve been working out extra heavy.

Or wrap it up in a tortilla.

Or add it to some eggs for an omelet

and so on and so on.

What works for you

The best systems in the world won’t get you closer to your goals if the don’t fit YOUR life. The key here is to know how to make doing the right thing (eating healthy meals that support your weight loss or fitness goals), the easy thing. For me, that means doing the bulk of my lunch prep and cooking on Sundays when my family is relaxing at home and watching the game. I need lunches that I can grab without thinking or I’ll simply skip, and then get so hungry that I’ll eat anything around 4 pm.

Another option is to make extra of whatever protein you make for dinner and use that for lunches. Simply rocking leftovers is also a great option – although I’ve found that putting it away in single serving, ready to eat containers is key. Otherwise, they sit in the back of my fridge until the next time I clean it out.

What do you struggle with when it comes to lunch? Want to share a solution that’s working great for you?