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Cook Fast, Live Young: Lunch Ideas - Alternatives to Brown Bagging It
By JulianaWeissRoesslerGuest Blogger(view all posts by JulianaWeissRoessler)
at 11:55AM Wednesday January 26, 2011
under
Money Saving Tips
Image Courtesy of FreeFoto.com
Bringing your lunch to work each day just makes sense. You save money by not eating at a restaurant, and you avoid the high-calorie meals by controlling what's in your meal. Many of us intend to do it, but it just doesn't happen regularly. You forget your lunch at home, or you were running late in the morning and didn't have time to put it together. It's about building the task into your routine, and sometimes that's harder than it seems. That's why I no longer bother trying. Instead, I've located a grocery store near my workplace, and I head over there every Monday to buy my ingredients for that week's lunches. Then I store them in the fridge at work and at my desk. That way I have no opportunity to leave it at home or any excuse about "not having time" to make my lunch. I just make it during my lunch break and store the remaining ingredients back in the fridge! At the end of the week, if I have any leftovers, I can bring them back home or just use them for the following week's meals.
Want to give it a shot? Here's one idea for a week's worth of lunches:
1 bag of sandwich rolls
½ lb lunch meat
¼ lb cheese
Plus one or two sides, such as:
If you'd like, you can also invest in a few jars of condiments to keep at the office. I enjoy honey mustard on my sandwiches, so I keep some handy! The above menu will run you between $10 and $15, which could easily be the cost of just a single lunch at a restaurant.
Looking to brown bag it the old-fashioned way? Check out Annika's great blog on Tips for Packing Cheap and Healthy Lunch Bags.
Bringing your lunch to work each day just makes sense. You save money by not eating at a restaurant, and you avoid the high-calorie meals by controlling what's in your meal. Many of us intend to do it, but it just doesn't happen regularly. You forget your lunch at home, or you were running late in the morning and didn't have time to put it together. It's about building the task into your routine, and sometimes that's harder than it seems. That's why I no longer bother trying. Instead, I've located a grocery store near my workplace, and I head over there every Monday to buy my ingredients for that week's lunches. Then I store them in the fridge at work and at my desk. That way I have no opportunity to leave it at home or any excuse about "not having time" to make my lunch. I just make it during my lunch break and store the remaining ingredients back in the fridge! At the end of the week, if I have any leftovers, I can bring them back home or just use them for the following week's meals.
Want to give it a shot? Here's one idea for a week's worth of lunches:
1 bag of sandwich rolls
½ lb lunch meat
¼ lb cheese
Plus one or two sides, such as:
- 1 bag of pre-sliced apples
- 1 large bag of baked potato chips
- 1 bag of baby carrots
- 1 bag of trail mix
If you'd like, you can also invest in a few jars of condiments to keep at the office. I enjoy honey mustard on my sandwiches, so I keep some handy! The above menu will run you between $10 and $15, which could easily be the cost of just a single lunch at a restaurant.
Looking to brown bag it the old-fashioned way? Check out Annika's great blog on Tips for Packing Cheap and Healthy Lunch Bags.
Juliana Weiss-Roessler has ten years of professional writing and editing experience. For four years, she managed the web content for the star of an Emmy-nominated reality series. Currently, she is an editor for the geek girl e-zine PinkRaygun.com, a contributor to the career blog at Resumark.com, and owner of the food blog CookFastLiveYoung.blogspot.com. Follow her @cookfast on Twitter and learn more about her work at WeissRoessler.com.
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