Delicious and Easy Work Lunches

I am an avid believer in the statement “If you have good food in the fridge, you will eat good food” and I apply this same principle to preparing food to take to work. I religiously bring my lunch to work every day for a few reasons:

• For starters I am completely indecisive which means if I don’t bring a packed lunch, I will stand at a café for way to long umming and ahhhing about what to eat and fighting the devil in my head pushing me towards the hot chips…
• I’m a creature of habit and I find that I am much better when I stick to a  routine
• If my lunch is ready to eat at work then this means I can spend my lunch break getting some exercise by going for a walk
• It is wayyyyyyyyyyy cheaper to bring your own lunch
• I know exactly what is going into my mouth. I find that with food you order from a café , it may taste delicious but this is because they are far more liberal with flavourings, butter and sugar which is tasty but not great for you.

My go to option for lunch is to bring leftovers from dinner the night before. Most of my lunch, dinner and salad recipes serve 4 people but with only two in my household this leaves enough for lunch the next day. This  makes it so easy as you don’t have to prepare another meal it just simply means placing the leftovers in a container and taking them to work the next day. Some great recipes which I love having for lunch the next day are:

• Roast Veggie Salad
• Pumpkin and Chickpea Curry– this freezes and reheats really well so I sometimes make a double batch for those times when I don’t have time to cook
• Mexican Bean Salad
• Stuffed Mushrooms– these reheat really well in the microwave
• Gluten Free Corn Fritters
• Stuffed Eggplants

If I don’t have facilities at work to re heat leftovers then I also like to take nice salads  which I will generally throw together in the morning. To make it easy, on the weekend when I do my big food shop I will stock up on things like bags of mixed leaves, sundried tomatoes, olives, cherry tomatoes, nuts and seeds. Then what I do is roast up a heap of pumpkin & sweet potato and store in the fridge. This means when I go to make I salad I have heaps of quick options to throw together in a lunch container and it literally takes only a few minutes.

Other great things that you can buy or pre prepare which are great added to bulk out a salad are:

• Boiled eggs- boil  some at the start of the week, store in the fridge and they will last a few days. They are great to add to a  salad or even just to snack on in the afternoon.
• Have a few cans of tuna in the cupboard- This make a great “emergency” meal and is a good source of protein
• Smoked salmon- Quick and easy to have sitting in the fridge. Add to any salad and you will feel like your eating a restaurant quality meal!!
• I myself don’t eat meat but you could also grilled a  chicken breasts and store in the fridge for up to a few days.

If you have a longish commute to work, buy yourself an insulated bag with a freezer brick to keep everything nice and cold. I bought these fantastic Michelle Bridges containers which collapse so once I have finish lunch I give them a wash, collapse them and then they takes up barely any space in my bag for the commute home

So get yourself sorted today, go do a big shop and prepare for the week ahead. Not only will you save yourself money but your body will thank you too.