PhillyBaby
Our Wedding
Blogs I Love
What I’ve been packing for lunch
Although I work from home, I no longer work from home a couple of days a week.
Confused?
On days when our awesome nanny from Karen’s Nanny Agency comes to watch Raffi, I’ve been packing up my laptop and heading to our community room to work.
I LOVE IT!
I’m able to get a lot more work done than if I was home. There are no distractions of doing laundry, prepping dinner, saying hi to Raffi, or running errands. I sit here in this giant room by myself and work, work, work. Hours pass and I barely realize that I haven’t checked my personal email at all. It’s fantastic because I get a lot more done, and I can relax a bit more when I go home instead of working all hours of the night.
I forgot what it was like to pack food for lunch and snacks, and I’ve been going a bit overboard. I pack my lunch sack to the brim. It’s so fun though! I’ve only worked out of the house 4 times so far, but I’m going to make it the norm.
Here are the 4 lunches/snacks I’ve packed:
1. egg salad, scooped out sesame bagel (scooped after I took the pic and because I like the crunch without the cals), watermelon, water, sparkling water
2. leftover spaghetti with meatballs, 1 oz Armenian string cheese with 4 Triscuits, apple, water, diet root beer
3. big salad with leftover salmon, olives, feta, tomatoes, cucumber, baby spinach, romaine and balsamic vinegar and olive oil, 90 calorie granola bar, water
4. yogurt bomb with Oikos yogurt, raspberries, blueberries, slivered almonds and a sprinkle of Love Grown granola, 2 sliced cucumbers, 2 oz leftover chicken, water, diet root beer
+I’ve been keeping a big chocolate bar in my lunch sack so I can have 1 perfect square after lunch. It’s a bad habit that I can’t break, but I enjoy it so I’m not trying that hard to break it.
I haven’t eaten everything I pack yet in one work session, but I like to have extra just in case.
It’s so fun to pack food! It’s so fun to work outside of the house! I really love it. I put Raffi down for his nap, pack my lunch and snacks, wait for our nanny to arrive, go upstairs to pump, then head out for 3-6 hours (as long as I can be out before needing to pump again) and head back. I think I finally found a good balance as a SAHWAHM.
Off to think of what to pack for next week… ideas?
7 Responses to “What I’ve been packing for lunch”
Comments
Read below or add a comment...
i am really loving massive salads these days – they’re so filling and versatile and i like that i can eat a ton of food without a ton of calories. plus it helps me get in my raw veggie quota!
and i say don’t skip the square of chocolate thing – i’d call that a necessity 🙂
My salads sound a lot similar to yours. I love a big bold salad with tons of flavor. I also agree with Heather on not skipping the chocolate – it keeps things in balance. Chocolate is a necessity for balance/sanity. 🙂
I love a wheat tortilla spread with plain greek yogurt, sprinkled with sesame seeds, and piled high with fresh spinach. It sounds plain but it’s so delicious! Greek yogurt with fruit is also great – or with sunflower seeds and chocolate chips when you need something sweet.
This is great Sabrina! What a wonderful balance!! Will you pack my lunch 😉 YUM!
Ive been making grilled lemon chicken with bulgur (it’s a ‘clean eating’ recipe on spark people. So tasty and filling!!
When I was working I packed my lunch every single day. I loved it! My go-to lunch was a Morningstar Farms chicken patty on a wheat sandwich thin with spinach, tomato slice, ketchup and mustard. A side of carrot sticks and a big, juicy navel orange made it the perfect lunch!
I like simple things, and you have good ideas. Some other possibilities:
Make-your-own “lunchables” (crackers and deli meat and cheese)
Fresh fruit, cut into slices or made into salad
Hard boiled eggs (plain or stuffed)
Veggies with a dip (I like yogurt-based ranch dressing or hummus, but there are a lot of possibilities)–for veggies I tend to rotate carrots, celery, cherry/grape tomatoes, snow peas, and bell pepper, but you’re not limited to those, obviously
Pinwheels (Very easy–just spread softened cream cheese over a tortilla or slice of deli meat, roll up, chill a bit, then cut into bite-size pieces. You can add other things, like sticking a pickle in the middle of the roll or putting fresh spinach and shredded chicken on the tortilla spread with cream cheese)
Muffins (I tend to bake my own in small batches, but you can also buy them. Don’t limit yourself to sweet–savory muffins are also a great possibility)
Leftovers, reimagined (Have some chicken? Meatballs? Try doing something different with them, or putting them with different foods.)
Pasta salad (you’re really limited only by your imagination; my favorite pasta salad is a pesto tortellini salad with halved grape tomatoes and cubes of chicken and a little bit of shredded parmesan for a garnish)
And as for salad, think outside the green leafy box. My favorite salads to pack are varieties of cucumber salad or carrot salad. I also like a good caprese salad (tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella) in the summer.
Also, if you pack a lunch regularly, think about the lunch when you’re cooking dinner. Could you set aside some portion for lunch? If you’re making meatballs for your spaghetti, for example, set some aside before saucing them and eat them plain, or use the mix to make patties or something else for your lunch the next day.