5 Cheap Work Week Lunches
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Post by marketing intern, Lawrence Watson.
Last week I shared seven easy tips for planning inexpensive work week lunches and stated my intention to put those tips into action with a log of my lunches from the preceding week. This is that log—five days with me and my cute bento box (a Japanese style lunch box). If you haven’t yet read it, check out my previous post to see what methods I used to make my lunches cheaper, more attractive, and healthier than what I’d get eating out.
What I made
Day 1: Omelet, cilantro rice, black beans, spinach, cucumber, avocado, and green salsa.
As debuted in last week’s post, my first lunch was an omelet with cilantro rice, black beans, avocado, spinach, cucumber, and green salsa. Everything is of my own design except the salsa, which was store bought. Both the beans and the rice were cooked as part of a larger batch that I’ll use throughout the week. Although everything is neatly sorted in the bento, I mixed the beans, rice, veggies, and salsa when I sat down for lunch—making something similar to a Chipotle burrito bowl. The omelet—a Japanese style layered omelet called tomagoyaki—I ate separately.
Day 2: Ham-egg-pesto sandwich, vegetable rice stir-fry, apple slices, and peanut butter.
This lunch was mostly recycled. Half a ham-egg-pesto breakfast sandwich made during that day’s early hours and vegetable stir-fry from the night before. The only thing unique to the box are the apple slices and peanut butter.
Note: the single piece of celery is used only as a divider. I’m not the biggest fan of raw celery, so I was happy to find a utilitarian use for the plant that didn’t involve me eating it. (You may ask why I had celery in my fridge if I don’t like it. To which I reply, “I have no idea.”)
Day 3: Apple, cucumber, spinach, kale, agave juice.
I learned a value of preparing my own meals that I hadn’t anticipated with this lunch. I started the day off with a large, protein-heavy breakfast. Large enough that I knew I wouldn’t need a full meal at lunch to keep my energy up—so I didn’t make a full meal. I didn’t even make any solid food. Instead, I borrowed a recipe and juicer from my roommate and made juice as a meal substitution.
By planning my own meals, I can better manage quantity throughout the day. If I had gone out for lunch there’s a good chance that I would have stacked an equally heavy lunch on top of an already heavy breakfast. By avoiding overeating, I escaped the post-meal lethargy that often comes with it.
Day 4: Roasted vegetables, black beans, quinoa, field greens, and avocado.
I went full-on vegan with this lunch. It’s not a dietary style I frequently attempt. This is what happened when I decided I didn’t want to cook anything in the morning. The roasted vegetables, beans, and quinoa were all made previously. All I had to do was transfer the food from the Tupperware in my fridge to the bento box. Total prep time: 3 mins. Delicious? Absolutely.
Day 5: Pepper fried tilapia, wild rice, black beans, banana slices, and Nutella.
When I finished packing this lunch the first thought that came to mind was a Sesame Street dedication: “today’s lunch is brought to you by the color brown!” (Ah, I should have thrown some sesame seeds in there… What a wasted opportunity for thematic continuity.)
Sepia tones aside, this is the first lunch I made with a full meat portion.
The fish kept nicely, though its taste did seep into the beans and rice. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if the thought of everything being fishy unsettles you, I recommend creating a divider or wrapping the fish. The banana and Nutella were packed to sate my post-lunch sweet tooth with something not completely horrible.
What I learned from this experiment
The good
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I liked all the food I made—I didn’t mind eating mostly leftovers. In fact, it didn’t even feel like I was eating leftovers.
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I never crashed at work. I was mentally strong throughout the day.
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For the most part I ate healthy. It’s unverified because I don’t own a scale, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I lost a little weight.
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Beans for the win—they nestled themselves into three different lunches, becoming my most used food, which was great because they’re easy, delicious, and filling. Something I was always happy to add to give the meal some heft.
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I used all of my groceries and made them last—I didn’t waste money on expensive one-time meals. Not to mention that spending $40 on groceries for the week and realizing not a penny was wasted is incredibly satisfying.
The bad
- Preparing lunch earlier in the day isn’t the most fun. Cooking food that you can’t eat immediately is still a bit of a novel concept to me. It can be especially hard to stomach when the lunch I’m making looks much better than the breakfast I had.
The ugly
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While the lunches looked nice in the pictures, taken right after packing, the meals were a bit messier when it came time to eat. The bag I carry my bento in does not respect the order of the box.
All in all, I’d say it was a successful exercise. Packing lunch isn’t quite a habit yet, but I’m more educated and experienced than I was before.
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