A Lunch for Every Day of the Work Week
There’s little doubt that you can save a lot of money on food by preparing and bringing your own lunch to work each day rather than eating out. The problem with bringing a lunch from home is often just coming up with menu ideas. No one wants to eat the same boring sandwich everyday.
Coming up with a solid list of lunch ideas is a sure-fire way to make planning your daily lunches easier. Grocery shopping will be simpler, too, if you already have an idea what you will need for lunches each week. Here are a few ideas to help you get started on your menu list:
Salad – Try to make one day each week a salad day. It’s a healthy lunch choice that is easy on the pocketbook, too. If you feel bored with the traditional green salad, you can mix it up with another type.
Soup – Soup of any type is always a great choice for a work lunch. You can make a large batch, freeze it into smaller containers, and thaw one each week for your lunches. Like the salad, you can change soup up by switching to a different kind.
A Sandwich – Ok, you don’t want to resort to making a sandwich all the time, but having one once a week is certainly palatable. Make sure to take your condiments with you so that you can add them to your sandwich at lunch time. Waiting until you’re ready to eat before you add them will help you avoid that dreaded soggy bread problem.
Pasta – Pasta is another one of those foods that you can cook in large amounts and then take a little to work with you at a time. Try cooking the pasta noodles (whatever shape you like) ahead of time and adding canned sauce to it at lunch time.
Leftovers – As you’re planning your weekly meals, plan to make too much for one of your evening meals. Then, you’ll have leftovers for your lunch. Imagine how welcome a slice of last night’s pot roast, paired with a helping of your favorite vegetables, will be in the middle of a stressful day.
Use these ideas as a jumping off point to make your own weekly lunch menu. Working some variety into your lunch routine will help to keep you from getting bored with taking your own lunch to work each day. You’ll be less tempted to give into the urge to eat lunch at a restaurant and find it easier to stick to your new meal plan.
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These are great ideas. I always like to include some healthy snacks in the lunch box to - carrot or cucumber sticks, cherry tomatoes, a piece of fruit, a yoghurt - this can make the lunch box more exciting too.
“No one wants to eat the same boring sandwich everyday.” I guess this is where willpower (or just being boring) comes into play: I have been making a sandwich five days a week for over two years as my lunch and I’m OK with it. It’s automatic now when I go to the grocery store: lunch meat, cheese, bread, done. Why? Because you’re right, coming up with a menu is the toughest part and I just don’t have the time or the patience for it.