Method my Madness: Brown-Bagging!

So I have had a ton of questions and requests these past couple weeks to talk about how we pack our lunches! I am so glad that people are interested in this topic because it is something that Cole and I believe wholeheartedly in (if you really want to get fired up watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on Hulu, or for you Netflix fans, you can get a preview of this by watching the first episode of TEDTalks: Chew on This). Packing lunches is a total win-win: you save a TON of money as I explained here, and you know exactly what is in the food you are eating! Because we make most of our food from scratch and we do not use store-bought canned items (which I will elaborate more on in the future), we have quite a healthy diet, and we are not worried about such things as BPA, HFCS, and MSG. So let us dive right in, shall we?

Here is my method:

1. Determine what accommodations you have available at work/school- I am on a mission to discontinue all use of microwaves (I know, I am a hippy-health-freak), so I try to pack only things that do not need to be re-heated. However, if using a microwave is something that you are not opposed to, or there is a toaster-oven available were you will be eating lunch, then by all means, don’t eliminate the options that need to be re-heated (aka-leftovers from dinner, ect.).

2. Buy a good lunch box- I have to stress that even though I called this post “brown-bagging,” please don’t use a brown-bag! You need something that is insulated and padded to keep you food cool (no food poisoning here!) and keep your tupperware from getting damaged. There are great, high-quality options at discounted stores, which is were we bought ours:

Cole’s lunch box was bought at Big Lots for $8.99, and it’s original price was $17.99!

My lunch box was bought at Ross for $4.99, and its original price was $14.99!

3. Buy an ice-pack- Again, if you pack food that is going to make you sick, you probably shouldn’t pack it in the first place. I bought two ice-packs at the 99Cents-Only store for, you guessed it, $2.00.

4. Make sure you have enough tupperware and/or plastic bags to pack your lunch- Obviously you cannot just pour your lunch into the lunchbox! 

My collection of tupperware!

 5. Determine what the bare minimums are for your lunch- For me, I ALWAYS pack a main dish, a fruit, a veggie, a dessert, and a snack. Sometimes, as Cole and I rarely eat any meat or poultry, the veggie can count as the main dish, but there has to be enough to give us the proper amount of energy we need during the day, so it normally includes a bread, pasta, or rice!

Pasta salad, veggies with spicy hummus, fresh berries, trail mix (not pictured), & a chocolate cookie

 6. Don’t forget the drink- We have different combinations of drinks that we pack, but we MUST have water. As my friend Katrina says: Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Water is the most important thing that you can drink, not Gatorade, not Vitamin Water, don’t even get me started on soda! Just make sure you are consuming W.A.T.E.R. during the day!

7. Pack the proper cutlery and a napkin- This may seem like a no-brainer, but I have been guilty of forgetting utensils all-together. So just make a mental note!

8. Pack/prepare as much as you can the night before- Like I have said before, I am a morning person, but there is just never enough time to get done everything that needs to be completed before everyone is running out the door! I know that there are just some things that don't hold-up well in the fridge over-night, trust me; but if there are some things that you can do the night before, such as cutting up fruits/veggies, and putting items in tupperware, then do it! It will just save you valuable time!

This is were I eat lunch!

 Hope that helps!

Enjoy your day!

-M