I had a few questions about eating healthy and school lunches. I have to say that for me, eating healthy is such a work in progress. I feel like I eat extremely for several days, but we always have something going on that breaks my healthy eating habits. A birthday party, or dinner with friends, I find my willpower is still extremely weak in those areas. Once a month, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but we’re talking at least once a week and sometimes multiple times during the weekend. I really need to work on staying home more and away from restaurants (because that’s where I always make bad choices), planning ahead, and raising my willpower when I’m in these situations.
School lunches are easy for me, if I plan ahead. Here’s a peek at some of my lunches. I use the same Easy Lunchboxes
Some of my favorites are pictures above. Mixed salad greens with strawberries, feta cheese, and smoked chicken. Brown rice with shredded parmesean cheese, grilled chicken and an apple. Whole wheat tortilla with grilled chicken, feta cheese, and melons. One of my favorites is a lettuce wrap with turkey, cucumber and hummus. I especially love these wraps during the summer.
I take 1/2 sandwiches a good bit. Whole wheat bread with turkey and cheddar or in this case, chicken salad (made with apples, pecans and greek yogurt) with fruit. If I’ve had a big breakfast, a Lara bar is a perfect mid day fix. Another salad with pecans and dried cranberries and turkey. The last picture is when I was really on top of planning and prepping. Brown rice and grilled chicken, pre-measured and ready for the week. This also makes an easy dinner if Allen is working late and I don’t want to cook.
For me, planning and prepping my food in advance is the key to me taking my lunch and eating healthy. When I’m given a choice, it’s hard for me to stay away from the unhealthy option. That goes back to willpower, know where I can find any?
Here are a few other posts from my archives you might find helpful:
Bulk Cooking- Prepping meals in advance.
do you prep these on the weekend? or do you tend to do them every night? i’m really struggling with packing my lunch. I did good last week. I made chicken salad, pasta salad and ambrosia (pineapple, mandarins, cool whip) and I ate on it all week. It was yummy but by Friday I was OVER it. But I knew it would all keep for the week. And now, I am packing Easton’s lunches every day too. His new school doesn’t offer meals or snacks so I have to come up with stuff for him. It’s a big job! These are great ideas. I really love the lettuce wrap! That looks delish!
Those all look super easy to put together and delicious! I’m going to have to refer back to this over the summer as I prep my meals for the week for work and even for dinner sometimes! I’ll be eating for one this summer since my boyfriend got a job out of town, so this will be perfect! Thanks for sharing!
Love this post! I was just menu planning and these look like great healthy options!
I stay at home with my son, but you’ve given me inspiration to start packing our lunches anyway. I think it will save us tons of time and some money. And it will keep me from eating fast food / convenient things like grilled cheese when we’re strapped for time or ideas.
Question, do you cook chicken to go in your salads, etc. ahead of time specifically for your lunches or is it usually leftovers from dinner?