Associate web editor Rochelle Bilow and assistant web editor Christina Chaey are on a mission to bring lunch from home every day for a month. Each Friday, they'll reflect on the week's grain bowls, salads, and sandwiches. Here's what they learned from week two.
Well, we've come to the end of week three in our mission to bring a packed lunch every day for a month—which means we're well over the halfway-point. You'd think this whole "lunch" thing would get easier, but alas, we're still learning valuable lessons with every meal. Here's the knowledge we picked up this week.
I'll cop to it: 95% of the time, I eat lunch sitting at my desk. Now and then I'll check personal email, but most often I'm just working straight through. Sure, I put my salad in a ceramic bowl. Sure, I use real silverware. But one thing I'm not doing is walking away from my screen or stretching my legs. I know this is not healthy. This week, I finally decided to do something about it. On Tuesday, I took advantage of a rare sunny sky and ate my tahini-and-apple sandwich outside with a book. On Wednesday, Christina and I brought our lunches to the office cafeteria and had a conversation and not over instant messenger. It's such a simple, almost silly thing to find monumental, and yet I can't stop thinking about how much better it made me feel all afternoon long. I'm not saying I'll be taking an hour-long break for a three-course meal and leisurely stroll (I promise, boss). But I will definitely be getting up and out and away from my screen more often.
I knew I wanted to get pumped for the week ahead, so for the salad I packed on Monday, I made sure to incorporate a ton of color with peas, yellow squash, kale, and three different kinds of beets. I’m fully convinced that getting visually excited about what was on my plate (or, in this case, in my bowl) also made it taste better. That might also be me trying to rationalize the fact that I put all of that sh*t in one salad.
When packing my lunches, I tend to rely heavily on fresh produce, like salad greens, veggies, and ripe, in-season fruit. So when I came back to my apartment late on Sunday evening after a weekend upstate, I was feeling pretty stumped. I had next to nothing in my fridge, and wasn't sure what I could pack. A bare refrigerator forced me to open up my cupboards where I found…a lot of food. From dried beans to whole wheat pasta to rice noodles, I had a world of lunchtime inspiration—not to mention my dried spices, vinegars, and oils. Don't let those tinned tuna, jar of roasted peppers, or canned beans go to waste—they're just what your office lunch needs.
I’m not sure what I was thinking roasting a 5-pound chicken for one last weekend, but all of a sudden I needed ways to use up a ton of shredded roast chicken meat. Enter cooked brown rice, refried black beans, leftover sautéed greens, and a pack of flour tortillas. I made 8 burritos, froze them, and am planning to break ‘em out on the nights I just can’t muster the energy to cook dinner or pack lunch. Microwave on high for three minutes, then eat with plenty of Cholula or Tapatío hot sauce.
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