I have a confession: I have been so goddamn busy that I don't eat lunch.
I'm never actually busy around lunch time (which is a total curse, because if I was busy then maybe I wouldn't be so hungry...maybe), but my nights and mornings aren't prime time for thinking about tomorrow's lunch. I'd rather watch TV and get shit done and fall asleep, crashing into bed with the asteroidal force of an exhausted student/worker/user of public transit. But it turns out that I have to eat lunch or I lose my mind. No, really! If I don't eat lunch, then when I get home at night, I want to eat my entire kitchen, even the sink. It's hungry nights like those where I eat a chocolate bar and shovel in yogurt while preparing mac and cheese for dinner. You get the picture.
I find that if I forget to pack a lunch I either: a) starve, and then come home and night-binge, as aforementioned, or b) spend $6 - 10, eat, and then feel immense guilt because I don't have that kind of money! So, one of my new year's resolutions is to pack a lunch every single day.
TIP: Always have things you can grab and throw in your bag as you rush out the door, just in case you forget to pack a lunch the night before but would still like to function come 2:30 p.m. You are fallible. You will forget to pack lunch, run late, or make a mistake (maybe all three!). This shouldn't preclude you from avoiding midday, hungry zombie-itis. Good grab-items include granola bars, pre-bagged granola/raisins/sliced fruit/nuts/celery/carrots (pre-bag it yourself sometime; don't buy such things pre-bagged, it's a waste of money), bananas, apples, oranges, etc.
On the other hand, if you're willing and able to take 5 minutes to pack a lunch, here are some of my incredibly cheap lunches I like to pack:
1. Peanut butter, chopped pecans, raisins, and chopped celery mixed and spread thickly in a whole wheat tortilla. Wrap it up and eat!
3. Cottage cheese and tuna, mixed (add garlic salt + parsley)
4. Leftover pizza!
5. Sardines and Ritz crackers (okay so you probably hate sardines, but you need to give them a chance; I like them in hot sauce or mustard. I refuse to spend time convincing you, just try it.)
6. A ham and mustard sandwich, with an apple or banana.
Now I realize that these ideas aren't original or even interesting, but I know what a pain in the ass it can be to think of what to bring for lunch when the planning and packing feels like enough of a fucking hassle in the first place.
P.S. Be more like my thrifty grandma and ALWAYS reuse your Ziploc bags, people.
Ahh I love this! My son's school requires a packed lunch every day, so I totally have the hang of packing lunches for him... I have about 4 main dishes that he gets often (plus a few that I know he doesn't really like but I throw them in occasionally anyway, just to force him to try them) and then a rotating supply of about 10 "sides", he gets 2 each day.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I NEVER manage to pack myself a lunch! The best I do is throwing a string cheese and a granola bar into my bag :)
i haven't packed a lunch in my nearly TWO YEARS of working at my job! accck. my excuse is that i'm close enough to walk home on my break but i always get tempted by restaurants on the way. might be time to start packing one.
ReplyDelete@kristin - it is SO hard to resist restaurants! especially when their food is warm and quick and...cheesy and such. it's definitely easier if you have a packed lunch, because you feel obligated to eat it!
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