Pre-Made Workweek Lunch Salads

Let's be honest... when it's early morning, we're tired, we're busy, and we're thinking of the bazillion things we have to do that day.

Busy mornings

It's so much easier to slap some meat and cheese on bread and grab a bag of chips for our weekday 15-minute scarf-fest...ahem...lunch break than it is to make a healthy salad. That's if we even make anything at all. Oftentimes we just grab something quickly from the nearest dollar menu though we know it's not the healthiest, it's convenient.

Healthy can be convenient. Read that again... it really and truly can!

A quick trick

You see, I love food. Like, LOVE it. And I've come to realize that food is not just for pleasure, it is also literally the way we provide nutrients to our bodies and eyes!

I've written a few articles on our page pertaining to The Mediterranean Diet and more specifically the nutrients our eyes need for optimal health, lutein and zeaxanthin. Check those out if you want to know more about the nutritional benefits of your fruits and veggies.

Sunday funday

Okay, you ready? Each Sunday I prep lunches for my entire family. I spend about 2 hours in the kitchen, but that is nothing compared to the time I save in the mornings, the money I save by not going out to eat every day, and the nutritional benefits I'm giving us all!

Plus, I have found that if I'm home, it's so much harder to eat healthily. When I am at work, I can only eat what I bring. If I bring an apple, that's what I'll eat. If I bring a donut... well, you get the point.

After I lay out all of my containers and baggies, I start filling them up.

Here are my 'go-to' breakfasts and lunches for myself. I'll focus on me since I try really hard to eat 'eye-healthy food' every day.

An easy breakfast idea

For breakfast, I literally pour applesauce (no added cinnamon or sugar) into a container and throw in some grapes and chopped strawberries with a banana on the side to chop up right before I eat it. It's so filling and sweet and delicious.

Healthy and Delicious Grab-and-Go Lunches

For lunch, I pre-make 5 salads for myself. First, I layer the bottom of the reusable container with a paper towel (this helps keeps the leaves fresh all week, so my Friday salad is just as delicious as my Monday salad). I layer one more paper towel on top (I use the pick-your-own-size paper towels to cut down on waste). Next, I place a small baggie of my 'dry ingredients'...whatever assortment of nuts, raisins, and seeds I want for the week on top of that (I reuse my baggies until they fall apart!). Then, I place a small baggie of 'wet ingredients' grape tomatoes, chopped carrots, cucumbers, green olives, and chopped red, orange, and/or yellow bell peppers on top of that, place a small olive or grapeseed oil dressing in a tiny container next to it (or even right inside the baggie with the veggies). Last, I add a fork and snap on the lid.

Protein

If I'm feeling really adventurous, I'll bake a chicken Sunday, chill and chop it, and throw some of that in there as well. My entire salad/meal is in one container and ready to grab and go each weekday. No mess and no fuss before work! Can't beat it if you ask me. The great news is, if you don't like one or more of the ingredients, leave them out! Substitute for something you love! That's what's amazing about salad.

Happy, Healthy Eating!
Andrea