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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is to upgrade your brown bag lunch. You

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Speaker 1: have heard a million times that packing a lunch is

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Speaker 1: a great way to save time and money, eat more healthfully,

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Speaker 1: and reduce food waste. But if your brown bag lunches

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Speaker 1: are dreary, you may still wind up at the fast

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Speaker 1: food counter despite your best intentions. So make your packed

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Speaker 1: lunches more appealing and you will feel better about the

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Speaker 1: whole thing. Now, I should start this episode by saying that, yes,

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Speaker 1: I work from home. Theoretically I could cook myself a

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Speaker 1: gourmet lunch from scratch daily, but I don't. Instead, I

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Speaker 1: am grabbing the exact same stuff I would probably take

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Speaker 1: to an office leftovers, frozen meals, sandwiches, and so forth.

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Speaker 1: There are definitely days when my lunch is better than others.

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Speaker 1: So those are the lessons I am drawing upon for

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Speaker 1: this episode unpacked lunches. First, don't underestimate the power of

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Speaker 1: making lunch attractive. Eating straight out of the tupperware does

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Speaker 1: not feel like a treat. You want your lunch to

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Speaker 1: evoke dining at a nice cafe, So skip the disposable

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Speaker 1: paper and plastic. Get an attractive lunch box that makes

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Speaker 1: you smile when you see it. Pack stainless flatware and

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Speaker 1: a cloth napkin. After you eat, just wrapped the flatware

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Speaker 1: and the napkin to avoid getting your lunch bag dirty.

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Speaker 1: Depending on the items in your lunch, you might like

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Speaker 1: to pack of plate instead of eating everything out of baggies.

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Speaker 1: A spiffier presentation of your lunch will make whatever you

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Speaker 1: bring taste better, and it'll take you maybe sixty seconds

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Speaker 1: to make it happen. Just not a big enough time

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Speaker 1: stuck to worry about. As for what to take in

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Speaker 1: your lunch, remember that it shouldn't feel like deprivation. Most

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Speaker 1: people find meals interesting when they contain a variety of items, flavors,

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Speaker 1: and textures. Think protein, veggie, something crunchy or salty, and

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Speaker 1: something sweet. What combinations can you make within those guidelines.

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Speaker 1: It could be some rotisserie chicken, baby carrots, pretzel chips

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Speaker 1: and a banana. Or it could be hard boiled eggs, nuts,

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Speaker 1: a cucumber and fet a salad and some stunning chocolate

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Speaker 1: chip cookies. Bringing leftovers is always a great idea but

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Speaker 1: some leftovers are better than other leftovers. Indeed, I would

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Speaker 1: recommend cooking with the goal of creating great leftovers for

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Speaker 1: your lunches. A big lasagna on the weekend can translate

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Speaker 1: into several servings of lasagna during the week. A big

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Speaker 1: batch of curry can become lunch with microwavable rice. Chili

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Speaker 1: is even better as leftovers than it is the first day,

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Speaker 1: as the flavors mild together. Experiment with cast roles until

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Speaker 1: you find some favorites. Years ago, when I did work

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Speaker 1: in an office, I used to love my brown bag lunches.

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Speaker 1: The week after I made a chicken, rice and mushroom

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Speaker 1: cast role that featured some really good sherry yum. Choose

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Speaker 1: something you'd like to eat for Sunday night dinner and

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Speaker 1: make enough that you can cover at least three lunches.

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Speaker 1: Then you pack something else or go out on the

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Speaker 1: other days. As for side dishes, batch processing is your friend.

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Speaker 1: If you're packing nuts, for instance, go ahead and set

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Speaker 1: out several servings and several baggies are containers. Now you

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Speaker 1: can just grab one each morning. And let's not discount

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Speaker 1: the brilliance of prepackaged fruits and veggies and snacks. Yes,

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Speaker 1: it's a bit more expensive, but if your pineapples go

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Speaker 1: bad before you eat them, because chopping them up seems

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Speaker 1: like more effort than you can muster, you are not

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Speaker 1: saving money. Feel free to get those packaged pretzels with

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Speaker 1: hummus or small servings of nice or cheeses. There's a

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Speaker 1: little more packaging than when you buy in bulk, but

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Speaker 1: you are still saving money and using less packaging then

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Speaker 1: you likely would with a full take out restaurant. Meal

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Speaker 1: batching and leftovers make packing lunch easier, but it's also

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Speaker 1: nice to have an appealing backup option ready to go. Personally,

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Speaker 1: I keep a stash of Amy's burritos and the freezer

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Speaker 1: for days when there is no obvious option for lunch.

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Speaker 1: Individual serving sizes of guacamole plus a few chips turn

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Speaker 1: this into something not too dissimilar than what I would

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Speaker 1: order in a Mexican restaurant. As an out of the

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Speaker 1: box solution, you might also consider teaming up with someone

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Speaker 1: else to help upgrade your brown bag lunches. Does your

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Speaker 1: spouse actually enjoy packing lunches? Maybe your spouse could pack

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Speaker 1: two lunches and you could unload the dishwasher every day.

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Speaker 1: In return, do you have a work best friend with

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Speaker 1: similar food tastes, Maybe you could bring lunches for both

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Speaker 1: of you Monday and Tuesday, and she could bring lunches

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Speaker 1: for both of you wins Day and Thursday. This lightens

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Speaker 1: the load for everyone and create some accountability to You

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Speaker 1: might be willing to scrounge from the vending machine and

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Speaker 1: a pinch, but you won't inflict that on your colleague,

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Speaker 1: or at least I hope you won't. And finally, remember

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Speaker 1: that you don't have to pack a lunch every single day.

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Speaker 1: To save money and eat more healthfully, it is all

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Speaker 1: about moderation. Eating out once or twice a week is

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Speaker 1: fine and can help you feel more social and feel

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Speaker 1: like you're getting more variety. That will keep you from

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Speaker 1: getting burned out unpacking, So you will put the energy

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Speaker 1: into making lunch great on the days you do pack.

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Speaker 1: What are your favorite ways to make packing your lunch

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Speaker 1: more appealing? You can let me know at Laura at

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Speaker 1: Laura Vanderkamp dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of

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Speaker 1: our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod. That's b E the number four, then

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Speaker 1: Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an

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Speaker 1: email at Before Breakfast podcast. At i heeart media dot

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Speaker 1: com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio. For

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