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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to plan your lunches. Few people put much

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Speaker 1: thought into their midday meals, but a little intentionality can

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Speaker 1: make this time of day more tasty and may save

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Speaker 1: you some time and money too. So most of us

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Speaker 1: eat lunch most days, and yet every day it can

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Speaker 1: feel like a new problem. You are starving after a

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Speaker 1: meeting ends at one o'clock and you wind up waiting

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Speaker 1: in line ten minutes to grab something overpriced from the

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Speaker 1: cafeteria or something not so healthy from a fast food

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Speaker 1: restaurant nearby, or you are working at home and the

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Speaker 1: prospects look bleak so you eat cereal. We've all been there,

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Speaker 1: and what's interesting to me is that often even people

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Speaker 1: who do a lot of planning for everything else in

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Speaker 1: their lives, including dinners, can have a blind spot about lunch.

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Speaker 1: But it doesn't take a lot of thought to make

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Speaker 1: this meal a little more appetizing. Long time listeners know

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Speaker 1: that I advocate planning the upcoming week on Friday. So

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Speaker 1: on Friday, when you are planning your upcoming week, take

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Speaker 1: a quick moment to think through your midday meals. Where

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Speaker 1: will you be working, are you working all five days?

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Speaker 1: When will you likely break for lunch or at least

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Speaker 1: squeeze lunch into your schedule. Do you have more time

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Speaker 1: someday for some reason. Rather than making mediocre restaurant food

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Speaker 1: your default, you might choose one day when you've got

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Speaker 1: some flexibility and schedule a real lunch date with a

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Speaker 1: friend and then pack your lunch the other days to

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Speaker 1: balance out the cost. As I look at an upcoming week,

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Speaker 1: I see that two of my kids have a random

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Speaker 1: half day off from school, so it might be worth

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Speaker 1: blocking that on my calendar to do something special for

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Speaker 1: lunch with them. You might also think through the cuisine.

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Speaker 1: If you plan your dinners, you can make enough to

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Speaker 1: have leftovers and then do something interesting with them to

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Speaker 1: make a better lunch if you have the groceries on hand.

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Speaker 1: So on Wednesday night this past week, we had pork

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Speaker 1: cooked in the crock pot. I saute the leftovers with

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Speaker 1: broccoli and spinach on Thursday and Friday for lunch. It

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Speaker 1: was definitely better than cereal. It is also good to

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Speaker 1: think through some non leftover lunch options when you do

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Speaker 1: your grocery shopping so you have some easy backup options.

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Speaker 1: I make sure that I always have the ingredients for

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Speaker 1: a curried chicken salad I like to make, and I

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Speaker 1: generally have that at least once a week. I also

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Speaker 1: buy a few cans of soups I like, so I

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Speaker 1: have those on hand with pre made dough that can

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Speaker 1: be stuck in the oven to make a very quick roll.

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Speaker 1: There's nothing quite like soup and fresh out of the

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Speaker 1: oven bread to make lunch feel much better. Of course,

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Speaker 1: if you do have a favorite fast casual restaurant near

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Speaker 1: your office, there is nothing wrong with going there sometimes,

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Speaker 1: but it's better if it's intentional. Place your order ahead

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Speaker 1: of time so you can just go pick it up, and,

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Speaker 1: better yet, coordinate with colleagues so you can walk over

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Speaker 1: there together and get some exercise and social time alongside

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Speaker 1: your food. And know that even if you do work

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Speaker 1: in an office and don't like packing lunches, you might

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Speaker 1: not have to buy every day. If you've got an

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Speaker 1: off fist fridge, you could bring some supplies on Monday

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Speaker 1: for the week. Hard boiled eggs, cheese, sticks, almonds, and

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Speaker 1: apples could make a lunch that is very close to

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Speaker 1: some boxes you might buy at a coffee shop, So

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Speaker 1: shop for those and bring them in, and feel free

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Speaker 1: to buy some treats at the grocery store too, because

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Speaker 1: the honest truth is that you would have to buy

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Speaker 1: a lot of stuff at the grocery store to equal

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Speaker 1: the cost of eating lunch out every day. What do

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Speaker 1: you like to eat for lunch? How do you turn

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Speaker 1: this break into a bright spot in your day? I'd

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Speaker 1: love to hear about it. You can reach me at

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Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this

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Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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Speaker 1: most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.