Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to plan your lunches. Few people put much
Speaker 1: thought into their midday meals, but a little intentionality can
Speaker 1: make this time of day more tasty and may save
Speaker 1: you some time and money too. So most of us
Speaker 1: eat lunch most days, and yet every day it can
Speaker 1: feel like a new problem. You are starving after a
Speaker 1: meeting ends at one o'clock and you wind up waiting
Speaker 1: in line ten minutes to grab something overpriced from the
Speaker 1: cafeteria or something not so healthy from a fast food
Speaker 1: restaurant nearby, or you are working at home and the
Speaker 1: prospects look bleak so you eat cereal. We've all been there,
Speaker 1: and what's interesting to me is that often even people
Speaker 1: who do a lot of planning for everything else in
Speaker 1: their lives, including dinners, can have a blind spot about lunch.
Speaker 1: But it doesn't take a lot of thought to make
Speaker 1: this meal a little more appetizing. Long time listeners know
Speaker 1: that I advocate planning the upcoming week on Friday. So
Speaker 1: on Friday, when you are planning your upcoming week, take
Speaker 1: a quick moment to think through your midday meals. Where
Speaker 1: will you be working, are you working all five days?
Speaker 1: When will you likely break for lunch or at least
Speaker 1: squeeze lunch into your schedule. Do you have more time
Speaker 1: someday for some reason. Rather than making mediocre restaurant food
Speaker 1: your default, you might choose one day when you've got
Speaker 1: some flexibility and schedule a real lunch date with a
Speaker 1: friend and then pack your lunch the other days to
Speaker 1: balance out the cost. As I look at an upcoming week,
Speaker 1: I see that two of my kids have a random
Speaker 1: half day off from school, so it might be worth
Speaker 1: blocking that on my calendar to do something special for
Speaker 1: lunch with them. You might also think through the cuisine.
Speaker 1: If you plan your dinners, you can make enough to
Speaker 1: have leftovers and then do something interesting with them to
Speaker 1: make a better lunch if you have the groceries on hand.
Speaker 1: So on Wednesday night this past week, we had pork
Speaker 1: cooked in the crock pot. I saute the leftovers with
Speaker 1: broccoli and spinach on Thursday and Friday for lunch. It
Speaker 1: was definitely better than cereal. It is also good to
Speaker 1: think through some non leftover lunch options when you do
Speaker 1: your grocery shopping so you have some easy backup options.
Speaker 1: I make sure that I always have the ingredients for
Speaker 1: a curried chicken salad I like to make, and I
Speaker 1: generally have that at least once a week. I also
Speaker 1: buy a few cans of soups I like, so I
Speaker 1: have those on hand with pre made dough that can
Speaker 1: be stuck in the oven to make a very quick roll.
Speaker 1: There's nothing quite like soup and fresh out of the
Speaker 1: oven bread to make lunch feel much better. Of course,
Speaker 1: if you do have a favorite fast casual restaurant near
Speaker 1: your office, there is nothing wrong with going there sometimes,
Speaker 1: but it's better if it's intentional. Place your order ahead
Speaker 1: of time so you can just go pick it up, and,
Speaker 1: better yet, coordinate with colleagues so you can walk over
Speaker 1: there together and get some exercise and social time alongside
Speaker 1: your food. And know that even if you do work
Speaker 1: in an office and don't like packing lunches, you might
Speaker 1: not have to buy every day. If you've got an
Speaker 1: off fist fridge, you could bring some supplies on Monday
Speaker 1: for the week. Hard boiled eggs, cheese, sticks, almonds, and
Speaker 1: apples could make a lunch that is very close to
Speaker 1: some boxes you might buy at a coffee shop, So
Speaker 1: shop for those and bring them in, and feel free
Speaker 1: to buy some treats at the grocery store too, because
Speaker 1: the honest truth is that you would have to buy
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff at the grocery store to equal
Speaker 1: the cost of eating lunch out every day. What do
Speaker 1: you like to eat for lunch? How do you turn
Speaker 1: this break into a bright spot in your day? I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear about it. You can reach me at
Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.