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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. Longtime listeners know that

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

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Speaker 1: when you are planning your upcoming week, take a quick

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Speaker 1: moment to think through your midday meals. Where will you

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

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Speaker 1: you likely break for lunch or at least squeeze lunch

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Speaker 1: into your schedule. Do you have more time someday for

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Speaker 1: some reason. Rather than making mediocre restaurant food your default,

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Speaker 1: you might choose one day when you've got some flexibility

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Speaker 1: and schedule a real lunch date with a friend and

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Speaker 1: then pack your lunch the other days to balance out

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Speaker 1: 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: office fridge, you could bring some supplies on Monday for

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

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

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

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Speaker 1: for those and bring them in and feel free to

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Speaker 1: at Laura vandercam 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. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've

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Speaker 1: got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at

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Speaker 1: Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

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Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit

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Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to

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Speaker 1: your favorite shows.