DIY Food Pt. 2: Quick and Easy Lunches

It’s time for part two: easy peasy (and mostly healthy) quick lunches. Prepping lunches for ourselves and your kids is tough, but if you have have a plan and stick to it, it’s totally doable. Within these four lunch suggestions, I’ll talk you through the prepping plan as well as the preparing/packing plan and we will all hope to make our emergency lunch pit-stops at McDonalds just a little less frequent.

Roasted Veggies and Grilled Chicken Breast

This is the most frequent lunch option at our house. This lunch is filling but wholesome and Whole 30/Paleo compliant. The key here, is all about prep. On Sunday Night Ben and I make a few big mason jars full of balsamic vinaigrette, avocado lime dressing, and chicken marinade (more on those later). Then we use them to marinade some chicken breast and to toss with some raw veggies for roasting. We roast veggies on high heat (over 400 degrees) and spaced out from one another on a cookie sheet to get crispy brown veggies that are actually delicious. Our top suggestions are broccoli, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, onions, and carrots. Then we grill up some chicken breasts and divide it all into Tupperware that gets thrown into the lunch bags in the morning. I love this one because I actually look forward to eating it and feel good about my choices.

2. DIY Lunchable

Check out my lunch Pinterest board that I’ve linked below to get a visual for this. We have some baby Tupperware containers and I like to pack them with an assortment of different things: a handful of berries, a few crackers, some slices of cheese, hummus, raw veggies, a couple Oreos, etc. Then I’ll just grab five or so tiny containers that look good and toss them in the bag for a WAY cheaper and WAY more healthy Lunchable-esque lunch.

Pinterest board

3. Mason Jar Dump Salad

People there is a SCIENCE to the dump salad. I’m linking to a podcast episode that is just genius on this topic. Here are a few important guidelines. First, this is NOT meant to be consumed straight from the jar. You are going to stuff this puppy so full that it must be dumped out to be fully incorporated. Now pack your jar in this order from bottom to top:

1. Dressing (I’ll give you two incredible dressing recipes later in the series)
   
2. Veggies (this allows the dressing to marinate those veggies and make them perfectly flavorful. This is also a great spot for your roasted veggies)
   
3. Protein (also a good spot for cut up grilled chicken breast)
   
4. Greens (Pack these guys in here. The more squished the better so you will get a bigger and more filling salad.
   
5. Seeds or other crunch element right on top.
   

Prepping a few of these a few nights before or as you prep a bigger salad for dinner makes your morning packing process easy breezy. Just grab a mason jar and go.

salad making podcast

4. DIY Bistro Box 

For this one you’ll need to shell out for a bistro box, but you will never feel so put together in your lunch making life. Here are some combo options for your bistro (think Starbucks copycat) lunch. Also, clink the link below to find a relatively cost effective bistro box option. Just get creative and try for just a touch of fanciness.

1. Fruit and dip, veggies and hummus, cheese sticks, and pita bread
   
2. Hard boiled egg, roasted veggies, apple slices and honey, grapes, and Laughing Cow cheese wedge
   
3. Pecans, dried fruit, granny smith apple slices, cheese wedge, and crackers
   

Bistro Box