Saving time is just as important as eating healthy when it comes to packing lunches and snacks for the day. You can’t always find fast, convenient, or healthy options at a deli, or grocery store let alone a fast food restaurant. Plus it is expensive to buy lunch every day! Take an hour on a Sunday morning (or whatever day is best for you) to prep and you will have a grab-and-go lunch for the whole week!
Here are a few of my grab-and-go ideas:
Stuff Mini Peppers
Quick stuffed mini peppers are a fast and really neat way to pack a snack! I actually think it makes a great idea to serve at a party. The possibilities are endless with what you can fill them with. These are stuffed with different types of cheese, cucumbers, husk cherries (baby tomatillos) and egg salad. Just use what you have already in your refrigerator!!
Chicken Salad
I literally just threw this chicken salad together with ingredients that I already had. I chopped up some Kalamata olives, roasted red pepper from a jar, and red onion, added Feta cheese, fresh basil, dill, and parsley (only because I had all three!) salt and pepper to taste, and drizzled on some extra virgin garlic olive oil and some lemon. You can just use Italian salad dressing if you want!!
Use what you have for chicken salad. If you have some leftover cooked veggies, by all means add it! Use any kind of dressing such as Caesar, blue cheese, French, whatever! Use your imagination and your leftovers! Chicken salad doesn’t have to be with mayo and celery. How boring!
Scrambled Egg Wraps
These egg wraps are so versatile. I like to make a bunch of these and keep them refrigerated in a zip baggie. Just scramble some eggs with a little salt to taste and ladle enough into a medium heated pan (use cooking spray) and swirl it around until the bottom of the pan is coated with the egg. Let it cook for a minute until it is set enough for you to flip it. After flipping it takes only 30 seconds or so to finish cooking. Remove from the pan and start over until all the eggs are used. I made three out of two eggs in an 8X8 square pan. You can use a round pan if that is all you have. You can also make them as big as you like! Just remember to work quickly. Once the pan is heated up the egg takes no time to cook so make sure you spread it around fast. Once they are cooled you can fill them with anything! I used deli ham, cheese, pickle, mustard and roasted red peppers. Fill them as you would a sandwich!
Cherry Tomatoes and Mozzerella Balls
Cherry tomatoes are abundant any time of the year! I love them as a snack especially with mozzarella cheese. I found cute little pearl mozzarella and used those along with some pesto. If you are making lunch instead of a snack, add some rotisserie chicken! Chicken and pesto were made for each other!
As you can see it really is easy to make healthy lunches and snacks for the week. An hour of prepping on the weekend will save you many hours during the week. It also saves money and gives you full control of what you and your family is eating.
