If you fail to plan, you plan to fail...

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."  I don't know where I heard that years ago, but it has always stuck with me.  If we don't have healthy stuff on hand to pack for our lunches, we end up eating crap.  I normally spend a part of my Sunday doing some food prep for a couple of reasons.  The main one being so we have healthy lunch options, and the other is because I hate rushing in the mornings (and I like my sleep, so getting up earlier isn't an option!)  Russ and I both get up at 5 (if not earlier) and we both leave the house by 5:45.  In that 45 minutes I have to get dressed (I shower at night), brush my teeth, put on some make-up, make my lemon water drink that I start my day with, make my cup of coffee that I bring to work, make both of our green smoothies and pack both of our lunches.  Yeah, I am kinda like superwoman!!  Having our lunch options ready to go saves me a lot of time. I keep everything in a big bowl in the fridge - grab a few things out for each of us, make Russ a wrap of some sort and that's that.  No rushing around, no running late, no anxiety issues - makes for a much happier ME every day (and probably Russ too because he doesn't have to listen to me freak out LOL).  I did some of this food prep yesterday, and finished the rest up after work today.

Zucchini, Yellow Squash, and Baby Carrots

I pretty much love roasted vegetables.  They just taste so much better when they are roasted compared to any other cooking method, in my opinion!  And what could be easier?  Cut up your veggies however you like, toss in a large bowl with a splash of your oil of choice (I am a fan of olive or coconut oil), add whatever seasoning you want, cook at 350 for about 20 minutes - or until they are done to your liking.  Viola, deliciousness!  I usually just use some salt and pepper, and I like my veggies still crunchy so 20 minutes is good for me.

I don't even know what to call this!

My good friend Joi gave me this recipe a couple weeks ago, and I thought she was crazy until I tried it.  I've made it twice since then!  I will have to see if she minds if I share it with all of you and post it one of these days.  I just call it the Broccoli, Bacon and Blueberry Salad!

Pickles and Boiled Eggs

Not sure when I developed a love of boiled eggs, but these have become a staple in my lunch bag.  They're my mid-morning snack.  Every Sunday I boil 18 eggs, peel them and package them up for us.  I packaged up some pickles for us this week also for something different.  

Celery and Apples 

We've had these Jif To Go things for a while (like months, I actually checked the date on them to make sure they are still good!).  I forgot we had them, I usually just put some PB in small containers for Russ and almond butter in them for me. Goes well with celery sticks and/or apple slices!

Normally I make some sort of healthy(ish)  sweet thing to put in Russ's lunchbox, but we are still weeding out the unhealthy items that found their way into the pantry during the holidays so I didn't bother this weekend.  I have some flavored rice cakes in there that we grab, and other various snacky type foods.  String cheese and jello cups are staples in Russ's lunch box as well.

I enjoy being in my kitchen and I don't mind spending a few hours of my weekend doing all of this, because I know how much it benefits me.  I like knowing that I am packing us healthy lunches, and providing Russ and I with healthy snack options throughout the week. Almost equal to that, I like the fact that it saves me time in the mornings, and lets me start my day anxiety free!!!