Often times if you are a working mom, your mornings are hectic just getting your kids ready for school and out the door in time. You juggle breakfast preparations, packing lunches, and ensuring everyone has their essential items, all while trying to keep to a schedule. It’s easy to forget or not have the time to bring your own lunch, which can lead to a stressful day ahead. The workday can be so busy and unpredictable with back-to-back meetings and deadlines looming, which can sometimes make it hard to even find a moment to step out and grab something to eat. You could find yourself in one of the following scenarios:
- You skip lunch and realize that it is almost time to go home, possibly feeling a little hungry and regretting the decision to miss this important meal. Hopefully, you didn’t skip your breakfast also, as missing multiple meals can throw off your metabolism and energy levels for the day. (See my previous post to help make sure that you never skip breakfast and ensure that you stay on track with your health and wellness goals).
- You do manage to step out and grab some lunch during the workday, you are so hungry that you easily succumb to an unhealthy choice either because it is a quick option, cheap option, or you are just craving something fried and greasy)
- You do manage to step out and grab something and you are able to resist the temptation for those tempting but unhealthy options and you make a very healthy choice, but it costs you around $14 for a simple healthy salad!! If you do this every day for a week that is $70 that you are spending just on lunches for yourself!!!
The above scenarios lead to low-energy, sluggishness, or just expensive choices where your money can be put to better use. But don’t stress! There is another option that will save you money & time while keeping your energy levels up and helping you to reach or maintain your health and weight goals.
These lunches are healthy and can be thrown together quickly with leftovers while you clear the table and do your after-dinner clean-up or can be done ahead of time on the weekends.
Mason Jars Salad
I love to make these and my husband likes them too! I will make a bunch of these on the weekends with any veggies i need to use up, any leftover veggies or protein from dinners. Also, I like to buy the large bags of lettuce, greens and kale but they take up sooo much room in the fridge. So actually creating these salads in their jars ahead of time helps to free-up space in the fridge too which is a plus! In the morning you just grab a jar and throw it in your bag with a fork (or you can keep a fork and spoon at your desk at the office like me).
Now, the secret to getting these right is all about the way you layer them, the type of greens you are using is also a factor. You need to layer it so that greens that easily get soggy and wilted (spinach, spring mix, arugula) are always at the very top of the salad and anything wet like tomatoes or your dressing are at the bottom. The only exception to the rule of putting the greens at the top would be kale. I actually like to put my kale at the bottom right on top of the dressing and then with any wet veggies or protein like salmon or tomatoes on top of it. Kale is naturally a little drier and takes a little more time to absorb dressings so doing it this way make the kale “marinate” and soften in the dressing. when you are ready to eat the salad, you just shake it up and your salad will be perfectly mixed and coated in your dressing and you just eat it straight out of the jar or you can dump it into a bowl to eat if you like.
BASE RECIPE FOR 1 SERVING
2c of salad greens (if you are using kale, make sure to remove the stems but save them for broth in the future!!)
4oz – 6oz protein (I like leftover chicken or salmon and sometimes I will use some tuna from a can)
OR
1/2c lentils or beans (if you don’t eat meat, are on a budget or you just have some leftover
3T dressing (I like to just go simple with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I do love salad dressings with mustard in them as well and see my hack below!:
Whenever I have a bottle of mustard that is empty I throw a little vinegar in there and shake it up. it gets all of the extra mustard that is leftover in the container out and infuses that mustard flavor into your dressing. Then I add a little olive oil to the container as well and now I have a ready-made dressing and don’t let that yummy mustard go to waste!!
1c of veggies of choice (see below for ideas)
***1T nuts or seeds (I like to add slivered almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds and sometimes I will sprinkle hemp hearts over the top of my salad
***1/4c grain (sometimes I will add some quinoa or farro in the salad. Quinoa is one of the only complete proteins that is not an animal product. it packs 5.5g [protein in just 1/4c!
On the weekends I’ll make about 2c of quinoa and keep it in the fridge to throw in salads, soups or as a side when I make dinner.
OPTIONAL VEGGIES:
***carrots (I prefer to use raw carrot peels in my salads so it is crunchy and easily mixed in with the rest of the salad)
*** tomatoes (chopped for regular; halved if they are cherry tomatoes)
***bell pepper (diced)
***mushrooms (I love to use raw mushrooms in my salads)
***red onion (thinly sliced)
***leftover veggies from dinner (usually I will have some broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini or mushrooms leftover from dinner and I will just throw in a salad)
HOW TO LAYER:
LAYER 1: Dressing
LAYER 2: Kale (if you are using kale as your salad), wet veggies (tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, avocado, cooked veggies)
LAYER 3: Protein (fish, beans, lentils)
LAYER 4: Dry Veggies (radishes, raw mushrooms, bell peppers, raw carrots
LAYER 5: Greens (if you are not using kale)
LAYER 6: Nuts, seeds, hemp hearts
Tuna salad
This is a recipe I have perfected and I make again and again. It is so easy and cost-effective and make a quick wrap or sandwich. Sometimes my husband will just add it over some greens for a salad and sometimes I will just dip raw veggies into it as a snack.
BASE RECIPE FOR 2 SERVINGS:
1 x 5.5oz can of tuna in water (make sure you use the tuna in water and not oil. This is much healthier since there are fewer calories and fat)
1/2c celery (finely diced. This helps to add a lot of texture)
1/2c nonfat, plain greek yogurt (Use this in place of mayo. It is much higher in protein, has probiotics and less calories while still giving that creamy texture). I often use nonfat plain greek yogurt in place of mayo or sour cream.
2T whole-grain mustard (I am a vinegar-lover and I love mustard. If you want a nice tang to your tuna salad, go for the mustard. I like to use spicy brown whole grain with the seeds)
***2T capers (more vinegar and a little more texture)
***2T pickles, diced (this is another option to add a little saltiness and texture. I also will use a little bit of pickle juice sometimes if it is a little too thick or dry).
INSTRUCTIONS:
Make a big batch of this on the weekend and keep in the fridge to either put into a whole-wheat wrap, on some whole grain bread for a sandwich or with veggies as a dip.
Leftover Salad
If I see a lot of food left over when I am clearing the table, I will just take some of the dinner (protein, veggies and all) and just pack into individual containers with a handful of greens. For these, I plan to eat it the next morning, so I am able to take a handful of greens and put in a lunch container and just put leftover protein and veggies on top without it getting soggy. Also, by turning those elftovers into a salad, I don’t need to heat the leftovers up and also, I usually don’t need any dressing. I might add a little bit of lemon in case I want to squeeze on top later for a little more moisture and flavor. See below image where I made a leftover salad out of leftovers from Salmon Bake:
