Squish Squish

It's been raining on and off all day here in New York.  It makes riding my bike to work really soggy.  Anyway, I tried something else that might have had soggy results too.

This photo is pretty bad.  Sorry!

• turkey bologna, light provolone on Ezekiel bread
• strawberries
• Cara Cara orange

I experimented with putting cut up oranges in my new lunchbox today.  It didn't leak or get any juice on my sandwich.  I'm still not sure about putting anything more wet than orange slices.  Also, I'm not sick of sandwiches, yet.  But what else can I put in the sandwich section of this box?  I suppose I could put leftovers (we're making pizza for dinner tonight) but can I put the entire box in the microwave or will I have to take food out and put it on a separate plate to warm it up.  I think I'm going to go back to my trust Laptop Lunch until I can figure this one out a little better.

No good explanation for this picture.  It's just me trying on Mexican wrestling masks...as you do.  I'm in a silly mood tonight.

Newbie

I got a new lunchbox this weekend.  I'm feeling it out.

I got it from The Container Store.  It cost about $5.

I stole the idea from a lady that was in my most recent Weight Watchers meeting.  I forget her name, but I totally accosted her and grilled her about it when I saw her pull it out of her bag.

It's cute huh? There were three colors on the shelf, green, blue and pink.  I'm not a pink person and the green was too froggy looking so I chose blue.

I made a simple lunch since I wasn't sure how to pack this little dude up:

• turkey bologna and light provolone cheese on Ezekiel 4:9 bread
• broccoli
• strawberries

So, one good thing about this box is that it's small and compact and fits easily in my purse.  The bad thing is that I can't put anything liquid or wet in it.  No yogurt or soup with this guy.  Also, I can't put it in the the microwave so no tasty leftovers either.  It's still good for a lunch or snack like the one above.  Food that can be eaten with one hand and on the go.  I am definitely going to use this on my next bike tour or long day out roaming the streets on my bike.

Have you guys tried any new lunch boxes lately?  How do you pack your lunch every day?  Sometimes I miss my old brown sack lunch that my dad used to make for me in elementary school.  He drew lots of pictures all over the bag and put little positive affirmations on it.  It was fantastic!  Are any of you still doing the old fashioned sack lunch at work?

A Bowl Full Of Heaven

I've been having an Asian adventure in a bowl for the past couple of days:

•  Cara Car oranges
• chicken teriyaki, brown rice, steamed broccoli, sautéed peppers

The master chef of the house cracked open our trusty Williams-Sonoma slow cooker book and decided to try his hand teriyaki chicken.  He even had to go on a mini scavenger hunt to find a key ingredient.

This stuff made all the difference.

The results are delicious!  Here is the recipe in case you want to try it.  He used drumsticks instead of thighs and I'm sure you could use chicken breasts too.

I don't want to leave you with a picture of a bowl of raw chicken so here's a picture of me riding home from a magical afternoon hanging out at a bike show with my friends Julie and Sheryl.

I'm hope you're having a great week so far.

Eating My Way Through April

April has flown by!  I've had some great lunches lately.  Here are the highlights

•  Left over thin crust pizza
• sugar snap peas
• bell pepper with balsamic vinaigrette dipper
• peaches and blackberries

• green salad with bell peppers and balsamic vinaigrette dressing
• Greek yogurt
• sugar snap peas
• homemade quiche (smoked salmon, tomatoes, spinach)

•  only thing new here is the pineapple chunks

• special treat for me (not so special for the people within smelling distance of my desk)...smoked herring on toasted Ezekiel bread

•  Baked potato! (6 minutes in the microwave wrapped in wax paper, stabbed with a fork a few times)
• sugar snap peas
• broccoli
• a piece of Salisbury steak (made out of turkey meat)

•  Salisbury steak, in all its mushroomy glory

• Cara Cara oranges
• watermelon
• broccoli
• Salisbury steak

I had a hankering for quiche so I slapped one together with some stuff we had in the fridge (eggs, milk, smoked salmon, tomatoes and spinach) and dumped it all into a frozen whole wheat pie crust. Et voila!  My fella went above and beyond and created a TV dinner standby from scratch!  He found this Salisbury steak recipe and worked like the dickens to make a big batch of it.  I tried to round out the rest of my lunch with fruits and veggies to off set the heaviness of a big hunk of meat in mushroom sauce.  

Lately, I've become a little obsessed with Instagram.  If you want to follow me just look for likeylou.  But, be warned, it's not just pictures of lunches.  It's mainly shots of my fingernails, pretty bikes, my friends and lots of weird stuff that I encounter in NYC.  Now, what's for lunch tomorrow?

Sweet Sweet Spring

I went dessert crazy last week:

•  cara cara oranges
• Brussels sprouts (I steam them in the microwave for 1 minute)
• smoked salmon and light havarti cheese sandwich
• blueberry muffin 

I had brunch at my friend's house over the weekend and I swiped one of the yummy blueberry muffins she made.  That was the beginning of the end.

• turkey bologna and cheese sandwich
• Brussels sprouts
• salt and pepper garbanzo beans
• peached and blackberries (they start out frozen and thaw perfectly by lunchtime)

I always attempt to redeem myself midweek.  But I spiraled into a sugary and fat filled k-hole by the end of the week.

•  3 layer chicken enchilada
• Brussels sprouts
• vanilla cake with chocolate frosting 
• blackberries and peaches

I was craving cheesy chunky chicken enchiladas so I slapped together a sort of lasagna inspired version.  If you want the "recipe" let me know.  It's pretty easy since I used Trader Joe's enchilada sauce.  And the cake...well, it happened.  It was used for dessert after a big dinner/game night we had and of course I dropped a piece into my lunch box.  

• another huge hunk of enchilada
• salt and pepper garbanzo beans
• Cadbury cream egg 
• blackberries and peaches

Yep!  I ended the week by eating cheese and candy for lunch.   It was Good Friday, after all!  I'll try to do better this week.  But I think I'm still in a bit of a  self destructive slump.  Well, I'm never going to go full out and not pack a lunch or eat a 100% junk lunch.  But I feel like I'm on a slippery slope.

Unfaithful

I cheated on myself this week and didn't take my lunch to work...not once, but TWICE!  I feel so dirty.

 I started off the week with the best intentions:

• Trader Joe's chicken tamale
• broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• blood oranges

But the truth about this lunch is that I only ate the tamale and the oranges and passed that green stuff off to a co-worker.  I could tell that this week was going to be tough.  Work.  Life.  Weight control.  My motto for EVERYTHING this week was "I'm not feelin' it."

I tried to get back into the game mid-week after I had an accident on Tuesday.

• herb turkey with light havarti cheese on a whole wheal sandwich thin
• blood oranges and kiwis
• Brussels sprouts
• broccoli

It wasn't a life threatening accident.  I'm okay...I just ran into a Pret-A-Manger.  Get it?  Accident? I ran into a Pret....ugh.  Like I said:  Not. Feeling.  It.

Thursday I went off the rails.  I didn't pack my lunch because I was just plain lazy.  I also felt like punishing myself for spending money on Tuesday (still trying to not spend Monday to Friday) at that deliciously evil fake French cafe so I ate oatmeal that keep at my desk.  Sad on SO MANY LEVELS.  Trust me, I'm aware of the perils of feeling the need to "punish" myself for doing normal things.  That's just one of the many things for me and my future head shrinker to work on.   But, I tried to finish out the week strong with this lunch on Friday:

• kiwis
• cucumber spears with balsamic vinaigrette dipper
• Brussels sprouts
• herb turkey with light havarti cheese on Ezekiel 4:9 bread

It didn't really do it for me.  I ate the sandwich first and everything seemed fine.  However, ever since I had kiwi earlier in the week I had a sneaking suspicion that I am a little bit allergic to them.  I got a little tongue/throat itchiness when I ate them.  But it's fun to ignore those things until they turn into a full blown anaphylactic attack.  I like to walk the thinnest line.  Anyway, I went in for the kiwis after my sandwich and after a couple of bites I felt nauseous and hive popped out on my face.  No joke, my face is like one of turkey thermometers that come already in the turkey.  When my food/skin allergies are just about ready to kill me  I get a hive right on under my left eye.  So, bye bye kiwi.  I hardly knew thee.

Now, what the heck am I going to eat next week?

I'll Never Miss Celery

Last week I really tried not to eat the same thing every day.  I think I was pretty successful.  You be the judge:

•  Trader Joe's chicken tamale
• red bell pepper strips with balsamic vinaigrette dipper
• pineapple chunks
• green grapes

•  turkey salami and mozzarella cheese slice with pesto spread on a sandwich thin
• roasted asparagus (salt, pepper, olive oil roasted at 400 for 20 min)
• frozen peaches and blackberries
• celery and organic (way too healthy and not as tasty as Skippy) peanut butter

I loved the idea of this lunch.  I gobbled it all up in less than 15 minutes.  Then I got to the celery and peanut butter...and my throat started scratching.  I don't know if it was the celery or the peanut butter but I had a mild to medium to allergic reaction to something in that little red box.  I hope it was the celery, because, well, who will ever really miss eating celery.  I've never had a hankering for a plate full of celery.  Peanut butter, on the other hand.  Please, God, don't smite me for my wicked ways by making me allergic to peanut butter.  Even the gross healthy peanut butter that my Darling Dearest is now forcing us to use because Skippy has extra death ingredients or something.  I have to do some more "experiments" to make sure I'm not developing a peanut allergy.  I see some peanut M&Ms in my future.

• turkey salami, mozzarella and light provolone cheese, spinach leaves wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla
• fat free vanilla Greek yogurt
• blood oranges
• cucumbers with balsamic vinaigrette dipper

• turkey bologna and light provolone cheese on Ezekiel 4:9 bread
• sugar snap peas 
• fat free vanilla Greek yogurt
• frozen peaches and blackberries

Well, I started to get desperate at the end of the week.  I said I wasn't going to have sugar snap peas for a while...but there were no other vegetables for me to put in my box.  I seriously considered just leaving it empty but opening my lunch at my desk to find an empty container makes me so sad.   I ate most of them, but, honestly, I'm still not feeling sugar snaps. 

What vegetables do you eat for lunch?  Do you eat vegetables for lunch?  

Chipping Away

The big theme in the past couple of weeks has been chocolate chip goodies.  Take a look:

I made chocolate chip cookies from this recipe.  Both me and the Mr. agreed they were too delicious to make in such a large batch (over 2 dozen).  I tried to keep the rest of lunch simple that week:

•  mixed green salad with cucumbers and bell peppers (balsamic vinaigrette dressing)
• 2 chocolate chip cookies
• peaches and blackberries (frozen and then thawed)
• turkey bologna and light provolone cheese with pesto spread on a whole wheat tortilla

When the cookies ran out I started having these sinfully delicious pita chips.  I swear they are fried in salty heaven oil.  Anyway, I moved on to these fantastic blondies for my lunch dessert next.  I only added in dried cherries because I hate nuts in baked goods.  Chalk that up as another one of my food "issues."  Anyway, here are the  main components of the lunches above:

• turkey bologna and light provolone on a sandwich thin
• fat free vanilla Greek yogurt
• those evil pita chips
• garlic chicken (a constant favorite) over brown rice
• cara cara oranges
• bell peppers strips with balsamic vinaigrette dipper
• sugar snap peas
• chocolate chip cherry blondie 

This is what happens when I'm too lazy to pack my lunch the night before and oversleep the morning of.  That was a sad day.

The blondies didn't last very long and I got a wicked stomach bug that kept me home from work for a couple days.  My fella made a nice chicken and sausage gumbo from a Weight Watchers recipe.   Yummers tummers!  One day I had a hard boiled egg as my afternoon snack.  Solid.

This was my finally meal with sugar snap peas.  I am so burned out on them!  I usually pride myself on being able to eat the same thing day in and day out, but this meal on Friday was boring straw that broke the camel's back.  So, sugar snap peas are on the bench, for now.

And here we have today's lunch:

• 3 bean turkey chili 
• blood orange slices
• fat free vanilla Greek yogurt
• Wasa crisps for dipping in the chili

I'm not sure what recipe my Chief Chef used for the chili.  It was done in the slow cooker, like 90% of our meals, so it is probably is pretty easy.  He likes to sneak in as many vegetables as possible so there is some spinach, peppers, and mushrooms swimming  around with the turkey and beans.   Those Wasa crisps were the perfect crunchy companion with the chili too.  It gave me flashbacks of that great elementary school cafeteria delicacy...the Frito Boat!

Happy lunching!

Box Fresh Every Day

• tuna fish and egg salad on a whole wheat sandwich thin
• kiwis
• sugar snap peas
• broccoli
• clementines
• low fat cheddar cheese for a snack

• clementines
• kiwis
• whole wheat pasta with veggies
• Greek yogurt with chocolate chips (heart shaped for Valentines Day)
• sugar snap peas

• frozen peaches
• turkey and cheese sandwich
• garbanzo beans with salt and pepper
• sugar snap peas
• clementines

• Wasa crackers
• tuna and egg salad
• sugar snap peas
• garbanzo beans with salt and pepper
• frozen peaches and blackberries
• clementines

• clementines
• turkey bologna sandwich
• sugar snap peas
• garbanzo beans with salt and peppers
• fat free vanilla Greek yogurt

• Turkey bologna and cheese sandwich on Ezekiel bread
• garbanzo beans with salt and pepper
• fat free vanilla Greek yogurt
• sugar snap peas

• mixed greens with yellow bell peppers and cucumbers and balsamic vinaigrette
• kiwis
• sugar snap peas
• curried tilapia (we used this recipe) originally from dinner

• cara cara oranges
• sugar snap peas
• turkey bologna and cheese in a whole wheat tortilla
• fat free vanilla Greek yogurt

• frozen peaches and blackberries
• garbanzo beans with salt and pepper
• red bell peppers with balsamic vinaigrette dipper
• turkey bologna and cheese wrap

The past two weeks have been CRAZY with me.  I'm saving money like a demon (still on the Mon-Fri spending ban) plus doing a lot of other stuff.  I made sure to at least take a picture of my boxes every day.  I won't discuss each and every one, but I will say that my new favorite dessert is frozen peaches and blackberries.  Once they melt together by lunch time it's heavenly.

Please let me know if you have any questions about any of my lunches.  I'm feeling a bit uninspired in the writing department.

Technicolor Monotony

Well I been eating more or less the same lunches for the past couple of weeks.  Although the food has been fresh, colorful, healthy and tasty...by Friday it gets BO-RING!

I finished up the last of that blasted lamb curry at the beginning of last week.  Then I moved on to some lovely turkey bologna and light harvarti cheese wraps.  I had those pretty much every day last week with lots of fruit and veggies on the side.  A meat and cheese lunch (no matter if it's "light") is still pretty taxing on my weight loss/management budget so I try to balance it out with low calorie yet filling side dishes.  But it was a fun lunch that week.  I think I've expressed my love for lunchy lunches before and bologna and cheese is just about the lunchiest lunch I can think of.  But, I fell into my old ways of dinner-type leftovers this week.

This week I had EXACTLY the same meal for 5 days straight.  I only put up 3 pictures because, well, who needs 5 shots of the same thing:

• 2 cara cara oranges
• sugar snap peas
• broccoli florets
• cucumbers with balsamic vinaigrette dipper
• 1/2 brown rice with chicken adobo

We made the chicken adobo in the slow cooker on Sunday night.  Let me know if you want me to put the recipe up.  It's pretty similar to the old faithful Garlic Chicken that we make all the time.  Just less garlic and more spice and some vinegar.  Anyway, I really enjoyed it Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  There is something lovely and comforting about having a hot lunch in the middle of the day.  Sometimes I can even drift away for a moment and imagine that I'm not sitting at a desk surrounded by stacks of paper and a glowing computer screen.  By Thursday reality set in a bit and I was just going through the motions and eating the lunch that was there waiting for me.  But by Friday! Oh good Lord! I was dreading what was in that box.  I felt like I DESERVED to have something more special in there.  I wanted CHEESE, dammit and something CHOCOLATE.  I wanted something artificial that I didn't make or that wasn't grown in any place other than a lab!

The only thing that stopped me from tossing my bento out the window and heading straight to Pret or the nearest gas station mini-mart was fact that I had zero cash, coins or credit cards in my possession.  My SO and I have put ourselves on weekday spending ban for the month of February.  We put all our cash and cards into a tin on Sunday night and don't touch them again until Saturday morning.  Not having any money on hand has really made me aware of how often I actually reach for my wallet during the week.  Ok, I won't bore you with details of this little experiment, but I mention just to let you know that I did, indeed, eat my lunch on Friday.  But as a result I went home and baked up a pepperoni pizza for dinner and washed down 2 slices with some well mixed chocolate milk, thankyouverymuch!