Life takes us down many roads and away from our home. It is important to plan what we will eat when away from home.
In the past there were few places to eat so people mostly pulled off the side of the road and ate a packed lunch or meal.
I feel that people are too busy and truly need to get back to basics where they have time to make home cooked meals. Stress mixed with fast foods is very unhealthy.
My husband is not retired so I pack his meals every morning. I get up at 4:15 AM and start breakfast and lunch. He has to go in very early three days a week so I pack his breakfast and lunch. He is not ready to eat early so I send it with him. The other days of the week he eats breakfast at home. When I was still working we made our meals together.
With all the electronics we have today they rob us of precious time. The most important thing in life other than our God is our loved ones and our health. We should go to bed early and get proper rest so we can start our day off right. If we work odd hours this still holds true.
In the photo above this is two sandwiches, a turkey sandwich and a Pastrami sandwich. An apple and banana. I wrap the sandwiches in wax paper then wrap a table napkin over that to keep the wax paper in put and have a napkin handy when eating.
For a quick breakfast to pack. This is homemade fruit filled toaster pasteries to toast in the oven for a quick grab in a hurry. I have the recipe for them listed under cooking from scratch and I believe it is on the last page.
I wrap pastries individually and keep them in a dish.
This is lettuce with onions and cucumbers in the quart jar and sliced steak in the short jar. Two quarts of water in the back. When you cook a steak you can slice small slices and put them in freezer bags and freeze it to go in a salad. Also you can just slice some from your meal and put some in a dish for the next day for a salad. Just think ahead.
To pack this meal to go I put salad dressing in a small jar, pack a nice size bowl to mix everything together. This makes it easier to eat. It is worth the extra items to enjoy the meal. We use several lunch boxes. I use a lot of glass but with children suggest the more healthy options of plastic.
We make our own flour tortillas and make pizzas with them. If we have this for supper then we make extra to take the next day.
Slice them and wrap them in wax paper.
In this time we live we can find all type of pans. I use this pan to cook individual meat loafs. I take them out and cool them then wrap them individually and put them in the freezer. If I use one or two of these for a lunch I take them out the night before to thaw in the refrigerator then pop them in the oven as soon as I get up to heat them.
Simple carrot salad made with shredded carrots, raisins and mayonnaise is a very good side dish.
I normally pack a cold bag and a hot bag since we drink hot/warm water for our health. On very hot days I will pack ice water.
This photo above is how I wrap our cold pack. This is a freezer cold pack and I wrap it in a kitchen towel and place it in the lunch box.
These are gluten free scones. I make scones both ways with all purpose flour and I make them with gluten free all purpose flour. I normally use Bloomfield farms gluten free all purpose because I have had the best outcome with that brand. I am not connected to that company in any way.
This morning I took photos as I packed my husbands meals for the day. I toasted some homemade raisin bread that I baked three days ago.
I had to pack breakfast and lunch today so this is a pint jar of rice chex (which is gluten free) and a half pint jar of organic milk which could be lactose free milk for those with lactose intolerance or soy or rice milk for those with allergies.
I washed some organic raspberries and put them whole in the milk so when he pours the milk over the cereal he will have fresh fruit. We eat our food in bowls from our kitchen and wash them when we get home. The white bowl is what he will use for the cereal. The banana and apple are for today's snacks. Always remember the spoon.
Sorry this is blurry but this is is a pint thermos and I warmed leftover stroganoff. This could be anything you cooked for dinner. It could be left over chili or leftover stew. It could be soup or chicken and rice. Just about anything can go into a thermos. This is not a tall thermos, it is a short wide one.
The foil is the raisin toast I will pack in the hot bag. When I make toast I wrap the toast in paper sheets or cloth napkins first then foil on the outside so the warm toast does not get soggy. I purchase food sheets that come in a box to use when I am sending food to someone. I use cloth when wrapping it for us because I can always wash the cloth and reuse it. The two quart jars are hot water. The plastic white lid is for the quart jar to use when he removes the canning metal top for easier drinking. I always put the metal flats and rings on the canning jars when they have liquid to keep the jars from leaking.
We purchased bottled drinks to get the glass bottle and lid to use for coffee. This looks bigger in the photo than it is. It is a normal tea or coffee bottle you would purchase in the store. We do not drink sugary drinks or sodas or things like that. We drink water and my husband drinks a small amount of coffee.
Again another blurry photo :( this is the hot packed bag, coffee, two quarts hot water, thermos of stroganoff and two slices of toast.
Cold bag is ice pack, 1/2 pint of milk and raspberries, jar of cereal, banana and apple. He goes out the door every morning with these two bags.
These are a few foods good for lunch bags. This is zucchini cooked with cheese and bacon bits.
This is potato wedges wrapped with bacon and a dollop of sour cream. Now I know this is not truly healthy but everything in moderation. This is a good finger food and we spend the extra money to get good bacon without the nitrates. These pack well in a lunch bag.
BLT wraps before I wrapped them for those trying to leave off the bread. You can just slice the lettuce and tomatoes and crumble up the bacon and put it in a jar.
This is boiled Chicken, Cooked Cabbage Rice and boiled carrots. This is glass dish with a plastic lid that goes on it.
Many days just a sandwich and jar of water is just fine. If you know you will be eating a large supper this would be a wise decision for the day. You could add a pickle and it would make a good lunch.
There are many different types of containers. I use these to pack meals in the freezer. You can purchase these online and they come with lids. I also use these to take a meal to a friend.
There are other situations where we pack raw food. Sometimes we need to help a family member. We cut up food and pack it to cook after we get to where we are going. We have a family member that does not like to cook but needs help some times around her house. So we pack a prepared meal and cook it there for all of us. I put water over the carrots, potatoes and onions to keep them from turning brown before I cook them.
We pack the jars in an ice chest. We take out chicken from our freezer and put it straight into the cooler. We have even taken our own large pot with us. We simply cook the chicken for awhile then add the carrots potatoes and onions when it come time. Another way of doing this if you are going to be there all day is to take a crock pot filled and plug it in when you get there. Family should be worth the trouble to take time to pack up things and help them out.
This is another meal that I will make and take with us and pop it in the oven when we get there. Pate, which is ground beef, mashed potatoes and corn and the recipe is under cooking from scratch section.
This is what it looks like when plated. Always a good meal as a standby. It is another meal good to put in a thermos.
Beets and onions makes a good side dish and can be packed in a jar only make sure to pack a bib.
Baked Sweet potato fries and spinach. Sweet potatoes cook fast so this is a easy food to cook. Just cut up the potatoes, saute them in a small amount of olive oil to get that brownish look then put them in the oven and cook them until you can press a fork through them and feel they are tender. Toss just a bit of organic spinach when you take them out and the spinach will cook quickly.
This is homemade gluten free blueberry muffins. I make them both ways regular flour or gluten free flour. Billy, you would like these!
When we go out the door even if it is running errands or shopping we pack a small tote with water for both of us and a snack to keep us from stopping somewhere to pick up fast food.
Most any food can be packed in a lunch box. Just get creative with the food you like.
Go to bed early and get up early.
I hope this helps to give you some ideas and motivation.
