Lunch Box - Save Money & Stay Healthy

Well the other day, I got tired of carrying my lunch in my big purse and hates bringing Vince's lunch cooler, I did not want to carry around those bulky ugly things so I searched and searched and finally bought me a stylish "lunch box"! www.wrapables.com

Isn't it awesome?! I love it! This way I don't have to put everything in my bag. :)

I started taking lunch to work for quite sometime now. This way I know what's in my food (since I made it) and it saves me money! Going out to eat for lunch adds up! Although I splurge every now and then.

My lunch box contains a piece of wheat bread with almond butter as my breakfast or sometimes I'll have a small pack of instant oatmeal - Quaker's Simple Harvest Vanilla, Almond and Honey Flavor is my fave!. For lunch I usually have a small portion of last night's dinner or a turkey wrap or grilled chicken salad or tuna pasta salad I make ahead of time (recipes below). I also pack a granny smith apple with a few slices of Parmesan cheese for an afternoon snack and one hard boiled egg. I always have a raw almonds by my desk to snack on. Of course I drink plenty of water throughout the day. Before I leave the house in the morning I make Vince and I a smoothie. I premeasure all the ingredients (except for the milk and protein powder) on the weekends. So in the morning all I have to do is throw in everything in the blender and in less than a minute you'll have a delish smoothie!

Berries Blast Smoothie:
1/4 cup of frozen blueberries
1/4 cup of frozen strawberries
1/4 cup of frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons of chocolate or vanilla protein
1/2 cup of 1% milk
1 scoop of low fat no sugar vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt)
3 ice cubes

Blend everything in the blender and enjoy with a straw! :)

Marinated Grilled Chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 cup of good balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (dried can be used too)
3 sprigs of fresh thyme (dried can be used too)
1/4 cup of chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
4 cloves of garlic of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of onion powder
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Put everything in ziploc bag, shake around to coat the chicken well. Let it marinate for at least an hour. I usually let it marinate overnight in the fridge to get all that yummy flavor in the chicken. Take the chicken out of the fridge and let it come close to room temperature before grilling. I usually just do it on our George Foreman Grill 5-6 minutes on each side (depending on the thickness of the breast). I let it rest before cutting to get all the juices back in the chicken. I cut it into strips - put it in a tupperware and it's ready to go during the week for lunch.

Tuna Pasta Salad
1/2 a box of Barilla Whole Wheat Pasta Shell
3 pouches of chunky white meat albacore tuna
1/2 of a small white onions small diced
finely chopped flat leaf parsley (you can add as much or as little as you want)
low fat mayo (add as little or as much as you want - just enough to coat everything lightly)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together and you're good to go!

Okay that's all for now - lunch break is over! :)