Grab-and-Go

Eating on the fly is a big part of most people's lives these days.  Often, it's one of the biggest challenges of eating a healthy, homemade diet.  But just because it's a challenge doesn't mean it's impossible. 

It takes a little bit of planning ahead, but eating a homemade lunch at work or snacks while running errands is totally doable.

I know this is going to sound a little old-fashioned, like I'm some '50s era housewife, but I pack my husband a lunch to bring to work almost every day.  Some days I run out of time or I'm not prepped enough, those days, he's on his own.  I do this not just to make sure that he has something healthy to eat, but to save money as well.

I've found that having the right containers makes a huge difference in how easy it is to pack his lunch, and now that I'm back at work, my own too.  I work short shifts, but between dropping the boys off at my sister's house and driving to work, I'm usually hungry by the time I get here (yes, I'm blogging on the job, don't tell anyone).  And even though I have healthy options on campus, it gets a little crazy to pay $7 for a salad several times a week.

I posted about our lunches a few weeks ago here.  And wouldn't you know, the cute little red Bento box I got on sale at Target broke the very next day.  We've been holding it together with duct tape, but it definitely detracts from the cute factor.

The 17-piece set we got a BJ's, however, is fantastic and offers a ton of variety.  I always pack hubby's lunch the night before in case the kids let me sleep in (ha ha).  Last night, I used the sandwich sized part of the kit to pack hubby a lunch that consisted of 2 slices of deli ham rolled up, a cheese stick, a hard-boiled egg, gluten-free crackers, 2 carrots cut up into sticks and a clementine.  I organized these items with silicone muffin cups I got on Amazon.  Since that particular container doesn't have compartments, the cups kept everything from getting all jumbled together.

If you know that you'll be out running errands all day, throw an apple or banana into your bag to take with you.  A little bag of trail mix or granola is also an easy grab-and-go snack.  I like to make my own granola, and one thing that helps is to store at least some of it in snack-sized Ziploc bags so that you can just grab it out of the cabinet and go.  You can also prep little baggies of veggies to keep in your fridge for grab-and-go snacks.  The type of cheese stick I put in hubby's lunch is also a good option.

If you forget or you absolutely need to eat while out and about, try to find something healthy.  For example, today I packed more of a snack than a lunch for myself and I knew I'd get hungry before quitting time, so I went down to the café and grabbed a Greek yogurt and a bottle of water.  Greek yogurt has more protein than regular yogurt, so it helps fill you up more. My campus also has individual hummus and pretzel servings.  This is a good combination of carbs and protein that will help fill you up for longer.

Whether diet is on your mind because you are counting calories or because you want to focus on real food, eating healthy on the go is something you can do!

• Prep ahead by preparing snack-sized portions of granola, trail mix or cut up veggies so you can grab-and-go.
• Keep easily portable real food around...think fruit: apples, oranges and bananas are all easy to slip into your purse and eat one-handed.
• Pack a lunch the night before.
• Get the right containers...ones with sections make it easy to pack a lunch with a variety of healthy components.
• Make existing containers easier to use with muffin cups and Ziploc baggies.