Healing Lunches to Go

How to Prepare Lunch to Go with Ease

Finding decent food away from home can be difficult and expensive.  It might surprise you but I pack a meal with me quite often.  It’s healthier, tastier and a lot of times, just more convenient.  I have a “formula” for my lunches so I am sure to include all of the food groups that are important to me:

Protein (sliced cold cuts, hard boiled eggs, leftover chicken, canned tuna)

Fat (cheese, sour cream)

Ferment (raw sauerkraut, beet kvass)

Soup/Stew/Broth (chicken soup, chili)

If you are making a bag for your husband or child, add the following for more carbohydrates:

Fresh fruit and/or veggies with dipping options of sour cream, yogurt or peanut butter (apples and peanut butter, strawberries and whipped cream, blueberries and yogurt, celery and cream cheese)

Milk (whole, unpasteurized and not homogenized)

As long as you have all those components showing up you are guaranteed a healing and fulfilling meal.  This is a typical example of what you might take in an insulated lunch bag:

Meat “Salad” – this combines protein, fat and ferment

Hunk of raw cheddar cheese (fat)

Thermos of broth (see Raise the Dead Chicken Broth Recipe)

Cucumber slices and sour cream (veggie, fat and ferment)

Mineral water to drink

To keep soup hot, fill a small thermos with boiling water and let it sit for 5 minutes.  While that’s going, heat up the soup or stew on the stove top; pour the water out of the thermos and immediately put my soup in.  It will keep warm for several hours and the warm liquid really helps me to feel full.

To keep milk or other beverages cold, fill a drink thermos bottle with ice water, (this one is really great for kids because they can open it themselves), let sit for five minutes, pour out the ice water and immediately pour in the milk.

Put milk and other foods in an insulated lunch bag with a reusable frozen cold pack.  Pack whatever eating utensils you will need, plus a napkin.  Thicker glass containers are great for anything cold that might leak, such as the Meat “Salad.”  This is all pretty easy to set up and almost everything can be put in the dishwasher for cleaning.

I have used this system for several years now and it really works!  How do you eat healthy while you are out and about?  What tips have you found that really work for you?