The Lunch Dilemma

This last week was pretty stressful - well, the last two weeks, if I'm honest, with a week of travel just before that. I came back from that west-coast trip and had a hard time adjusting my sleep schedule and an extra-busy period at work meant I wasn't sleeping like I normally do. Add a busy work schedule to that, and it was a disaster! When it gets crazy like this, I know that something as simple as packing a lunch saves me some stress and worry, but it's still something I have difficulty doing at times.

Taking a lunch to work every day simplifies my life in several ways: it saves time (no driving somewhere for lunch), it saves money (and there are always other things one can choose to spend money on!) and it really does simplify my day when I have some time to relax, read a book or a magazine or look at something online - the focus on something other than work allows me time to get ready to tackle the last half of the day.

But the problem is packing a lunch. Mornings are tough for me on any given day of the week - my brain just doesn't wake up and take me seriously until 9 or 10, so one of the easiest things I can do to simplify my life is to pack a lunch the night before. One problem is that I seem to avoid doing it - often waiting until it's too late and I'm too tired and I don't get it done. Silly, yes. And something that should be easy to correct, yes. But that's just the way it is.

So one of the biggest things I can do to simplify my life is to make a one-dish meal on Sunday that I can pre-portion out for the entire week. The dish has to be something I like eating multiple days in a row, and something that doesn't get dicey as the flavors mix. One of my favorites?

Tabouleh. Extra lemon juice, extra garlic, and no tomatoes - that's how I like it. Rice and beans or chili also work well for me, as does homemade vegetable soup.

I succeeded in making tabouleh last Sunday, and enjoyed it for lunch all week long. A small success in simplification...now if I could just do that every week!