Lunch at Home

On my days off, lunch is generally cheese toast and an apple.  When I took off two weeks for the High Holy Days, it got way more elaborate.

This post is going to seem silly to anyone who works at home and doesn't think about lunch.  Also silly because I work in a restaurant and can make myself anything I want.  Still, I take yogurt and fruit or oatmeal, plus a container of protein shake mix in my lunchbox.  I make something if I'm still hungry.

I realized there was no reason chicken breast had to be reserved for dinners and made chicken salad.  That ended up lasting a lot longer than I expected because lunch portions are generally smaller.  I toyed for two days with making lunch my main meal, but the extra calories were destroying my energy in the afternoon.  I also wasn't ready for dinner at a time that allowed it to settle before bed.  It's easy to see why countries that follow this custom often have extended lunch hours or an afternoon siesta built into the day and much later dinner hours.  I went back to my protein-heavy breakfast, two snack-sized meals during the day, and dinner routine.

I also bought a bag of grapes.  I can't usually finish one, but I figured two weeks was long enough to get through it before they wilted.  It did take 10 days.  There were some bananas in there too, to avoid a rut.

The wedge of brie was a treat.  It went great with the grapes and some Wheat Thins I had forgotten about.  I balanced out the meal with the last of the tilapia when the chicken salad ran out.

Sometimes I had peanut butter on toast, with some of the grapes.  There was one PB&J.  I did learn that I don't eat as much as I thought I did.  The last shop before going back to work was less than three dollars of vegetables plus a bag of red lentils because they were a very good price.  For a whole week.  I had everything else.

I'm going back to my cheese toast and apple two days a week, because I do like it.  There could be a sardine day in there somewhere, or a single can of tuna salad.  This was a nice reminder that a fancy lunch doesn't have to mean going out.  Any meal can be special.