Health for life

Freelance work is light this month, and I’m finding myself with more time to spend in the kitchen. My good pal JBF, however, is busier than ever.

As are most worker bees these days, she is doing the jobs of several, keeping late hours, and coming home exhausted. She manages to cook healthy dinners, but making lunch to take to work is a challenge.

She finds herself eating on the run, spending insane amounts of money for midtown Manhattan lunches, and making less than healthy choices that sabotage the good work she is doing in other areas.

Since my unceremonious kick to the curb (from the job where I was doing the work of several), I’ve been working from home. For the most part, I have time to cook healthy meals for myself every day. (These habits were already in place, so it wasn’t much of a shift.)

JBF’s struggle gave me an idea. What if I made lunch for both of us—kind of like a personal chef-lite?

The Proposal

1. Share food costs, saving us both money (I’d make enough for both of us.)
2. JBF: Kick me a little extra for my effort 
3. Leigh: Make 5 inexpensive, healthy lunches and snacks per week
4. Leigh: Provide variety, but dishes can repeat (We both easily lock into dishes we love.)
5. JBF: Report back with perences every couple of days
6. Leigh: Call/email to arrange drop off/pick up
7. Leigh: Submit an invoice with food and labor at the end of the week
8. Everybody wins: I stay on a schedule and make a little extra scratch, and JBF gets healthy lunches and snacks for less than she was spending on take out.

While JBF is an omnivore, she eats primarily vegetarian when dining sans hubby. She gave me carte blanche to make the meals veggie, even vegan. She also loves to try new things, so I’m at liberty to be creative. And as we know, keeping it interesting is the golden rule of sticking to any kind of healthy eating plan.

Here’s how it’s been shaking out.

JBF’s Take-out Stats
(click on graph to enlarge)




Lunch Buddy Stats for Week One
(click on graph to enlarge)


That’s over 40%!

Week two demonstrated similar savings, though we operated on a four-day week. So far our little arrangement has been a success! I’m sticking to a meal plan, which is hard for me, as well as experimenting with new dishes. JBF is getting healthy, home-cooked meals delivered to her door (We live near one another; it’s no big.), and we’re both in the black.

We’ve even made time to eat together on occasion, and that’s the best part of the deal.

~~~

If this article had you dancing in the aisles, shimmy on over to

• Vegetarian Meal Planning for Meat Eaters
• The Brown Bag Brigade: Your One-Stop Shop for Work Lunch Ideas
• Meal Planning—An Experiment and A Conversion

With the rising tide of juvenile type 2 diabetes, the debate on school lunches is one which is slowly starting to take the stage. It is, however, one of those subjects in which everyone has an opinion -- but not many have an actual evidence based opinion. Throw in the wrench that every school district is different, and youll find mudslinging from all sides of the opinion spectrum:

Why cant parents just make healthful lunches for students? 

Well, right now, some schools are actually BANNING parents from preparing school lunches for their kids, claiming it is the parents making unhealthful meal choices. Of course, this is often true... No one can deny that. But it also makes many of us with diabetic loved ones CRINGE at the thought of what a school cafeteria lady, or health department, might think is a healthful school lunch. These places often lack in options. Im thinking a main course of carbohydrates slathered in cheese and hot dogs, with a side of carbohydrates slathered in butter or salt, with a dessert full of carbohydrates, and a glass full of carbohydrates (because it has vitamins, so it must be good for your health, unlike that can of soda.) Your main sources of protein come from that powdered, grade A government issued cheese, and that powdered, grade A government issued milk. YAY. To top it off, throw an apple at it, for good measure, because apples make ANYTHING look healthy.

Some will argue, why cant parents just trust the school lunch system? 

I always got healthful meals from the school system, and I turned out JUST fine. I love these people the most. To them, anecdotal evidence is ALL the evidence that anyone will ever need, and it somehow, trumps everything. Its like seeing nothing but yellow parakeets, and assuming there are ONLY yellow parakeets in existence because thats all your local store carries. (Never mind that many of these folks have NO IDEA what a healthy meal even looks like, and tend to think that all a kid needs to do to stay healthy is to avoid candy and soda, and eat lots of fruitsandvegetables.)

Well, heres something that will blow your mind.

Did you know that the original idea of a  food pyramid started  as a way to help  ease food costs by spending money on basic,  cheaper foods, and still get nutrition? The rest  of the foods were meant as complements  to enhance whatever nutrients were missing.  Ever since the USDA started making low fat,  high carb recommendations in the 80s, and  implemented its OWN food pyramid in 1992,  obesity rates have skyrocketed.

The USDA describes their National School Lunch Program as: "a federally assisted meal program operating in public and nonprofit private schools and residential child care institutions. It provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. The program was established under the National School Lunch Act, signed by President Harry Truman in 1946."

Right away, when you brush away the chaff... what should jump at you is the low-cost descriptor used in this paragraph. What does this, casually thrown in, adjective have to say about this program? What is hidden between the lines? Well, what they dont tell you is that the National School Lunch Program started as a way to help a poor, starving population, through government subsidies --  the same subsidies programs which are still, to this day, overpowering our agricultural industry, and making it possible to produce mass amounts of low quality, less nutritionally dense foods. (McDonalds anyone?) When you invest in low quality, less nutritionally dense foods, they become LOW-COST, and easy to mass market to a multitude of industries, and other countries. Smaller farms CANNOT compete with the HUGE agribusiness industry that has come to dominate the markets, including... you guessed it -- the school lunch program market. While the school lunch ladies, might VEND food for you, it usually comes pre-packaged, pre-made, or ready to make sources, and local state federal agencies will contract their local school lunch program to a food service management company, to save a few bucks. If your local school district does not contract to one of these, they are the EXCEPTION.

The three companies, right now, that dominate the industry are Aramark, Compass Group, and Sodexo. They mass market less nutritional foods, serve nutritionally imbalanced meals, cut corners to save dollars, and contract with fast food giants to market to kids -- yes, including, soda manufacturers. Not only that, but they have been under investigation in the past, for serving foods SO low in quality, they were rejected by fast food industry safety standards. (Its gotta take a lot of balls to serve a kid something WORSE than fake fast food meat.) They have such a strong arm in the system, many of them have been able to lobby, and block legislation that would improve standards, including legislation that would have banned soda vending machines in some schools, for example. 

So when you throw in less nutritionally dense foods (so, even if you have a small serving of them, theyre still not so great for you,) in an array of unbalanced meals (all carbs, and hardly anything else), no allowances for or enforcing of portion control (and just eat what you want, and how much you want of it), and the attending results of kids who will a.) not feel the stop and go of their hunger signals anymore, and b.) constantly feel hungry because they got no real nutrition, you will get increased likelihood of illness, development of chronic diseases, and a national fat kid tsunami.

Thats right... every time your kid eats at one of these national school lunch programs, its eating food thats probably worse than McDonalds. (And even if it would appear "balanced," the fact is... its still food that is nutritionally inferior. Remember that. Its like comparing a home made creme filled cake, to a Twinkie. They are technically, the same thing, but thats where it ends. One of them still has FIBER, and many, many vitamins and minerals. Ill let you guess which one that is.)

Are you freaked out yet? YOU SHOULD BE.

Still, some people have blind faith in their National School Lunch Programs... And disbelieve or disregard those who try to stand up against it, and call for change. (Including some politicians.) But folks are fighting BACK. 


Folks like Sarah Wu, who "compelled by her own frustration with school meals — both as a mother and a teacher ... known anonymously as "Mrs. Q." committed to eating school lunch every school day in 2010 just like her students. Mrs. Q documented her experience and described the meals by blogging, tweeting and sharing photos on her blog Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project." Her blog is one of the first blogs to help capture national attention on this very concerning issue. Mrs. Q risked her employment on this... and there were many days I worried shed get caught. Still, I cheered for her. Her voice has been effecting some serious awareness and change... but we need more.

More, nationally, as well as globally... Like little 9 year old, Martha Payne, from Scotland... who writes about her poor lunch school program at NeverSeconds. While youre not going to see her giving you an in-depth analysis on the corruption, and backdraft, of agribusiness subsidies... she will hold up every meal to critique, and scrutiny, so you can see with your own eyes what she and her peers are being served.

America is at a critical point, right now... we are at a point where its starting to matter very little what type of food you eat, because it was all cheaply made, and nutritionally bankrupt. Movies like "King Corn," "Supersize Me," and "Food, Inc.," have created some discussion... but quickly get swept under the rug as passing the buck, and not taking personal responsibility for what we eat. But we are clearly living in a very obesogenic environment where it is getting increasingly difficult to make right and wrong decisions, and increasingly easy to be deceived. Yes, a lot of foods that make false health claims have food labels, and we could be better trained and educated at reading them... but what if we thought we were eating meat, and instead were getting meat with an incredibly high risk of bacteria, and lots of corn filler? What if it was given to us by a school lunch program, with no labels (just trust), and not the you should know better, fast food industry?

Yes, we have freedom of choice, in America... as to what we eat. But to what EXTENT should we let the government and the food industry tamper with our food supplies? Market to us? To children who havent yet developed some of the necessary critical thinking skills, and disciplines, to make good life choices? (Especially, when they dont even have a parent around, to help...) Or to populations with less income, less education, and less access to nutritious alternatives?

The rights and freedoms of those who want to make me less healthy (and not just by consuming more fats and sugars, mind you), start mattering VERY LITTLE to me... when the lives of children, and the future of our nations are involved.

I dont know how ALL chronic illnesses, cancers, and autoimmune conditions come to pass... but sometimes, I have a very good idea what might be contributing to their explosion... And its not just having an extra piece of pie.

Penned by the effervescent Leigh, Veggie Might is a weekly Thursday column about the wide world of Vegetarianism.

On Tuesday, I put out the call (as if you didn’t know it was me) for help with emergency lunch ideas. You came through aces, and I’ve been implementing a few of your tricks. (I already had hummus in the company fridge!) The full results will be posted in next week’s Q&A.

But here is what prompted the call for advice. Last Thursday morning, I overslept. The night before I had cooked corn-on-the-cob and some red beans for a quinoa salad recipe. My plan was to chop the remaining veggies and cook the quinoa in the morning before work. I needed a new plan.

With only 15 minutes until I had to leave for work, I started thinking about what I had ready and what I could prepare at the office. I’m new to this company, but I know 2 things about the place: lunch is sacred and there is a microwave in the lunchroom.

Dried quinoa, a slice of onion, and a teaspoon of salt went into a container. Into another, I combined corn from one of the cobs, a 1/2 cup of beans, and 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Taking one last peek into the fridge, I spied half a tomato and tossed it on top of the beans and corn. Maybe there was a knife at the office?

I was out the door right on time.

At lunchtime, Operation Microwave Quinoa deployed. I added 8 ounces of water (using my graduated water bottle as a measuring device) to the dry quinoa and onion. Using my best guess, I put the container in the microwave with the lid ajar, and set the timer for 5 minutes.

The quinoa was nearly done when the timer dinged. I removed the lid, reset it for 3 minutes, and what-do-you-know? It was perfect! Fully cooked, fluffy, and ready to eat.

I zapped my bean/corn/chipotle combo and sawed the tomato with a knife I discovered in one of the pantry drawers. In the future, I’ll try to cut all my veggies at home.

Once everything was hot, I mixed the contents into one container, topped concoction with the sliced tomatoes, and sat down to a delicious, office-cooked meal with Roger Federer. My last-minute lunch turned out to be a relaxing, satisfying break from a hectic day.



Thanks again for your fab comments on Tuesday. If you have any more last-minute lunch suggestions, feel free to share them in the comments.

~~~

If this article tickled your fancy, sidle on over to
20 Cheap Healthy Dishes Made from Pantry Staples
The Brown Bag Brigade
Healthy Takeout on a Budget

For two years, I’ve been fairly systematically packing my lunch for work. And like loads of alternative personal finance bloggers, it’s saved Pine Tree State mad dough – somewhere within the neighborhood of $2500, I’m idea. to place it in additional concrete terms, that’s five-hitter of the payment on a house, 2 sweet vacations, rent for four months, 10 160GB iPods, or eighty semi-decent pairs of shoes. Nice.

Alas, life’s been alittle agitated of late, therefore last week I opted for takeout soup, sandwiches, and Z-grade dish over home-cured salads and be-tupperwared leftovers. Admittedly, it absolutely was a pleasant modification, however it conjointly served as a reminder. i used to be stuffed by the top of every day, down $40 by the top of the week, and couldn’t BELIEVE what percentage disposable plastic and foam containers I had tilled through. (Thanks, Midtown!)

I know brown sacking has been coated thoroughly by each single media supply breathing (ABC, BBC, Highlights Magazine, The Hills, etc.), however its importance can’t be exaggerated. Simply, as a result of conveyance lunch to figure is:

 low-cost (see initial paragraph),
    Healthy (as it provides you management over your food), and
 sensible (for the environment).

So, with nice excitement, ado, celebration, gum olibanum, and myrrh, I gift you with … the remainder of the post! its 2 key sections: the primary is chock jam-packed with tips to assist set up your hour meals with efficiency and effectively, whereas the second is an in depth information of lunch concepts from the straightforward greenback, Chow, WebMD and on the far side. (Suggestions welcomed!) I guarantee, with time and a containerful of effort, you’ll neer blow $7 on a lame, unpunctual Subway hero once more.

Plan ahead. once you’re drawing up a grocery list and/or looking, don’t forget to incorporate enough food for many lunches. check that it’s stuff you wish, and wouldn’t mind continuation 2 or 3 days per week, to boot. Unfussy, healthy, easily-pulled-together mainstays like bread, sandwich fillings, spreads, salads, fruits, and vegetables square measure all solid bets. take care to ease abreast of the pre-packaged frozen meals, tho (Weight Watchers, Lean cookery, etc.). They price a lot of, each in money and metallic element intake, than a self-created lunch.

Prep the night before. nobody needs to wake twenty minutes early so that they will half-assedly slap a bologna sandwich along before the 8am train. aggregation Associate in Nursing straightforward lunch within the evening can allow you to sleep longer AND increase the chance of a meal you’ll get pleasure from. If those nightly ten minutes square measure too inconvenient, youll be able to perpetually …

Prep in bulk. Clever fashion plate and also the straightforward greenback have the most effective posts I’ve seen concerning constructing meals as a group, however there square measure tons – TONS – of comparable ways on-line. (That I’m having issues finding, naturally. Help?) youll be able to knock out a week’s lunches in an exceedingly single Sunday time unit, then freeze or refrigerate them till required.

Don’t accept sandwiches. selection is that the spice of lunch. Any burgeoning brown bagger can get sick (real fast) of PB&Js perennial ad nauseum, therefore try and modification the menu up whenever youll be able to. transportable chow like soups, bento boxes, burritos, make-your-own pizzas, and particularly leftovers square measure important to creating BYOL a lot of appetising. (See the hooked up list below for a lot of concepts.) Speaking of…

Use leftovers showing wisdom. Once The adult male boarded the Brown Bag train (it’s right next to Soul Train), coming up with lunches became alittle harder. I solved  lots of that by creating double the dinner servings and packing [*fr1] away for Next Day Consumption. The leftovers add a large amount of nutritionally-sound selection AND it’s infinitely thrifty, since I’m not making entirely new meals.

Pack snacks. Ahhh … the four o’clock coma. Fellow table jockeys, you recognize what I’m talking about: that mid-afternoon lull in brain activity wherever work takes second priority to off ones guard on your keyboard. To battle the snooze, I try and pack one or 2 lightweight, transportable snacks per day. Fruit is right for this, however buggy, hummus, vegetables, popcorn, and kooky ought to be enough keep you from predatory the selling machines. Avoid the 100-calorie packs, though, as theyre the most important ripoff, ever.

Invest in reusable lunchboxes and utensils. Seriously, the waste created by Chinese takeout lunches may fill a complete workplace in concerning 2 months. Why try this to Earth once carrying environmentally-sound meal packaging will build a big dent in your garbage while not cost accounting a fortune? in person, i exploit thoroughly-cleaned Parmesan containers. (That is, till they A) break, B) square measure broken, or C) steal off to create their own secret instrumentality Colony.)

With that, it’s on to the lunch concepts themselves. every "#" may be a totally different post jam-packed with suggestions, from DIY dish to angular  turkey clubs. Readers and fellow bloggers, if you have got any favorite articles or comment threads please pass em on. I’ll add below, and along we will produce THE master lunch information.

Ask Metafilter: #1, #2, and #3

Chow: #1, #2, #3, and #4

Clever Dude: #1 and #2

Dollar Stretcher: #1

Fabulous Foods: #1

Global Gourmet: #1

Just Bento: #1 (see whole blog)

Lunch in an exceedingly Box: #1 (see whole blog)

Medicine.net: #1

Serious Eats: #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5

The Simple Dollar: #1, and #2

WebMD: #1

Weight Watchers: #1

Wise Bread: #1

Yahoo Answers: #1

Zen Habits: #1

And thats it! Happy feeding, everybody!

(Photos courtesy of Flickr members stelladoll7 and luckysundae.)