Recycled Food

Plan ahead, and you will save money and calories.  One simple thing you can do is prepare your lunches at the beginning of your work week.  This is just one sample of my meals for the week, less Friday.

I will come up with something later in the week for Friday's meal.  I cheated this week, but that's ok.  It just so happens that a lot of what you see is leftovers from San Sai, one of my favorite fast food places.  I totally recycled my leftover lunch and made enough lunches to almost get me through the week.  The far left jar contains some of the leftover salad with the addition of fresh lettuce of my own.  Notice  the bits of pasta, corn and other colorful veggies topped with greens.  On top of that, I added some cashews to give myself a protein boost.  The small jar on top of the salad holds cauliflower puree, which tricks the brain into thinking that you are eating mashed potatoes.  With this particular batch I added some fresh garlic sauteed in a little olive oil, salt and fresh ground pepper.  You may also add potatoes, just remember to use more cauliflower than potatoes to lower your carbohydrate intake.  This batch only contained one potato and an entire head of cauliflower.  Everyone loves this, including kids, provided you tell them after they eat the 'mashed potatoes'.  We faked a lot of people out a couple of Thanksgivings ago and now they request that we bring the 'potatoes'!  I'm such a liar!

The next few jars contain brown rice and spicy chicken from San Sai.  I will pair this with homemade roasted zucchini.  Roasting vegetables is one way to pack more flavor without added caloric filled sauces.  Simply toss veggies with olive oil to coat, add some herbs, pepper and maybe some balsamic vinegar.  Roasting veggies will be your new love! 

The remainder of the white jars are filled with Honey Greek Yogurt, from Trader Joes.  I proclaim it is the best yogurt on the planet.  You can add your own fresh or frozen fruit or simply eat it plain.  Yum!!!  It is so much more economical than buying individual servings, and less sugar laden.  Warning:  4oz is plenty for a serving.  It has a tad more fat than I would prefer, but it's worth it!

The benefits of using Mason Jars are numerous.  It helps with portion control, cuts down on plastic, and looks pretty!  I believe that aesthetics are very important, especially when eating.  And sleeping.  And living. Mason Jars are easy to transport to work and take up very little space.  You may want to bring a bowl or plate to work, but for some of these you can eat right out of the jar.  They are also easy to clean, however, I wash the lids by hand so as to keep rust at bay. 

Doesn't this look yummy?  And to think how far I stretched this meal into the work week.  You don't have to deprive yourself of tasty food or never go out to eat in order to eat healthy.  This meal was tasty and satisfying. 





Bon Appetit!