Easy, Healthy, and Cheap Brown Bag Lunches

I know you've heard it a million times but packing a lunch saves SO MUCH money! How much money? Let's do a quick estimate:

Let's say that the average cost of a take-out lunch in NYC is about $6, and that's being very conservative. If you buy lunch every weekday, that's $30 a week. That may not seem like a lot but if you could cut that cost in half and packed lunches that cost around $3, you'd save almost $800 a year. 

One of the biggest deterrents to packing a lunch is that there simply is not enough time and brown bag lunches are tasteless. I've been packing a lunch (and sometimes a dinner too) almost everyday for the last three years and I've got it down to a science. Most of the lunches I pack don't involve cooking and can be thrown together in 15 minutes or less.

Read on for some of my go-to options:

Green Salad. The variety that can be incorporated into a salad is amazing. My no-fail salad consists of:

Lettuce-duh!

1 Fresh Veggie -carrot, tomato, peppers, etc

1 Protein-cooked chicken, canned tuna or chickpeas

Some Crunchy Carbs-crushed potato or tortilla chips or crackers work well

Dressing

To keep the salad fresh, wait until just before you're ready to eat before mixing all the ingredients together. And wait to cut the fresh vegetable. This ensures that your salad isn't soggy and cuts down on prep time in the morning. Another trick is to use a packet of mayo as dressing. Just add salt and pepper and you're set!

Baked Potato: If your office/school cafeteria has a microwave, you can throw an uncooked potato in your bag and nuke it for lunch. Never done it before? Check out this tutorial. Once the potato has been microwaved, I garnish it with cheese (buy the sliced kind for extra time saving), cooked chicken, and I usually pack frozen broccoli which thaws by the time I have lunch. Stick it all in the microwave for 30 seconds and you have a warm, cheesy meal.

Cracker Sandwiches: An avocado, a tomato, a few slices of deli meat and a box of crackers are all you need for a delicious lunch with absolutely no prep! Layer the avocado, tomato, and meat on your crackers and enjoy!

Rice Cakes/PB/Banana: nuff said. 

These are the meals that work for me. They're quick, easy, and all clock in at under $3 per meal. So the next time you feel lured by the warm bread smell from Subway or the thrill of that new salad place that just opened up next to your office, think about that $800 you're saving and the other things you can spend that on. A vacation? A new designer handbag? A puppy? So much better than an overpriced lunch!