Day 208 - One Year's Worth of Work Week Lunches!

Half Pimento Cheese Sandwich, Sugar Snap Peas, Peaches and Blueberries, Cracker Crisps.

A year ago this week, I started making lunches for work.  I said I'd make and document four lunches a week for a year, a total of 208 lunches.  And here we are!  I decided to end with a classic, cold sandwich lunch.  A half pimento cheese sandwich on toasted wheat bread, sugar snap peas, peaches and cracker crisps.  I took it to a brown bag lunch conference, and I definitely had the best looking lunch at the table!

So, I seem to be at a crossroads and need to decide what to do with this blog next.  Should I just leave it up as it is?  Keep documenting lunches?  Do something different?  I'd love to hear your feedback - whether or not you'd keep reading, if there are particular things you'd like to see, etc.  Let me know!

Either way, I'm taking a week off.  I am just a little tired of making lunches.  Don't worry, I'll still be having lunches at work, but I'll give myself a break from the photos and the creativity.  Heck, I may have a chicken sandwich every day this week!  Ok, probably not...

If you're distressed over the lack of lunches next week, just pop over to my Lunch Ideas Pinterest page.

Day 207 - Cheesy Baked Chicken

Cheesy Baked Chicken, Broccoli, Orange.

I made a little too much pimento cheese this week, so we'll be using that up for the next two days.  Last night, in  a moment of desperation (because none of my regular recipes sounded appealing), I took a chicken breast, stuffed it with pimento cheese, rolled it in Ritz crackers, and baked it.  And it turned out really tasty!  I made an extra for lunch today, and cut into the side a little so you can see all the cheesy goodness inside.  I packed it with broccoli and an orange half, and it was a delightful lunch!

Day 206 - More Delicious Salad

Can you tell I bought a whole lot of spinach last week and I keep trying to think of inventive ways to eat it?  Well, today that resulted in a very simple spinach and tomato salad with a white wine vinaigrette, a scoop of pimento cheese, peaches, blueberries, and some poppy seed crackers. 

That's really all of interest I have to say about this lunch, other than it's delicious!  You can check out my Lunch Ideas Pinterest page if you need more ideas for the week.  Only two more lunches til I reach my one year goal!  

Day 205 - Leftover Pork Shu Mai

Pork Shu Mai on Spinach, Teriyaki Ginger Dressing, Orange Slices, Dark Chocolate

 
Can you believe that this is my last week of lunches before meeting the one year mark?  One year, four lunches a week, 208 lunches total - crazy!

So, starting out this week, I've got some leftover pork Shu Mai from Sunday night take out!  I put them on a bed of spinach with a teriyaki ginger dressing on the side, orange slices, and two little dark chocolates!  I ate the shu mai cold, and it was so good!

Day 204 - Fourth of July Leftovers

Pigs in a Blanket, Orange, Bell Pepper Strips, Carrot Sticks

 Happy Friday!  And Happy (late) Fourth of July!  I had some delicious pigs in a blanket for the Fourth yesterday, and so I packed the leftovers for lunch today with half an orange, some bell pepper strips, and carrot sticks.  I wish I had packed some ranch for the vegetables, but it was probably healthier without it!

I think pigs in a blanket are a totally underrated food.  I made mine with turkey hotdogs, reduced fat crescent rolls, and about a teaspoon of dijon mustard rolled into each little blanket.  I baked mine, but I love these roasted over a fire - great for cookouts!  I've even seen them done on the grill, although I'm always worried that the heat is too high for the crescent roll dough.  But, you could try it, and let me know how it goes!

Need more lunch inspiration?  You should check out my Lunch Ideas Pinterest page over the weekend!

Day 203 - Tarte aux Champignons

Tarte aux Champignons, Spinach Salad

 Today, we have another treat from the Trader Joe's freezer section.  This Tarte aux Champignons is very similar to the Tarte d'Alsace that I love so much, just with different toppings.  This one has mushrooms, emmental, and some other cheeses - still the tasty pastry crust, still a tasty bechamel base.  Y'all, these things bake in 10 minutes!  That's it!  Just enough time to get your plates, drinks, and salad ready!  I paired the leftovers today with a plain spinach salad (I threw some vinaigrette in the lunch box, not pictured), and it was a very tasty, quick lunch! 

Days 201 & 202 - One Ingredient, Two Lunches - Trader Joe's Style!

Salad and Stir Fry, both made with mixed Asian Vegetables from Trader Joe's.

I went a little crazy at Trader Joe's this weekend.  I do that, from time to time.  It's far enough away from me that I don't get weekly groceries there, so I tend to just buy large quantities of wine and frozen food at once. 

For the next two lunches, I took advantage of the produce section!  They apparently sell a pound of mix, pre-cut Asian Vegetables in the produce section - red and green bell pepper, red onion, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, watercress, and pickled corn.  So, what did I do?  Bought it, and used it for lots of meals this week, inlcuding two lunches! 

The first lunch is a tasty, French inspired salad with mixed greens, bell pepper, mushrooms, corn, broccoli, and carrots with a tangy honey mustard dressing that I made at home, along with a leftover dinner roll.

The second lunch is Trader Joe's Mandarin Chicken, amped up with all of the delicious veggies, over jasmine rice with orange sections and broccoli from the veggie mix.

And I still have some vegetables leftover - I'm going to use the peppers and onions in a pasta later this week (unlikely to show up for lunch), and then just snack on the carrots for the rest of the week!