Impress the rest with your weekly meal plans and eat healthily every day
Taking your own food to work is a good habit for many reasons, including saving money, eating more healthily and keeping your kitchen clean and tidy all week. Are you still making excuses not to do it? Keep reading and you'll forget them soon enough.
Have you heard of batch cooking?
It's all about spending part of the weekend, or a day that best suits you, to prepare several meals or ingredients that will help you to organise what you'll be eating for the rest of the week. Sounds easy, doesn't it?
This way you can avoid resorting to getting food delivered, the faithful old sandwich or grabbing something from the pub on the corner, and you'll no longer have the excuse of not having time to cook.
Bringing healthy and tasty food to work can be done. Start by thinking about what you're going to cook based on the ingredients you have at home, and make a shopping list with what else you need. That way you won't waste time at the supermarket thinking about what to buy and it'll be easier to resist less healthy food cravings. Another great benefit of a shopping list is that you'll stop letting food go off because you haven't had time to use it, saving yourself money and reducing your household waste.
You can start by cooking simple things that complement each other, such as portions of rice, cooked or stewed legumes, vegetables such as green beans, cabbage or broccoli or soups like cream of courgette. All can easily be frozen or combined to make salads and more substantial meals.
Organise your fridge!
Depending on when you're going to eat what you've cooked, at the beginning or end of the week you'll need to put it in the fridge or freezer. Organise your containers — the 365+ range features both plastic and glass options. Plastic containers don't contain Bisphenol A (also known as BPA), so they're safe to use for heating food in the microwave, they're made of durable plastic that doesn't warp or stain easily, and they're stackable. Glass containers with silicone lids have an airtight seal and can be used in the oven and freezer. Both the container and the lid are transparent so you'll be able to quickly find what you're looking for no matter where it is. You can make a lasagne and freeze it, so when you want to eat it you can simply take it out and put the container in the oven.
That's got your mouth watering, hasn't it?
With each meal separated and organised in different containers, you'll get a complete and nutritious meal every day instantly from the microwave, and because they're planned and organised, you won't go overboard with portion sizes.
Glass jars
A glass jar is also a good option when taking food out with you. Not only are they a sustainable way to re-use your empty jars, glass breakfast jars are also all the rage! Mix your favourite milk or yoghurt with oats or chia seeds, chopped fruit and nut butter, let it sit overnight and voilà, a scrumptious breakfast ready to go in two minutes.
They're also ideal for storing dry food in bulk, making your shopping more sustainable and keeping your pantry organised. You'll know at a glance what ingredients you have and the ones you're missing for your weekly meal plan.
Don't waste time
Did you know that almost half of Spaniards lose something at home at least once a week?
As we've said, organisation is essential so that you don't waste time looking for things when you need them.
And since we're talking about batch cooking and weekly meal plans, we mustn't forget about sorting our storage containers. It's one of the biggest headaches when it comes to organising your home and it may just be your favourite excuse not to prepare your own food.
One simple recommendation is storing your containers in a low drawer or cupboard with a special lid organiser, such as VARIERA.
You'll have everything at hand and ready to use!
Think of a practical way to take your lunch to work. As simple as it may seem, the morning rush can make you forget to get your lunch out of the fridge. If this happens to you, you can leave your lunch bag on the rack next to your coat or put a note next to the door or on the fridge.
Have you taken note of these tips? Start by cooking food that is simple to prepare and combine to make it a bit easier for yourself, and enjoy taking food out with you!
Have you taken note? To make it a little easier for you to get organised, here are a couple of articles with simple (and delicious) recipe ideas for food that you can take to work.
We love it when customers use our products creatively. Why not try to do something new with them yourself? But do remember, any modifications or changes made to IKEA products will prevent them from being resold or used for their original purpose, thus invalidating IKEA product warranties and your right to return them.
