Reader’s Request: Eat Clean On-the-Go
Thanks to a reader’s request, I’ve got some great tips to help you eat clean on-the-go below. One of those tips: Leftovers!
I love leftovers for many reasons, mostly because 99% of the time I can throw them in a skillet, add a couple of eggs
= breakfast.
For dinner last night, I used this beautiful wild salmon:
(I always ask the butcher for 4 servings worth. For us, that makes two perfect servings)
Since there was a little bit left from dinner, I figured it would be perfect scrambled this morning, along with a few veggies and goat cheese. Hit the spot.
Dessert while watching the Olympics:
(Chopped apple microwaved for 2 minutes with butter, cinnamon and almond butter)
Eat Clean On-the-Go
I recently got an email asking me about planning eats for the day when you’re away from home morning til night. I have some tips on how to eat clean on-the-go, but I have a feeling that some of you are very familiar with frantic schedules–please share your awesome tips in the comments!
Here’s a snippet from the email:
I got a new job where I am on a 9/80 schedule, so basically for 2 weeks I work M-F 9.5 hour days and then get one extra day off every other week. I love it, but with drive time, I am away from home 9:10am-7:15 pm. Do you have any suggestions or ideas on what foods I can bring to work? I love eating healthy, and I eat mini meals throughout the day, but I have a feeling this can be difficult with being gone for so long. We have a fridge/freezer/microwave at work. I find protein to be the most difficult to figure out, especially for snacks.
I work part-time now, but when I used to work full-time and in my college days, I was away from home for long stretches at a time, often from dark until dark. It definitely can put a damper on healthy eating plans. I had to figure out a method fast or I was racing through a drive-through on the way to the dance studio or stuck at my desk at work determining how appetizing my pencil would be (exaggerating, but you know).
Tips for a Day of Clean Eats
– Don’t forget the protein. High-protein snacks can be stashed in the refrigerator to keep you full longer, and are easy grab-and-go options, like pre-grilled chicken breasts
(I’ll often get a huge pack of organic chicken and ask the Pilot to grill it Sunday afternoon. Perfect for lunches, snacks or dinner stir fries)
Steamed eggs, amazeballs, deli meat, yogurts, hummus and veggies, homemade burgers or veggie burgers (freeze), protein powder in a shaker to add milk/water to.
-Leftovers for lunch. Make a huge batch of dinner, so you can easier put some in a to-go container for the next day.
-The slow cooker is your friend. Start dinner before you go to bed at night, or before leaving for work in the morning. Nothing better than driving into the garage, opening the door and being able to smell the delicious meal that’s waiting for you.
-Plan, prep and make ahead. This is a huge one for me, even with my schedule now as I have to take a lot of food to work. On Sundays, in addition to the grilled chicken, I’ll make a huge batch of quinoa and lentils, steamed eggs, hummus, trail mix, and/or amazeballs to have as easy snacks. Other options: bars, guacamole or hummus packs.
Every night before bed, I’ll make Liv’s am bottle so it’s ready to go in the fridge (whether it’s a work day the next day or not, just makes life easier!) and will prep most of my lunch and snacks so that I don’t have to worry about making them in the am.
Great options to make on Sunday, freeze and have ready for the week: quiche, lasagna, soups/chilis, pizza, burritos.
-You can also make and freeze breakfast goodies and meals. My favorites are these muffins, and protein pancakes also freeze well. Breakfast cookies are perfect make-ahead breakfasts, too, and you can take baked breakfast cookies to-go.
-Produce! Fruits, veggies, nuts/seeds make for awesome snacks, and require hardly, if any, prep time (wash and eat!).
-Microwaveable healthy options are out there, too. For convenience sake, many health stores have fantastic microwave options for lunch and dinner. I try to minimize these because they’re wicked expensive ($8 for a veggie burger? I’ll make my own, thanks), but in a pinch, they’re easy to grab-and-go.
Do you have any other tips to share? What’s your favorite on-the-go or make-ahead meal? To those of you who are away from home most of the day, how do you stay motivated and organized to eat clean?
Hope you have a happy almost-Friday!
xoxo
Gina
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I always have almonds, fruits and nut butter at my desk! Very portable and easy to snack on! I buy a few yogurt containers, and bring them on Monday at work, and keep them in the fridge, that way I don’t have to worry about it during the week!
I used to keep a jar of peanut butter in my desk…but then I started eating it with a spoon. I’m jealous of your self-control!
Great tips girl!!! I always love reading about your recipes 🙂
Cathy Trails
Great topic Gina! I love your suggestions and agree with you that grilling up heaps of chicken at the beginning of the week is a HUGE time saver! I also make enormous batches of veggie and grain-based salads, then add protein (like chicken breast strips, tuna, edamame, chickpeas etc) as the week goes on. That way all the chopping etc is done and I just have to mix them together. This is one of my absolute faves: http://eat-spin-run-repeat.com/recipes-2/?recipe_id=6018387. I could eat it literally every single day!
Wonderful tips! These are also good tips for people who travel a lot, like me!
Awesome tips! I used to work LONG days with a long commute, so I would pack four or five meals with me, including yogurt bowls (keep everything separate until it’s time to eat), salads (dressing on the bottom), trail mixes, whole fruits, pre-sauteed veggies, sandwiches, and leftovers. I often ate healthier on those days because I could only eat what I packed–no random, mindless snacking allowed!
This is a great post, one I’m bookmarking. (BTW, new to your blog – it’s great!) Also, I just want to let you know that I have been making breakfast cookies and each time I do, I end up having the BEST workout (runs, usually). Something about their composition just gives me a great feeling of energy without being overly full. Plus, it’s cookie dough! (My mixins are mostly seeds & nuts.) Thank you!
I’ll buy a bag of apples and keep it in my desk at work, so if I need a quick snack it stops me from having to go buy something unhealthy. I’ll also sometimes do that with nuts and dried fruit from the bulk bins at grocery stores. I find that if I have stuff on hand at work, even if I didn’t do a lot of prep in the morning or the night before, I at least have healthy snacks on hand. Canned soups (that are full of veggies and low in sodium) are also super easy.
I keep food staples at my desk: ie: oats, sun butter, etc I also pack 5 days of lunches and bring them in on Monday along with fruits. Therefore, I never get hungry and always am prepared.
Love this post! I love getting new ideas on what I can pack for work. I usually have to work from 8-3 so I like to pack breakfast, lunch, and a couple of snacks just in case. 🙂 It definitely takes a little planning, but it’s totally worth it when I’m at work. One less thing to worry about. 🙂
I use canning jars and make meals the night before and even some times several days before. In the morning just grab and go in one easy container. Nothing better than a clean sterile jar versus those horrible (in my opinion) plastic containers. Clean Eating magazine has an article in this months issue on different meals you can make. You can even google “Salad in a Jar” and start there for ideas. This type of meal planning is getting very popular. I use a food saver and suck out all the air and the food inside lasts longer making my meal prep on Sunday more productive as I can make things for 3-4 days. My lettuce lasts sometimes up to three weeks. Once you learn how to layer the foods you can pack some amazing meals. Come to my house anytime and you can grab a jar and shake it up and you have a great meal!
I’m the type of person that has to eat around every 4 hours otherwise I get cranky. So I eat breakfast at home, twice at work, and then dinner when I get home. So on Sundays I just make 2 pots of something (only takes about an hour) and then those are my two work meals. This works for me because I can eat the same thing all week without getting sick of it. And since I’m eating regular meals all day I never really have to “snack”
I’m such a creature of habit during the week for my ‘at work’ eats especially now since I stay full and it’s super easy to assemble during my quick morning!
a.m.: banana and a hardboiled/steamed egg for a.m.
Lunch: Sandwich chop full of spinach and some sort of protein, or almond butter + fresh peach sandwich (and YES, that is an incredible combo… just try it)
p.m. : 1/2 cup of cottage cheese + 1 tb salsa to dip some whole grain crackers into (again sounds super weird, but again…just try it! It’s so tasty). Organic carrots for a little crunch.
My rice cooker is my friend – I use it for a weeks worth of oatmeal and at least one quinoa concoction a week (the latest involved veggie broth and Frank’s Red Hot for some buffalo quinoa salads & wraps). I typically spend about 2 hours each Sunday evening prepping food to last my husband and me at the next 3 days or so. I’ve found that having the food ready to go is the best bet to avoiding the “I don’t have enough time” excuse that usually leads to eating junk food.
Lots of great ideas here, Gina! Love the grilled chicken one.
Trader Joe’s has some great healthy snack or “on the go” meals. I love taking leftovers (rice/beans/salsa/avocado/cheese mix or spaghetti). Another great thing would be to take a week’s worth of quality yogurt/greek yogurt, string cheese, chopped veg/fruit, hummus, crackers, etc for those mini meals.
I usually make my own ‘frozen dinners’. Usually on sunday, I’ll make a huge pot of stew, a big batch of muffins/cookies and usually a casserole/soup of some kind. I divide them up and then put them in the freezer then I have fast, easy and healthy frozen dinners that cost less than $1 each.
I have a request. Maybe you can do a post on the family page about life in the military. Things like life on a base or how you think having kids will effect your military life. I’m a civilian and have always been fascinated with military life and the military. I would never join the military or be a military wife but I am fascinated.
Gina, you are always freezing portions and then eating later. Sometimes the freezer doesn’t work out, or I can’t master the thaw verse heat up items. Suggestions for what items freeze well would be stellar! I grew up living on fast food and convenience and still find these smalls things daunting.
Yes, sometimes I freeze stuff and it is just yucky or icy. Maybe I keep it too long. Good idea Yvonne.
i have this problem too. ive tried making curry and freezing it and it ends up not that great.
Hi Everyone! I hope this lil suggestion helps. 🙂 I loooooove to freeze meat sauce (or without meat) tomato pasta sauce because although it does get icy at times, it always always ends up tasting great! If not greater than when I eat it right away since the flavors combine together so well. Sometimes, putting a lil spice like Sriracha makes it extra tasty. Today I had some of it on top of a huge salad and it was satisfying and delicious. 😀
I think stuff like greek yogurt with toppings is also a great choice Gina! In my opinion, as long as I know I’m gonna eat it within 2-3 hours, it should be fine and still fresh.
planning, being organized, and realizing I will feel better, healthier, more energized, and will save money in the process by bringing food from home and packing my hubs’ & daughters’ lunches for them is what keeps me motivated to just pack.
i do alot of the same things that are listed here. i prep everything that i can on sundays. for us, this includes hard boiling 10 eggs (for husband), scrambling 10 eggs (for me) & dividing these into 5 containers, one for each day of the week. i also roast almonds. breakfast & lunch are prepped each night before bed. my smoothie ingredients are put in the blender & the fridge overnight. this takes a lot of discipline & it can get time consuming. when i work during the school year, there is also not a ton of variation in what we do for brekkie & lunch each day. i keep it as simple as possible! but, to me, all of the planning & work is 100% worth it in order for us to eat healthy food each day.
Great post Gina! I especially like that you mentioned not to forget the protein because I think that is easily forgotten in on the go meals and is so key in keeping me full and energized throughout the day! Thanks for the tips!
Great tips! Pre-planning is definitely a must. By the way, I’m headed to Tucson for a day trip this weekend. Any restaurant suggestions? We’ll be in the Tucson Mall area. After you posted info on the Abbey, I’ve been tempted, but don’t know if we want to drive all the way out there. Look forward to hearing your suggestions.
These are awesome tips! I feel like I’m constantly eating on-the-go, so being prepared is key. I always make sure to have protein bars, nuts, crackers, etc. with me (just in case!). Then, if I know I’m going to need a meal, I try to bring a salad or wrap. (:
Oh, and I take smoothies with me everywhere! They’re just so easy and delicious.
I know you have your own unique style of eating, but do you have any veg*n pot luck recipe recommendations?
I feel like this post was written for me! In two weeks I’ll be starting nursing school, gone from home with no healthy place to eat or way to keep things cold for 10 hrs+ and having to pack lunches for 3 kids and have dinner prepped for the babysitter. I know for some people healthy eating takes the back seat when they are super busy, but for me, being prepped helps me feel way more in control and less stressed out. All suggestions are welcome!
I freeze bottles of water and put in my lunch bag. Keeps the food cold and when it thaws I have a bottle of water to drink.
You might have a student lounge associated with your nursing school. In my area its common for most schools to offer a small room with a fridge and microwave for nursing students. I wasn’t a nursing student but was allowed to use it with permission (similar medical field with clinical assignments that kept me busy). You guys put in long hours and can’t always leave bc of the financial issues or just need the time to prep for class.
I would ask a teacher or classmate about it on the first day.
i definitely think having protein snacks around is great!! its so easy to just snack on carbs all day so i try to have hard boiled eggs accessible, string cheese, nuts, etc. great post!
What a fantastic post, Gina! Thank you so much for this info. It’s so hard to find healthy food when you’re on the go, unless you make it yourself, and these ideas make it so much easier to prepare something ahead of time and just grab it on the way out! I love it.
I never understood fish portions. Are you kidding? If I gave my husband one “store” portion, he’d assume it was an appetizer. 😉
right?! same. it needs to be at least the size of my entire hand
I’m with ya on the leftovers train. When making veggies/protein for dinner, I always make 2x as much so I have ready veg/protein for either lunch or dinner the next day (sometimes I get home late and am STARVING for dinner and would stick my head in a bag of chips if I didn’t have food already ready). I also make a large (1.5x) smoothie with breakfast, eat/drink half with my breakfast and then take the other half to have with lunch, a mid a.m. snack or post-lunch snack. My final “tool” is to bring a ziplock baggie with trail mix (including unsweetened dried fruit, like dried apricots) in my purse or bag. This is my emergency, “just in case” food. Good to know about freezing the protein pancakes! I’ve been wanting to try these out, but never feel like I have the time in the morning.
AWESOME POST! you nailed it w/ this one. Prepare, prepare, prepare – that is KEY. I am fortunate that at work my lunch gets bought for me, but when I worked at previous jobs, it was always making extra dinner, or having things made on sunday’s that i could bring in containers to work. I love frozen veggie burgers with a bad of the steamed veggies – i’d just plop those in the microwave at work.. but you are right, that it is definitely cheaper to make it yourself, and freeze, etc. I think it’s also about getting creative, too. I always have a box of plain oatmeal packets in my desk drawer and a jar of PB.. that is a perfect snack that holds me over for a while. Anyway, lots of great stuff here!
Love your tips! I’d say have a variety of snacks. Maybe I’m weird, but I get bored with certain foods at a moments notice, so I keep a variety of protein snacks and such at work that I can chose from!
What is your veggie with the salmon?
zucchini and tomatoes
If there’s a fridge available, I like greek yogurt. Lots of protein and super tasty! If you’re watching sugar, you can get plain and add fruit and maybe a little stevia.
I’m gone 6am to 6pm every day – so I can totally relate to this!! It helps that I am an RD and work in an office with nutritionists, so “bad snacks” are almost never available to tempt me. Some things that work for me…
-It’s important to eat a combination of protein and healthy carbs as snacks, not just one or the other. For protein I often snack on: nuts (I pre-portion these or else I’ll overindulge and eat 400 calories of nuts in a sitting. It’s happened!), nut butter (I buy the individual packets by Justin’s), light mozzarella cheese sticks, dry roasted edamame (Seapointe Farms), roasted chickpeas, hummus, greek yogurt, steamed eggs (LOVE that method!). I have a weird aversion to lunchmeats, but they’re another option;). For complex carbs: fruits, vegs, whole grain crackers. In a pinch, I have a bag of Luna Bar minis in my desk!
-Make and freeze green monsters in advance, then allow them to thaw through the day and enjoy a smoothie as an afternoon snack.
-ALWAYS prep the night before. If I don’t do it then, I won’t have time in the morning and those are the days I end up at Subway (the ONLY place walking distance from work, other than Costco and Chinese). Ugh.
-We have limited space in our fridge, but I always keep a Costco size container of Fage 0% in there. I have things to “dress it up” at my desk, in a pinch – granola, nut butter, sugar-free pudding mix (try it!), etc. If we had more room, I’d keep fruits/veg there for the week.
-I prefer cooked veggies, so almost every night, while making dinner I will roast up a tray of veggies to take to work the next day. I’ll reheat and eat them as a snack, or throw them over a salad or into a wrap for lunch.
-I make and freeze homemade protein bars (Jamie Eason’s) and oatmeal bars (Oh She Glows) to grab and go for days I’m in a rush.
-Things I keep at my desk for days I don’t prep ahead: GoPicnic meals (http://www.gopicnic.com/) and Minsley cooked steelcut oats (I buy at Costco: http://www.amazon.com/Minsley-Organic-Steelcut-Oatmeal-5-Ounce/dp/B0083T34SU), and various shelf-stable snacks: nuts, mini Luna bars, nut butter, the yogurt in our fridge, etc.
Love the suggestion to freeze smoothies and let thaw over the day. I work 12 hour days too 11a-11p, and always want one in the evening.
I have been waiting for a post like this!! Thanks!!
For almost two years, I worked full time and took night classes that went until about 9pm, so I ate on the go a lot. I invested in a hot food container from Amazon (like a thermos, but smaller) and it was awesome. I had just enough time to rush home after work and heat up soup or leftovers for the container. My food stayed hot for hours, though it was best for soup. I typically made a big pot of soup each week, and it was great always having a “home cooked meal” even if I was on the go.
For protein I often make hard-boiled eggs, spicy roasted chickpeas, and cheese & crackers. Of course, greek yogurt is a great option. I’m able to keep of box of cereal at work too so I keep a hemp granola cereal and put it on my yogurt.
Justin’s single serve almond and peanut butters! I drive a lot and have a hard time with protein that won’t spoil while driving. Justin’s honey almond butter is a major go to for me!
i find that a lot of chains are getting healthier and healthier options – which is great & convenient- like starbs, panera, etc. BUT i also like to sometimes pack ahead and definitely do like the option of bars, trail mix, fruit and humus. i wish i were better (like you are!) about doing a big week-prep on the weekends, but i will get there…
I almost always have a ziploc or two in my lab coat pocket. Lately I’ve been digging dry roasted edamame, grapes, sliced up cucumber, and dried figs. Sometimes I’ll make a mix of crackers, dried fruit, etc so it’s easy to grab as I need throughout the day.
I can definitely appreciate this dilemma– but I stay away from convenience foods, as I think that healthy eating can definitely be done without relying on prepackaged microwavable meals, no matter how healthy they claim to be.
I’m gone usually 11-12 hrs. and stick to something of the following:
coffee/oatmeal
2 hrs later- banana
2 hrs later- hard boiled egg
2 hrs later- soup(usually a blackbean or lentil) and salad, or I’ll make a deli-style salad using chickpeas, lentils and quinoa tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and crunchy veggies.
2 hrs later- usually some type of fruit like plums or apricots with tea.
I keep raw nuts and 100 calorie popcorn bags in my desk at work for those days when I forget to pack things or don’t pack enough. Always a good idea to have back ups if you have a place to store them. I also rely on smoothies for a morning snack (esp if I worked out before work)–I usually make these the night before. Trail mix is another quick on-the-go option.
Great post! Really enjoyed the tips, especially because this is day 3 of my own healthy lifestyle change. It’s fate that I checked this site. You were talking about everything I had been googling earlier today! 🙂
Perfect timing! Football camps start next week (I’m an athletic trainer) and I have been racking my brain all week with things I can take to keep me full that will keep and won’t require heating.
Thanks for the inspiration ladies and gents!
<3!
I do take all my food with me for work and student – and since I do have a busy schedule, it adds up to 3/4 of my weekly meals. Other favorites of mine (I do actually make a lot of those that you have mentioned) are: PBJ-sandwiches (preferably on homemade bread), homemade dry fruit-nut-protein balls, soygurt with fruits, almonds (perfect little pick me up on the go), thai spring rolls (those which are not cooked and really refreshing in the summer), oatmeal and of course: salads! And another really great thing to get creative with your food on the go, are Bentos (you can see some examples on my blog:http://healthninja.wordpress.com//?s=bento&search=Go)!
I’m a student, so I often spend long days on campus and need to pack lunch, dinner, and snacks! I’m a big fan of making a big batch of a grain + bean salad on the weekend and eating the leftovers all week. Also I almost always pack sandwiches for lunch since they’re so easy and fast! For snacks I like homemade granola bars, portable fruit like apples, and individual containers of Greek yogurt.
My go to meal/snack is a sandwich most of the time. IF you use wholgrain bread and keep your toppings ‘light’ and preferably also add some veggies, it’s the easiest, fastest, and most ‘portable’ food 😀
I never thought of preparing a bunch of chicken breasts ahead of time for some reason – so smart! That would save me so much time!
Like some of you already mentioned, I’m a big fan of packing several salads in glass mason jars to grab in the morning before heading out the door. I’ll make a basic salad base, but use different dressing and proteins for a little variety throughout the week. I’ll also keep mini babybel cheese rounds and chop up a bunch of vegetables at the start of the week to have on hand. Thanks for a great topic, Gina!
Personally, I just make my lunch the night before… but I always thought about getting lots of containers and just preparing it for the week 🙂
I think eating healthy on-the-go is definitely possible with some planning. People say they don’t have time to plan or cook. Unfortunately, this excuse can ruin your entire healthy lifestyle. If you REALLY want it, you’ll make time in there somewhere. You don’t have to be cooking gourmet meals and if you don’t have a whole afternoon to dedicate to prepping, split it up into a couple of days.
On PB Fingers blog, Julie put a saying up that said, “Determination Now or Regret Later.” I think that applies nicely with this topic. A little time and effort at the start of the week makes for no regret later AKA, no “OMG I only have 10 minutes to scarf something down! I guess I’ll just get something out of the vending machine.” You’ll be prepared 🙂