BYO Lunch Tips & Inspo

+ recipe for Easy Layered Salad

This time of year a lot of attention is paid to kids’ lunches, but just because you’re grown up it doesn’t mean you need a good lunch any less. Whether you head to work most days or are out running errands, bringing own lunch has big advantages over eating out or picking up something to-go. When you BYO, chances are you’ll eat better quality food in saner portions with more of what you need, like vegetables and whole grains, and less of what you don’t, like excess calories, saturated fat and sodium. And that is without even trying. If you make a point of bringing a healthy options, the nutritional bonuses multiply. Plus, packing lunch could save a lot of money. If, for example, each weekday you make a meal using $5 worth of groceries instead of buying one for $10, you save over $1,000 in a year.

But let’s agree to just say “no” to soggy sandwiches and sad desk lunches. Here are some strategies to make your lunch is as enticing and pleasureable as it is good-for-you.