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June 5, 2015

Today’s Easy Packed Lunch

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Hey guys – happy Friday! I’m enjoying a post-work yoga class tonight so that meant sleeping in a bit this morning. Hooray! Before heading downtown to work out of my co-shared office space, I made myself a Flour Free Breakfast Pancake. Those are frozen wild blueberries peeking out from under it – I like putting them on the plate, still frozen, then throwing the hot pancake on top. It melts them into a kind of syrup almost – delish!

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Since this pancake takes about 10 minutes on the stove over medium low heat before it can be flipped, I let it sit and threw together a packed lunch for myself while it cooked.

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It’s been awhile since I shared a packed lunch here on the blog, huh? I only work downtown a couple days a week, so I usually use it as an opportunity to meet up with friends that work in the city for lunch. I have a coffee date this afternoon with a dietitian friend, though, so I knew I’d need lunchtime to get caught up on work. Hence, the packed lunch! (Although I still took 15 minutes to eat lunch away from my computer – so important!)

On the menu today: a tuna sandwich! Keeping it simple. 🙂

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It’s gray and dreary out, and chilly for June, so I wasn’t feeling one of my usual salad/grain/bean creations. I hadn’t had a tuna sandwich in way too long! Zara was super pumped about my choice, too (I let her “clean” the tuna can for me).

For the tuna salad, I mashed it together with some avocado and a squirt of dijon mustard. No need to measure – ain’t nobody got time for that. Also, I know this looks gross – just keepin’ it real over here. I used a big can of tuna and a whole avocado so this made two servings. I saved half the tuna salad for later; I like dipping crackers into it for a snack!

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I threw half the tuna salad on two slices of toasted sprouted grain bread. Toasting the bread first is key so it doesn’t get soggy by lunchtime!

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To get in some veggie volume and crunch, I threw some chopped red cabbage (I bought a bag of it pre-chopped… again, ain’t nobody got time for that) and baby spinach on top.

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Et voila! Lunch is ready to go, just in time for my breakfast pancake to be flipped. I paired it with an enormous carrot because real carrots taste way better than baby carrots. And sliced the sandwich into triangles because it’s a proven fact that triangle-cut sandwiches taste better than whole or regular cut sandwiches. #truth

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For an afternoon snack, I packed a couple peanut butter “cookies” that I whipped up earlier this week as part of a meal planning service review that I’ll be doing on the blog soon. Delicious! They are just dates + peanut butter + one egg + dried cherries, all mixed together and baked. Hearty and quite filling!

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Depending how hungry I am later I might buy myself a green juice at the office, too – we have a machine that sells them. Best thing ever.

What did you have for lunch today?

And now, back to work! I’ll leave you with some important reading before I go: 31 Foods That Surprisingly Don’t Actually Need to be Refrigerated. Some of these blew my mind. Ketchup doesn’t need to be refrigerated? Has my whole life been a lie?! 😉

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

p.s. Want more simple packed lunch inspiration? Check out How to Pack Lunch When the Fridge is Empty and How to Pack Lunch in 5 Minutes Flat. I also have a whole “quick and easy packed lunch” section of my recipe page. 

- anne
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22 comments
  • Jacklyn @ Jack's Balancing Act
    June 5, 2015 · 12:51PM:
    Love getting a sneak peak into people's lunch boxes since I tend to get caught in such ruts (Mary's crackers with avocado and chickpeas over and over). I've never tried toasting the bread for a packed sandwich - good tip! HAPPY FRIDAY :)
    Reply
  • Lauren @ The Bikini Experiment
    June 5, 2015 · 12:59PM:
    You are right - real carrots taste so much better than baby carrots! The peeling only takes a minute too. Looks like a great lunch.
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 5, 2015 · 1:05PM:
      I don't bother peeling them, actually! I just buy organic ones so I know they aren't pesticide-tastic, rinse them and eat!
      Reply
  • Elizabeth Beil
    June 5, 2015 · 1:00PM:
    FREAKY! I made the same thing (Avocado and Dijion as well!) and was eating it while I was reading your post!! I love avocado with tuna!! I also added a few squirts of hot sauce for some heat!
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 5, 2015 · 1:04PM:
      No way! Great minds. You have excellent taste in sandwiches. ;)
      Reply
  • Ashly June 5, 2015 · 1:15PM:
    Hi! I'm a new reader, and enjoying your blog. Must be the day for tuna. That's in my lunch too. Can you please post the pancake recipe? It looks amazing!
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 5, 2015 · 1:37PM:
      Thanks for reading! That recipe is already posted -- I linked to it in the post, but here it is: http://www.fannetasticfood.com/2012/11/06/protein-packed-flour-free-breakfast-pancake-recipe/
      Reply
  • Courtney @ Eat Pray Run DC
    June 5, 2015 · 1:22PM:
    I started working from home in September and have found that taking a bit of time away from the computer for lunch really made a difference in my day!
    Reply
  • Katie @ Operation Happier
    June 5, 2015 · 1:29PM:
    Anne, that pancake looks so yummy! I'll have to try it this weekend -- and share it with my in-laws, who are gluten-free. I am also going to have to try that tuna salad pronto! I don't know how you do it, coming up with all these creative and delicious looking recipes :) Have a great weekend.
    Reply
  • Erin @ Her Heartland Soul
    June 5, 2015 · 2:32PM:
    That pancake looks awesome!
    Reply
  • Kate
    June 5, 2015 · 2:55PM:
    ...but everyone knows ketchup taste better cold :)
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 5, 2015 · 3:03PM:
      Hmmm, true... :)
      Reply
  • Shel@PeachyPalate
    June 5, 2015 · 3:45PM:
    If you stick the pancake under a preheated grill (3 minutes on the stove, 3 minutes under the grill) it totally speeds up the process!
    Reply
  • Gretchen June 5, 2015 · 4:42PM:
    I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks that whole carrots taste better than baby carrots! I thought that maybe it was all in my head...I switched to peeling/chopping whole carrots for my lunch while I was student teaching (aka not getting paid for four months) because they were marginally cheaper, and I've never gone back. Baby carrots taste weird and chemically to me now!
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 5, 2015 · 9:08PM:
      Totally agree! I recommend not bothering to peel/chop them either, heh. Just buy organic ones, wash them, and eat!
      Reply
  • GiGi Eats
    June 6, 2015 · 11:05PM:
    It's so funny how that tuna salad totally turns on my taste buds, however when I was younger, I would always try and give away my tuna fish sandwiches at lunch..... Which obviously did not work out so well, LOL!
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 7, 2015 · 12:15PM:
      I randomly was weird and loved tuna sandwiches when I was little, too! :)
      Reply
  • Caroline June 7, 2015 · 10:16AM:
    One of my favorite tricks to keeping a sandwich sog-free until lunch time is to put greens on both pieces of bread and then the fixin's in-between! The greens tend to shield the bread from the moisture from juicy veg or hummus or whatever might be on the sammy. For PB&J, PB is necessary on both sides! I've been making egg salad with avocado! Half avo + 2 hardboiled eggs + curry powder + raisins + squirt of dijon + squirt of honey = holy moly
    Reply
    • Anne
      June 7, 2015 · 12:15PM:
      Great idea! And that egg salad sounds amazing!
      Reply
  • Roadrunner June 7, 2015 · 9:48PM:
    Looks terrific, many thanks! Annother great, quick recipe!
    Reply
  • Stephanie @ Whole Health Dork
    June 9, 2015 · 11:58AM:
    Love the idea of using avocado and Dijon in the tuna! Thanks!
    Reply
  • Anna June 14, 2015 · 5:53PM:
    Just made the tuna salad and it was great - thanks!! Will try the pancake soon!
    Reply
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anne mauney fannetastic food
Hi, I’m Anne! I'm a Washington D.C. based Registered Dietitian, mother, runner, and lover of travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. I've been blogging since 2009, sharing a mix of lifestyle content, recipes, and fitness tips. Come for the recipes – stay for the fun!
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I’m Anne, a Registered Dietitian and mother. I've been blogging since 2009 and love showing others that eating nutritious foods and staying active can actually be fun rather than overwhelming!

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