What shall I have for lunch today? This seems to be a trivial question, but there are days when I agonize over it.
As a telecommuting mom, I have my own kitchen right outside the door where I can prepare the lunch du jour. This sounds like a fabulous bonus to working from home, but this is the same kitchen where I just prepared breakfast and where I will prepare dinner. Coming up with a variety of meals is hard and I want to do my best to make a healthy and interesting meal for dinner. Breakfast is usually pretty simple. But what about lunch? Why is lunch so boring?
If my kids are eating lunch at preschool (and they could eat peanut butter sandwiches until the cows come home so they are not much help in the variety department) I prefer to work rather than take too much time to prepare my own lunch. It’s hard to break out of that lunch-is-a-sandwich mentality. I used to make deli-meat sandwiches but I couldn’t keep the pile of condiments and add-ons fresh long enough to make the investment worthwhile. I will often make a grilled cheese sandwich but on occasion, when I am really lazy, I’ll just eat a yogurt (I’m obsessed with FAGE’s Greek yogurt and honey) or reheat last night’s leftovers – sigh.
When I worked in an office building I didn’t mind bringing leftovers for lunch. Somehow, under fluorescent lighting and within teal cube walls, reheated meatloaf from home became a culinary masterpiece. It was warm and robust and the smell wafting through the office brought me a little comfort from home.
Now that I’m home all day I want a little less home comfort.
As a telecommuter it can be hard to be motivated to eat a healthy, balanced lunch every day. This is true of office employees, too, but they usually have more opportunities for social lunches out of the office, employee cafeterias that change menus every day and provide salad bars, or said reheated leftovers in the cube.
Now when lunchtime rolls around I head up to the kitchen, open the refrigerator and look for something. Then I open the pantry and look for something. Then I go back to the refrigerator as if some new and exciting food will have appeared in the last ten seconds. Then I go back to the pantry and get out the bread to make grilled cheese.
Filed under: telecommuting facts
