How much money do you spend weekly on lunch takeout? Would you like to reach goals that require savings sooner?

A few years back, I asked myself this same question and was alarmed when I multiplied my weekly takeout amount by 52 weeks. I had a dream goal to take a year off work to travel, but I knew I had to make some changes for that goal to become a reality. For a longtime, buying my lunch seemed like a necessity for surviving a gruelling workweek, but once I learned to meal prep once a week, I saved time and a whole lot of money. I also developed healthier eating habits and no longer felt as rushed to eat my lunch because I had eliminated the daily hunt.

I will be sharing a series of easy and healthy (mostly plant-based) meal preps that you can follow or alter to your liking.

Feel free to share with me what you’re saving towards or what kind of meals would be most helpful to you.

Prep Time:  45 minutes      Author: Milk & Marigolds      Yields: 5 Individual Lunches

Equipment:
A pot to boil water 
2 large bowls
Tupperware (I used 5 glass containers that are 6 inches by 4 inches & 2 inches deep)

Ingredients: 
2 large Hass Avocados
1 1/2 cups of rinsed & drained Quinoa
1/4 of a Red Cabbage, sliced
1 small Red Onion, minced
5 Mini Cucumbers, sliced
1 Lemon (half juiced, half cut into 5 wedges)
Maple Syrup or Liquid Honey (optional) 1 heaping tablespoon
Fresh Cilantro, 1/3 cup chopped
Curry powder, 1 tablespoon
1 Organic Stock Cube
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Red Wine Vinegar
2 cans of Chickpeas, rinsed and drained (use 1 & 1/2 of the cans)
1/2 Cup of Dried Cranberries
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper

Directions:

Quinoa
1. Begin by rinsing the quinoa with cold water and drain. This step is not necessary, but will result a better outcome.
2. Juice half of the lemon. Reserve the remainder for lemon wedges for each lunch. Cut 5 wedges.
3. Fill a pot with 3 cups of water and add a stock cube. Add the quinoa to the water and cook until tender. Once cooked, stir in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the juice from 1/2 the lemon.

Cabbage
1. Quarter the red cabbage. Then use one of the quarters to thinly slice. Feel free to chop the slices again if smaller pieces are desired.
2. In a large bowl add the sliced cabbage, 2 & 1/2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 1 heaping tablespoon of maple syrup or liquid honey and a couple pinches of salt. Mix and set aside.

Jewelled Curry-Chickpea Salad
1. Rinse 1 1/2 cans worth of chickpeas with cold water, drain. Once drained, add to a large mixing bowl.
2. Mince 1 small red onion and 1/3 cups worth of fresh cilantro, and add these ingredients to the chickpeas along with 1/2 a cup of dried cranberries, 1 tablespoon of mild curry powder, 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and ground pepper to taste. Mix all ingredients evenly.

Other:
1. Slice up 5 mini cucumbers. Lightly salt and pepper them.
2. For the avocado, I suggest adding fresh slices each day. Squeeze a lemon wedge over the avocado to keep it fresh longer, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

Finally, assemble the lunches. Add a lemon wedge to each container. Season with more salt and pepper if desired. Enjoy!

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