I pack Greg a lunch almost every day that he has school.

Some people laugh at this but I know secretly they are envious. We also make breakfast burritos every few weeks and freeze them for his breakfasts (as I have written about before). Yes, it takes some planning but it’s cheaper than him eating out and I know he’s eating (rather than not eating) and eating something that’s better for him. I like to work through lunch and tend to have smoothies for both breakfast and lunch but this way the food is also there if I want it as well.

Yesterday the freezer became empty of anything for his lunches so over the weekend I had defrosted a pork tenderloin I’d gotten at the grocery store and set to making Rick Bayless’s Pork a la Mexicana for dinner the last night, knowing I could freeze the rest of it into portions for Greg.

The caveat, however, was that it was a 4-pound tenderloin and so I multiplied everything by four. I knew it would be close with the dutch oven but when Greg came home and saw me draining the cans of fire-roasted tomatoes, asking me if that’s what I was really doing (that’s what the recipe says, I told him), he suggested I add them, he was okay if it was more like soup.

With the dutch oven almost overflowing, he couldn’t find enough space in the freezer for all the portions he doled out for his lunches (while I rested after all that cutting).

The result was worth it: a tasty dish that will last several weeks. And it included dinner last night, too.

Find the recipe here.

Recently, I have been struggling with lunch. My days are packed– even more so right now between work and planning for a June wedding– and I have so many phone calls that I don't have time to think about what I'm going to have for lunch.

Finally today I decided to pick up some frozen meals just so I didn't have to think about it for a week. I was at Target and looked for a few of the Amy's brand Mexican casseroles. I like them but as someone whose body can't handle a lot of salt, the sodium content is much too high for me. However, today I found them with half the sodium. But then I looked to the right of the Amy's section and saw the evol (with the backward e) meals including gluten free burritos (which Greg's says should not be called burritos at that point). And then I spotted a fire-grilled steak bowl with black beans. I need meals high in protein, low in carb. It took me a long time to figure out how I function best; there is no pizza for lunch in my world or I'll be asleep all afternoon.

As I continued to walk through the frozen food aisle, I realized I was getting ideas: inspiration. While sometimes recipes are good inspiration, trying a combination someone else has made can work better. The fire-grilled steak bowl wasn't bad but a little tasteless for me. That means next Friday I'll be picking up the ingredients to make my own. Look forward to the recipe here soon.

The key for me is having enough meals in the refrigerator (because I work at home) that I don't have to think hard about lunch. And with today's inspiration, I think I'm good for awhile. All it took was a little time to let my mind wander at the store.