Best Meal Ever

Cereal in the morning, a fruit cup in the afternoon, or a protein bar after the gym...is that a meal? NO...those are just merely snacks that hold you over till you can sit down and eat an actual meal.  What do you usually see on a plate when you go out to eat?  Steak, potatoes, broccoli?  Or maybe pasta and chicken with pomodoro (classic Italian tomato sauce) sauce?  Or maybe you just ordered a burger with all the fixings.  Whatever you ordered, all these meals have 3 things in common...A protein, a vegetable, and a starch.  Proteins would be steak, chicken, and the burger.  Vegetable would be the broccoli, pomodoro sauce, and the fixings on the burger.  Starch would be potatoes, pasta, and the bread the burger is served on.  If it's one thing I've learned from culinary school and the food network, it's there's must always be those 3 components on the plate when serving.

"WHY" you ask??  If you remember when we were in elementary school they showed this pyramid of everything we're supposed to eat and how much we're supposed to eat.  Usually the protein is the largest portion of the meal is because we do not "snack" on proteins during the day.  We snack on cereals, fruits, and vegetables all day.  So even though we don't know it we're getting enough servings of everything as long as we eat at least 3 meals a day.  But unfortunately most of us don't because we're always in a rush to get to places.  Nowadays companies have created these "breakfast bars" and such.  FUCK THAT...breakfast is the most important meal of the day and a bowl of cereal is NOT a meal nor is a "breakfast bar".  Eggs, toast, bacon, homefries...now THAT is a meal.  Whatever it is though please try to eat SOMETHING before you step out the door to go to work.  Even just a banana will make you feel better trust me.

Now I know breakfast and dinner are the easiest meals to prepare and eat.  Breakfast can just simply be an egg with toast and dinner is probably the easiest because you can either go out to eat or you can prepare at home because everybody is home during dinner time.  But lunch...lunch is a toughy because you can't exactly cook your own food at work during lunch time (unless you cook for a living).  So you either have to pack your lunch and leave it in the company refrigerator and risk it being eaten because there are some assholes out there who don't care if there's a name on it or not OR you can go out to lunch and sit there and wait for a server and waste time deciding on what to eat and waiting for your food to come out.  By the time your food comes out it's almost time to go back to work and you have to rush to eat your food.  I hate rushing when I eat, you should always enjoy what you're eating...especially if you're paying for it!

So how do you maximize your lunch time and enjoy your lunch at the same time??  Make your lunch at work!! Haha now I know I said you can't exactly make your lunch at work (unless you cook for a living).  Before I was talking about cooking your meal but now I'm talking about making your meal.  What's the best thing ever invented according to Joey Tribbiani from "Friends"??  A sandwich!!  It's a no-brainer!  My favorite is a ham and Genoa salami with provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo on wheat bread.  I have my vegetable, starch, and protein all wrapped up in a sandwich.  You don't need utensils to eat it, you don't need to cook anything, no need for plates, and it's not messy (unless you're a messy eater yourself).  A lot of times when people make sandwiches and bring them to work they open a bag to a soggy nasty sandwich that's not appetizing at all.  What to do to prevent that?  Pack everything separately.  Pack your meats and cheese in a ziplock bag and do the same separating your bread and vegetables.  And if you want mustard or mayo buy the little packets, that's what they're for.  Put everything in a brown paper bag and staple or tape it.  Write DO NOT TOUCH on it and stick it in one of the drawers at the bottom of the refrigerator and no one will touch it. 

Whether you eat at your desk, cafeteria, or if you still want to go out making your sandwich is still the best way to go.  When lunch time rolls around you can pull everything out and make your sandwich in under a minute while your coworkers are jealous because they have to wait in line for their food.  Well I guess you'd have to wait in line too if you want to buy a bag of chips for a dollar.  That's better than spending $10 for a sandwich from Panera or Cosi.

Inspiration for this blog...POTBELLY FTW!  Potbelly is really correct with their food and I love it.  They don't slice their meat too thick, they don't overload their sandwiches with everything, it's toasted, and the prices are reasonable.  Finally got to get out of the house today because the sun is shining and the ice is melting! 

bien manger
-cwis