You mentioned screw-top plastic containers. If they're quart size, there's a dead-easy lunch you can put together assembly line style (ours take less than fifteen minutes, but they take more than five because I'm a bit CDO about food. --CDO is OCD in its proper, alphabetical order. Laugh.)
Okay, pick what you like from-
--a bag of spinach leaves. Shredded cabbage,(usually sold as cole slaw mix) carrots (buy shreds or slices if you really want to cut down on time, but I buy the gorgeous colored carrots from Trader Joe's and take less than a minute to shred.
Open seven one quart plastic containers. No matter what the bags say, rinse the vegetables. Put a handful of each of the above in the bottom of each container.
Now, add some carbs (and more fiber)- Open a can of your favorite kind of beans, rinse and add a few spoonsful to each container. This is the ONE place where I like those canned ears of baby corn. Water chestnuts need rinsing, but even one or two add a bit of surprise. Jicama shreds are NOM, but you have to do it yourself.
Add some seasonal, fragile stuff like tiny tomatoes, bits of fresh bell pepper, chopped fresh cilantro or basil (go easy, the fresh is awesome but strong!)
Add some more protein: a chopped hardboiled egg, or a small handful of diced cooked chicken breast, or seasoned tofu, pretty much anything will blend with the other flavors.
Are all the jars very nearly full? Goody! Purchased dressing will work, so find one you like and put about two tablespoons into a zip-style snack bag. Tuck that into the top of the jar so the ingredients aren't drowned in dressing. Close lids and stack someplace in the fridge.
Grab and go. Literally! Hubby keeps a spoon, knife and fork in his desk at work and is particularly fond of pulling the salad out in front of coworkers who have gone to Fast Food X --for the billionth time-- because it's the only place within driving distance for the lunch hour which is NOT a sit-down restaurant.
So, open the jar, either open the zip bag or snip a corner at the bottom (what I do), and put the dressing in- use about half of what you expect at first- close the lid, and shake to distribute the dressing.
By the way, hubby, making the same dish, washes the bagged items and rinses the beans, and dumps everything in out giant breadmaking bowl, mixes, then fills the plastic containers. It takes him less than five minutes to make the week's lunches.
A meal idea
Okay, pick what you like from-
--a bag of spinach leaves. Shredded cabbage,(usually sold as cole slaw mix) carrots (buy shreds or slices if you really want to cut down on time, but I buy the gorgeous colored carrots from Trader Joe's and take less than a minute to shred.
Open seven one quart plastic containers. No matter what the bags say, rinse the vegetables. Put a handful of each of the above in the bottom of each container.
Now, add some carbs (and more fiber)-
Open a can of your favorite kind of beans, rinse and add a few spoonsful to each container. This is the ONE place where I like those canned ears of baby corn. Water chestnuts need rinsing, but even one or two add a bit of surprise. Jicama shreds are NOM, but you have to do it yourself.
Add some seasonal, fragile stuff like tiny tomatoes, bits of fresh bell pepper, chopped fresh cilantro or basil (go easy, the fresh is awesome but strong!)
Add some more protein: a chopped hardboiled egg, or a small handful of diced cooked chicken breast, or seasoned tofu, pretty much anything will blend with the other flavors.
Are all the jars very nearly full? Goody! Purchased dressing will work, so find one you like and put about two tablespoons into a zip-style snack bag. Tuck that into the top of the jar so the ingredients aren't drowned in dressing. Close lids and stack someplace in the fridge.
Grab and go. Literally! Hubby keeps a spoon, knife and fork in his desk at work and is particularly fond of pulling the salad out in front of coworkers who have gone to Fast Food X --for the billionth time-- because it's the only place within driving distance for the lunch hour which is NOT a sit-down restaurant.
So, open the jar, either open the zip bag or snip a corner at the bottom (what I do), and put the dressing in- use about half of what you expect at first- close the lid, and shake to distribute the dressing.
By the way, hubby, making the same dish, washes the bagged items and rinses the beans, and dumps everything in out giant breadmaking bowl, mixes, then fills the plastic containers. It takes him less than five minutes to make the week's lunches.
I said I was a little CDO about food!