If you have followed me for long you know that I am a big advocate of batch cooking, largely because I would actually probably die without batch cooking! What is batch cooking? Quite simply, it is the practice of cooking food in large batches at one time and eating it over time to save you time in the kitchen. I batch cook all of our breakfasts and lunches every weekend so that all I have to make over the week is dinner. This is a really important part of my success on AIP because it is important for me to have prepared food nearby when I get hungry and it also allows me to still live my life, work full time and take care of a family while still eating food made from scratch.
I have found, however, that lunch is one of the hardest things for me to get ideas for. Lots of paleo lunch ideas out there are salads or wraps or other things that you would really need to make the day of and that is just not possible for me. I go to work early and I need sleep so I do not have time to make lunch in the morning. This seems to rule out a lot of traditional “lunch” things, but over the years I have learned a few techniques that help me easily batch cook my lunches and not get in a rut of eating the same thing over and over.
- Look for Slow Cooker Meals- the slow cooker is my favorite batch cooking tool. I can throw all of the ingredients in on my batch cooking day and let it cook and then all I have to do is put it in a storage container. Slow cooker meals are also great because a lot of them are one pot meals so its easy to take on the go without adding a lot.
- Roast Veggies and Add a Meat- The possibilities for this are nearly endless. Roasting vegetables is also a great batch cooking technique because you can just put them on trays in big amounts and put them in the oven while you get other things done. No standing over the stove. Roasted veggies and a meat are great, easy and offer variety. Last week I had a bunch of roasted root vegetables and some sausage from a local health food store that is compliant with my diet. This week I am having roasted broccoli and shrimp! Both were super easy to make.
- Check Out the Stir Fries- Obviously I have a theme of just wanting a one stop lunch without a lot of separate pieces. I like to roll out of bed, throw lunch in a container and go. (This gives me more time to focus on breakfast) Stir fries are another great one pot option that has endless possibilities.
There are a to of non salad, non sandwich options for lunch you just have to know where to look. Here are a few of my favorite recipes for batch cooking lunches on AIP:
