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A Hack For Healthy Lunch Inspiration & Preparation

Meal planning and preparation can be a major pitfall when it comes to eating healthy during a busy work week. Very often, I am supplementing this midday meal with an Empower Bar, or gluten-free crackers dipped in hummus. This is all find and good, but sometimes I want something green.

When I get around to planning for my lunches ahead, I often turn to this trick for some inspiration: I will quickly search for a healthy eatery, cafe, or juice bar in a random city, take a peek at their menu, and choose a few items from their lunch options to recreate at home. Many times, the meals aren’t complicated, and even allows for some creativity in how to make it yourself.

I thought of this because I love to travel, and when I do, almost always drag my husband to a primarily plant-based establishment for most of our meals. I love looking at the different flavor combinations, and they not only add nutritional variety to my plate, having me eat things I normally don’t, but also inspires me to switch things up after I am back at home.

You can do this right where you are, garnering ideas from anywhere! See below for some of my favorite places I have turned to for inspiration. PS: you can do this for breakfast and dinner as well!

Cafe Gratitude, Venice, CA

Laughing Seed Cafe, Asheville, NC

E+Rose, Nashville, TN

Hu Kitchen, New York, NY (now permanently closed, but found their menu!)

True Food Kitchen, Multiple Locations

LYFE Kitchen, Chicago, IL