Hello Iowa.: The Beauty of Bagged Lunches and Family Dinners

Today I was presented with my first project as at-home-almost-dietitian: make lunch for my sister. She goes to school for cosmetology and goes out to eat a lot on her breaks. So I pretty much begged her to let me make it for her instead.

I told her I would hit up all the food groups, so luckily my mom's fridge was well-stocked. First, I made what I like to call a Strawberry Fields Forever salad, a combination of strawberries, lettuce, sliced almonds, cucumbers drizzled with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Actually, if you make this for a bagged lunch, I recommend keeping the dressing in a separate little container so the lettuce doesn't get soggy.

Britt's yummy Strawberry Fields Forever Salad.

Here's a fun fact. If you soak strawberries in one part vinegar, ten parts water, it prevents them from molding quickly! Thanks for the tip, Mom!

Here's the rest of her lunch: baby carrots, a ham and cheese on whole wheat bread, pretzels, and yogurt. All food groups represented? CHECK!

And for my own lunch? Ham and cheese wrap with regular salad: lettuce, cucumbers, chow mein noodles, and a little bit of cheese with ranch dressing.

And now on to dinner. This recipe was easy, super fast, and most of all -- tasty!

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, diced
8 cups noodles (I used elbow noodles)
2 tomatoes, fresh
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon basil (or more if you wish!)

It always helps me to see things, rather than only reading or only hearing them. So here is a demonstration of what to do!

Fry up the chicken. Use olive oil for grease.

Boil the water and toss in the noodles.

First you take the tomatoes.

Now for the tomatoes. Here's a nifty little trick I learned so they are diced well!

Then you slice them one way...

And then slice them perpendicular to the last slice.

Then separate them and put them in a bowl.

I should mention that when I was taking pictures, my sweet yellow lab Cheyenne totally photo bombed a bunch. Therefore I let her have her own close-up.

Work it, Chey!