Lunch Box 9: Big Fat Hamburger

You know what sucks? Starbucks USED to carry the most delicious lightly salted cashews. They were the only even remotely Paleo food item they carried, and I swore by them. A grande green tea and a bag of those delicious cashews got me through many a study session last year during my prep course for my current program. Alas, not so long ago I discovered that all my local Starbucks’ ditched the cashews and now carry boring old almonds. Boring old almonds are everywhere. Starbucks was my cashew salvation. And now it’s just another almond-carrying let-down.

But anyways…I write the above cashew/almond rant because I have big plans for a good solid 4+ hour study session at a Starbucks tomorrow after class, and because they now carry NOTHING Paleo (aside from those boring old almonds) I need to make sure I’ve packed enough food to get me through class AND the study session.

Juicy hamburger and...shrimp?! Random!

Lunch Box Contents:

Handful of frozen cooked shrimp
Leftover Buttery Pumpkin Mash 
Cucumber & goat’s cream cheese mini-sandwiches
Boring Old Almonds
A giant, juicy hamburger made by the husband in the kitchen just a few minutes ago.

Lunch Box 8: Buttery Pumpkin Mash & Grass-Fed Beef Cold Stir-Fry

It’s FALL! It’s FALL! My Farmer’s Market was just screaming with fall deliciousness. Sweet potatoes, a spaghetti squash and a Sweet pumpkin (the green kind, not the jack-o-lantern kind) came home with us.  And made it into tomorrow’s lunch box. I have also been experimenting with ‘meal’ type foods that can be eaten cold, as I do not have access to a microwave on my long days. I think we have a winner, and it’s in this lunch box.

Pumpkin-y goodness

Lunch Box Contents:

Mini-cucumber & goat’s milk cream cheese sandwiches
Farmer’s Market (nitrate-free, naturally raised, etc.) summer sausage & pepperoni stick
Pumpkin Mash*
Grass-fed ‘good when it’s cold’ beef, cilantro and veggie stir-fry

* Chop top off pumpkin, remove seeds and throw pumpkin in the oven at 350 for an hour
Pull the orange guts out of the pumpkin and mash them up in a big bowl. Add a generous amount of butter and a heaping teaspoon of cinnamon
Transfer to a pot on the stove, turn stove to medium. Add some heavy cream and more butter and a bit of coconut oil if you choose and stir until all melty and delicious.
Eat. Love. Yum.