Treat yourself

I've decided to take lunch into my own hands. Like most moms, my days are filled to the brim. Sometimes the last thing I think about is lunch. I'll grab a few bites of the kids' mac n cheese, or make a boring sandwich. Or not eat at all. And then 3:00 comes and I'm STARVING, so I grab the quickest snack. And that snack is rarely a healthy one. You know me and my chocolate.

I've made an effort to make myself something a little more special than leftovers for lunch. It's my reward for working my fanny off all morning. Although, my fanny doesn't seem much smaller for all the work. : )

Our garden has produced the most lovely tomatoes and cucumbers. So today I threw together a salad. The most difficult thing involved there was peeling and chopping the cucumber. Cherry tomatoes--just throw them on! Bag of lettuce--open and spread on the plate.

And because I am a big fan of delicious proteins, I grilled this:

I love a perfectly cooked steak. Seared on the outside. Pink and juicy on the inside. My favorite way to season this is with Canadian Steak Seasoning and Sea Salt. Rather than having a steak and a salad, I decided to have a Warm Steak Salad. I sliced up this bad boy and placed it on top of the salad.

A bit of heaven during my not so glamorous day.

Are you thinking you don't have time for this? You do. Are you thinking you don't want to bother lighting up the grill for this? Me too. And here's my solution . . . another one of my top 5 favorite kitchen items: A Grill Pan. It will change your life. And your lunch.
I would have taken a picture of mine, but it was covered in steak goodness. This pan is non-stick, super fast to use, only takes up the space of 1 burner on your stove. A quick sear of 3 minutes on each side and the steak was ready to rest for a minute while I assembled the salad. I sometimes thaw 2 or 3 chicken breasts and grill them up. Then they're in the fridge and ready to heat up for another quick lunch.