How to pack an adult lunchbox with Brawny® Tear-A-Square®

Thank you Brawny® Tear-A-Square® for sponsoring this post. Think of all the ways you can Put a Square There!

Hey friends hey, it’s the beginning of a new week and fresh month over here, and I have to say, I am excited for it. I have officially moved into my new apartment, have been at my job for 2.5 months, and finally feeling settled after months of transition to Raleigh. If you guys didn’t know, my mom had gained a new roommate (aka me) for about two months, up until my new apartment was ready. In that time, I started finding all the small, little #adulting things I loved to do daily, and one of them was packing my lunch.

Since I worked 80% of the time from home before moving, I rarely had to pack my lunch. On the few occasions where I would be teaching all day or going from teaching, to a meeting on-campus, to a volunteering event, I would try to pack my lunch to save time, money, and calories. And y’all, as much as a nerd this probably makes me sound like, I realized that I love packing my lunch. Like, really, I love it and look forward to doing it. It’s one of those small things that I actually felt like I had control over and would know that it would make me really happy the next day.

Since I am sitting all day long now, a big priority for me was to pack healthy lunches so that I didn’t feel weighed down during the day. For me, most days this means a salad or a spinach wrap. I pack a few Brawny® Tear-A-Square® sheets in my lunch box for messes at work because, in case I haven’t mentioned before, I’m like the clumsiest person ever and constantly spill at work and at home. I try to grab at least 2-3 types of fruit – with grapes and apples being my favorites. I use Brawny® Tear-A-Square® half sheets to give my grapes a quick rinse in the sink before packing them in my lunch box. These sheets have the same strength of the Brawny® products we know and love, but I love the Tear-A-Square® rolls because I have the flexibility to use any size that I need. I usually give the apple a quick spray and wipe down using the same half sheet. With the quarter-sized sheets, I tend to dry my apples after washing and keeping the paper towel to the side for clean-up later. When I’m bringing smaller snacks, or snacks that can get messy such as crackers, I put a quarter sheet or two in my lunchbox. This is really helpful for the office to avoid crumbs and moisture on my desk. Since I spread work notes all over my creative space, I h a t e when I forget to clean up from my coffee cup or water bottle then have water stains on papers that I need to pass to someone else.

After everything is done, packed and cleaned, I’ll give my cutting boards a quick rinse and dry off with the quarter sheet from earlier. This is the perfect size to absorb any water left on the cutting boards + pick-up any crumbs or moisture that got stuck under the cutting board, bowls and my lunchbox.

With my salads, I am the queen of adding tons of ingredients. I pick up a basic chopped salad bag, then add sliced apples, dried cranberries, flaxseed, croutons, (sometimes) protein, then save dressing for the next day. If I have extra veggies from dinner, such as red peppers or mushrooms, I’ll throw them in there, too. By the end of the week, I have tons and tons of additions to the salad so I can use up all my fresh goods before grocery shopping again. The new Brawny® Tear-A-Square® rolls have quarter-sized sheets that I can easily use to portion out dried cranberries and flaxseed on without the waste of an entire paper towel. Once I get my salad, toppings, and fruit done, I move to any additional snacks I may need for back-up.

For a salty balance, I love packing crackers and salty/sweet popcorn. These are always my favorite snacks for when I have errands to run after work, or plan on staying in the office a tad bit longer. I tend to throw these in a sandwich bag, then use the same sandwich bag for each snack throughout the week so I don’t run through my stock as quickly. Once I’m done back my lunch box, I try to quickly put everything away so the counters are clear and stick my lunch box and/or the individual containers in the fridge for quick access in the morning. On the days when I plan on eating lunch outside of the office at the nearby picnic tables or in my car between events, I’ll grab a full Brawny® Tear-A-Square® sheet and add it to the side of my lunch box so I can tear off the quarter sheets that I need. I like to leave whatever sheets are left in my lunchbox for the next day as needed. Since each Brawny® Tear-A-Square® sheet is so durable, I can use my use my original full, half, or quarter Brawny® Tear-A-Square® sheet from rinsing grapes, to cleaning up crumbs on the counter from croutons and crackers. Even to pick up any spills and clean messes. Now that my lunch is packed and the mess is cleaned, I continue with my evening routine to get ready for bed and set-up for a productive next day.

Do you have a small adulting task that just makes you so happy? If it’s packing your lunch, welcome to the club! If you don’t already pack your lunch daily, I would suggest trying it out for a week and have fun with your meals and snacks for the next day. Learn more about Brawny® Tear-A-Square® and grab a coupon here. Thanks so much for reading! -xo, Azanique <3