Well, it’s finally time for me to be honest with you all. I’ve been struggling with how to say this, but I think the best thing to do is to get it over with.

So, here we go.

I hate lunch. I really do. I hate asking myself the question, “what’s for dinner,” but “what’s for lunch,” is about 10 times worse, with my current schedule.

Generally, I hate having to pause in the middle of my day to eat based on principle. When I’m at work, my concentration feels like a runaway train.

Once I get going, there’s no stopping me.

Putting on the brakes for lunch, right when I feel like I’m finally making significant progress on whatever I’m working on, is annoying.

But the real reason that I hate lunch is that I’m not good at it. I often don’t think of lunch until the day-of, which means my only options are to pack a mediocre sandwich or to eat out in the middle of the day.

Even eating out, lunch options still feel limited. Do you want a sandwich, soup or a salad? Those are the three lunch categories that leave me feeling full without ending up bloated and tired during the afternoon.

Get a burrito at noon? I’ll be mentally checked out and napping by 3 p.m.

But I have a resolution this year to cook more healthy meals, and I am at least temporarily planning to stick to that resolution. So, I knew I needed to improve my attitude (and my spending habits) when it comes to that hated mid-day meal.

Instead of groaning and complaining about my options, and eventually caving and getting a fast-food cheeseburger, I decided to pull out my Crockpot to see if I could solve the problem. And, as always, my slow cooker saved the day.

I found a recipe for Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps on Taste of Home that seemed doable. I made a few cuts and adaptations to it, for the sake of the ingredients I had on hand and to prepare the wraps in advance throughout the week.

What came out of that slow cooker was so delicious, it’s going to become a regular part of my lunch rotation from now on. It only took a few minutes to throw the chicken and broth in the Crockpot and then a few more to mix in the salad dressing and other ingredients once the chicken was cooked and shredded.

My husband and I each ate a wrap for dinner that night, which I served on tortillas that I toasted in a pan with some first, and once we were full, I took the rest of the ingredients and packed them into cold tortillas, rolling them in tin foil to store in the fridge. Altogether, I got six extra wraps out of the deal, which meant I didn’t have to think about lunch for the next three days.

So, did this recipe make me like the concept of lunch more? No. But it was delicious. Plus, it gave me three blissful days before I had to think about lunch again. Hallelujah.

I’ll have to mentally prepare myself for when the wraps are once again gone from my fridge, and I’m asking myself, “what’s for lunch” all over again. But these Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps have brought me a little bit of peace. For now.

CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD WRAPS

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast halves
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup creamy Caesar salad dressing (whichever brand is your favorite, as long as it’s not too thin)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (shredded is recommended, but I used grated in the slow cooker to help it incorporate into the chicken more easily)
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6 8-inch flour tortillas (I toasted mine in butter on the stovetop when eating immediately, and kept the rest cold for meal preparation)
2 cups shredded lettuce
Optional: Salad croutons, crumbled cooked bacon and additional shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions
■ Place chicken and broth in a slow cooker. Cook, covered, on low 3-4 hours or until a thermometer inserted in chicken reads 165 degrees. Remove chicken and discard cooking juices. Shred chicken with 2 forks; return to slow cooker.
■ Stir in dressing, Parmesan, parsley and pepper. Give the slow cooker a few minutes to heat through.
■ If serving immediately, toast tortillas in a pan with a little bit of butter over medium heat for a minute or two, if desired. If preparing wraps for later, skip this step.
■ Once tortillas are prepared and the chicken mixture is heated and incorporated together, scoop about 1/6 of the chicken mixture into each tortilla. Add about 1/3 cup shredded lettuce to each wrap, along with other toppings like salad croutons, bacon and additional cheese if desired.
■ Wrap tortillas like a burrito, folding one end before curving the rest of the tortilla around the filling. If packing up for later, use plastic wrap or aluminum foil to protect the wrap. Otherwise, enjoy!

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