Office breakfast/lunch ideas

AshEvelynn

Hi Everyone!

I really like being able to grab my breakfast in the am and bring to work to eat later (7am is WAY too early for me). I'm interested in meals that I can either make over the weekend and freeze or something I can quickly put into a container from the market and grab on my way out the door to the office.

I already do the left overs, fruit, veg thing but I'm getting into a slump of the same foods and I need some new ideas! No allergies but I strongly dislike nuts and yogurt. Would love to hear any low cal/sodium/fat ideas!

Side note - I work in an office so super stinky, smelly stuff is not ideal.

thewindandthework

I have an office job and am working on losing about 100 pounds. I'm a little over halfway there. Mostly focusing on portion control and lower-calorie food options.

I've written a few posts recently about what I'm doing for breakfast and lunch at work. Most of it happened in one thread; my posts start here.

Basically I make a week worth of meals over the weekend. I do a breakfast casserole thing with egg, cheese, zucchini, onion, chiles, and tomato. And my lunch is usually some combo of chicken, veg, and a carb like rice or pasta. Usually I pick a regional or ethnic cuisine style and go with it for the week. That way my calories and macros can be consistent but I can switch up the flavors often enough to keep from getting bored.

I also talked recently in another thread about how I get food inspiration to avoid getting into a rut, which you can read here.

This is something I love to talk about, so if you have any questions I'll be happy to clarify or weigh in.

AshEvelynn

Thanks, I've seen your posts before and I love that idea! Could I hire you?

thewindandthework

Lol. I mean, sure, if you pay for travel expenses.

SaraydaB

For breakfast I make simple overnight oats or simple chia pudding.., it takes like 2 minutes to prepare and next day is ready to eat!

x_stephisaur_x

I'm not a huge breakfast lover. I need to be at work for 8am, so unless I get up at 6am every day, I'm not having a cooked breakfast! I do like porridge oats with fruit and honey or cereal, which I can eat at my desk. Alternatively, I will just have a smoothie/shake or a breakfast bar for convenience.

Lunch wise varies. I'm trying one of @thewindandthework 's meals next week for a change, as it's been sandwiches recently while we've had a new kitchen fitted at work. I also like a baked potato with salad and chilli, or leftovers as you say.

What kind of facilities do you have at work?

smc92079

I've been doing Chobani and granola for breakfast. I think next week I'm going to try rotating some overnight oats and smoothies with a hard boiled egg for breakfast. The lunch thing has been sandwiches, but since I talked to my bf last night about really wanting to do this right, he made me a lunch today and weighed and measured everything for me. (Yes, I'm spoiled. I know. He's sort of kick-*kitten*.) I'm going to look into different lunch prep options this weekend and see if I can come up with something for next week.

AshEvelynn

x_stephisaur_x wrote: »

I'm not a huge breakfast lover. I need to be at work for 8am, so unless I get up at 6am every day, I'm not having a cooked breakfast! I do like porridge oats with fruit and honey or cereal, which I can eat at my desk. Alternatively, I will just have a smoothie/shake or a breakfast bar for convenience.

Lunch wise varies. I'm trying one of @thewindandthework 's meals next week for a change, as it's been sandwiches recently while we've had a new kitchen fitted at work. I also like a baked potato with salad and chilli, or leftovers as you say.

What kind of facilities do you have at work?

Very basic...toaster from the 60's, small microwave, and a mini fridge for 4 people...not a huge office so the facilities are pretty basic. Trying to stay away from sandwiches because then mayo gets involved and other stuff I just don't want to eat. Really trying to find stuff that I won't sabotage myself with.

thewindandthework

The hardest part for me hasn't been breakfasts and lunches, I pretty much have that under control. SNACKS are my weakness. Even if I'm not actually hungry, I often can't resist the vending machine or cafeteria.

I used to bring little half peanut butter sandwiches for snacks, then I switched to almonds. They were both too calorific once my calorie goal got low. I have added a protein shake for a midmorning snack and some carrots and celery for an afternoon snack, and that seems to be working pretty well so far, but sometimes the call of the Cheetos or Baby Ruth is too much for me to handle.

Dinner on those days is pretty skimpy.

AshEvelynn

I'm posting between two threads and these are some of the ideas from the others:

From Tokicon
For breakfast:
- breakfast burritos (make in advance, wrap tightly and freeze, then reheat in the microwave)
- quiche breakfast "muffins"
- smoothies/protein shakes
- protein bars
- instant oatmeal/overnight oats

For lunch:
- Mason jar salads
- Sandwiches (I actually buy all my sandwich ingredients and leave them in the work fridge)
- Soup

From RunningKel
I buy frozen breakfast sandwiches and microwave/eat them at work. I'm partial to Special K flatbread, eggo bacon sandwiches, and evol brand sandwiches. You can also make breakfast burritos or English muffin sandwiches on Sunday, and refrigerate/freeze them until you take them to work. Some people do overnight oats, but I'm partial to hot breakfasts.

For lunch, I buy the low sodium tuna packets and toss 1 or 2 of them with macaroni and cheese or rice. I make a packet of knorr rice (there are a ton of flavors) and add 1-2 cups of either broccoli rice or cauliflower rice while it's cooking...which makes for 3 heaping cup servings that are very filling (you can add a laughing cow wedge to keep it creamy if its a cheesy sauce). If I don't take tuna, I either make mini-meatloaves or some kind of chicken to take with it. Add some veggies and you're set. I'll also make a spaghetti squash, and take that, some marinara sauce, and turkey meatballs for lunch. Another of my favorites is ground turkey quinoa enchilada in the crockpot (you can search for it on Pinterest, there's a couple varieties)...it's ground turkey, quinoa, peppers, onions, beans, corn, salsa, green chiles, and seasoning. So filling but healthy, too.

For something extra easy, I buy the individual cups of velveeta 2% macaroni and cheese as well as the cups of instant potatoes. I can keep them at my desk so all I need to do is bring a protein and veggie from home. (I keep the small cans of veggies at my desk, too, but I know some people prefer fresh veggies or a salad).

Good luck!

From Acbraswell
Smoothie bags for breakfast. If you can take a small blender (Nutri Bullet for example) to work, make smoothie bags on the weekend (Fruit and kale freeze really well for this). Then just add any almond butter, milk, juice, protein powder, or whatever and blend at work.

Lunches -- make a pot of veggie soup and freeze in individual serving containers. Grab in the morning, then it's thawed by lunch. That and an piece of fruit makes for a good lunch.

Make your own lunchables -- get deli meat, cheese, crackers, and fruit and pack in a cute container.

I'm looking forward to getting some new ideas off this thread too!

Good luck!

From Thewindandthework
runningkel wrote: »
If I don't take tuna, I either make mini-meatloaves or some kind of chicken to take with it. Add some veggies and you're set.
This is a fantastic idea. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and peas is my ultimate comfort food meal; I could definitely put a lower-calorie spin on it for lunch for a week. Thanks for the idea!

AshEvelynn

I tried the breakfast sandwich/burrito things but into my second week, the eggs had this...green/blue tinge and it totally grossed me out. Was not huge on the texture either. I wish it worked because I love that idea but it just didn't.

This is my typical list of choice...but it is getting very old and blah blah boring...love the new ideas coming in!

Breakfast for me
- cottage cheese (easy to buy at the market and divide up through the week into serving size containers)
- hard boiled egg (pre peeled is not as stinky as peeling at work fyi)
- coffee

Lunch
- frozen steamer lunch
- left overs
- lunchables (great minds think alike!)
- home made soups
- greek salad
- asian salad

Snacks
- hummus and crackers (pre measured and packed)
- fruit - Cherries, berries, etc.
- veg and hummus

rheddmobile

Rice bowl - doesn't have to be rice, can be quinoa or another grain. Stir fry lean protein (chicken, pork tenderloin, beef) with vegetables. Add sauce of your choosing. Make a bunch and divide.

vnb_208

I'm a boring eater lol

breakfast:
protein overnight oats (mix in pb2, berries, cinnamon, vanilla, or nuts)
farina (cream of wheat)
very rare but cheese, onion, & pepper omelette

lunch:
Protein (tuna, chicken, ground beef or turkey) vegetable, and a grain.

AshEvelynn

I've done the weekly meal prep before but how do you guys keep it fresh all week? Freeze it or just Fridge?

vnb_208

AshEvelynn wrote: »

I've done the weekly meal prep before but how do you guys keep it fresh all week? Freeze it or just Fridge?

I freeze & take out the night before

thewindandthework

My plan was to freeze, but honestly I've just been refrigerating. So far I haven't notice much of a decline in quality except for raw veggies, obviously, which I prep for a day or two at a time instead of the whole week.