Super Simple, Super Quick lunch ideas?

sparkynazca

I'm looking for SUPER quick, super easy, super simple lunch ideas that I do not have to prepare in advance. I prefer to make my lunches before I leave for work in the morning due to a very tight schedule. Leftovers are not an option most of the time, as I do not cook enough food to have leftovers (or my husband and I would overeat!)

So what I'm looking for is some ideas for very very quick, healthful, simple things I could throw into a lunch bag. I would like almost no preparation.

I've been taking things like raw veggies, boiled eggs, string cheese, fruit, etc. Any other ideas?

brandigyrl81

In addition to the list you've already mentioned, I'd suggest some nuts and/or peanut butter or maybe some granola. Also, you can buy a bag of salad and add your own toppings. In my opinion, the best thing to do is prepare in advance because the non-prepared foods can quickly become processed if you're not careful. For example, you can bake some boneless, skinless chicken breasts on Sunday and throughout the week, use the chicken in your salad, on a sandwich, etc.

brandigyrl81

Oooh! I thought of some more: Yogurt cups, Tuna and/or Salmon, Sardines, Crackers...

sparkynazca

Good ideas!

arditarose

I just ate a can of Cole's petit rainbow trout in escabache sauce and a pumpkin spice chobani yogurt. It was easy. I definitely recommend the little trout.

SonicDeathMonkey80

Takes like, 30 seconds to make a PB&J.

melimomTARDIS

or a hummus and veg sammich. We eat those alot here.

Lizzy622

Canned beans - You can rinse them and smash them a little and throw on a tortilla with a little cheese. If you have a microwave or toaster a work you can even heat it a bit. I usually have some left over quinoa or ancient grains in the fridge. I toss that with beans and some veggies for a more filling fiber rich lunch.

SLHysell

Protein bars work for me in a pinch. They really stave off the hunger and some of them taste great. I'm partial to the Pure Protein peanut butter flavor. I also pack fruit like apples and bananas. The other things you list are great too.

Lounmoun

A basic sandwich or wrap is not unhealthy and is fast. You could use whole grain bread, pita bread, a tortilla or lettuce. You can use almost anything for a filling in different combinations. Hummus, meat, cheese, egg, vegetables, sliced fruit, or nut butters.
Dry cereal, whole grain crackers, nuts, dried fruit, peanut butter and celery or apple.
Canned beans added to salad.
Hummus and veggies or pita chips.

angela233Z

do you have access to a microwave at work? if so, i take a frozen vegie patty (like morningstar farms or boca burger) add some fresh/frozen broccoli and cook for 2 minutes. While that is cooking, I slice a tomato - takes 2 minutes to prepare and is visually appealing and delicious

Chaotic_Weevil

Keep some sliced ham and cheese from the deli in the fridge. Grab some of that and a bag of lettuce leaves and have lettuce wraps.

ukaryote

• Can of black beans and two tablespoons of salsa.
• Frozen veggies spiced up - curry, pepper, lemon, smoked paprika
• Trader Joe's pre-cooked lentils
• nonfat cottage cheese and any available fruit
• nonfat greek yogurt and fruit or maple syrup or spices (cinnamon or za'tar)

I avoid peanut butter except as a treat. It is mostly fat with some protein. I flavor foods with peanut butter powder. Most of the oils have been pressed out of the nuts.

JoRocka

Left overs.

Freeze them- then you can't eat them till lunch.

AngryViking1970

A couple times a week I bring a little tupperware with 3 or 4 oz. of frozen shrimp and a little container of cocktail sauce for dipping. A little bath in cold water for a few minutes a lunchtime and they are good to go.

Go_Mizzou99

burrito wrap (90 cal's), ole farmers ham (30 cal/oz), mozzarella cheese (about 100 cal's worth should be fine). Zap it in the microwave for a few seconds to melt the cheese - or not. Roll it up. Pound it down.

Add condiments to suit.

jstrun

make your own frozen entrees...spend 1 sunday making 10 servings of something or 5 of on recipe and 5 of the other and freeze them. boom 2 weeks worth of lunches.

crunchergirl

bump

wormstrup14

Sometimes on Monday morning I will grab a loaf of bread, package of lunch meat, tomato, handful of lettuce, handful of spinach, and a cucumber and throw them in a bag. Then I have enough to make a sandwich every day for lunch and I'm not having to pack something every morning. I take the leftovers home Friday.

allie_00p

My current favorite is: low carb whole wheat tortilla, frozen costco salmon burgers, goat cheese, salsa. I can keep all the making for it at work, just heat up the salmon patty in teh microwave, chop it up and make some yummy fish tacos!

jstrun

elsie_fair wrote: »

My current favorite is: low carb whole wheat tortilla, frozen costco salmon burgers, goat cheese, salsa. I can keep all the making for it at work, just heat up the salmon patty in teh microwave, chop it up and make some yummy fish tacos!

I am by no means a fish connoisseur so i'm wondering how the salmon burgers taste??? are they fishy tasting at all? like when you open a can of tuna, i run the other way it smells WAY too fishy...but I've eaten salmon before (fresh) and loved it!

sparkynazca

Freezing leftovers is an interesting solution to my not-making-leftovers-because-I-don't-want-to-overeat problem. Thanks for all of the ideas so far!

allie_00p

jstrun wrote: »

elsie_fair wrote: »

My current favorite is: low carb whole wheat tortilla, frozen costco salmon burgers, goat cheese, salsa. I can keep all the making for it at work, just heat up the salmon patty in teh microwave, chop it up and make some yummy fish tacos!

I am by no means a fish connoisseur so i'm wondering how the salmon burgers taste??? are they fishy tasting at all? like when you open a can of tuna, i run the other way it smells WAY too fishy...but I've eaten salmon before (fresh) and loved it!

Definitely not strong smelling like tuna, I don't think they taste fishy hardly at all, but those are my tastebuds. They're a super easy meal though, worth trying out

margelizard

For lunch I practically eat PB&J every day. Though I tend to stick more to crispbread/cracker type things instead of bread. Sometimes I sub out the jelly for slices of fresh banana. Fruit is a good one.

I do make large batches of soup and chilli and dish it into individual containers as soon as it's finished cooking. That way I'm not tempted to eat it, and I can stick them in the freezer for days when I want to just blast something in the microwave.

If you have time on the weekend, I would recommend prepping some things you like. I'm going through a big phase of making batches of homemade turkey sausage and eating those at weekends with scrambled eggs. You could boil up eggs and slice them, then stick them in a tortilla.

Hummus is another good option. Super easy to make, so you can make large quantities then eat throughout the week. I find hummus to be ridiculously filling, so I'm never tempted to eat a lot of it at one time. Hence why it lasts pretty well in my household

mbailey423

margelizard wrote: »

For lunch I practically eat PB&J every day.

Gotta love the good ole' PB&J

Had one of my co-workers bust my chops a few weeks ago because I was eating a PB&J. (Think of the biggest burliest police officer you have ever seen and add 6" and 50lbs of additional muscle...guy is a monster)

I took it in stride....half tempted to have my partner (k9 dog) bite him square in the *kitten*.....but being a well adjusted person (sigh) I decided against that course of action and instead brought in an extra PB&J for him the next day....after some hemming and hawing he grudgingly ate it......needless to say he loved it, and now usually every couple of days his lunch consists of 3 PB&J sandwiches

Never to old for good ole' Peanut butter and jelly. <2 thumbs up>

sydneydeb

mbailey423 wrote: »

margelizard wrote: »

For lunch I practically eat PB&J every day.

Gotta love the good ole' PB&J

Had one of my co-workers bust my chops a few weeks ago because I was eating a PB&J. (Think of the biggest burliest police officer you have ever seen and add 6" and 50lbs of additional muscle...guy is a monster)

I took it in stride....half tempted to have my partner (k9 dog) bite him square in the *kitten*.....but being a well adjusted person (sigh) I decided against that course of action and instead brought in an extra PB&J for him the next day....after some hemming and hawing he grudgingly ate it......needless to say he loved it, and now usually every couple of days his lunch consists of 3 PB&J sandwiches

Never to old for good ole' Peanut butter and jelly. <2 thumbs up>

I really do not get the whole peanut butter and jelly thing, sounds gross to me, maybe it's an American thing. I don't know a single Aussie who eats it

sydneydeb

My go too lazy lunch is rice crackers, spreadable cream cheese and flavoured tuna or fresh tomato slices - yum. I also make a frittata on a Sunday and have lunch for four days for work. I just add a salad.

successgal1

These are all great ideas! I've started just taking a few hours on one of my days off, to prepare frozen lunches. I buy, cube and pan fry/simmer chicken breast (I use about 10 lbs and have 2 large frying pans going), I cook a big pot of instant brown rice, and buy a bunch of bags of my frozen veggie of choice. I spread out all of my plastic containers (I prefer the sandwich size), and dole out the chicken portion (2 oz for me, I weigh as I dole), then scoop in each a half cup of the cooked brown rice, then squish in as many frozen veggies as I can fit in, pop on the lids and stack in the freezer. This makes me roughly 21 frozen lunches in a few hours for less than $2 per meal.

My last batch was cubed chicken breast, marinated in lime and garlic, browned then simmered in the pan, brown rice, green beans, with 1/4 picante sauce on top.

The ones I'll be working on tomorrow will be chicken breast, pan cooked with herb mixes for chicken of the holiday variety, sage, rosemary, thyme etc, brown rice, frozen cubes of butternut squash, or yams, or just squash, whatever seems easiest at the grocery store tomorrow, topped with some jarred turkey gravy. It appears 1/4 cup of Heinz has a reasonable amount of calories.

Anyway, like you I have little time and DON'T want to think about it, so this method gives me a healthy, inexpensive, microwavable lunch for 21 days. I snack with fruit, tiny greek yogurt cups and tiny cottage cheese cups.

sparkynazca

Some great ideas for people that use microwaves! I'm not sure why, but microwaves have always scared me, so I never use them.

coueswhitetail

wheat thins and smoked trout...this stuff is amazing and satisfying!
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/appel-smoked-trout.do