Quick lunch ideas for someone just starting out?!

dtopo

So I have lived my life just running to KFC, Burger King, Taco Bell, Subway, etc for lunch - that is how I got where I am today (100 pounds overweight).

As I start this mission I am eating a lot of AMY'S FROZEN MEALS (veggie, natural, organic).

But all I hear is that I should be packing my own fresh lunches. The reason I don't do that is because I don't want to take the time. I know - lazy.

What are some quick lunches you can make the day before, no cooking involved, and take to lunch to eat at your desk? I am guessing sandwiches is going to be the number one answer but we don't really like lunch meat or pbj.

Would love to hear some simple, easy, QUICK, and painless lunch ideas I can start utilizing.

rand486

Why on earth no cooking?! You won't get far that way!

I like to prep the entire week's meals on Sundays. These days, I have it down to an assembly line, and freeze the meals for later in the week.

Some suggestions that are easy/low maintenance:

* Slowcooker Chili
* Slowcooker Pulled Pork/Chicken
* Chicken Burritos/Wraps
* Roasted chicken breasts w/ veggies (you can do 5 chicken breasts at a time, or even throw the veggies in there as well if you want). Lots of variety in how you can season the chicken - balsamic vinegar, sriracha, bbq sauce, basil/thyme, italian seasoning...
* Basil Thai Chicken (I stirfry this all up in a massive pan I have, and portion it out, no rice)
* Easysmart Salad Kits (I throw chicken on top b/c I eat high protein, but your call)
* Spinach Feta Stuffed Chicken, again with veggies as a side
* Quinoa (make it in a rice cooker!), frozen veggies, and a lean meat all mixed up (I use chicken, or canned tuna/salmon). Can flavour with balsamic vinegar if you like.

Seriously, none of these take me longer than an hour to do (most are 20-30 mins work), and can be portioned out to a full week's worth of food. If you don't want to cook, you better get used to sandwiches and/or lousy insta-meals full of sodium.

HeidiCooksSupper

You aren't losing time to cooking -- that time and more will be returned to you every lunch hour when you don't have to go stand in line to get food.

acheben

The best plan for you is something you can actually stick with, so if that means grabbing some fast food or a frozen meal every once and a while, so be it. Just make sure you do some research and preplanning to make sure it will fit in your daily calorie allotment.

With that said, my favorite lunches are leftovers since there is no added work. I portion the leftovers into lunch sized containers when I put up dinner and then I'm set.

jkwolly

Leftovers.

I find making lots of extra stuff the night before or meal prep to be a huge help so that it can be done and first thing in the morning I can just grab it and go!

chasetwins

No cooking involved is going to keep you stuck at salads and sandwiches lol - with a bit of prep - ^^ above as well as my faves Garlic chicken with a side salad or broccoli. you can pair with hard boiled eggs, spinach, chicken salad with dried cranberries on light crackers, get creative with salads you will be amazed at what goes together, if you make dinner the night before make extra for lunch, soups and salads together etc. I avoid frozen meals at all cost (too much sodium) and not enough of the good stuff If you have a micro at work - the possibilities are endless and should not cause much stress

rand486

acheben wrote: »

With that said, my favorite lunches are leftovers since there is no added work. I portion the leftovers into lunch sized containers when I put up dinner and then I'm set.

Ah! I forgot to mention this in my post as well! I do this too, on top of all of the prep I do each Sunday.

Basically, I always cook in bulk, and it saves me a ton of time (and money!) in the end.

sofaking6

Amy's is good stuff - if you're going frozen, you really can't do better than that.

I love sandwiches, yogurt + granola +fruit, and google "salad in a jar".

There is a fellow here at work who is dieting, he has a lunch platter with cottage cheese, deli meats and raw veggies. A little basic but it seems to be working well.

La5Vega5Girl

jkwolly wrote: »

Leftovers.

I find making lots of extra stuff the night before or meal prep to be a huge help so that it can be done and first thing in the morning I can just grab it and go!

i agree w/ dinner left-overs. that's so easy. just make extra when cooking dinner.

avskk

I like Progresso Light canned soups at lunch, with frozen veggies thrown in for nutrition and bulk.

Salads are easy -- buy a tub of dark greens, buy some veggie toppings (ain't no shame in buying them pre-chopped, either), buy some cans of plain tuna or packets of flavored, buy some tasty light dressings (I like Litehouse Opa dressings), done. If you want to level up, try grilling some chicken or pork or lean steak at the weekend to put on your salads instead of tuna. To become a boss, make your own dressings once a week.

Hardboil a bunch of eggs on Sunday and you can grab a couple on your way out the door as well as some veggie sticks, whatever dip you like in a reasonable portion, and some tasty crackers (I like popchips, brown rice crackers, veggie & pita chips, Triscuits...). Want to level up? Make your own protein-rich dip by putting cottage cheese and whatever herbs you like in a blender.

Keep Laughing Cow wedges or other portion-controlled cheese (I like the 80-cal sliced cheddar, myself) on hand with a package of lean pepperoni, turkey jerky, crab sticks, or whatever. Pack a cheese portion, a meat portion, a handful of delicious cherry tomatoes, and a piece of fruit. Done.

Toast an English muffin before work, pack it with some of the aforementioned cheese and an ounce or two of delicious smoked salmon. Blanch some broccoli and cauliflower with lemon juice on the weekend and bring a cup of that, too. Delicious. Level this one up by adding chopped scallions or some hot sauce to the salmon/muffin/cheese combo.

AmZam05

jkwolly wrote: »

Leftovers.

I find making lots of extra stuff the night before or meal prep to be a huge help so that it can be done and first thing in the morning I can just grab it and go!

Agreed! Make double what you would ordinarily make and you have some lunches ready to go. Or like another poster suggested, have a cooking fest one day and make a few large recipe items like chili or casseroles and portion it out.

I also like to "make my own lunch meat" i.e. roast a turkey/chicken breast or ham, slice it, and freeze it in 1lb portions and use that for sandwiches. It's much more satisfying than deli meat, much more cost effective, and in my experience the meat handles the freezer just fine.

Or if you're into salads, adding 5-6oz of meat (like leftover grilled chicken or steak) with a hard boiled egg and black beans/chickpeas will give you a good protein boost that will keep you full until your afternoon snack. And of course whatever veggies you like are great for the vitamins and nutrients.

tkillion810

Leftovers or meal prepping on the weekend for the week ahead, are my two gos.

dtopo

Gonna try to some salads in a jar (making tonight). Each will use yogurt ranch light dressing in bottom with tomatos, cucumber, seeds, onion, corn, lettuce.

Then to some I will add some pasta or maybe some canned chicken to spice things up.

Gonna also make some chicken salad and tuna salad next week and just make sandwiches all week.

When I have to cook that is when I get lazy and reach for the fast food. That is why I want something that is so quick I can't make an excuse.

dclark566

hummus and veggies in a tortilla (tumaros super good low carb), cottage cheese, eggs, salad

Danny_Boy13

rand486 wrote: »

Why on earth no cooking?! You won't get far that way!

I like to prep the entire week's meals on Sundays. These days, I have it down to an assembly line, and freeze the meals for later in the week.

Some suggestions that are easy/low maintenance:

* Slowcooker Chili
* Slowcooker Pulled Pork/Chicken
* Chicken Burritos/Wraps
* Roasted chicken breasts w/ veggies (you can do 5 chicken breasts at a time, or even throw the veggies in there as well if you want). Lots of variety in how you can season the chicken - balsamic vinegar, sriracha, bbq sauce, basil/thyme, italian seasoning...
* Basil Thai Chicken (I stirfry this all up in a massive pan I have, and portion it out, no rice)
* Easysmart Salad Kits (I throw chicken on top b/c I eat high protein, but your call)
* Spinach Feta Stuffed Chicken, again with veggies as a side
* Quinoa (make it in a rice cooker!), frozen veggies, and a lean meat all mixed up (I use chicken, or canned tuna/salmon). Can flavour with balsamic vinegar if you like.

Seriously, none of these take me longer than an hour to do (most are 20-30 mins work), and can be portioned out to a full week's worth of food. If you don't want to cook, you better get used to sandwiches and/or lousy insta-meals full of sodium.

I do this exact same thing. Stop being lazy. You can dedicate about 30-45 min to cook lunches for an entire week, put them in the fridge and then when you leave in the morning... look at that... lunch ready to go. All you have to do to throw it in the microwave. Its just that easy.

dtopo

Im not lazy (at least not in the kitchen) - I spend about an hour or more cooking fresh dinners for my wife and I each night. I spend hours in the grocery store going over each label and nutrition info.

This is going to sound coo-coo but I won't eat leftovers either - never have even from a kid. I know it's weird - my wife tries to tell me they are better than the original meal but they just look nasty and it throws me off.

That is why we got this two person plan because whatever was left over got wasted because I won't eat it once it goes into fridge. Because of that I am not sure preparing ahead will work - it's kind of like making a bunch of leftovers on purpose - ha ha. Gosh I am weird.

I am gonna try the mason jar salads (variety) and some sandwiches that are not lunch meat. Sounds pretty delicious to me.

mamameg312

Sometimes on Sunday afternoon, I will make a chicken and veggies in a sauce to put over the rice for my weekday lunches. I used trader joe's frozen brown rice - so fast and easy to heat up. Example: 5 potions of chicken, onions, garlic and whatever veggies you like, with a bottle/jar simmer sauce. Makes 5 days worth of lunches, with very little prep required.

I also like to cook some chicken on sunday and then have that over various salads throughout the week.

stlchase

dtopo wrote: »

This is going to sound coo-coo but I won't eat leftovers either - never have even from a kid. I know it's weird - my wife tries to tell me they are better than the original meal but they just look nasty and it throws me off.

Don't think of it as eating leftovers. Think of it as preparing your next meal. You're cooking and creating a meal that you are going to eating later. You can do a lot of prep work and then do the final cooking/baking the next day. Need to be creative. Good luck.

drabbits3

I make a bunch of stuff in jars--love it. I have done the stacked salad in a jar-quinoa or spelt or farro on the bottom, greens, tomato, carrot, cucumber--measured out so I can record calories-done. Also overnight oats in a jar--1/2 cup oatmeal covered with 1/2 cup water, top with 1/2 cup plain fat free greek yogurt. The day I am going to eat it I throw some fruit on top. I have made 3-4 jars on a Sunday afternoon and at least have most of the week covered. I have also taken a box of cereal and a small carton of milk to work (we have a fridge in the teacher's lounge) and then just had to bring a banana or other fruit to put on top during the week. I don't mind cereal for lunch! The crock pot ideas are good too--we do beans in the crockpot a lot and then mix 1/2 cup with 1/2 cup of some grain--brown rice or quinoa or farro (my new favorite).

alisupercali

Congrats on committing and on knowing yourself well enough to find something that will work for you long term. My current routine is to make myself a salad while my eggs are boiling for breakfast - chickpeas, bell pepper, a bit of onion, tomato, cucumber, simple olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. It takes five minutes and is really filling (and I have a BIG appetite). We all have our quirks, and you need to find something that you feel comfortable with and actually enjoy so you'll stick with it and resist the call of KFC! Best of luck

SnuggleSmacks

Do you ever shop at Target? They have a whole line of mix and match Mexican foods...different meats, veggies, sauces, rices, beans, etc. plus tortillas. I've been meaning to check them out.

Also, if you don't mind the sodium, canned soup is a great lunch. Most cans say they are 2 portions, but you can find plenty that end up around 220-400 cals for the whole can.

dtopo

Yeah soup has so much salt. I love my salt and eat way, way too much. I bet I could lose a ton of water weight alone just by cutting back how much salt I put on everything.

Speaking of that -- anyone have any good ideas for a salt alternative? I was gonna try low sodium salt which is made with potassium instead of sodium. Maybe like a Ms. Dash or something?