Teacher's Lunch - Low carb, high protein, no heating, non-drip (clean hands), quick to eat...

lhtbuzz123

Please share your lunchtime ideas! Even if it's meaty stuff for me to adapt - I'm vegetarian

I'm struggling to find healthy & practical ideas. So often, I've just skipped lunch or devoured an unhealthy breakfast bar.

My requirements:
Has to fit in a lunchbox.
Low carb - Trying to eat less bread.
High protein - Any extra veggie protein is great.
No heating - No access to microwave or kettle.
No drip or mess - Generally I'm eating whilst marking children's books or preparing lessons, so keeping my hands & books clean would be good
Quick to eat - Lunch hour always goes too fast, many times it's gotten to the end of lunch & I've just about managed to stuff a chocolate bar into my mouth as the kids enter the classroom... Not good!
No nuts - Children's nut allergies so best for me to avoid them.
Can be prepared the night before.
Doesn't need to be kept in a fridge.

What do you have for lunch?

wizzybeth

With all of those restrictions I'd be prone to skip too! How strict are you with your vegetarian diet? Are you lacto-ovo? If so, hard boiled eggs and cheese would be the first thought to come into my mind, along with some cut up veggies (salad may be too much of a pain to eat) but strips of peppers, cucumber spears, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, etc would be easy to eat and fairly easy to keep cool with an ice pack.

Some people are grossed out at this but I like cold "meat" type things like hot dogs and hamburgers, after they've been cooked and are leftovers. So maybe you could get some meat alternatives like the garden burger patties and cook them ahead of time, and have it cold, with avocado or mushrooms or other veggies...wrapped in lettuce or something?

oh_happy_day

That's a lot of restrictions! Do you really need the low carb one? And can you get yourself a small cooler or a lunch box with an ice brick? They're cheap on amazon.

You could have a selection of snacks - hard boiled eggs, hummus and vegies, yoghurt. Salad wraps with some egg, avocado, vegie patties or falafel. What about frittata? I prefer mine heated but it's not necessary. You can also make mini ones in muffin tins. There are stacks of healthy recipes around - I put leek, spinach, zucchini and fetta in mine. So they're high protein and lots of vegies. I make them a lot for work, they keep a few days in the fridge.

lhtbuzz123

Oooooh @wizzybeth - those are some fantastic ideas! I hadn't considered meat alternatives, I've never tried them cold before but maybe a cold quorn or chickpea burger & veggies wrapped in a lettuce leaf... Maybe in a foil wrap to keep it all together & stop mess... I will have to try it!
I do eat free-range local eggs & milk

lhtbuzz123

@oh_happy_day fritatas & salad wraps sound like a good idea! Particularly like the idea of mini veg-packed fritatas, 1 small handful could be very easy to eat etc. Definitely one to try, thanks!
I could drop the low carb option, now I mostly just need to make sure I'm getting all my nutrients & not completely filling my diet with carbs like I used to

litsy3

falafels are nice cold.

Bacchants

Some sort of deli wrap perhaps? Eg Quorn slices rolled up with veggies inside.

Personally if I had this many restrictions then I would get a thermos flask and fill it with hot soup in the morning, then have that at lunch (or cold soup if it's hot where you live). Then drinking out of a cup it would mean little to no mess.

jchite84

I've got similar restrictions. I eat at my desk at work and am vegetarian, I watch my carbs, but am not on a "low carb" or a really restrictive diet in that way, but here goes:
- Garden Salad add eggs and/or beans
- Half an avocado stuffed with egg salad (Hell maybe even eat both halves - they are good)
- Dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries and dark chocolate (more of a side dish/snack)
- 3 bean salad (Black beans, kidney beans, and black eyed peas with onion, tomato, a little olive oil, lime juice, garlic salt, cayenne pepper)
- Quesadillas are good cold
- Mushroom sticky rice bites (make sushi rice, add soy sauce, a little brown sugar, mushrooms, mix and form them into little balls, when they cool they turn into little bite sized delicious tasting nuggets. Not "Low-carb" per se, but not terrible either.)
- I make tiny pot pies and take them with me running, my wife eats them for meals (pie dough cut into 12 even pieces, use a muffin tin, I usually fill them with mushroom gravy, mushrooms, spinach, onion, and sometimes sweet potato, but you can fill it with anything you want really. Roll the dough into ~5-6 inch flats, line muffin tin, fill with premade stuff - generally takes about 2 tablespoons each, fold the overhanging pie dough over the top. Bake for 10-15 minutes) It's a lot less carbs than say a sandwich, but still has some carbs of course, but they are designed to be eaten in 2-3 bites, since they are for runners/cyclists to eat while running/cycling and they come out to 100-150 calories each. So you can eat 3 or 4 of them and have a full meal.
- Vegetable fritters (Onion, cabbage, carrot, salt, pepper, baking powder and just enough flour and water to hold it all together, pan fry until crispy, dip in one of the following sauces: Soy, Garlic, Plum. They are good hot or cold in my opinion)

I think I'm out of quick ideas for right now. Will check back later once my brain warms up some.

Lazz5k

Ohhhhh I want in on this thread, great topic!!! I want all these ideas.

PS those vegetable fritters, SOUND DELICIOUS!!!!

Francl27

Why doesn't it need to be kept in the fridge if you have a lunchbox? Don't you have icepacks?

Because a low carb wrap with meat, cheese, and veggies sounds perfect otherwise.

And yeah, egg muffins are great too.

gaelicstorm26

I have the same sort of restrictions as you as I'm also in education.

I like to pack a flatbread wrap. Low carb and I add lots of veggies, cheese, and I do use meat in mine. You can make it the night before and it keeps very well in a lunch back with an ice pack thrown in. No mess unless you use dressings/sauces, which I personally do not. I like mine with turkey, provolone, cucumbers, romaine, and baby spinach.

Hard boiled eggs are a great low-carb protein punch and not messy. It will also keep nicely in an insulated tote with an ice pack.

I do a lot of salad. Again, I don't use a lot of sloppy dressings or sauces so this isn't a problem for me. I actually prefer mine with just some red wine vinegar. I like it topped with feta, grilled chicken, romaine, cucumbers, and even hard boiled eggs. It's a nice-sized calorie meal that keeps me full because of the protein and fiber.

This is a bit messier, but cold soups could work as well. Or even hot soups in a thermos. I use a thermos for both of my school-aged children and their food is still warm at lunchtime. Just invest in a decent one.

Greek yogurt is thick and I don't find it messy. I tend to work a lot through lunch as well. I know the pressure to keep working, but taking 15 minutes to eat without grading books might be necessary for you.

There are so many options out there. I do a lot of prep on Sundays and do batch freezing. Separate into portions and you can just grab and go!

Justifier

What kind of barbaric school doesn't give teachers access to a microwave or fridge? I've worked as a substitute for three years and I still pack hot lunch knowing the teacher's lounge at any school will have at least two microwaves.

I prep a big meal on Sunday and portion it out into tupperwares for each day. Breakfast is oatmeal with Sunbutter (no nut allergy problems!) and a piece of chocolate to melt in it. I use the hot/cold water dispenser in the lounge to cook it. For lunch I make rice with some kind of slow cooked meat/veggie combo in sauce. I know this doesn't meet all your requirements, but it's what I do. My only suggestion for you would be salad or lettuce wrap sandwiches.

gaelicstorm26

A lot of city schools (which is where I work) have extremely limited resources. For example, my office is in the old locker room. So I have working showers in here. We have no money.

Justifier

gaelicstorm26 wrote: »

A lot of city schools (which is where I work) have extremely limited resources. For example, my office is in the old locker room. So I have working showers in here. We have no money.

I work in a large urban district as well. It makes me sad to hear about places with even less resources. It's inhumane. I don't work in a locker room, but our small resource room has 8 names on the door. We've gotten pretty good at sharing spaces.

lhtbuzz123

Thanks guys, some great ideas & advice!
@jchite84 love your tiny pot pies idea.
I shall definitely have to buy a decent flask & ice pack
I will experiment for the next couple of weeks, test out all these recipes & let you know how I get on!
If I can find something to make on a Sunday and eat throughout the week then that's fabulous! Cheers!

MsJulesRenee

Portable crock pot like this one target.com/p/crock-pot-lunch-crock/-/A-14024603?ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=14024603&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=pla_appliances+shopping&adgroup=sc_appliances_slow+cookers&LID=3pgs&KID=347ed01d-e80b-46d4-b7a3-d53fc93aa13b&kpid=14024603&gclid=CJzIw_rG28cCFQUMaQodqWoAug

You could probably use those hand warmers to keep stuff warm in your lunch box. Or a good steel thermos container.

pili90

Teacher here...I know the feeling...My solution: Wrap it up! Grab a bunch of salads, wash them and dried them as much as possible, even include legumes, hard boiled eggs, or well meat, and wrap them up. I never add dressing to my wraps, but if you want to put things together add some avocado. Then you eat it with a bunch of napkins and no mess

You could use regular wraps, or maybe some lettuce, or big mushrooms...

DianaLovesCoffee

I use an ice block but my go to lunch is:
Greek Yogurt
Cheese Sticks
Veggies - carrots, cucumbers, edamame
Fruit - tangerine, apple, plum, banana

You might search Pinterest for Bento Boxes lunch ideas. The basics of Bento is that it is no heat no fridge foods in a pretty presentation. I could care less about the presentation but the ingredients could be helpful. Here is a thread about this:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10043413/using-bento-boxes-for-lunches#latest



ETA the thread link and spelling

lhtbuzz123

Gosh those bento boxes look amazing! Worth a look

Starting from the top of the forum with @wizzybeth - Tonight I've prepared a "half a quorn burger, low fat cheese, pepper, lettuce & mushroom wholemeal wrap" (not enough lettuce to make that the wrap tonight, need a shopping trip!) using leftover vegetables & no oil, it smells good! Everything roughly weighed up, it's coming to about 355 calories. Shall see what it's like cold for tomorrow's lunch