Looking for lunch idea

Mommafaith88

Looking for ideas for lunches when I have to take them to work, sometimes I have too. What do you do

KATGIRLNC1972

Soups are always a great go-to. Make a big batch and freeze in portions. I like a nice white bean/ spinach or “taco soup”, which was an old weight watcher soup recipe from back in the day. Can probably google both and find great easy recipies !

PAPYRUS3

I like prepping Bento-type containers on a day off so they are an easy grab in the morning. I'll cook a week's worth of quinoa or the like; Hard boiled eggs; Ensure all vegetables are cleaned/cut up in bite size portions, edamame, etc., (there are TONS of ideas when googled)

Sometimes I just make them all up ready to go for the week or portion one out for the next day if I think I might enjoy something the next day.

It's nice to have something that I don't have to heat up. It works well for me in that I can munch on the 'box' throughout the afternoon when working.

I keep 'snacks' in my desk too (like protein bars/nuts, etc., )

cinamen8380

Snack foods like cheese, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, baby carrots, blueberries, roasted sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts etc packed bento style.

Simple bowls:

quinoa, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, almonds, feta with Greek dressing

Quinoa/brown rice mix, ground beef with taco seasoning, cheese, beans, avocado, salsa

Quinoa/brown rice, cut up Turkey burger, cheese, avocado, pico de gallo, beans

Kale, broccoli, grape tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, rotisserie chicken, whole wheat pasta and pesto/olive oil

These all can be prepped at the beginning of the week and kept in the fridge for a few days

littlegreenparrot1

Soups, salads, dinner leftovers - chilli/stew/curries all work well.
Sandwiches/wraps

Today was bread with hummous, cherry tomatoes, cucumber sticks and a few olives.

penguinmama87

I like dinner leftovers (if you have access to a microwave or sometimes a toaster oven), wraps/sandwiches, and "refrigerator salads" (you can make ahead and they stay good for several days even with dressing.)

For calorie dense items like nuts I weigh ahead and keep in single serving containers because otherwise the temptation would be too strong to just keep going right out of the container.

Mommafaith88

Thank you

springlering62

Leftovers. If grilling meat, I always make extra to slice or chop for salads or a wrap.

I like to fill a cottage cheese container to the brim with carrots and sliced cucumbers or radishes. Dipped in a small tub of zero cal dressing, they are crunchy, snacky, and filling.

Tonight I’ll be making tomato soup, which is simply a box of prepared soup, a can of diced tomatoes, and some Italian herbs. If I have any on hand, I’ll
Slice and dry sauté Italian chicken sausage and add it to the soup. Makes four large servings, and easy to reheat.

Rotisserie chicken gives a world of possibilities.

Sometimes, a simple cup of chicken broth, drink as a tea, is very welcome

cwolfman13

My lunches are usually leftovers from the previous evenings dinner. If not, I usually have either a sandwich or a big salad with a protein of some kind.

JustSmitten77

I’ve been meal prepping. Last week I seasoned some lean ground beef, roasted some veggies and potatoes and made some rice. I took meat, veggies, and potatoes for 2 days then meat, veggies and rice the other 2 days. I love to add sweet Thai chili sauce on my rice. I treated myself to a chipotle bowl Friday. Meal prepping helps with portion control and can save money. As long as you don’t mind eating the same thing it’s def doable and you can switch things up like your veggies or carb source. If you use chicken as your protein, you can add different sauces. BBQ, chipotle, Cesar dressing (make a wrap with Cesar salad dressing, salad) countless possibilities!

kbmnurse3

I make a pot of soup at least monthly. Beef barley, Italian Veggie with turkey meatballs or chicken soup. I divide it up into lunch size portions and freeze. Grab and go. Delicious.

yirara

I just do old-fashioned slices of bread with salami, cheese, whatever I feel like putting on. No fancy sandwich thingy, just the bread, butter and stuff. Might be boring, but pretty much everyone of my colleagues does this. Done in the morning in 5 minutes, and easy to eat without having to warm it. Also some fruit to take along, and teabags as employer doesn't offer neither a fruit basked nor tea/coffee.

COGypsy

springlering62 wrote: »

Leftovers. If grilling meat, I always make extra to slice or chop for salads or a wrap.

I like to fill a cottage cheese container to the brim with carrots and sliced cucumbers or radishes. Dipped in a small tub of zero cal dressing, they are crunchy, snacky, and filling.

Tonight I’ll be making tomato soup, which is simply a box of prepared soup, a can of diced tomatoes, and some Italian herbs. If I have any on hand, I’ll
Slice and dry sauté Italian chicken sausage and add it to the soup. Makes four large servings, and easy to reheat.

Rotisserie chicken gives a world of possibilities.

Sometimes, a simple cup of chicken broth, drink as a tea, is very welcome

What kind of zero cal dressing do you like? I steer away from most fresh veggies because the calorie hit is so rough to work in.

penguinmama87

COGypsy wrote: »

springlering62 wrote: »

Leftovers. If grilling meat, I always make extra to slice or chop for salads or a wrap.

I like to fill a cottage cheese container to the brim with carrots and sliced cucumbers or radishes. Dipped in a small tub of zero cal dressing, they are crunchy, snacky, and filling.

Tonight I’ll be making tomato soup, which is simply a box of prepared soup, a can of diced tomatoes, and some Italian herbs. If I have any on hand, I’ll
Slice and dry sauté Italian chicken sausage and add it to the soup. Makes four large servings, and easy to reheat.

Rotisserie chicken gives a world of possibilities.

Sometimes, a simple cup of chicken broth, drink as a tea, is very welcome

What kind of zero cal dressing do you like? I steer away from most fresh veggies because the calorie hit is so rough to work in.

Making your own dressing is a really nice option too and you can control the ingredients. Most vinaigrette dressing recipes I find suggest 2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, but I find I like 1:1 much better, which lowers the calories considerably. For creamy dressings I sub greek yogurt for either sour cream or mayonnaise, which is much lower fat and offers some protein too.

If mixed well you can often get away with less dressing than is recommended, too (and train yourself to gradually eat less.)

springlering62

COGypsy wrote: »

springlering62 wrote: »

Leftovers. If grilling meat, I always make extra to slice or chop for salads or a wrap.

I like to fill a cottage cheese container to the brim with carrots and sliced cucumbers or radishes. Dipped in a small tub of zero cal dressing, they are crunchy, snacky, and filling.

Tonight I’ll be making tomato soup, which is simply a box of prepared soup, a can of diced tomatoes, and some Italian herbs. If I have any on hand, I’ll
Slice and dry sauté Italian chicken sausage and add it to the soup. Makes four large servings, and easy to reheat.

Rotisserie chicken gives a world of possibilities.

Sometimes, a simple cup of chicken broth, drink as a tea, is very welcome

What kind of zero cal dressing do you like? I steer away from most fresh veggies because the calorie hit is so rough to work in.

I attribute a lot of my weight loss to vinegar, but not the nutso drinking apple cider vinegar way (although I confess I did try it for weeks when I had the GERD From Hell. Thankfully, weight loss made that go away. )

Anyway, there’s a company called Veronica Foods which is resold under private labels by those little olive oil and vinegar gourmet shops. You’ll know it by the distinctive dark green wine bottle, the the shop name on front and Veronica foods on back.

It’s very low cal, and I used it as a salad dressing replacement, but then learned it was fab as a marinade, for roasted veggies, even on ice cream. I still have an ounce every day on cottage cheese with frozen blueberries and a tsp of GrapeNuts.

Their honey-ginger makes a fantastic light and airy “sauce” over stir fried vegetables and chicken. (I dry fry mine. I no longer use oils and they taste just fine).

There’s also Walden Farms zero cal dressings and syrups. But they changed their formula late last year. We ended up giving all the last order of syrup away because the new syrup was so gross. Haven’t tried the new salad dressing formulas yet because we buy by the case and have about six bottles left. Learned our lesson though. We’ll buy a single bottle of the new formula at Kroger this time before ordering another case.

I cannot BELEIVE they took such a great product and ruined it. I’m using my last bottle of the good caramel syrup on my red velvet pancakes this week and am sniffing back tears of sorrow that there is t any more.

BTW Hersheys upped their game in the sugar free chocolate syrup Dept. It’s 5 calories a serving but it’s quite good. So at least there’s that. 😢

pgqvin

I mix my own. Two TBS fat free plain Greek yogurt mixed with 1-2TBS G. Hughes sugar free BBQ sauce. It’s SO much better than bottled crap. I mix it and take it with me in a tiny container to restaurants! Learned from WW community.

jessicaakimbro

I take my blend jet and make a smoothie for lunch at work. It’s filling and holds me over until dinner. I use 1% milk and 160 calories worth of fruit!