Easy Lunches

wild_child_13_22

So, I am lazy when it comes to packing lunches. If I dont have left overs its usually boring fruit, or junk... Any suggestions to painfully simple lunches? Thanks

Chester_1

Hi! :happy:

I take frozen dinners to work for lunch. I like Smart Ones, they seem to be lower in calories, fat and sodium than a lot of others, and their three cheese pizza is freaking awesome

taziarj

I have been taking frozen dinners for lunch. Lean Cuisine, Smart Ones, Healthy Choice, etc. We actually bought a small chest freezer in order to buy a lot more in bulk. This time of year the companies are putting out coupons for these items. By watching for sales, we have been able to get these pretty cheap. The last trip to Kroger we were able to stock up on 40 Smart Ones for $1.19 each. I want to eventually get away from these because of the sodium content, but they are working for now.

Redapplecandie

Turkey sandwich on whole grain flatbread...
Or any meat on a sandwich....

You can make all of your sandwiches on Sunday, portion them out into baggies, and just grab and go. I make nearly all of my weekly food on Sunday, because I am lazy and don't like cooking every single day.

pinthin87

I love those Starkist tuna pouches. I put it on top of salads or put just a bit of mayo, mustard, and relish for an easy tuna salad. You can put in on crackers or whole wheat bread.

JustLena75

Some of my big go-tos are canned chicken breast, boiled eggs, cottage cheese, salads, fresh fruit, yogurt, string cheese. Sandwiches on whole grain sandwich thins.

Kellster30

Hi! :happy:

I take frozen dinners to work for lunch. I like Smart Ones, they seem to be lower in calories, fat and sodium than a lot of others, and their three cheese pizza is freaking awesome

^^ Agreed! Smart Ones pizza is awesome!! Smart Ones also has a lot of other tasty choices too - I eat these most days for lunch. Sometimes I'll have a salad with some chicken and low-cal dressing as well, along with some fruit!

neverstray

Don't be lazy. Pack a proper lunch. Carrots, boiled eggs, sandwich (no mayo), fruit, nuts.

RillSoji

Sandwiches. You can have them different ways when you get bored. And you can even switch out bread for a wrap or lettuce leaves.

Deli - turkey, ham, beef, chicken, mushroom.... with a variety of toppings
PB & ___ - Grape Jelly, Strawberry Jam, Peach Preserves, Honey, ect.
Tuna - Plain tuna, tuna salad, mayo & tuna, lemon pepper tuna with pepper jack cheese, ect.
Egg - Egg slices, egg salad, scrambled egg, over easy, sunny-side up ect.
BLT - classic bacon lettuce tomato or deluxe it up with more toppings. Try apple! That one is yummy.

Pair your sandwich with a salad. If you're worried about how long it takes to make a salad, try this: http://www.neatpins.com/2012/03/mason-jar-salads.html

Classic Iceberg - iceberg lettuce, carrot, red cabbage
Garden - romaine, spinach, tomato, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower
Caesar - romaine, parmesan, caesar dressing
Spinach - Spinach with strawberries, raspberries, mandarin oranges and/or almonds, walnuts, pecans & fruity dressing
Spring - Mixed spring greens, alfalfa sprouts, cheese, carrot, green onions, bell pepper, tomato, green beans, asparagus
Cobb - Any greens, tomato, bell pepper, celery, carrot, egg, avocado, bacon, cheese, blue cheese or ranch dressing


Add a fruit. Find what's in season or try new things. If there's fruit in your ^salad, add some veggies to nibble on. Carrots, green beans, celery, bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower.

Merrilies

I have the same lunch most days - a medium banana, plums and grapes. That way I know I'm getting most of my 'five a day'.

But as the others have suggested, sandwiches are good, or, if you don't want to eat bread, some cold meat with cherry tomatoes, a slice of light cheese and some grapes is a nice meal.

Don't forget to drink plenty of water too

Sweet_Potato

Just bring leftovers from whatever you made for dinner the night before. I add a green salad on the side, and bring a piece of fruit and some nuts or chocolate to snack on later.

vim_n_vigor

Once a week I prepare and freeze my meals. I just grab one meat, one veggie and one carb to take to work. Since they are frozen, if I don't eat it that day, they are fine left in the fridge for a few more days too.

mudar146

I usually take the morning of one of my days off and make a few different things for the upcoming weeks lunches. A few examples-->

Turkey Taco Chili Soup
Spinach Manacotti
Spinch Tortellini Soup
Lighter Chicken Salad

All of these are from Skinnytaste.com and make enough servings to get my through 5 work days. I love to cook so this is easy for me. If you're not a big cooker Tuna in a pita or on its own is always good and quick. You could take slices of turkey and roll them up with a slice of cucumber and cheese in the middle. Or like most are saying any kind of sandwhich can be quick and delish!!

Good Luck!

rachelhohenbrink

I enjoy imitation crab meat with a little soy sauce on the side, yogurt and fresh veggies. Or I like to cook extra food at supper and pack it for my lunch the next day. Sometimes when I don't pack I make a run to the grocery store and buy a piece of rotisserie chicken and a veggie or fruit tray.

CapsFan17

Most days its soup. Its quick to grab in the morning and if you are careful with what you grab most are healthy. I like the progresso soups, alot of them are less then 200cal for the can. Then I take snacks, like carot sticks, an apple or granola bar cause I will get hungry again before I get off.

LeslieMDoyle

I stopped by our local grocery store this morning and picked up the following...

mixed greens in a bag
four bell peppers
a cucumber
sliced almonds
three avocados
a bag of oranges
four packages of Starkist tuna

For lunch each day this week, I'll have a little bit of each of those (along with the balsalmic vinagrette I have in the fridge at the office). I also have my Shakeology sometime during the day (chocolate and almond milk).

featherfun7

I'm a huge lover of my leftover dinners. I bought little glass containers to help with serving size and try to eat the protein and veggies for lunch, leaving out any leftover carbs like potatos. Also, relating to an earlier reply, doing all the work for the week on Sunday has proven to be really helpful. The lazy Sundays I have really make the rest of the week more work.

MrsLVF

Tuna with: Spring Mix, cucumber, with Homemade Tzatziki Sauce (or guacamole) in a Arnold - Multigrain Pocket Thins (pita)

kalikelli

I make all my work meals on Sunday, I usually make five sandwiches wrap them in saran wrap, throw a couple pickles in a baggie and weigh out my snack, this week it's low fat pringles so I have five of each and getting ready for work takes all of 30 seconds which means no excuses to hit the drive thru!

This week it's turkey, ham and swiss on WW pitas but you can really do anything. Tuna is my fav I think.

Also makes it that much easier to add into MFP!

geri1955

I love canned chicken on the new special k seasalt crackers - 30 crackers are 110 calories and a serving of the chicken and mayo is less then 100 calories- tuna or eggsalad is good on them too
:bigsmile:

shannalparker

My lunch usually consists of assorted raw veggies, a piece of fruit, some precooked chicken breast (with a little hot sauce!), a couple of olives and a string cheese. Sometimes yogurt too or a few crackers.

yarn_nerd

I plan to make something on Sunday that I can have throughout the week. It's either something that will reheat well, or something that doesn't need to be heated. For example here are some recipes I've made in the last few months:

Chili
Curried Brown Rice Salad (this week's lunch)
A BIG garden salad (then I pack whole grain crackers and a piece of fruit to go with it)
Veggie Maki!! (complete with pickled ginger, wasabi, and Braggs Amino Acids (or soy sauce)
Bean salads (there are a million out there)
Dobu Jorim (Korean soy-braised tofu which can be eaten cold or warm) served with kimchi and rice
veggie lasagna

when in doubt, my "OMG I forgot to plan my lunch" options are PB&J with a banana, carrots/hummus, or leftovers.

Hope this helps