Packed lunch ideas please!

LondonSuz

I really struggle with what to take to work with me for a packed lunch during the week and would love any ideas please! I always prepare lunch the night before so it needs to be something I can throw together in advance and I usually prefer something cold. Am just so bored of sandwiches / rolls and haven't seem to have put together any interesting combinations of foods yet so grateful for your ideas please!!!

Many thanks!

MrsAgi

I often take Ryvita's instead of sarnies - much to my surprise I found they're OK with philidelphia or chicken mayo or something like that on top, and MUCH lower cals than bread!

I also take yesterday's supper quite often - chuck the left overs into a plastic tub and eat it hot or cold - or in a wrap (although I was horrified at the cal content of a wrap!)

I have taken baked potatoes - I wack the oven on a 6am when I go out for my run, and by the time I've run, showered, dressed and got ready for work, the potato is done. Wrap in foil and it's still hot by lunch time. Makes my bag smell for days though......

Low fat yoghurts are my friend - they fill me up quite well, and as I take my time eating them, I feel that I have had a long meal and a dessert:)

Cut up veg and hummus is a big hit on the boards - although I never feel properly full if I only have that:(

Grab and go sushi from the major supermarkets are a quick and easy lunch when I've failed to be more organised.

Ejwelton

I often take a tin of fish - mackerel, salmon or a weight watchers tuna in tomato sauce and then fill a Tupperware box with frozen veg. At lunchtime I microwave it for a few minutes. It's quick to prepare in the morning and easy at lunchtime (as long as you have a microwave!)

Jigglebewie

I used to cook pasta the night before, it taste really nice cold, you could make a tuna pasta with peppers and onions and sweetcorn with a cheesey sauce. Or just with a plain tomato and basic sauce with mozerella XD

I love wraps though. You cna stick anything in wraps, humous and roasted vegetables, chicken, ham and salad veg, falafel, tuna.. yum yum =]

nevertoolate2

A quick basic salad to which I alternate the protein between chicken, eggs, mackeral, salmon, tuna, or a variety of cheeses with different dressings such as Branston pickle, piccalilly, low fat thousand island, french dressing or caesar. Gives a lot of variety and only takes a couple of minutes to throw together.

Sometimes (if I am brave and do not have meetings) I might go for sardines or pilchards on toast.

Kathrynha77

I do a tub of salad. Shredded iceberg lettuce, sliced red onion, sliced cucumber, some cherry tomatoes, a sliced boiled egg, some sliced turkey ham, some small cubes of hard goats cheese(or other nice decent cheese I fancy), and a squirt of extra light salad cream.

Big tub full for about 250 calories, and I find it really filling. Also think the egg and cheese make it seem less diety, and therefore don't feel at all deprived

tadpole242

I hate packed lunches, having eaten them for 20+ years, I made the change 5 years ago, Now I eat for my lunch a small serving of what I had for my evening meal. For example say last night I had slow cooked Thai style beef with rice and vegetables. For my lunch today I’ll have a small portion of rice with some of the leftover sauce/gravy and a few vegetables. I guess I’m lucky as I have access to a microwave at work.

kendrafallon

I'm a huge fan of the BBC Good Food website http://www.bbcgoodfood.com there are so many fab recipes and a lot of them calorie counted already. Most days I will have made my lunch from a recipe from that site - like today :bigsmile: Feel free to have a flick through my diary, as it's set to public.

phoenixoncemore

If you have a toaster at your work you can take pittas, english muffins, crumpets, bagels etc which range from 75 to 200 calories each. I have them with jam, low fat soft cheese, cottage cheese, ham, salad, tzatziki and my lunch is usually less than 250 calories. You can get more protein in if you add cheese or ham to the toppings. I know it's still bread-based but you can change it up quite a bit.

In the winter, I take homemade soups in old plastic chinese cartons and stick them in the microwave (again, assuming your work has one) Super easy to make the night before:
A basic vegetable soup is only 1 potato, 1 onion, 1-2 carrots and a vegetable stock cube cooked and part blended which makes 3-4 servings at about 100 calories each. I also make potato and leek, broccoli and stilton, spicy parsnip and a few others as it's so versatile.

I also sometimes take some porridge oats and a spoonful of jam or chocolate spread or cinnamon and honey, just add water from the kettle and eat.

Also, leftovers from dinner to chuck in the microwave!

I know it's so hard to come up with new ideas for everyday, hope this has given you some useful alternatives. :flowerforyou:

deedlit90

I also do the salad plan! Today I had grated carrot, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, button mushrooms, some salad leaves, then some cooked chicken and a small can of tuna with some low fat mayo thrown in as well. I also had two kiwi fruit afterwards. My whole lunch was 304 cals (and 92 of that was the kiwi's!) and it really filled me up! I agree that doing a salad and switching up what you put in it is not only easy and interesting, it's low calorie but really fills you up!

HelenDootson

Microwave rice, nuke it - put into tupperware hot - Add any frozen veg, or fresh for that matter (avoid Onions if you have meetings lol) - Lid on and it all cooks between breakfast and lunch, very filling and easy

AussieRachG

I'm also a big salad girl. If you have a fridge at work, I find that salads can last up to 3 days - so I'll often make 3 days worth at once and leave it all there! I tend to make Mediterranean style ones - lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, cucumber and mushrooms with some of the following; tinned tuna, boiled egg, avocado, chickpeas, seeds, olives, cottage cheese or feta.

To cut down on unwanted additional fat in the tuna, if you don't like it plain, I'll often mix in some balsamic vinegar and wholegrain mustard instead of mayo. Adding some ground cumin and cracked pepper, also adds amazing flavour. And if I have them, I finely dice some pickles in. Yummo!

I'm also a big 'soup for lunch' girl at work. If you have a microwave, brilliant - the skies the limit. If you don't, there's a few yummy cold soups, such as gaspacho or minted pea and zucchini.

Cold pasta salads can also be delicious - especially if filled with tons of protein and veggies. Rissoni is great for cold pasta salads.

choccyqueen83

I struggle with packed lunches and I know I eat way too many Carbs! I'm gonna try and have more salads this week. :os

nevertoolate2

You said you prefer cold but what about hot food gone cold? I sometimes make myself a light curry, jambalya or a paella the night before. I don't mind eating it cold so I just hook it out of the fridge and have it with a bit of salad.

Eileen_Fiona

Had a quick skim through the other answers but sorry if this has been suggested, what about a tortilla/spanish omelette (very tasty when cold) with salad? I've also discovered the Quorn cold meat type slices as I'm a veggie and they're really low in cals (I think it's about 30cals for two slices of most of them), I quite often slice them up and add them to a salad.
Some great ideas on this thread!

rose_ruby

What I had today would work for packed lunch. Wholemeal pasta and tomato sauce with spinach and feta. Could make a batch big enough to last the week.