Say NO to sandwiches! Help needed please!

sazzledazzle78

Starting back at school tomorrow (teacher) and need to think of vegetarian options to sandwiches for lunches. Thought some wonderfully creative people might do better than my raw veg and houmous ideas. Not quite cold enough here for soup:happy: s yet either. Want to try and stay away from bread as it leads to butter, then CHEESE!!

Many thanks!
Cheese addict
Sarah xx

happyfeetrebel1

LOL..I eat cheese all the time! Not giving it up either It's a decent source of protein, but more than that, it's NOT a source of carbs, which are my personal nemesis :P

I don't have many ideas, other than maybe putting it in a wrap (whole wheat if you like those) instead of bread. I'm sure others will have more insight

emmalouc93

Making rice with nice spices and veg, then eating it cool for lunch is usually what I do.

Also, wraps with hummus are good.

Smoothies.

sarahcuddle

Pasta salad, rice salad, couscous ? Adding lots of salady things like cucumber, cherry tomatoes sweetcorn and small amounts of cheese or some kidney beans maybe? Control the amount of dressing you put with it and you'll be ok

Whitezombiegirl

Roasted vegetable shish kebabs. Shredded apple and carrot salad with a touch of nutmeg.

Farburnfred

Salads with legumes chickpeas, kidney beans etc all make lovely salads. Is there a microwave? Last nights leftovers can work very well.

LittleMissDover

Wrap filled with salad, houmous and falafel

Wrap with quorn 'chicken', mango, salsa and salad (could forget the wrap)

Roast veg and houmous on a wrap/ sandwich/ with couscous.

Quorn 'steak' fajitas/ forget the tortilla and make a spicy quorn strip salad

Pasta with pesto, olives, cherry tomatoes and rocket.

PurpleAmharicCoffee

I find having rice/corn thins as opposed to bread with salad greens and a bit of meat on them, a calorie and fat saving lunch.
I see that you also love cheese- I made the switch to cottage cheese or having smaller amounts of cheese to get the taste.

chooriyah

Some delicious and filling salads that are great cold for lunch:

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/01/warm-butternut-squash-and-chickpea-salad/ (the creaminess is tahini, not mayonnaise)

http://www.thekitchn.com/go-to-salad-recipe-peanut-carrot-and-cabbage-slaw-172566

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2009/05/broccoli-slaw/

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/double-broccoli-quinoa-recipe.html

Also, just roast vegetables (like zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, onions) with some olive oil and cayenne or paprika. Mix with cooked quinoa or couscous - delicious!

When I make pasta for dinner I make a portion extra and bring that to work as a pasta salad.

The wrap idea is a great way to cut down bread. Also try vietnamese spring rolls - you get rice paper, soak it in water, and then heap a bunch of crisp yummy salad things on top - lettuce, spring onions, bell peppers, tofu, anything you like. Roll up - no frying! Find some low fat peanut satay sauce or chilli sauce to dip in. Enjoy!

Edit: Oh, one more! If you have a microwave - a portion of lentil curry and some brown rice heats perfectly - filling, healthy and delicious (:

chosengiver

Tuna or chicken salad on lettuce with 5 saltines

these are adorable from skinny taste

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/08/cute-school-lunch-ideas-for-kids.html

Lyra89

I lost 50lbs eating sandwiches every day! A good way to make the houmous & veggie sandwich to taste better is to have it in a wholemeal pitta (pre-toasted) with some added tomato relish!

Some of my favourites are - peanut butter, jam & banana sandwich, mock-meat with mayo & spinach, a veggie burger with fresh onion cucumber tomatoes & lettuce on a whole wheat roll, cheese (not all bad! very satisfying so keeps me away from other crap) OR vegan cheese with sun-dried tomatoes & rocket on a bagel (my favourite!), egg salad sandwich with watercress, or how about beans on toast...a filling classic!

LittleMissDover

Tuna or chicken salad on lettuce with 5 saltines

She's vegetarian

tadpole242

Don’t take sandwiches, ok
Here is my lunch for the day
2 oz raw cabbage shredded really fine, with half a table spoon of real mayonnaise (5 for the cabbage and 50 for the mayo)
Half a pepper sliced (8 calories)
Two inches of cucumber sliced (8 calories)
Four cherry tomatoes (12 calories)
1 ounce of coleslaw (25 calories)
1 ounce of cottage cheese (23 calories)
1 ounce feta cheese (77 calories)
Half a beetroot (90 calories)
Three rice cakes (90 calories)
¼ bag of seasonal salad (50 calories)
450 calories total

Meat is my source of protein it's calorie dense food, like salami or chorizo, you might have to pick something which will suit your lifestyle.

Takes me, and I’m a fast eater, 10 to 15 minutes to eat, and fills me up for several hours
I’ll have carrots and peppers for an afternoon snack, along with couscous (and herring and mustard sauce)

sazzledazzle78

Wow! Thank you SO much for all taking the time to reply. I have LOADS of ideas here and many that I would definitely not have thought of! Also nice to know people still losing and eating occasional cheese! This should keep me in recipes for the term already! I just find that when tried to be healthy / on diets before, I end up taking the same boring stuff in, get bored, uninspired and then "just have the ONE biscuit" in the staffroom. There the slippery slope begins...
Many thanks
Sarah x

Fozzi43

I work in a school too and the amount of biscuits and chocolates they have in the staff room...:noway:

Some good ideas there..good luck!

chosengiver

Tuna or chicken salad on lettuce with 5 saltines

She's vegetarian

oops! I totally missed that! :blushing:

PJ_73

I like bringing in quinoa and roasted vegetable salad or couscouc and roasted veg - I like to add some Feta sometimes but you said no cheese!

Falafel salad and some homemade hummus.

Or I just get come cold meats and make a big salad with fresh beetroot, rocket, peppers, onions, balsamic and touch of olive oil.

Don't miss sandwiches at all!

geebusuk

I can do many awesome low calorie sandwiches - all contain meat, of course.

I've never had butter on bread anyway, so that bit wasn't an issue for me.

As for cheese, have a look at Weight Watchers Reduced fat mature cheese. Around 215 kc per 100g; of that it has 30g protein and 10g fat. I generally try to go for high protein, so it works pretty nicely for me without much guilt.

If you are going for bread - go for a 400g loaf as they have smaller slices (a few don't now, but most do.)
Something like Hovis Wholemeal is 57kc per slice, so 114 for both slices comes out less than just one slice of some bigger bread. Some others are a bit lower than this, with the weight watchers ones going well below 50kc; but I find they tend to be a bit flimsy.

I'll often use a low calorie salad dressing to give the sandwich a bit of moisture. Add in plenty of herbs and spices etc for flavour.

chosengiver

Another awesome snack to make is different flavors of Greek Yogurt.
I use Chobani Plain and dress it up with things like:

6g PB2
7g Raw Honey
15g Love Grown Granola
or
Pecans
Almonds
or
Protein Powder

If you can take a blender to work, Green Monsters work GREAT for lunch

http://greenmonstermovement.com/?cat=3

http://k9owner.blogspot.com/2012/01/double-dense-now-green-monster.html

http://k9owner.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-1st-attempt-at-green-monster-was.html

Andwynn

I eat a heavier breakfast then sometimes have cereal for lunch! (I hate cereal for breakfast, I get hungry again too quickly)
Ready brek (or microwaveable porridge if you prefer) topped with fruit and sometimes a spoon of maple syrup, or Kellogg's Just Right (not sure if you're US and can get that there). Topped with sliced banana, peach, pear, nectarine, plums, etc. or some raspberries etc stirred in.

sunshine2212677

rice cakes with speadable low fat cheese, salads, pasta salad with shredded carrot and grapes - mmmmmm!
reading this thread is making me hungry!!!

Lyra89

Wow! Thank you SO much for all taking the time to reply. I have LOADS of ideas here and many that I would definitely not have thought of! Also nice to know people still losing and eating occasional cheese! This should keep me in recipes for the term already! I just find that when tried to be healthy / on diets before, I end up taking the same boring stuff in, get bored, uninspired and then "just have the ONE biscuit" in the staffroom. There the slippery slope begins...
Many thanks
Sarah x

If you find cheese is a downfall for you, have you tried mixing it up? I love to buy mozzarella balls and slice some into a sandwich with fresh tomatoes & a dash of olive oil + fresh basil then toast it...it tastes like pizza, seriously! Or how about feta and olives etc? x

Iron_Feline

Couscous, pasta, lentil, rice or Bulgaria wheat salads - great with roasted veggies. Rice cakes, crispbreads and rivitas - so good with rocket cottage cheese and some sweet chilli sauce. Oh cold noodle salad as well. Yummy.

Iron_Feline

Oh and as to the cheese - I now have a love for cheese string as they are individually wrapped I can get my cheese craving sorted in a handy portion controlled amount. mmmmm cheese