Different lunch/dinner ideas at work?? No bread or pasta!

charlottemay

I am a student nurse and either do a 7am-3pm or 1pm-9pm shift so I will either have lunch or dinner while on my break at work. I want to take my own food as it is cheaper and I can control my calorie, fat etc intake better than if I bought it from the cafeteria. The trouble is I can only think of sandwiches, salads or pasta and I cant eat bread or pasta as it makes me really bloated and gives me bad wind! lol Salads are ok but as you will know they get boring having the same thing day after day. Any ideas of what I could take with me??

epoeraven

How about soup? Progresso has some really good lite soups and some of them are pasta free too. They have a hearty vegetable that I really like. The beef pot roast is also pretty good. The only downfall is that they are high in sodium.....

UnderCoverShyGirl

I'm struggling with this as well....and lean cuisines and things just have more sodium than i want. I'm not doing a total no bread thing, but i do try to keep it to a minimum....I tend to do a bunch of little snacks and make them into a meal, here are some of the no bread/pasta things i end up taking along.....

Lettuce wraps with anything inside....amazing how yummy it is to eat fillings (from sandwich fillings to some homemade asian grounch chicken, tuna, etc.)

Eggplant "dip" (the muttabal or baba ganoush - easy to make at home by roasting eggplant and pureeing with garlic and a little olive oil, etc.) with zuchinni and other fresh veggies for dipping.

Caprese (sliced tomatoes with thin, fresh mozerella and basil, drizzle balsamic)

Leftover protien (usually chicken) with a small pre-baked sweet potatoe and some veggies. If you prebake the sweet potatoes and veggies, it heats up in a flash)

I love roasted or grilled veggies, so doing these up in advance is great - just add a protien and you're good to go.

Cup of thick soup (split pea, bean, etc..) with some fruit or salad on the side.

ETA: just wanted to say, that although having the same thing day after day is boring, experts do seem to think that people that do that, tend to not overeat - why i don't know, but i tell you I notice a difference when i eat the same breakfast every day (oatmeal)...it really leaves me feeling like I'm "done" and not looking for something else, as i might tend to do when i give myself lots of variety. Hope that made sense!

charlottemay

How about soup? Progresso has some really good lite soups and some of them are pasta free too. They have a hearty vegetable that I really like. The beef pot roast is also pretty good. The only downfall is that they are high in sodium.....

Thanks, i may make one myself actually. I didnt think of soup haha how simple. Cheers

charlottemay

Yeah it does sort of make sense. Im always starving in the morning and have a bowl or crunchy nut cereal with semi skimmed milk and a banana and I really enjoyed it, I would just get up and thats the first thing I would do and it would usually keep me going till lunch...... now i know why I enjoyed it so much as I have learned crunchy nut cereal is full of sugar!! (growl :mad: ) Now ive got to find another breakfast I like as Im sick of making smoothies coz I cant be bothereed to clean the smoothie maker every time and my mum shouts! lol Thanks for the lunch ideas though they wil come in handy!

la4et

Mutli grain cheerios are great for breakfast. Lunch you could bring fat free low sodium turkey breast- takes a bit to get used to but its good. Shred a little low fat cheese to go on them and roll them up and eat them- Yeah no bread. You can try weight watchers bread- 2 slices only 100 calories and 19 carbs I thinks.

I always need crunch so I keep 10 almonds in a baggie and carrots at work just in case. I hate soup so that is out for me

nongenius

You can try to find some low carb tortilla wraps. I don't know where you are, but at my local grocery store I found some Ole brand High Fiber, low Carb wraps that have only 71 calories, 5 grams of carbs, 8 grams of protein and 12 grams of fiber. Just fill it with normal sandwich fillings and you have a low carb sandwich!

cacharra

If you like lime, there is something that I take to work that I can pick on all day or have it all at my lunch time: I buy Green Smith Apple (the one that has the strongest taste of all) and hard as rock green mango (It will taste a little sweet anyway but that makes a perfect combination for this salad). I peel the skin off and chop them in 1 square inch pieces aprox.. Then squeeze lime and add some salt. You can skip the lime and salt if you prefer, the tast of both fruits are so contrasting that I never get tired of eating it. As a luch, it does not have so much calories and it is healthy. I hope you find this recipe good.:flowerforyou:

cattiemac

On weekends I make either a big batch of soup or chili and freeze it. Then I have a quick lunch that is healthy. Also, when I cook my supper I usually have leftovers that I can bring with me for lunch the next day. Between leftovers and stuff in the freezer I'm rarely at a loss for something to eat.

lors624

I dedicate a portion of Sunday to cooking for the week and either freeze or refrigerate depending on how things keep.

I usually make soup or chili, which I eat as lunch #1, and then some form of dip for lunch #2 with veggies, of course! I am partial to hummus with varying background flavors - olive, sundried tomato, roasted red pepper, garlic, etc. The base is so easy and changing up the "special ingredient" keeps it interesting.

I also recommend salads that are not creamy. Sometimes I buy a rotisserie chicken and we eat the breast for dinner and then take the dark meat and make a soy sauce and vinegar based chicken salad with chopped carrots, water chestnuts and red cabbage that I eat in lettuce cups.

Hope this helps!

pricer15

I have been off all grains for 4 weeks now. If I have access to a microwave I fix this kind of lunch:
frozen salmon patties with mango peach salsa and a salad
homemade chile with beans over spaghetti squash and a fruit
tasty bite madras lentil stew with an optional leftover protein like chicken and a salad
taco salad, ground turkey with taco seasoning, jalapeno black beans over lettuce with tomatoes and extra sharp cheese and salsa. (when you use extra sharp, you don't need much to get the flavor)
leftover broccoli spinach quiche with low sodium V8 and a fruit
soup as already stated by others

cold lunches include:
1 cup of cottage cheese with grape tomatoes, either scallions or chopped red onions, cut up bell peppers or cucumber
thin turkey lunchmeat rolled up with horseradish mustard inside, cut vegetables
tuna with watercress, onion, lite mayo and mustard rolled up into lettuce leaves with a slice of avocado
Of course, a big salad with various kinds of protein added - chicken, tuna, hard boiled eggs

Enjoy!