Bread free lunch ideas?

Aelita_92
Aelita_92 Posts: 10
in Food and Nutrition
I find lunch the hardest meal to plan!
For the past couple of months I've been eating a small salad (usually a garden or a greek style salad) and a peanut butter or low sugar jam sandwich on rye bread for lunch at work. It's a filling meal, easy and cheap. And I can prepare my lunches for the whole week in one night - convenience!
BUT I'm getting so sick of salads.

I need some help please! :flowerforyou:

Does anyone have any lunch ideas that don't use bread (or maybe just a little), are vegetarian, lower carb, generally healthy, preferably under 350 calories, oh and no boring salads :tongue: It's also coming up to summer here in Australia.
I know I'm really making things difficult now, but I also don't like eating too much rice or pasta at lunch time too.


Does such a lunch even exist?


Some ideas I have considered and might try are omelettes, vietnamese rice paper rolls (if only they didn't take me so long to make :cry: ), and sushi!

Thank you! :heart:

Replies

  • 1sophiesophie
    1sophiesophie Posts: 67 Member
    Homemade soups. Take to work in a flask or heat up when you are there (if you have the facilities). The possibilities of flavour are endless and you can bulk them up with noodles / beans etc if you want something more substantial. Really easy to make in quantity at the start of the week too and freeze until you need.

    (I am in the UK, so it is hard to imagine it coming up to Summer right now - I appreciate that soup might not be your first choice if it is starting to get hot where you are - but then there is always gazpacho - I have an amazing recipe if you want it!)
  • 1sophiesophie
    1sophiesophie Posts: 67 Member
    Here it is (whether you like it or not!) - I halve the oil and it still tastes brilliant:
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/jun/24/how-to-make-perfect-gazpacho
  • sugarfree123
    sugarfree123 Posts: 82 Member
    I am celiac so no bread for me. Lunch is a challenge. Lately I have been eating Quinoa. I don't know if you have tried it. It is like a rice. It is cooked like rice and you can flavor it like any rice dish. Or you can eat it like it is. I have ate it hot and cold also. ( I have even made Quinoa pudding). yum. It is different from rice in that it is not only a healthy carb, it is also a complete protein. It will not cause a blood glucose spike. If you buy some, be sure that the box states that it is already washed. It is a bugger to wash that stuff.
  • linzspence
    linzspence Posts: 16 Member
    Caprese salad would be good. A nice tomato, some low fat mozzarella, lots and lots of basil and however much olive oil you want. Its a salad with out being a "salad".

    Frittata would be good, and quiche would be good. Make them on Sunday and it'll be ready for you all week.
  • beachvoliball
    beachvoliball Posts: 9 Member
    How about:

    sweet potato, celery and apple salad - http://www.wholeliving.com/151696/sweet-potato-celery-and-apple-salad
    avocado with bell pepper and tomato - http://www.wholeliving.com/151701/avocado-bell-pepper-and-tomatoes
    watercress with oranges and sardines (or some other fish or you can skip the fish entirely) - http://www.wholeliving.com/151385/watercress-salad-sardines-oranges-and-pepitas
    spicy black bean salad - http://www.wholeliving.com/151704/spicy-black-bean-salad
    baked sweet potato (in microwave) with cinnamon and nutmeg - maybe some butter

    I love the sweet potato salad.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    A 'burrito bowl' is one of my favorite lunches! Black beans, chicken (skip this obviously if you're vegetarian :smile:), Greek yogurt in place of sour cream, diced avocado, a bit of shredded cheese, tomatoes, some salsa, and a bit of lettuce, unless that makes it to salad-y, and you're already tired of salad. :tongue: Sometimes I add a bit of rice if I've got some leftover from a dinner. Easy to mix and match various veggies - tasty and filling, and no bread or even tortilla chips needed.
  • Brunner26_2
    Brunner26_2 Posts: 1,152
    Bagels
  • Aelita_92
    Aelita_92 Posts: 10
    Wow such good responses, thanks guys!

    1sophiesophie: I've never actually had gazpacho! I think the idea of cold soup always weirded me out haha. I should really try it

    Sugarfree123: Gosh yes, I should have tried searching gluten free lunches before, I didn't think of that and my brother is even coeliac! I have eaten quinoa, I prefer eating it when its puffed or disguised like the quinoa crispbread I had today because I have never been able to cook with quinoa to make it taste good. I loooove my puffed quinoa though.
    I wonder what my brother eats for lunch.. He's not the healthiest though so I'm pretty sure he eats a lot of gf pasta and bread. Hmm.

    Linzspence: Ah yes, I shall look up a recipe for that, I've never had caprese salad before but I have heard of it! And yeah quiche/frittatas are a great idea. I could make them mini and have them with something else perhaps. I wonder how long a quiche would keep in the fridge...?

    Beachvoliball: Yum I do have this new love for fruit in salads, so that sweet potato one sounds great! Unfortunately I'm not a fan of beans, but thanks :D And you mentioning salmon just reminded me of tuna, I should make tuna salads!
  • bsuew
    bsuew Posts: 628 Member
    I grill chicken breast and keep them in the refrigerator and fix veggies of all sorts. I have lunch totes that I pack on Sunday night. 5 days worth. I love chicken :). I fill the plastic totes up with my lunch. 3 sections. Chicken and what ever veggie that I have. I don't do bread, pasta, rice or any thing like that. It is very filling and good for me :laugh:
  • melanie8289
    melanie8289 Posts: 161 Member
    Veg sticks with red pepper dip - add some crispbreads or rice cakes if you need carbs ;)
  • Aelita_92
    Aelita_92 Posts: 10
    Amyrhubarb That is a good idea, and even [healthy] corn chips/tortilla chips wouldn't be too bad to have with it right? If I wanted or needed a bit more substance to keep me full :P I think making my own salsa is a good idea too, I could use it for other things as well. :)

    Bsuew: Thank you for your suggestion, but I prefer not to have meat during the day where possible (don't ask why, just a random mindset of mine haha) I love chicken, but I eat too much of it :P

    Melanie8289: Yum I loveee veggies and dip, I don't know why but I tried having that for lunch a few times but never felt like I had eaten a meal? Maybe I just need to eat more of it, or as you said have something susbstantial like crispbreads or some kind of healthy homemade breadstick contraption hehe :D
  • spramn
    spramn Posts: 67 Member
    Chili Chicken and Veg
    Calories -- 354 Carbs -- 10 Protein -- 43 Fiber -- 4
    No Oil or Butter (dry chicken)
    Calories -- 256 Carbs -- 10 Protein -- 43 Fiber -- 4

    ::Ingredients::

    Birds Eye - Steam Fresh Carrots Peas Corn, 100 g
    Calories -- 63 Carbs -- 10 Protein -- 3 Fiber -- 4

    Generic - Chicken Breast 125 g
    Calories -- 188 Carbs -- 0 Protein -- 40 Fiber -- 0

    Western Star - Butter, 5 grams
    Calories -- 36 Carbs -- 0 Protein -- 0 Fiber -- 0

    Oil - Vegetable, canola, 0.5 tbsp
    Calories -- 62 Carbs -- 0 Protein -- 0 Fiber -- 0

    Galiko - All Natural Chilli - 10g
    Calories -- 5 Carbs -- 0 Protein -- 0 Fiber -- 0

    ::Quick Recipe::
    Will make two portions with 250g chicken breast.

    With 250g chicken breast wrap in cling wrap and beat down to 1/2 inch thickness
    Once evenly thick and tenderised rub seasoning and chilli into each side of breast
    Heat pan with oil and butter on high heat
    Reduce to medium heat once pan hot
    Cook chicken for 4min each side
    Cut chicken into slices and add steamed vege's which are done quite easily in microwave
  • junipearl
    junipearl Posts: 326 Member
    When I am craving a sandwich but don't want to bread calories, I put my peanut butter or other sandwich fillings on plain rice cakes (~35 cals each)

    Some other ideas (I also get bored of most salad really fast although there are a few that I go back to continually):
    - Hummus with veggies
    - Avocado (I top mine with garlic powder, basil, and lime juice)
    - Spinach with light feta and some kind of vinaigrette (I know its a salad but mmm feta)

    AND LEFTOVERS! can't beat making an extra portion at dinner and having it for lunch the next day =)
  • YaGigi
    YaGigi Posts: 817 Member
    If you eat chicken, check out my diary. I always have chicken or fish and a salad or tomatoes, cucumber, and etc. I don't eat bread while on a diet as its the main reason f my weight gain.

    I low a salad of shredded cabbage and carrots with some raisin and some oil.

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