Yes Salad does take some time, but that is exactly what I take daily. I usually use the bagged pre made salad makings and I add stuff to it. Like bell peppers, cucumbers, radishes, dill pickles, avacado, spinich leaves, red onion and even some mandarin orange slices. The bagged salad already has the lettuc, cabbage and carrot shreds so that makes a pretty good salad. I usually boil up a chicken breast the night before so that I have protein to add to my salad as well I slice that up and put it on top. I do the same for my husband but he also likes hard boiled eggs in his too. I bring a bowl of fresh cut up fruit and I use wish bone balsamic spritzers on my salad instead of dressing. Makes it pretty easy. I can usually whip up two salads and two bowls of fruit in 1/2 hour in the morning. You just have to know what you want in it ahead of time and have it all ready to use and easy to get at in your fridge. Sorry I probabably am not much help I use pistachio nuts and grapefruit cups for snacks. Or some other kind of fruit.

I take salad, similar to fiferize - sorry if this isn't helpful. If it's taking too long to eat in advance, then pre-packaged/pre-cut salad stuff might help (like they sell at Trader Joe's). My salads don't take any time or effort to eat - it's just one tupperware. Besides, in most developed countries you are required to take a lunch break.

I hope more people post to this as I too am looking for ideas other than just salad.

I usually make everything with a base of brown rice or quinoa. Most of the time I add baby spinach, half a red bell pepper and some marinated chicken fillets (lemon and herbs). Chop everything and put in a lunch box and shake it up so all the flavours mix. Lightly steamed broccoli or raw carrot is good too.

I'd love some more ideas from other people though!

Sometimes salad bugs me too.

I made a tuna antipasto and I take cut up veggies to kind of dip it in..
Spaghetti squash with homemade spicy meat sauce
Homemade soups that I freeze and just pull out of the freezer in the mornings

But beyond that... take a lunch. A walk, a breath.. you need it! :flowerforyou:

Try to search the "salad in a jar" thread that's been posting the last couple weeks. There are actually a wide variety of "salads" included (not just greens/dressing). You can make them all on the weekend to take all week long. Hope this helps!

Sandwiches or wraps are great and easy to eat at your desk. A turkey or ham (without all the yucky stuff) and cheese sandwich with mustard is tasty, easy to eat and doesn't required a microwave. I used to put lettuce and tomato in a separate pkg so it wouldn't get soggy. You can also use left-over chicken breast or even meatloaf to make a sandwich.

The good old peanut butter and jelly is often forgotten, but very tasty and nutritious if you use whole grain bread, organic p-butter and all fruit jelly. A crispy apple is usually not too messy and doesn't required a lot of prep work. :bigsmile:

Every Sunday I make a big batch of "clean eating" eggplant lasagna. I layer eggplant (not breaded; rather, I pan sear each side in a little olive oil with garlic salt) and marinara and a small bit of pure cheeses. After it's baked, I cut into small squares and freeze. I take individual sized portions to work along with apples. It's a good change when I need a salad break.

I love bringing things that are ready to eat in case I'm busy! Here's my food for today:

PJ's Organic Skinny Burrito (Costco, about $10 for 8 of em)

1/2 a cucumber and a Laughing Cow Wedge (sliced the cuc before I left for work and tossed it in a ziploc, and I have about 1/2 a container left of these Laughing Cow wedges left, plan on switching to a 1/2 oz of organic cheese with my cuc when I run out of wedges.)

Organic Fuji apple... my absolute fav! They run me about 80 cents a piece at Trader Joe's

Organic celery (this one is a little expensive, $3-$4 for a bunch at Whole Foods, sliced about 3 stalks this morning when I was doing my cucs.)

Protein Shake- made it with Organic Almond milk, hemp protein, and conventional strawberries (my one naughty! Wasn't paying enough attention when I bought the massive frozen bag.)

This all fits in my pretty normal-sized lunch carrier, and I have lots of snack options.. good luck with your packing!

As a snack, I make my own trail mix - I buy each of the following individually and then portion out in a little snack bag:

Dried fruit like craisins, dried mango, or dried cherries - I try and choose ones that have no added sugar
Nuts and seeds (my personal favs are pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and almonds)
Anddd, I like to add some mini dark chocolate chips when I'm in for a long day!

I take a combo of these things usually:

-banana and raw almond butter (yummy!)
-spelt crackers and cheese
-carrots and hummus
-a whole cucumber, or just bags of pre-cut veggies straight from the store which makes it super easy
-boiled eggs, (unpeeled, peel them at work) and crackers or veggies
-homemade trail mix with nuts and dried fruit
-apple and cheese
-kefir yogurt, frozen berries, and hemp hearts (frozen berries keeps it cold)

I tend to eat a few small meals all day rather than a big lunch.

Bento boxes are a good way to go. It doesn't have to be the crazy 'lunch art' people post. Just a well balanced meal in a box. Here is an example of a bento lunch:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laptoplunches/8253232330/in/pool-vegetarianbento/

Quinoa and Kale Sauté
White Bean Salad
Roasted Carrots
Pretzels
Orange Wedges

A site with a lot of links for bento recipes and ideas:

http://lunchinabox.net/links/