Take Along Lunch for work

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wwest21
wwest21 Posts: 99 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've run out of ideas for packing my lunch to take to work. I normally work 5-6 days a week and try to make a lunch for at least 4 of those days, if not all. I usually will do a wrap or salad of some kind, with yogurt and fruit (usually grapes or apples). I'm sure I'm not the only one who is racking my brain trying to figure out something different!

For those of you who take your lunch, what do you take? If you take salads or wraps, share your favorites! Or if you have links to any ideas post 'em here!
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Replies

  • kikicooks
    kikicooks Posts: 1,079 Member
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    A good way to get ideas is to look at people's diaries on here, I love doing that. Sometimes my lunches end up being a bunch of snacks...hard boiled eggs, nuts/seeds, string cheese, cheese & crackers, fruit, veggies & hummus. I eat peanut butter or almond butter sandwiches a lot. I have dinner leftovers a lot of the time too, chicken breast, turkey burgers, pasta, soups, chili, whatever is in the kitchen. :)
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Leftovers. Since I prepare a heatlhy and tasty dinner every night anyway, I just make a little extra.
  • pinkly14fun2
    pinkly14fun2 Posts: 55
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    Mine is usually a spin on the previous night's supper. If we decide to have steak one night, it is steak salad the next day. When I make couscous salad, I make a bunch and then it is my go to side for the week. I tend to be able to eat mostly the same things one week at a time without getting too bored
  • JSkorna
    JSkorna Posts: 22
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    Lean Cuisine

    Fruit

    Yogart
  • chrisloveslife
    chrisloveslife Posts: 180 Member
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    I usually bring 1 of 4 things:
    1. wrap
    2. leftovers
    3. salad
    4. frozen meal

    I usually have fruit and veggies too! Sometimes yogurt.
  • Kr1ptonite
    Kr1ptonite Posts: 789 Member
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    I stick pretty much to the same thing every week. Brown rice or Sweet Potato, with Tuna, chicken and spinach.
  • TheDarlingOne
    TheDarlingOne Posts: 255 Member
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    usually never more than $2 a bag (if that much) = uncle ben's ready rice. pop in microwave for 90 seconds...and it's 2 servings in 1 bag. so $2 covers 2 days....then add a meat and a steam veg and viola. A "homecooked" dinner for lunch at work. A nice fish (i bring fish and they complain, but they have to deal as it's about me not them lol) - or a turkey patty maybe, or some chicken and it's a nice warm dinner for a change, compared to the usual wraps/sammys and sides.
  • Dietkitty26
    Dietkitty26 Posts: 7 Member
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    I make up a salad box but also take my emergency rations :D Salt and vinegar rice cakes, weight watchers caramel mallows, boiled eggs or as others say last night's leftovers. My handbag looks like a picnic hamper most days!
  • iLoveMyPitbull1225
    iLoveMyPitbull1225 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    salads and wraps are a good idea, that's what I do most of the time. Leftovers works well too. I would take a look at pinterest, there is one thing I've seen that lists a whole rack of lunch ideas that don't involve sandwiches. Might help you spruce up the routine.
  • g0tr00t
    g0tr00t Posts: 192 Member
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    I bike ride to work, so here is what I carry with me:

    Snacks (I eat these through out the day after I eat a bowl of oatmeal)
    Almonds (24)
    Greek Yogurt
    Orange
    Apple
    Cottage Cheese (http://www.friendshipdairies.com/products/1-lowfat-no-salt-added-cottage-cheese.html)
    Banana

    Main Lunch:
    Green Drink Juice (Whole celery, apple, cilantro, parsley, peeled lemon, 2 cucumbers,2 broccoli stalks)

    If I had a really hard ride into (against the wind or raining), I might eat an organic granola bar too.

    Edit: With the wraps, be careful of the sodium content, I have seen some of them containing over 1000mg's!
  • robinellis
    robinellis Posts: 66
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    i am totally a creature of habit so i take the same thing 6 days a week every week. a turkey/roast beef sandwich with mozza on really nice grainy bread and a bag of grapes. i work as a traffic flagger so i don't always get to stop and sit down for lunch or breaks so my lunch needs to be something i can eat while standing on the road!
  • SmallMimi
    SmallMimi Posts: 541 Member
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    Taco Salad - Lettuce, Tomato, Taco Meat (turkey or beef), Avocado, Cheese with Salsa for Dressing. My go to favorite!
  • simoneg14
    simoneg14 Posts: 46 Member
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    1) Tuna salad or ham with olives, avocado, sweet (bell) peppers etc

    2) wraps with chicken, ham and salad

    3) whole wheat pasta (40-50g uncooked) with tuna and peppers & basil

    4) or left overs from the night before.


    with the above I have either fruit or onken fat free yogurt - feel free to add me as a friend and check out my diary.
  • Geojerm
    Geojerm Posts: 291 Member
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    I usually bring leftovers, or cook an extra piece of chicken or two (or turkey/chicken sausage) to have extras for packing my lunch and steam some veggies in the microwave at work the next day.

    Here's a favourite of mine:

    1/2 acorn squash (you can cook in your microwave real quick
    2 breakfast sausage (links or rounds)
    1 egg

    I make the whole squash and 4 sausage the night before, so then I have two lunches, and cook the egg in the microwave at work.I

    I also make a big batch of homemade granola (with a little protein powder) that last me a few weeks, and I take that to work for breakfast most days. Just leave a little bottle of milk in the fridge at work so I don't have to pack it into my lunch everyday.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    Mine is nearly the same every day

    Carrots
    Cucumber
    string cheese
    sunflower seeds
    Apple
    Grapes
    (additional seasonal fruit)
  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
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    I like to buy fruit/veg on the weekends and package it up in ziplock baggies for the week. I'll have the same things for my snacks all week long, and if I'm sick of it by next weekend I'll get something different. So every day I have 3-4 servings of raw plants, and add something else to it: yogurt, cottage cheese, string cheese (never get tired of any dairy), and a protein: egg, turkey dog, chicken, etc. Sometimes I have a carb, but if I'm eating some sort of grain at other meals I try to have one meal a day without. I also despise nuts, which is a shame as they are quite good for you but I just can't choke them down so they don't make it into my rotation.

    When I go home for lunch, I sometimes eat leftovers and sometimes eat a sandwich (love Sara Lee 45 cal whole grain bread) or a wrap. Flavors change by week, but sometimes it's a garden wrap and sometimes it's meat and cheese. Whatever I have that sounds great that day. I have several types of mustards too, so I can make small flavor changes with minimal calorie differences.

    Good luck!
  • marshallexi
    marshallexi Posts: 162 Member
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    I make a huge pot of something on a Sunday afternoon and use that all week for lunches. This week it was thai yellow chicken curry (essentially chicken, vegetables, a spoonful of thai yellow paste and vegetable stock). I occasionally throw a boiled egg in there too.

    Breakfast is homemade too - usually soya yoghurt, frozen berries and muesli (berries have defrosted by the time I get to the office - perfect!).

    I eat all homemade at work as my canteen food is so dire, once you get into the swing of it you'll never go back.
  • abbylg1983
    abbylg1983 Posts: 177 Member
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    My lunches are usually one item of protein, plus fruits and vegetables. I like bread, but it's not worth the calories for me. I'd rather eat other stuff, so I tend to avoid sandwiches.

    Usually, on Sundays, I'll cook 3-4 chicken breasts at once, and bag them individually. I do the same for turkey patties. 1-2 days a week I'll put some shrimp in a baggie and bring another baggie of kale/spinach and put the two together. Then I always bring a baggie of mixed raw veggies (carrots, snap peas, bell peppers, tomatos, cucumbers, squasg) and a baggie of cooked vegetables (the night before or on weekends I'll microwave a large bowl of broccoli, brussel sprouts, beans, etc), plus some kind of fruit- usually an apple, orange, peach, or sliced strawberries, or all of them (or some combo of them). My new favorite fruit is sliced strawberries and sliced pineapple mixed together. I also usually have rice cakes, almonds and other nuts, and dark chocolate for snacking.

    This new thing I have been doing is a modified chicken parmesan, and it's my new favorite lunch. I take boneless skinless chicken breasts, and lightly (like just a dusting) rolling them in breading- I use maybe a half cup of bread crumbs for 5-6 pieces, and bake them with marinara sauce on top. I make that in the evenings since my daughter will eat anything with sauce on it (seriously, I've dumped tomato sauce on her broccoli before and given it to her like spaghetti, she loves it!), and bring an extra piece or two for lunch.
  • Legs_McGee
    Legs_McGee Posts: 845 Member
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    I'm lazy when it comes to messing with food, so I just like to be able to grab something and go. I'll bring a Lean Cuisine or a can of soup - or swing by the deli on my way in and get a sandwich or sushi.
  • wink77
    wink77 Posts: 55 Member
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    My diet is mostly protein, so, I take cottage cheese, Wheat Thins and Hummus,protein shakes, deli meat and cheese rollups. I'm not a fan of leftovers. Have you ever looked up Bento lunches? There's tons of ideas on Pinterest. I'd like to do this once I get to eating more of a variety.

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