Looking for new Lunch ideas!!

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bubbles6
bubbles6 Posts: 14
in Food and Nutrition
Hello all,

I am on that infamous "home stretch" of trying to lose that last ten pounds and am looking for some new ideas to mix it up a bit!

I need some new lunch ideas. I am a teacher and I usually go for a 25 minute walk on my lunch period. (more for the peace and quiet than for the exercise!) That only leaves me with about ten minutes to eat, so I try to restrict my lunches to sandwiches on whole grain breads or pitas. I have tried salads but they take too long to eat! (Or maybe I just make them too big!) We can't have peanut butter in our school and I loathe salmon, so I pretty much eat tuna, egg or ham sandwiches. I do not touch processed/deli meats, microwave dinners or those ready made "Lunchables!" So, that leaves me with pretty much the same old sandwiches every day.

Can anyone help me add some pizazzzzzz to my seemingly boring lunches?

Replies

  • KLJ456
    KLJ456 Posts: 25 Member
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    Make chicken on Sunday then use that as your meat to mix with fresh salsa and plain Greek yogurt. Put that in a Tupperware and at school when you're ready to eat put it in a wrap. So yummy, easy, and quick!
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member
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    Cottage cheese, and yogurt is a good mix. One of my favorite meals consists of,
    1/2 cup cottage cheese (FF or LF)
    1/2 cup yogurt( I use Dannon Lite and fit Vanilla)
    1/ 2 cup fruit cocktail in light juices
    2 Tbsp of fat free, sugar free pistachio pudding mix.
  • aimibean
    aimibean Posts: 243
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    I LOVE having wraps!
    Cook some chicken strips, red bell pepper and mushrooms in the oven and put it in a tupperware box and take them to work along with some tortilla wraps! You can also take some salad if you want (I love putting lettuce on mine for a nice crunch!). They're easy to make, and delicious!
  • Nathfrenchie
    Nathfrenchie Posts: 19 Member
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    Hi,

    You have probably tried these but thought I'd suggest them anyway:
    Add one or more of the following:
    1. light cream cheese (rather than mustard and/or mayo)
    2. cucumbers
    3. sprouts
    4. cooked chicken rather than ham (you can even make a healthy version of chicken salad - with some cashews, pickle, light cream, and mustard)
    5. crackers rather than bread
    6. if you put cheese - change the type

    Or different salads:
    1. tomato salad with mozzarella cheese
    2. grated carrots with vinaigrette (you can add grated celery root)
    3. cucumber salad with vinaigrette (add light liquid cream to the vinaigrette - yum!)

    Hope there is at least one idea that is useful.Good luck!
    Nath
  • scottg9999
    scottg9999 Posts: 30
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    You say you avoid microwave dinners, is that because you consider them unhealthy? I was looking for something quick and easy to eat at work after going to gym and found kashi frozen meals (http://www.kashi.com/products/category/Entrees). They are nutritious (lots of fiber and protein), good tasting and only around 3 bucks.
  • ltlhmom
    ltlhmom Posts: 1,202 Member
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    Tacos with either beef or chicken or make into a salad. Leftovers from the night before supper. Bake boneless chicken breast and make chicken salad sandwich or wrap. Bake turkey breast and make turkey salad sandwich or wrap. Bake potato with broccoli and cheese or salsa or chili or cottage cheese on top. Make a pot of chili. Make a pot soup and have a half of a sandwich with a cup of soup.
  • Debtappe
    Debtappe Posts: 164 Member
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    I like making a stir fried pea pods, carrots, mushrooms with a bit of meat (shrimp, chicken, port, or beef) and taking that during the week its good on rice or in a wrap. Or how about a mushroom and cheese quesadillas (make them in the morning and reheat at lunch.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    Homemade chicken salad is one of my favorite things for lunch!! And super easy to make the day before.

    Take a rotesserie chicken and pull it apart and cut up the meat. Add a few tablespoons greek yogurt, cut up apples, quartered grapes, chopped red onion, chopped celery, golden raisins, slivered almonds and mix all together to your liking. Chill overnight and either eat by itself (how I eat it) or in a flat out wrap or sandwich. Delish!
  • natsplat_20
    natsplat_20 Posts: 12 Member
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    What about left overs from main meal? Anything like stir fry/spag bol/stew packed full of veg etc can be reheated. I try to do that to avoid having too much bread and get bored of salad.
  • bubbles6
    bubbles6 Posts: 14
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    WOW!!! Thanks everyone for the great ideas.....I guess I am stuck in a bit of a rut...never even thought of some of these delicious ideas! I noticed a few people mention greek yogurt.....do some of you use that as a replacement for Mayonnaise? I have never had it before...but I am all about trying new things this year! I even took a suggestion from one of the grocery clerks who was ringing in my order today. We were talking about how much we love tuna salad. She makes hers with Dijon mustard and Mayonnaise (to cut the fat a bit) or with Honey mustard and adds chili peppers....so I came home and made some up with honey mustard (thought I had Dijon in but was wrong!) It was veryyyyyy good! Gonna try the Dijon mustard as I prefer the tangy to the sweet.
    So thanks to all of you for getting me motivated and looking forwad to lunches again!!
  • MrsChasteen
    MrsChasteen Posts: 48 Member
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    Usually my lunches are about the same thing...whole wheat sandwiches with lean meat and vegetables. I always pack my lunch the night before. When I want something different I cook a large bowl of soup on Sunday. Some good soups are tortilla soup with white meat chicken, Japanese miso, or beef stew....you don't have to put a ton of beef in your soup. I usually only put 1/2 lb of beef in a big pot of soup and then add lots of veggies. P.S. if you absolutely have to eat fast food then go ahead and plan to make room for it that day. Instead of getting a whole meal just get one taco or one hamburger and drink water...then snack on healthy snacks if you are not full.
  • WritingMyLife
    WritingMyLife Posts: 57 Member
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    One of my favorite sandwiches in a whole wheat pita is hummus with chopped veggies (mostly lettuce and cucumber) and some low fat cheese or chopped leftover chicken. Sometimes I use a little italian dressing. I don't know what it would be like to put it together ahead of time though, I usually do it in the kitchen at work and toast the pita. There are so many flavors of hummus, but my favorites are garlic and also roasted red pepper. You could probably get away with putting everything in but the dressing, or maybe keeping the veggies separate in a container.

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