lunch recipes for work

sweetdee88
sweetdee88 Posts: 22
edited September 26 in Food and Nutrition
one of my biggest struggles is finding something healthy, filling, cheap, and quick/easy to make for my lunches at work. for a long time now i've been bringing a very small lunch, but i'm finding that i barely eat anything between the time i wake up and the time i get home between 4:30-5pm, and then really pack on the calories in the evening/at night. any suggestions for something more filling at work? right now i typically have my breakfast of coffee and cereal, no milk, between 9:30-10am, while i'm at work. i'm too rushed in the morning before leaving for work to really make anything decent. then i eat my lunch around 12, which usually consists of low-fat yogurt, and either a small basic salad, no dressing, or celery/pretzels/crackers and peanut butter. thoughts? i want to try to incorporate more healthy snacks into my work routine, instead of basically starving myself for 8 hours LOL i thought of maybe canned salmon, which would be simple enough. looking for good recipes and add-in's for it though.

thoughts, ideas, suggestions? anyone else have problems with eating at work?

Replies

  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    I used to! I have some great recipes that you can make on the weekend and take for lunches. I am planning to type some up today to share with my friends, so I will send you a request so you can get them too! :)
  • lutzsher
    lutzsher Posts: 1,153 Member
    Four out of 5 days per week I pack a nice big homemade salad for lunch (2 to 3 cups so is filling). I switch out some of the veggies and the dressings each day, plus use different proteins to 'shake it up". I make chicken breasts with different spices throughout the week to slice thinly for my salad, or my husbands sandwiches, for a couple of the days, shrimp one day, hard boiled eggs another. On Fridays I will typically have a big sandwich with the sliced chicken breast, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, and maybe a bit of dijon on multigrain weight watchers bread, so only 100 calories for both slices.
    Snacks are typically grapes, strawberries, almonds, or 3 crackers with some natural peanut butter.

    I make a weekly meal plan including everything, even snacks, put it into Excel, and print and hang it on the fridge. This makes throwing luches together and remembering to take out the meat for dinner a snap. Plus I build my grocery list from this meal plan so we now waste nothing and are always prepared.
  • missbrandyp
    missbrandyp Posts: 34 Member
    I really need to work on this as well.
  • ArtTeacha
    ArtTeacha Posts: 10
    Wraps are always good, the nice thing about them is if you make them the night before they hold together (set) even better. If u use dressing, put it in the middle so it doesn't make the tortilla all soggy :) Also, I usually just portion out some of the night before's dinner, which helps you eat less of it, killn 2 birds.
  • bettertracie
    bettertracie Posts: 196 Member
    I work in a shopping mall, and there is literally 1 place there I can feel comfortable eating at, and it's VERY EXPENSIVE... So I challenged myself and my staff to see how long we could go without hitting the food court, and actually considering I have a lot of college age kids working for me, they did really well, but here's what I have een doing..

    I keep a bag of necesary munchies: raw almonds, fiber plus bars, quaker delights blueberry crisps (the omg, just grab something, before I snag somebody's french fry, bag) I also keep some water bottle water enhancers (the walmart ones are actually my fav) so if I'm having a hard time with water it often helps. Then I try to pack with me daily two pieces of fruit and one to two protein sources (recently I've discovered ground turkey with a can of manwich in a tupperware so I can eat on it throughout the week) and a few cheese sticks usually...

    It sounds like a lot, but I've found that if I can eat every 3 to 4 hours (fruit for mid morning snack, high protein lunch, fruit afternoon snack) my body seems to burn more consistently and feel more regulated as far as all that goes... hope this helps!
  • liveyourlifex
    liveyourlifex Posts: 149 Member
    I just came back home from my local barnes and nobles book store. I was lookig through the "bargains" section and found many great recipe books. there were some books that were divided by meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) annd others which were divided by calories (100 calorie snacks, 200 cal, or 300 cal meals). so if there's a book store near you, go and check them out! then go online and search up the same food so you don't have to buy the book, unless it's super good and helpful :)
  • nomex
    nomex Posts: 142 Member
    I keep mini greek yogurt containers (with fruit on the bottom) in the fridge at work. 140 calories and FILLING. I also keep oatmeal packets (not instant) in my filing cabinet.

    Then every day I bring a variety of lunches (wraps, fruit, smoothies, left over supper, salads, raw veggies, hard boiled eggs, sandwiches on "thins", low fat cheese).

    eating throughout the day at my desk helps ward off digging into the timbits in the staff room, and allows me to use my lunch hour to get outside and walk.
  • nomex
    nomex Posts: 142 Member
    oh yeah, cans of tuna (in water) are also a great choice! I take apples and bananas with me almost everywhere!
  • dustyhockeymom
    dustyhockeymom Posts: 537 Member
    I tend to cook an extra portion of dinner and take left overs for lunch. I also make large pots of soup, navy bean, turkey barley and split pea are my favorite and then freeze it in portion size containers. I know the night before if I am going to have leftovers for lunch, so if I don't I take out a soup bowl and defrost it in the fridge for lunch the next day. If neither of those are options or I want something different I usually make a sandwich. I use the 100 calorie whole grain sandwich thins or a flatout wrap. I like sliced roasted chicken or tuna. I make my tuna using water canned tuna, then a tbs of light mayo and a tbs of dijon mustard. I use laughing cow cheese and it make a great sandwich for only a few hundred calories. Then I add carrot sticks and a piece of fruit and I am satified all day. I used to eat out everyday for lunch. Now I find if I don't take my lunch eating out is such a hastle and so expensive that I don't eat during the day. That isn't good. I have completely switched from making my lunch being the hastle to going out to eat being the hastle. That's a good change.:wink:
  • lyisrael
    lyisrael Posts: 16 Member
    Great post !!! I generally make me about 5-6 salads for the week with grilled chicken (made different weekly). I try to take me about 2 or 3 pieces of fruit.; if I don't eat dinner from the previous night, I will take that to lunch.
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