Super Simple, Super Quick lunch ideas?

In addition to the list you've already mentioned, I'd suggest some nuts and/or peanut butter or maybe some granola. Also, you can buy a bag of salad and add your own toppings. In my opinion, the best thing to do is prepare in advance because the non-prepared foods can quickly become processed if you're not careful. For example, you can bake some boneless, skinless chicken breasts on Sunday and throughout the week, use the chicken in your salad, on a sandwich, etc.

Takes like, 30 seconds to make a PB&J.

Canned beans - You can rinse them and smash them a little and throw on a tortilla with a little cheese. If you have a microwave or toaster a work you can even heat it a bit. I usually have some left over quinoa or ancient grains in the fridge. I toss that with beans and some veggies for a more filling fiber rich lunch.

A basic sandwich or wrap is not unhealthy and is fast. You could use whole grain bread, pita bread, a tortilla or lettuce. You can use almost anything for a filling in different combinations. Hummus, meat, cheese, egg, vegetables, sliced fruit, or nut butters.
Dry cereal, whole grain crackers, nuts, dried fruit, peanut butter and celery or apple.
Canned beans added to salad.
Hummus and veggies or pita chips.

Keep some sliced ham and cheese from the deli in the fridge. Grab some of that and a bag of lettuce leaves and have lettuce wraps.

burrito wrap (90 cal's), ole farmers ham (30 cal/oz), mozzarella cheese (about 100 cal's worth should be fine). Zap it in the microwave for a few seconds to melt the cheese - or not. Roll it up. Pound it down.

Add condiments to suit.

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My current favorite is: low carb whole wheat tortilla, frozen costco salmon burgers, goat cheese, salsa. I can keep all the making for it at work, just heat up the salmon patty in teh microwave, chop it up and make some yummy fish tacos!

For lunch I practically eat PB&J every day. Though I tend to stick more to crispbread/cracker type things instead of bread. Sometimes I sub out the jelly for slices of fresh banana. Fruit is a good one.

I do make large batches of soup and chilli and dish it into individual containers as soon as it's finished cooking. That way I'm not tempted to eat it, and I can stick them in the freezer for days when I want to just blast something in the microwave.

If you have time on the weekend, I would recommend prepping some things you like. I'm going through a big phase of making batches of homemade turkey sausage and eating those at weekends with scrambled eggs. You could boil up eggs and slice them, then stick them in a tortilla.

Hummus is another good option. Super easy to make, so you can make large quantities then eat throughout the week. I find hummus to be ridiculously filling, so I'm never tempted to eat a lot of it at one time. Hence why it lasts pretty well in my household

mbailey423 wrote: »

margelizard wrote: »

For lunch I practically eat PB&J every day.

Gotta love the good ole' PB&J

Had one of my co-workers bust my chops a few weeks ago because I was eating a PB&J. (Think of the biggest burliest police officer you have ever seen and add 6" and 50lbs of additional muscle...guy is a monster)

I took it in stride....half tempted to have my partner (k9 dog) bite him square in the *kitten*.....but being a well adjusted person (sigh) I decided against that course of action and instead brought in an extra PB&J for him the next day....after some hemming and hawing he grudgingly ate it......needless to say he loved it, and now usually every couple of days his lunch consists of 3 PB&J sandwiches

Never to old for good ole' Peanut butter and jelly. <2 thumbs up>

I really do not get the whole peanut butter and jelly thing, sounds gross to me, maybe it's an American thing. I don't know a single Aussie who eats it

These are all great ideas! I've started just taking a few hours on one of my days off, to prepare frozen lunches. I buy, cube and pan fry/simmer chicken breast (I use about 10 lbs and have 2 large frying pans going), I cook a big pot of instant brown rice, and buy a bunch of bags of my frozen veggie of choice. I spread out all of my plastic containers (I prefer the sandwich size), and dole out the chicken portion (2 oz for me, I weigh as I dole), then scoop in each a half cup of the cooked brown rice, then squish in as many frozen veggies as I can fit in, pop on the lids and stack in the freezer. This makes me roughly 21 frozen lunches in a few hours for less than $2 per meal.

My last batch was cubed chicken breast, marinated in lime and garlic, browned then simmered in the pan, brown rice, green beans, with 1/4 picante sauce on top.

The ones I'll be working on tomorrow will be chicken breast, pan cooked with herb mixes for chicken of the holiday variety, sage, rosemary, thyme etc, brown rice, frozen cubes of butternut squash, or yams, or just squash, whatever seems easiest at the grocery store tomorrow, topped with some jarred turkey gravy. It appears 1/4 cup of Heinz has a reasonable amount of calories.

Anyway, like you I have little time and DON'T want to think about it, so this method gives me a healthy, inexpensive, microwavable lunch for 21 days. I snack with fruit, tiny greek yogurt cups and tiny cottage cheese cups.

wheat thins and smoked trout...this stuff is amazing and satisfying!
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/appel-smoked-trout.do