Lunch ideas needed

Do you like egg or chicken salad? I steam (hard cook in the shell) 8-12 eggs each week. I peel them and keep them in a covered bowl in the refrigerator. For a quick lunch, I'll chop some onion and celery, the egg and a spoon of mayo into a bowl. I'll either eat this on bread, romaine lettuce leaf, or by the spoon. When I do it by the spoon I usually end up throwing a few cherry tomatoes in. As for chicken salad, any leftover chicken (thighs or breast, or picked from a whole roasted chicken) I'll chop, add onions, celery and some sort of dried fruit, I like cranberries but last time I used figs and it turned out really well. I mix a bit of mayo and yellow mustard into that. I'll usually eat it in one of the same ways as the egg salad. Best of all- it can be prepped the night before and just grab and go.

The great thing about these two ooptions?
egg- it takes 12 minutes to steam the eggs to perfection. Peeling them ahead of time (takes maybe 5minutes) and storing them, makes them a quick grab for lunch or snack for the whole week.
chicken-i'm using leftovers from a previous dinner. So it's already cooked, just needs some chopping and mixing.
both- you can add any kind of different ingredients that you think you might like. Carrot, hand full of spinach, red pepper, mashed avocado instead of mayo, and you could use it as a dip for a serving of chips or crackers.

Taco Bell Cantina Power Burrito - Steak for $3.99 if you're short on time and money.

Calories - 470
Protein - 28g
Fat - 22g
Carbs - 41g

or

Taco Bell Fresco Soft Taco - Steak for $1.99

Calories - 150
Protein - 12g
Fat - 4.5g
Carbs - 16g

Why are you short on time though?

I have made chicken salad, tuna salad, and egg salad that lasts for several days. I can eat it with cucumber slices, crackers, a slice of bread, or just by itself. I have made a chopped salad with various veggies that will also last several days. Just add some cheese and protein (egg or meat) and whatever salad dressing you like. Cut up fruit and/or veggies with some cheese will also do in a pinch. I find if I make stuff on the weekend that I can just scoop and go during the week really helps. I will also take left overs if they fit within my daily allowance.

I sometimes make tuna salad with unions, relish and a little low calorie mayo and eat on celery slices. Its good. If you want an extra kick in your tuna add a small sprinkle of dry mustard. It is delicious!

I do all the cooking and prepping ahead of time. I measure my food then place into meal size servings and stack the containers in the fridg. That way I can pull a container out for lunch and know exactly where I am with the calories, fats and carbs. My favorite is chicken salad because it can be made so many different ways. I fix chicken 2-3 times a week for dinner and just make sure I have extra.

We make something in the crockpot most Sundays or we make a dinner big enough for leftovers. My favorite is taking pork sirloin, some roasted peppers and enchilada sauce and cooking it for 8-10 hours. We portion and freeze it, then have it with tortillas or on top of salad. We also almost always have leftovers in the freezer because we portion and freeze anything left from the week after leftover night so it doesn't go to waste.

njfitnessmom wrote: »

I like to throw a bunch of boneless, skinless chicken breast in the crockpot to make shredded chicken for the week. There's so much you can do with that. You can make chicken salad, buffalo chicken salad, chicken and salsa on a tortilla, etc. And if I find that I'm going to have some left after a week, I'll freeze it. I also like to make a bunch of hard boiled eggs for the week. Planning and preparing for the week is a great way to go. I try to cut all my fruit and veggies up on Sundays.

I do this every week. I put 5 in and shred the chicken and season it a tad. Mix it all together and it is delicious! I portion out (5) 3oz baggies for my lunches for the week...I have a simple salad most days, spinach/romaine with cucumbers, tomatoes, a sprinkle of feta cheese and half an avocado (cubed up). I used about a tsp. of olive oil and a tsp. of balsamic vinegar and just a little seasoning. I add the chicken on top and it totally perfects the salad!

I have enough chicken to put some in my boyfriend's lunch as well and also some throughout the week for anything like chicken salad or if I want a quick dinner.