Lunch at Work/School

inskydiamonds
inskydiamonds Posts: 2,519 Member
edited September 27 in Recipes
For those of you that aren't home during the lunch hour, what do you typically bring to work or school for lunch? I've just started a summer internship, after having a school year of being home at lunch time. I did great about bringing food this last week, but I want lots of great ideas for things I can bring for the rest of the summer!

For some ideas for other people, last week I brought:

TUESDAY - kimchi fried rice lunch (http://lunchinabox.net/2008/03/05/kimchi-fried-rice-lunch-recipe/), one clementine, a handful of blueberries
WEDNESDAY - Shrimp Caesar Salad Wrap, chips, clementine
THURSDAY - Chicken and Cheese Pasta Salad (http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/16010/ham+cheese+pasta+salad), popcorn, watermelon
FRIDAY - Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap, Popcorn, 2 clementines

Replies

  • stephaniezoundi
    stephaniezoundi Posts: 1,148 Member
    I struggle with this, I'm a school teacher and get bored of taking lunch all the time so I'l be checking back to see others ideas. My favourites are:
    Rye Crackers with humous and cucumber or
    making a big salad or
    I roast a chicken on sunday and use it for wraps and salds throughout the week!
    Good luck!
  • skinnyjeanzbound
    skinnyjeanzbound Posts: 3,932 Member
    I bring a quinoa salad cooked with spinach--I add some light olive oil, chickpeas, and goaty cheese after cooking. It's great hot or cold =)

    I'm also a fan of hummus and crackers or a rice cake.
  • Majikm23
    Majikm23 Posts: 4
    I bring a tuna(in water) sandwich on whole grain bread, eat it with an apple on the side and a bottle of water :)
  • Rach911
    Rach911 Posts: 72 Member
    Do you have a crock pot? If so, I stumbled upon this by mistake and love it for quick lunches. I put some chicken breast or tenderloins in the bottom of the crock pot, no exact number, just enough to cover the bottom. The season it with whatever you want. I use garlic, red pepper flakes and onion. Then I pour a container (the box size not can size) of low sodium chicken broth on top. Slow cook it over night or while out running errands (I usually go with the 8 or 10 hours). The chicken is so tender at this point you dont even need a knife. Then I divide it out into individual 4-5 oz servings and mix it with a serving of brown rice. Using the leftover juices from the crock pot I add that to the chicken and rice. Add a nice veggie for a side and you have a low calorie, high protein, filling & yummy meal!!

    Other times I use Weight WAtchers Smart Ones frozen dinners or a can of soup & veggie.

    Hope these ideas help!
  • mrsway
    mrsway Posts: 88 Member
    I eat a chicken wrap made from canned chicken that I add a small amount of wing sauce to it. I wrap it up with a low carb high fiber tortilla (only 71 calories!) and I will put some ranch dressing on it (I have started using the lighthouse yogurt ranch dressing which is about half the calories of regular ranch and tastes awesome) and sometimes I will add a little cheese or spinach or even the other day I put half an avocado on it and it was delish! I will also have an apple with this and sometimes a pickle spear or one of those 100 calorie snack pouches. I love this because it has a ton of flavor in it without going crazy on the calories at all, plus it is super simple to make and I can make up a couple at a time, put them in the fridge and then grab and go.
  • lyndsaysutton82
    lyndsaysutton82 Posts: 30
    I bring a few basic things so I can make what ever suits my fancy, but not get bored. Since I have a full size fridge at work I can bring a weeks worth. I bring veggie burgers, salmon in a pouch (I use light miracle whip and mustard to make a salad for sandwiches), natural peanut butter, and I always have sandwich thins on hand. I find that if I have the healthy options, I don't go for the junk, and still have enough options that I don't eat the same things everyday. Salads are good, but dressing is loaded with sodium, so I try to watch out which dressing I choose.

    Also, to make sure I don't starve later, I keep fiber one bars, apples, and 100 calorie snack packs on hand.
  • Jujubie
    Jujubie Posts: 130 Member
    I freeze all leftovers in one cup plastic containers. I indicate the month and year on a sticker. Everyday, my husband and I each take one to work and zap it in the microwave. I usually add a yogurt and a fruit or vegetable.

    My family loves this because:
    1) we eat real food, not cafeteria or restaurant food for lunch
    2) we don't spend any money on lunches
    3) we cook a fresh meal every day as all leftovers are frozen
    4) we get lots of variety as we pick and choose from several months meals
    5) we sometimes rediscover a meal we'd forgotten about
  • workinprogress12_2
    workinprogress12_2 Posts: 110 Member
    my goal when fixing dinner is to make enough leftovers for my self and my husband. I put those away first so I don't eat them as seconds! And it helps my husband have a great lunch, that will help him meet his weight loss goals too.
  • workinprogress12_2
    workinprogress12_2 Posts: 110 Member
    bump
  • lejess
    lejess Posts: 63
    my goal when fixing dinner is to make enough leftovers for my self and my husband. I put those away first so I don't eat them as seconds! And it helps my husband have a great lunch, that will help him meet his weight loss goals too.
    Thats exactly what I do! I was really overwhelmed trying to plan (and shop!) for breakfast, lunches, and dinners. So now I have my standard "on the go breakfasts" (such as hardboiled eggs or cottage cheese) and my lunch is always last night's leftovers. It makes life really easy. Also, Im not a morning person, so getting up and grabbing my lunch already prepared is perfect.

    BTW, the other person who posted about freezing leftovers....thats also a great idea. I might have to make slightly bigger meals so that I have more left over to freeze!
  • swimtaxi
    swimtaxi Posts: 20
    Leftovers are always good but I definitely try and make sure they are measured out so I can record the calories correctly. However, most of the time I take a salad with lots of veggies cut up in it (and maybe some chicken strips)...it fills the whole paper plate and makes me think I'm eating soooo much when in reality it is very low in calories. That leaves me more for the evening when I have dinner with my kids. I find it harder to keep dinner calories down to a couple hundred:)
  • snowdays
    snowdays Posts: 23 Member
    one of my favorites is: salad greens, tomato, cucumber, radish, 1 boiled egg chopped, 1 can tuna (water packed) with "Seeds of change" greek feta salad dressing. This is really filling and delicious!

    I also love salad greens with fresh veggies topped with left over strips of steak with "Bolthouse" ranch dressing. It is delicious, you can also substitute the steak with left over grilled chicken or shrimp.

    Sometimes I will make a batch of homemade taco soup and my husbnd and I can take it for several days. I use ground chicken to make it lower calorie.
  • shells62682
    shells62682 Posts: 16 Member
    my current kick is

    3 oz hummus
    1 oz pita
    half cucumber
    6 strawberries
    10 cherries

    It's super healthy, and a great lunch. It's super hot where I am (already summer) and this is cool and refreshing. I am planning on adding 10 olives and some fat free plain yogurt.
  • inskydiamonds
    inskydiamonds Posts: 2,519 Member
    Can we get more ideas?
    What's for lunch today?

    I made gazpacho last night for lunch today and I'm going to have that with a half piece of a roll. My meal today is totally about 319 calories.
  • MalyMal
    MalyMal Posts: 102 Member
    If I don't have a lot in the house for lunch food I usually turn to a whole wheat english muffin with2 egg whites and some low fat chesse; its really yummy!!!
  • thisdesiderata
    thisdesiderata Posts: 8
    bump for later
  • shar140
    shar140 Posts: 1,158 Member
    I take my lunch to work 95% of the time, and like others have mentioned, I usually bring leftovers from previous dinners. I have also made my own frozen dinners when I lived by myself - who can cook for just 1 person?! I'd cook enough for 2 or 3 servings (sometimes more, if it was something like soup or chili) and freeze the rest in containers, so I had pre-made meals. The key I learned here was to label everything I froze, haha. One time I thought it was pork (already cooked, then frozen) - nope, turned out to be turkey cutlets!

    Anyway, for examples...today I have leftover grilled chicken from last night with a little bbq sauce, leftover couscous (I cooked extra last night), and leftover broccoli. Leftover cooked chicken is good to make a variety of things - sandwiches, wraps, burritos, fajitas (I just keep the chicken & peppers in a separate container & re-heat then put in a tortilla), on a salad, etc. When it is cooler weather, I like leftover chili for lunches. If I don't have any leftovers, I'll make tuna or chicken salad from a can of tuna or chicken. I've also made like a tuna melt, mixed the tuna & light mayo in a container with some cheese, then microwave it. I've eaten it right out of the container, or put it on ww bread or triscuits. Or, I'll bring a lean pocket (I try not to eat these too often, as the sodium content is high) and pair it with a salad.
  • BrilliantResilient1
    BrilliantResilient1 Posts: 34 Member
    bump! some really good ideas!
  • Chrissy2627
    Chrissy2627 Posts: 70
    Bump
  • jms11416
    jms11416 Posts: 25 Member
    today's lunch is small greek salad & 1/2 cup of rosemary grilled chicken breast...

    i usually pack my lunch from home but it's a holiday so my company sprang from lunch.... my food diary is public so check it out for some great ideas!!!
  • lydiarrt
    lydiarrt Posts: 7 Member
    today i'm having pita and yogrt with chopped tomatoes and cucumbers.
  • percussionbeat
    percussionbeat Posts: 85 Member
    A colleague's aunt usually cooks lunch for us so we don't have much of a say in what we eat, but I definitely try to portion it out so I don't end up stuffing my face with too much of that yummy chicken with gravy or cheesecake dessert...ahhh, cheesecake. I'm getting hungry :P
  • RillSoji
    RillSoji Posts: 376 Member
    Leftovers much of the time but I try to get creative with it. You can generally see what I have M-F on my blog. Link in my sig.
This discussion has been closed.

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