Lunch ideas

How many calories are you aiming for?

My lunches tend to be around 500 calories. Usually two mini wraps stuffed with whatever veggies I have with quorn or cheese (sometimes both). I typically have 2 or 3 servings of fruit with this and occasionally 25 grams of crisps. This keeps me pretty satisfied until dinner (anytime between 7-8)

I like to make a batch of carbs on sunday that I can store and then combine easily with a variety of meat or veggie options. I will make black beans, or lentil stew or a batch quinoa or brown/wild rice mix. I can warm those up at work and eat along side some smoked salmon or rotisserie chicken that's precooked.

Tuna wrap, hardboiled eggs, definitely dinner leftovers, ham or turkey and a slice of cheese wrapped around a pickle (my personal favorite, because I love pickles, just have to watch the salt), lots of fruits and veggies (I've started dipping raw veggies in salsa or a little bit of homemade guacamole instead of ranch like I used to - I just can't eat raw veggies without a dip), rice and beans.

Today I brought tuna fish and had it with some crackers, grape tomatoes and cucumber. Leftover roasted veggies or baked potato are good options too and I’ve found the roasted veggies are even good cold(no microwave here) have that with some cottage cheese or yogurt.

I make a crab and shrimp salad sometimes. Crabmeat, cooked shrimp, cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber and bell pepper. Toss it with a zesty italian dressing. A HUGE bowl is right at 300 calories, but lots of protein and low fat. I have a few Triscuits with it too.

LEFTOVERS, as others have said, they are the best and easiest way to get a solid meal without any work on my part. I also love making a big crock pot of soup and eating it all week at work. SO many amazing soup recipes out there. You can even have some bread and cheese with it if you find the right stuff to fit into your calories.

I really like soup for lunches because it actually improves in the fridge. Making a big batch on whatever day I'm not working will often carry me through 3 or 4 days of meals or more (I freeze it if it's going to be more than 4 days worth.)

In the winter I ate a lot of:

Split Pea Soup
Curried Pumpkin Apple Soup (you don't need the whipping cream or can substitute a bit of canned coconut milk and personally i use olive oil instead of butter)
Easy Lentil Stew

Now I'm thinking a bit lighter, so I'm fixing things like:

Tomato, White Bean and Kale Soup
Roasted Tomato Soup (I cut the olive oil down to a couple of tablespoons and omit the cream)
Asparagus and Pea Soup (use the lemon!)

HoneyBadger155 wrote: »

I bought some "bento" style food containers, which I'm finding are great for "meal prep" (which I'm trying to incorporate into my life). Salads are fine, but add some variety! Different bases, different toppings - look at what some restaurants have for salads (we have one locally, Ladle and Leaf that has lots of great salads) and use them for inspiration for adding some variety to your choices.

This actually sounds interesting to me. I'll check this out, I like the idea of it. I currently just use the cheap glad takeaways. They're cheap do what I want /stack nice. I take 4 takeaways per day. 1 salad, 1 microwavable dish usually beans/lentils, 1 raw veggie pack and 1 yogurt /fruit mix.
I've been wanting to upgrade to something a little more durable and flexible.

I like grain bowls - prep the grains ahead, prep a couple of proteins such as roast chicken and tenderloin, then assemble grains plus a protein, veg, legumes, and spices/toppings/sauce of choice. Can easily be made Thai, Japanese, Mexican, Mediterranean, or Indian with slightly different choices. So a Mexican bowl might be turmeric rice, black beans, chicken, vegetables, and lime juice, salsa, low cal sour cream, plus avocado. Japanese would use edamame and ponzu sauce.