Help! I need some quick work lunch ideas

I smoke chicken breasts on Sunday to use for lunch throughout the week. On a salad, in a wrap, with a veggie side, whatever.

- leftovers

but my go to's
- boiled eggs and either cottage cheese or cow cheese, raw veggies, and home made protein bar as dessert.
- tuna + crackers, raw veggies, home made protein bar for dessert
- lower on the protein scale home made butternut squash quinoa soup, either cottage cheese or cow cheese, raw veggies home made protein bar as dessert.

sam20nic wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestions so far! Nope, no dietary restrictions.

I have burnt myself out on turkey, cream cheese & pickle roll-ups! (they don't sound that great, but they are actually delicious!)

Just trying to eat more healthy - less carbs/fat...you know the deal

There is nothing unhealthy about carbs and most fats. It is less healthy to burn yourself out with limited options because it can lead to boredom, binging, and perhaps rage-quitting. Weight loss only requires that you maintain a calorie deficit. Cutting carbs and fats is not necessary. As a rule you should not do anything to lose weight you are not prepared to do for the rest of your life.

Trader Joes has some great pre packaged soups and salads.

I eat a turkey/salami sandwich and cottage cheese with sliced cucumbers literally every day lol. (in the summer I also do tomatoes from my garden). I'm actually going to make chicken salad tonight and have chicken salad sandwiches the rest of the week.

One of my go-to lunches is the Trader Joe's Ancient Grains Lentil Soup. It's got loads of protein and fiber, has two servings per container (so two lunches for about 4 bucks, woo!) and I'll usually pair it with sliced cucumbers drizzled with lime and sea salt. I'll add string cheese or a piece of fruit if I need to.

I also make black bean tacos with corn tortillas and add in TJ's pineapple salsa. It's easy because all you need is a microwave, no prior cooking involved. I can prepare those suckers in less than 6 minutes in the lunch room, or just a minute and a half in the microwave if I've prepped at home. You can add cheese as necessary. My fave is cotija cheese because 1 oz of cotija is actually a TON of cotija, and 1 oz comes in at 7 g protein, 90 calories, and only 6 g of fat. On the flip side, 1 oz of Monterrey Jack comes in at 110 cals, 6.9g protein, and 8.6g of fat. And I usually need more Monterrey Jack to feel satisfied.

When I have no time I take an Amy's Bean, Rice, and Cheese burrito or a Madras Lentil pack. I always bring a salad or carrots and baby bell peppers with hummus. Other lunches are chicken salad, tuna salad, or turkey sandwiches. I often bring leftovers from the night before also. I also bring several snacks since I work a 10 hour shift. Hard boiled eggs, granola bars, protein shake, cheese stick, fruits, etc.

I work full time and generally skip breakfast so lunch is my first meal. I normally take one of the family size packs of chicken breast from the grocery store and slice them thin on Saturdays and dump them all in an enormous Ziploc bag and let them sit with a ton of spices and a little bit of olive oil (just enough to be able to shake it around and get the spices reasonably evenly distributed). Sometimes I do a mix of herbs -basil, thyme, oregano, salt, pepper and a little crushed red pepper. Sometimes its more like a taco seasoning type mix - cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder and onion powder. Sometimes its something else - whatever you want it to be, just to make the chicken not boring. I let it sit until sunday, grill it all and dice it and keep it in a huge glass bowl. I also take 2 bags of regular cole slaw mix (the kind with just shredded veggies, no dressing) and a bag or 2 of broccoli slaw mix or whatever "power blend" mix of shredded veggies the store has. I mix all that up and keep it in a giant Ziploc bag. For the weekday lunches I do a salad with the shredded mix - about 2 cups, 5 oz of the grilled chicken and serving and half (sometimes 2) of Bolthouse Farms yogurt ranch dressing. Its surprisingly good and not nearly as boring as it sounds. I also bring a large sliced apple, a bag of veggies and a cup and a half of smartfood popcorn (the flaming hot white cheddar is bomb), and just sort of eat most of that throughout the day. I like this route because it has minimal prep (basically just the chicken) and I can easily make it every day..,..and also, the cole slaw mix salad is WAY tastier and less bland than lettuce.

sometimes I get bored with that and I do a serving of turkey pepperoni with 1.5 oz of sliced parmesan or super sharp cheddar (it has t be one of those 2 cheese though, or it doesn't seem to be as satisfying) with the same apple and bag of veggies.

And if I happen to make a good, low calorie broth based soup, sometime I'll have that.

it's pretty simple, but allows me to leave work with enough calories to have a portion controlled, but normal meal - like...I made beef stew over the weekend, nothing fancy, no weird ingredients, just no oil, light on the flour (for thickening) and I trimmed the beef roast before I cooked. it doesn't feel like weird *kitten* diet food, because it isn't. And that works best for me.

I have been eating salad in a jar for years. In a Qt mason jar: No cal dressing on the bottom, 1/4 cup hearty vegetables that can handle being in dressing, 2-3 oz protein, fill the rest with whatever type salad you like (about 2 cups). I can make the whole week's on the weekend & grab & go. Sometimes throw in beans if it hits the theme of the salad.