Whatchya Packin?

I personally LOVE peanut butter sandwiches on some super grainy bread. I bring those to class a lot when I have long days. The bread and peanut butter give lots of fiber, which keeps you full for quite some time after eating. I also like packing fiber one bars as snacks - sweet but not super high in calories and fiber to keep you full .

hi - my hubby is a college professor and teaches those hours.......I just sent him off with a thermos full of veggie soup. He loves it, appreciates the hot food.

There are a lot of lo cal items that can be packed, either hot or cold.

Pasta salad is a great thing to throw in the mix. You can change the ingredients and get something tasty. Tuna is also one of my favorites; it can go into a sandwich or a salad, or with pasta!

Lettuce wraps are great, too if you like to get something with a crunch. It's difficult not having a way to heat up the food, but try to be creative about it when you go shopping and look at different foods.

Also, don't be afraid of some "assembly." A lot of times "building" your food before you eat makes it a lot more appetizing!

I will sometimes make chicken salad (with lite mayo or plain Greek yogurt) on Sunday night, and pack that for a few days for lunch. I also make wraps with hummus, lettuce, carrots, red peppers, cucumbers, feta cheese and a squirt of lemon juice. So good! I almost always pack yogurt, cheese sticks, wheat thins with a Laughing Cow cheese spread and some fruit.

A thermos is a container that keeps things hot!

One of my favorite wraps -light flatout bread, fat free strawberry cream cheese, turkey/ham/chicken, lettuce and bacon if you want a few more calories. Sounds odd, but it's truly DELICOUS! W/o bacon its less than 200 calories

Sandwich - Aunt millies 35 calorie bread 3 pieces toasted with spinach, tomato and turkey/chicken/ham, also under 200 calories

Salad- Spinach, romaine, dried cranberries, apple slices, raspberry merlot dressing, a little bit of fat free crumbled bleu cheese with grilled chicken on top, delicious! Also, under 200 calories

some of my favorite things to pack when a microwave isn't around:

-This might be weird, but it's my version of an easy To-Go Greek "salad": I cut up a some cucumbers into small pieces, halve some cherry tomatoes, and chop up some olives and red onion (sometimes I add any other veggies I have sitting around). I add just a little but of crumbled feta, and squirt on some light Italian or greek dressing. I sometimes make a big batch and divide it into Tupperware containers in advance to just grab and go in the morning (if you're going to do that, don't squirt on the dressing until the day of). I like this because, without the lettuce, it keeps for a lot longer, and changes up the boring salad routine

-sandwiches with those great "thin-which" things mean you can add some delicious toppings (like cheese!) and still have a lower-cal sandwich because the thin slices eliminate all the extra calories and carbs

-cut up and apple and dip it in almond butter

-I love the single-serve cottage cheese that I find at my grocery store

-make your own trail mix. I usually use multigrain cheerios, almonds, and dried fruit of some sort, (watch out because this can get high-calorie if your portion is large).

I will not use a microwave for any reason, so I'm pretty experienced at packing lunch!

I eat a lot of fruit, and salads, and the occasional TLT sandwich (tempeh, lettuce, tomato).

I also have a wide-mouth thermos, which I fill with things like:

cooked oatmeal and dried fruit
cooked quinoa and toppings
homemade veggie soup
hot baked squash
spaghetti
rice and beans
hot fajita veggies to go with a tortilla packed separately...

I have a hot water faucet available at work, so I also, occasionally, use packets of instant oatmeal. Yeah, you can also use just regular oatmeal and dried fruit, and just let it sit a few minutes, but I haven't gotten that organized yet!

Boiled eggs, fruit, baby carrots

Great ideas! Bumping for later.