Work Lunch Ideas

cottage cheese and fruit is what I normally take for lunch @ work.

A favorite of mine... tuna with bell peppers. I add all kinds of fun stuff to include egg, pickles, olive, zucchini, celery, granny smith apple, kind of whatever I have in the fridge. It is all raw so a little healthier. I add pepper and lemon with a little dijon. Instead of putting this on bread I use red bell peppers like a cracker. Very low carb and healthy!!!
Hope this helps!

I've heard a lot of people say they make meals in the crockpot then divide and freeze them for lunches throughout the week like chili or soup/stew.

My favorite recently is brown rice and lentil soup. I have a kitchen at work so I can easily make it fresh (I'm not big on left overs) but you can easily make brown rice and pour some lentil soup on top, package it and stick it in the microwave at work. Since it's winter I'm big on soup in general. Costco has a large variety of soups. My favorite is their tortilla soups.. one entire container is bout 2 cups and it's 160 cals each so you could easily eat the whole thing.. maybe add a piece of bread if you need something to dip.

While I can not vouch for the calorie counts, my friend who is very committed to healthy, well rounded eating, writes a blog about her daughter's daily school lunches. Now, Molly will eat just about anything, so there is a big variety of ideas....it's not just "kids foods". I wish my friend was making my lunch, to say the very least! It's worth checking out:

http://mollyslunchbox.blogspot.com/

Good luck! :-)

I love her blog

Hi,
I make lots of soup in the winter and bring it to work in canning jars. I have to transfer the soup to a mug to heat. Makes a great lunch. I also try to cook something extra on the weekends like home made veggie burgers or anything and freeze it for lunches. I have to eat strictly gluten free so I have to bring lunch every day. Veggie burgers with some salsa are great!

I've heard a lot of people say they make meals in the crockpot then divide and freeze them for lunches throughout the week like chili or soup/stew.

This is the story of my life for the last couple months.

I'm really lazy about packing lunch so I only bring things that I can grab on the way out the door. Also, I get bored, so I switch things around every so often. And I quite like hot lunches.

Probably you won't have most of our NZ products, but I take things like:

* Bread and an egg (grill the egg on the grill at work, add tomato chutney) Maybe add a grilled or raw tomato too.

* Fish n carb meals (i.e. Tuna w Mexican rice). I generally don't like tinned fish, but I've found a product that doesn't stink or taste too 'fishy'.

* Healthy frozen meals i.e. Chicken Teriaki w veges n rice.

* Frozen Wonton soup.

* I grill sandwiches with lean protein, a tiny bit of tasty cheese, tomato chutney and fresh tomato. Sometimes bringing snow peas and sprouts. (I bring the bits and assemble at work).

* Dinner leftovers are great but we rarely have them and tend to keep them for dinner the next night if we've got enough.

* Fairly high cal but can do bagel, salmon n lite cream cheese.

You could also do things like vary the bread for your sandwiches i.e. bagel, pita and vary fillings.

I recommend Earthbound Farm PowerMeals… I love the Tomatillo Black Bean Protein Energy. They are less than 350 calories and also come in Cranberry Wheat Protein Boost and Blueberry Quinoa Protein Balance.
Also, when my husband turns on the grill, I throw in chicken breasts or fish, and then freeze them. At work I use Pita breads to stuff the chicken, fish, tuna, or a Veggie Burger.

**to stuff it with chicken breasts or fish... etc
Sorry typo

I find if I buy salad greens they end up spoiling so I've taken to bringing in my own hard boiled eggs, or chicken, anything heavy from home - then getting nice fresh greens at wholefoods salad bar. So much cheaper since they charge by weight!

THAT is an EXCELLENT idea! Thank you

Why not go over to where they have the packaged cut up salad greens, and have a bottle of your favorite salad dressing at work? It might be a bit cheaper?

I like to make a big crock-pot of black beans, nice and spicy, and a big pot of rice on the weekend. Throw ~3/4 cup of each together in a tupperware, add some salsa or a veggie on the side. Perfect lunch all week for <400 cals!

A big pot of chili (mine is vegetarian, ~3g of fat and ~15g of protein, somewhere around 250 cals for ~1.5 cups) also provides a week's worth of satisfying lunches!!