Brown bagging it

squeak

squeak

New member
There are only so many consecutive days I can eat a sandwich/salad for lunch. I need some ideas for healthful lunches that are easy to prepare and carry in to work. I have access to facilities for re-heating as needed, but things that can go straight from refrigerator to mouth are also welcome.

I'm not chasing a pipe dream, am I?
 
I have brown bagged it for 4 months straight now and rarely eat the same thing, unless it's something I get hooked on. I like both cold dishes and things I need to reheat, some stuff I buy prepared.

Salads, it's amazing how many different ways you can prepare fresh veggies. I usually skip the lettuce and use tomato, cucumber, onions, apples, grapes, broccoli, cabbage, celery, peas, cheese, lump crab, imitation crab, clams, anchovies etc. in various combinations. It's doesn't need to be fancy either, a fave is a sliced tomato topped with 1 oz lump crab, tbsp bleu cheese and sprayed with Wishbone's Ceasar Salad Spritzer. I can prepare it in a few minutes and it tastes great. The sky is the limit with salads. Oh yeah, real bacon bits are 25-30 cal per tbsp and make a tasty addtion to any salad.

Heat and Eat, same thing here, the sky is the limit. Frozen veggies are super easy to nuke and anything can be used to make it more interesting. A fave of mine is Birds Eye Stir Fry veggies, some chopped peanuts and sriracha sauce, quick easy good. I also eat lots of beans, anybody can make a pot of pinto beans interesting with an onion, can of Rotel and some diced pork.

Wraps, move over boring sandwich. What can't you put in a wrap? A fave of mine is imitation crab, onion, bleu cheese, jalapenos, sprouts and mayo. Put enough in a wrap and it's a one item lunch and it's easy since it requires no reheat.

Prepared foods and snacks. I keep it interesting by eating Tasty Bite's Indian and Thai pouch stuff, pour a pouch of curry or spicy potatoes over a bag of Tyson grilled chicken breast strips and your done. Yogurt, Del Monte fruit cups, nuts, jerky, fresh fruit.

Key for me is I mix and match and I shop for everything I need on Sun. It's nothing to grill a top sirloin or pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts on Sun and use it for a few days. If you pair it with a different veggie each day you have it made. Toss some sliced sirloin in with some fresh basil, onion, tomato and top it with chili paste, fish sauce and lime juice and bam you have a Thai salad.

A good place to get ideas is recipe sites like Allrecipes or Recipezaar.
 
Those are some great ideas, thank you reissue! I never would have thought to use imitation crab meat. I don't think I've ever (knowingly) eaten it! I like the make-ahead ideas as far as grilling chicken and steak to cut up and use for cold salads. I do all my grocery shopping on Fridays so... I'm making a list as we speak! I want to avoid eating cold cuts every day, they are so high in sodium.
 
reissue,
thanks for all the suggestions, helps to keep motivated when there are more things to try, i have the same problem with sandwiches and soups/salads every day

Woo Hoo,
this just might work
Brian
 
Those Tina's Bean burritos are pretty damn good. And with 2 for 89 cents you can't beat it. I told my nutritionist I loved them and she gave me a big thumbs up on them.
 
I often pack leftovers from dinner the night before, which is pleasant. Also, try bean salads for variation--more calories there, but also more protein. I especially love marinated chickpeas. Fish is also good--I'll usually cook two fillets when I'm making it so that I have extra for lunch; cold salmon can be the centerpiece of a really lovely meal. You can try throwing a yoghurt in the freezer so that it will serve as a cold-pack in the morning and be thawed in time for lunch.

You could bake some mini bran muffins and take one or two of those as well.

I also tend to include a little cheese in my lunch because it makes it feel like a more civilized meal--so maybe some laughing cow light cheese cubes (though I tend to make my cheese a splurge and go for a very small chunk of something obscenely expensive and satisfying).
 
i go for toasties, nothing like a couple slices of bread with everything from garlic and tomatos to ham and a bit of cheese etc.
Both filling and yum. My favourite addition is sweet chilli sauce with things, though i still have a fondness for garlic.
I dont add any butter or mark, and if i do cheese i only have a small amount - just to glue it together (cheese and sweet chilli sauce!!!! yum!!!) I throw in veges of all sorts, but tomatos the best.
 
Soup!!! Either home made or canned, it takes abt 3 mins to heat up and a portion of soup and a roll/2 slices of bread is rarely more than 400 cals (just watch out for the creamy types!)

I also take leftovers, wraps, sandwiches, bagel and smoked salmon (only 377 cals and sooooooo tasty), marinaded chicken....i could go on! My absolute favourite thing for lunch is probably the easiest - one large banana on 2 slices of brown toast with a teaspoon of peanut butter. Really quick, really tasty and it is honestly really filling :D:D
 
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