Looking for ways to cut down on spending and I realize I buy lunch almost everyday so I'm looking to start bringing my lunch and looking for inspiration. What do you bring for lunch? Sometimes I bring leftovers but we usually save our leftovers for dinner on another night because making dinner is a struggle for us. Inspire me!
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I eat lunch like a toddler but it works for me. I often have string cheese, an apple, yogurt, crackers, sometimes humus. I am not a big sandwich person. I am a strange person who can eat the same thing for lunch for most of the week though (or for that matter for a few years).
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I pack both breakfast and lunch, so I don't restrict what I eat at each meal, meaning, I will have a piece of salmon for breakfast if I feel in the mood for it.
I typically pack oatmeal with fruit or a mini bagel with cream cheese or two hardboiled eggs with a slice of high fiber bread or an apple with almond butter for breakfast. I have been on a tofu smoothie kick lately though.
For lunch, I bring a sandwich. I like to use sandwich thins or pita as opposed to sandwich bread or rolls. I also bring a container of vegetables, like cucumber, bell pepper and grape tomatoes with a side of Greek yogurt ranch dip. Then I bring fruit, usually grapes.
I can not do a big batch of something and then eat it for the week. By the third day, I don't even want to eat it.
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I eat at home but my go to lunch lately is plain Greek yogurt with granola and sometimes a little fruit. I find it really filling. I also make a big batch of chicken salad and eat it over baby spinach. I can eat the same thing for months before I get sick of it.
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I've been getting chicken salad at the deli counter or prepackaged (willow tree) and it's so easy and pretty good. Can you get a tub of that and leave it in your fridge at work and just bring bread / fruit / whatever you like for a side?
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I've been making mason jar salads. I make a bunch at the beginning of the week, then I just grab one out and throw it in my lunch bag. I toss in a bag of pretzel chips and a yogurt. Lunch is done. I usually make 2 different kinds of salads, too, so I get a little variety. For example, this week I have 2 jars with beets, tomatoes, black olives, sunflower seeds, shredded cheddar, and lettuce, and 2 jars with pears, candied pecans, gorgonzola, and lettuce. Then I just get dressing from the salad bar in the cafeteria. Takes me 30 seconds to pack. I love it!
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For breakfast usual items in rotation include: Greek yogurt, Kind bars, hard boiled eggs. I also will often skip breakfast (bad, I know) and eat random snacks like nuts and a string cheese around 10:30 or 11 and then a later lunch.
Lunch: it’s important for me to get good protein at lunch. I also try to watch my carbs, especially carbs like pasta or plain sandwich bread so I avoid those generally. The one lunch I can eat the hell out of is taco salad (no cheese, no sour cream). I just make mine with lettuce, tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, black olives, avocado, black beans and some protein (I like carnitas best which I made in the crockpot on Sunday and then meal prep but steak and chicken work well too). Topped with squeeze of lime and a little olive oil. I also usually top it with a handful of crushed chips on top; we’re talking like 6-7 chips so not carb heavy. Bring the black beans/protein in a separate Tupperware and heat it up; mix everything together.
I also like quinoa salads topped with protein. Those can be eaten alone or over a bed of spinach or other greens to bulk it up a little. My favorites are southwestern quinoa salad topped with BBQ chicken, Greek quinoa salad topped with lemon baked chicken and a sort of Asian cashew quinoa salad topped with grilled chicken.
Chicken salad over spinach is good, too or a Greek spinach salad topped with flaked tuna, a little feta, lots of veggies.
Deli meat and cheese rollups, some veggies with a bit of dip and some fruit.
Soup – I do a lot of soups, especially in the fall and winter. Lots of chili (traditional with ground turkey, beans and tons of veggies topped with fresh avocado, poblano and chicken “white” chili, etc.), chicken tortilla soup topped with avocado, cilantro and sour cream, lentil soups, chicken veggie soup with some meat/cheese rollups on the side, etc.
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I make homemade freezer burritos (just beans and cheese) and I always find them filling and satisfying with a little taco sauce for spice. It could half thaw at work and then microwave to heat.
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I almost always bring leftovers, but prepping mason jar salads or soup for the week also works for me. Or doing the ingredients for a wrap on the weekend, like baked tofu or chick*n strips (I don't eat meat, but salmon or actual chicken or beef would work well), lettuce, shredded carrots or olives, avocado, sprouts, and a dressing, then assembling the wraps morning of. You could do this with burrito ingredients too.
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I mostly plan out our meals for the week with items I know I will be able to reheat as leftovers. I also prep and pack sides each night; cut up fruit or small salads.
Leftovers usually cover most of my lunches, and on days they don't I do something simple. Like @catgirl, I love plain Greek yogurt with fruit and granola too. Delicious!
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I wish I was good with the same thing every day but I'm so not. I often do leftovers, sometimes a sandwich, a pre-made freezer entree, batch of chicken salad... I wish I had a better system.
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@snarkybiochemist: I have the same kind of lunches. You are right, it is eating like a toddler. I never thought of that haha.
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@Ms. RV: it makes me happy and is both easy to shop for and easy to pack. It is also great for portion control.
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I don't have access to a microwave or anything, so I've had to get creative making lunches that don't need to be heated!
I'm similar to @snarkybiochemist: and eat a snack like lunchlike a toddler
Almost every week DH and I make a batch of healthier muffins (oat muffins, with applesauce, etc). So lunch is a muffin, string cheese, carrots and baby peppers, sometimes a protein smoothie or small bowl of yogurt.If I don't do muffins, I make sandwiches. This week and last we bought the $5 rotisserie chickens from Costco. Then we make a basic chicken salad, put it on bread. Then I pack veggies on the side as usual.
It's really uncomplicated for us and pretty quick. DH does have a microwave at work, so he will sometimes take leftovers.
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Lately, I've been cooking a protein and roasting a bunch of veggies on Sunday to pack for the week. I usually make some sort of sauce to go on top to change up the flavor as well as add some fat as I find I"m more satiated if I add fat.
This weekend, I batch cooked 4.5 dozen meatballs and will eat 4 of them on top a bunch of roasted broccoli, cauliflower and fennel. I have been really into this tahini and cilantro dressing so I bring some of that to mix in.
Otherwise, I've had luck batch cooking soups and freezing them in portions. I have a lunch crockpot that I can use at my desk so I don't have to worry about thawing it beforehand.
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