Any ideas for bringing your lunch to work?

So since I started I have been bringing lunch to work almost every day, usually it is a turkey sandwich with lowfat cheese, Boring! I try to bring leftovers from dinner when we have them but that is not very often. Anyone have any ideas to spice up my lunch? I don't want to have to take a sandwich every day

I take lean cuisines and smart ones to work a lot because they're quick and easy (I like chicken enchiladas suiza and red beans and rice the best). You could also try making enough dinner to where you have leftovers to take to work the next day. I'm going to try to do that with the stir fry I make tonight

Whole wheat pita with hummus and some sliced red bell pepper is a favorite.  I usually bring a salad too.  Some plain nonfat yogurt with sliced up fresh fruit in.  

I also most weeks make a point of creating a big batch of something either Sunday night or Monday night - soup or chili or something - and often during the week will double up a recipe specifically so that the leftovers can be used for lunches.

I usually like to bring a big salad with some chicken.  I'll make 2-3 days worth at a time, so in the morning I just have to grab it and go.

I also like to make a pot of soup over the weekend.  Then I'll portion it out, and grab one of those.  There's SO many good low cal soup recipes out there.  You can definitely mix in a lot of variety this way.

When I'm super lazy (like today), and I haven't planned my lunch in advance, I'll take a pita, and some turkey or chicken, and have that.  I've learned not to make it in advance though, cause the pita gets soggy.

I usually bring a La Tortilla factory wrap that is 100 calories and 12g fiber with 2 oz of sliced turkey with either mustard or Laughing Cow light swiss spread on it, filled with spinach,tomatos and pickle slices.  I either bring celery and carrot sticks or baked chips.

I also sometimes bring a large salad with a Harvest Selects light soup, side of fruit or sugar free jello or pudding.

I just bought Amy's spinach lasagana and stuffed shells, about 300 calories each.  Have not tried them yet.

Sometimes I make couscous and divide it into 3 containers and add grape tomatos, cucmbers and feta, splash of balsamic.  Carrots with hummus too.

Grilled chicken breast on my Foreman grill with 1/2 sweet potato baked in the microwave with non calorie butter spray and individual steamer veggies to also make in the microwave.  Hope this helps!

Thanks everyone, I am trying to stay away from frozen foods and processed stuff so it seems so hard! But your ideas are great! I just need to mark sure to plan ahead!

I bring a lot of food with me to lunch at work every day... I also try to stay away from processed foods.  One thing that's been good is once a week I'll cut up and bag 7 bags of veggies so I can just grab one each morning to put in my lunch bag.  I always keep bananas, apples, etc. on hand also.  Whole grain crackers, yogurt, and v-8 round out my day. 

Really, what I end up with is a day of snacks which keeps me satisfied most of the day.  As far as the sandwich substitute, I can't advise much on that since I usually bring a PBJ for my actual "lunch" or leftovers.  Pre-planning your dinner meals around having leftovers for lunch is a great idea.  I'll also bring mustard egg salad or tuna salad in a container and the bread in baggies, and then make up a sandwich here. 

Another thing I've been known to do is to bring a good-size tupperware of raw broccoli and a little baggie of shredded cheese - steam the broccoli in the microwave, add the cheese for flavor.  I figure, as long as I bring enough food items that are healthy, balanced, and enough to fill me up, I'm good.

Do you like bean salads?  I used to fix a batch on Sunday night and dish some up each day, adding different things to it.  For instance, I'd make a classic 3 bean salad - red kidney beans, cut green beans and cut wax beans, with celery.  Or I'd do a mixture of chick peas, kidney beans and white beans, with that some crunchy element.   in a nice sweet vinaigrette. 

On Monday I would have it as is.
On Wednesday, I'd add grated carrots to the batch
On Friday, I'd add some black olives, or chopped tomatoes, or sundried tomatoes...

Or I might put in some cooked pasta, shredded cheese, steamed broccoli, hard boiled eggs - anything that struck my fancy.  If corn was in season, I'd save an ear and cut off the kernels for my salad.

So 3 days a week I'd have a nice, balanced meal with no fuss, and I didn't get tired of it. 

If you want some REALLY creative lunch ideas, browse through the archives here:

http://www.veganlunchbox.blogspot.com

So cute and delicious-looking. Get yourself a bento lunch box while you're at it and go nuts with decorating!

you might want to invest in some containers that are the perfect size. for example, taking a salad can be messy... but if you buy a container just right for holding the dressing, and another perfect for the salad, it'll be much easier to throw it together when you get to work. and much easier to clean at home :)

Original Post by evinb:

you might want to invest in some containers that are the perfect size. for example, taking a salad can be messy... but if you buy a container just right for holding the dressing, and another perfect for the salad, it'll be much easier to throw it together when you get to work. and much easier to clean at home :)

 That's a good suggestion.  Home made dressings have to be shaken up before using, so a little baby food jar would be ideal for that.

Well the fun thing about sandwiches is that you can make them anyway you want. :) Some things I like to put on them: veggie patties (plethora to choose from), salmon patties, oatmeal. Yep I said oatmeal. I prepared a serving according to instructions, added some cheese and mixed well to let the cheese melt. I then transfered it in to a small container with dimensions close to bread size, and packed it in. I put it in the fridge for the night, next day it was nice and "solid". It went quite well on a sandwich. For sauces I usually use fage greek yogurt, with dijorn mustard.

Another thing you can do is make burritos. Just bring all the ingredients seperately, and assemble at work. A real simple one is a fish fillet, for sauce greek yogurt, dijron mustard and wasabi, and for wrap La Tortilla Factory wrap. Bring the sauce in seperate container. Then to assemble just hit the wrap and fish in microwave for 30 seconds, cramble the fish in to the wrap, add sauce pile on the greens and you have an easy lunch. :)

current fav's include (i have no fridge or micro at the office, so that limits my choices):

• beet salad. 
  
• fresh snap peas
  
• fresh fruit with cheese slices
  

I got very burnt out on eating sandwiches everyday.  Try different meats, or make it into a wrap, make a chef salad.  Also, you can make tuna, pb&j,  chicken salad, grilled chicken etc.  Its just me and my BF living at our house, so i will cook enough for 4 so he can have 2 servings and i can have one  and then save one for lunch the next day.

Sometimes its fun to have snacky food - triscuits or crackers, cheese, grapes, lunch meat etc. Gives you a lot to munch on for little calories.  You can also make a big batch of chili or soup and then divide it up into single serving portions.

also, I keep a list of low-cal options at local restaurants and fast food places.

Hungrygirl.com has lots of ideas too!

Baked potatoes.  Cheap and easy.  Top with cottage cheese, black beans, shredded cheddar...you name it.

I like making tuna salad with tons of celery and hummus instead of mayo.  Then I roll it in lettuce leaves (I often go through an entire heart of romaine lettuce when I do this) or stuff it in chunks of bell pepper.

I also sometimes make burritos at work.  FF refried beans, a wheat tortilla and maybe a little cheese and just pop it in the micro for a minute or so.  You can also add leftover chicken or steak to your burrito.

For a snack sometimes I have a seaweed wrap.  I heat a small amount of rice and veggies in the microwave and toast up a sheet of nori in the toaster oven to make sure it's crisp.  Then I tear up the nori and wrap it around little mounds of the rice/veggie mix until it's gone.  The crispness and flavor of the seaweed makes the normally boring rice and veggies much more interesting and fun to eat.

I save the clear plastic boxes salad greens come in and use them to carry salad to work.  The little jar of salad dressing fits inside the box, so I'm not so concerned about leakage.  I find it is hard to get a tupperware that is big enough for all the lettuce I need to eat to stay full! Also if I lose it (often) its no big deal. 

I'm really into cous cous and roasted vegetables at the moment.  I roast the vegetables at the weekend and keep a batch in the fridge during the week.  Then all I have to do is soak the cous cous before I go to work and add the veg.  Great for keeping me going until dinner time

That and homemade soup beats sandwiches any day!

www.justbento.com

I'm so addicted to this site I might need a 12 step program.  

I definitely use wraps often. Currently its one 100 calorie wrap with smoked turkey and pastrami with deli mustard and dill pickle slices. I do a lot of soup too, I love making and eating soup! I kind of make up soups as I go, usually revolving around zucchini, squash, carrots, cabbage, chicken or even reduced fat kielbasa. The options are endless with soups, I encourage you experiment.

Now that summer will be here soon, I LOVE mixing shredded chicken breast with fat free ranch dressing, garlic salt and black pepper, then filling a hollowed out tomato with the mixture. It is the perfect summer lunch, or dinner! It gets too hot to eat a big meal sometimes. Now that I think about it, it would be so cute to do that with cherry tomatos as a appetizer for summer parties and barbeques!

My newest lunch fave is 1 cup of broccoli slaw with dressing and a few slices of chicken breast wrapped up in a La Tortilla wrap. SOOO GOOD!