It's like elementary school all over again...

I finally got a full-time job so I get a lunch break! The only problem is..I don't know what to bring! I had a veggie burger today..but that's gonna get old..so will cheese sandwiches.
Can anyone think of anything easy to bring?
There's a microwave, toaster oven, and refrigerator..but I'd rather have something to bring that's already made.

For a good grab-and-go lunch, I sometimes buy Amy's black bean burritos or Guiltless Gourmet's Meditteranian wrap. (That looks like I spelled it wrong). Both are ~270 cals and quite tasty!

For non-microwave stuff, hummus & pita with veggies is always good.

I have a couple long time standbys that one take a few minutes or less to prepare:

Peanut butter and jelly (usually on rice cakes, delish!) with carrots and apples.... yay 3rd grade!

Veggies and Hummus on a pita with pretzels and fruit - also goes well with tabouli.

Soup - homemade or canned, always tasty. Veggie chili is really filling.

 

Hope that helps, enjoy your lunch breaks!

I bring lots of mixed vegetables in containers and then put them on a plate to microwave them. Along with that, I usually have one of the following;

• Amy's non-dairy (soy free too) burrito
• Amy's Tofu Scramble Pocket
• Amy's Roasted Vegetable Pocket
• Almost any Amy's entree
• Homemade pasta salad
• Soup (in a thermos, or re-heated)
• Veggie & Hummus sandwich (or pita)
• Homemade black bean burger
• Vegetable lasagna (from home, re-heated)

Sandwiches are very versatile.  Try different breads ... pitta, wraps, wholemeal rolls... and different fillings... hummus, cottage cheese, lentil pate, egg mayonnaise ... with salads, sliced tomatoes, cucumber etc. and you've got lots of combinations to go at.

If you've got a microwave you could cook double portions for your supper the evening before, store the spare in a tub and have them hot for lunch.  A chunky soup with a bread roll is delicious.

If you cook some pasta or rice the night before you could add them to cooked beans/chickpeas/tofu.. grilled vegetables.. olives, feta cheese... salad leaves.  Lots more ideas there.

Take some fruit, yoghurts and other snacks with you to have if you feel hungry before lunchtime.  That'll should keep you going

Progresso makes a good vegetarian lentil soup... comes in a microwavable bowl... fruit of course... or salad...  I bring tomato soup "soup at hand".  I also take garbanzo beans crush them up with a fork.. and prepare it like you would chicken salad (mayo, onion, salt, pepper, relish) and then put it in a sandwich. you won't know the difference..  I also eat a lot of yogurt.. Lean Cuisine makes some vegetarian meals... gotta watch the sodium though in prepared foods.. But they make a good Magherita pizza, a ravioli w/ veggies meal, one ravioli meal even has butternut squash in it... Very good!... Just keep an eye on your daily sodium intake..   

After seeing 5 replies that look far superior to my great grandson's lunch menu, I can see clearly that any school could benefit from reading these entries, and reorganizing their menu program accordingly.

I always preferred to make a whole-wheat (now you can get 12-grain easily) bread sandwich; fresh tomato, avocado, sprouts - sunflower seeds (seeded of course) sprinkled on with sliced radishes, and a spread of cream cheese to hold the darned thing together.  If you eat meat, I'd pick a chicken breast that had been roasted or grilled.

I always took one cup of grapes; one cup of sliced carrots, one cup of celery, and an apple - all easy to fit into a nice tote, and all taste great.

I love fresh pineapple; would 'slice it as thin' as I could; put that as part of another sandwich (cream cheese spread is great with this); then a slice of chilled ham that I'd baked; adding some romaine lettuce and I liked a few sliced green olives mixed into the cream cheese spread for this one.

Lettuce and tomato sandwiches are great; I pack the lettuce and tomato in one little zip bag, and put the sandwich 'together' before I eat it so it doesn't get soggy.  I like a thin layer of cream cheese; then sliced avocado - add the tomato and lettuce, and if you like bacon, you can make that up in 'batches' - freeze, and carry that in a baggy (separately); it defrosts by the time you're ready to eat it.  I never went without my grapes, apple, and veggies no matter what else I put in my lunch.

Containers of yogurt for dessert - even at room temperature, they're fine since yogurt is 'created' by taking milk and letting it stand in a warm place to start with.  I like to mix 1/4 cup of yogurt and 1/4 cup of cottage cheese together; a bit of fresh fruit mixed in - it's wonderful.

i like to make extra food at night and then bring it in a tupperware and heat it up for lunch... so pretty much anything.... i like to make chili, soups (minestrone, lentil, split pea, etc.)... rice and veggies and beans or a soy meat product... burritos (something i can make easy or i buy the amy's frozen ones)... sometimes i'll bring soy milk and cereal and fruit... pasta with soy ground meat and a sald... sandwiches.... that's all i can think of at the moment... but if you have a fridge, toaster, and mic you should be good to go!

I like to make a 'baked' potato the night before- I microwave it because it doesn't take a long, slice it, and then I pack it in tupperware and reheat it at work. I'll also throw some frozen veggies in there (like fill the rest of the tupperware) and an apple. Very filling and good for you. I've also made tofu the night before and then threw some in to a salad and hustled off to work!

Ive been eating those little starkist tuna lunch kits... they are pretty good and only 210 cals a shot. They come with crackers, mayo, relish, and a lil can of tuna with a wooden spoon. Plenty to tide me over during an 8 hr shift with a yogurt for desert. They are $2.60 for 2 kits too... but I only buy the white albacore ones because they have better tuna than the regular chunk white ones.

I've almost hit below 200lbs eating stuff like this while working out and having smaller dinners with more veggies and less starches.

whenever I know I can't go home for lunch, I take soup at hand by Campbell's, or a lean cuisine, healthy choice or smart ones frozen meal.

I like to make a big crock pot of soup and then take a bowl of that into work.  Homemade is usually lower cal and lower sodium than the canned stuff, and it tastes fresher, even after a week in the fridge!  

 

I like raw veggies, and work is a great opportunity for me to eat them. Typical lunch for me is:

Protein: microwave cup of baked beans, a handful of nuts, or a single-serve cup of cottage cheese

Veggies (two of the following): a serving of baby carrots, half a bell pepper in slices, a cup of cauliflower florets, or half a cucumber in slices

Fruit: a banana, an apple, a tangerine, or a cup of applesauce

Sometimes, if I'm feeling ambitious, I'll make tuna salad and eat it with reduced-fat crackers.

Definitely bring your own food. Low-cal healthy fast food is VERY hard to obtain. :/ It all kinda depends on what you like and how much time you have for lunch. I have 30 minutes and my lunch break is occasionally cut short because of emergencies (I'm a vet tech), but I've still managed to get healthy, yummy lunches. It just takes some planning and some practice, and a knowledge of your own tastes.

My go to for packed lunch is a salad. I know it sounds boring, but I change it up daily. Whatever meat we have for dinner, I save a small portion. I buy the bagged salad, and then toss some of that, the meat (steak, chicken, tuna) some extra veggies (radish, carrots, frozen peas, beets etc.) into a container while I'm cleaning up dinner dishes. I keep a bottle of my favorite dressing in the fridge at work.  If I don't have meat for dinner, I add a little cheese or some sunflower seeds to the salad. I also keep half a paper towel in the salad container to keep it from getting wilty. I try to have some fruit along side for dessert/snack.  Packing it up the night before keeps me from running out of time, and grabbing something at a fast food place.

Did almost everybody just entirely miss that this is a vegetarian topic?  Anyway...

You could bring low-calorie whole wheat english muffins, a jar of tomato sauce, and soy cheese/regular low fat cheese to make english muffin pizzas in the toaster oven.  This is also something you could just continue to eat off your supply for a week without worrying about carrying food along every day.

I think for being at work all day it's also really important to have a lot of healthy snacks on hand in small portions.  Things like nuts, raisins, or fresh or dried fruits/veg will help keep those nasty, tempting treats from coworkers at bay.  I think it's better never to let yourself get desperately hungry.