Thread: lunch for work / school: what do you pack?

Originally Posted by Marianna

Update: :)
- I really wanted to buy one of those bento boxes from laptoplunches.com. I went to a local store, they sell it for $40, the box and the cover, which I don't really need. I was just going to get it online for $20, the box itself. But then I went to walmart and found these "stayfit" (I think that's the brand) lunch boxes. They're basically the same as tupperware with compartments, but they also close in a way that the compartment items don't get mixed up. At least it looks like it. There's 1 big and 2 small compartments, and I also bought a stack of 3 smaller containers, with ice-gel-pack built in. Total for everything $10.

Bought a Fit and Fresh lunch box at Target for my husband today and looks like it's going to work out perfectly! And he seemed pretty impressed with it. ..l;, Thanks for letting me know about it, it's $9.99 well spent!

I just wanted to second everyone on their bento-boxes and various lunch boxes.

I've found that having a set lunchbox size helps me better feel how much I eat. Eating a whole bento box packed with food just feels more filling (and like there is a set end point) than the same amount of food in various baggies with extra space and mismatched tupperware.

And taking of bento boxes, check this awesome website ..g.::

Happy Little Bento: Lion Ravioli Bento



And this one: pink piggies bento « bento zen


So cute! ,r:;

Qamar

WOW!!! Everything looks almost too good to eat!!! ..l;,

Salads are great and you dont have to limit salads to spinach and lettuce. Try cucumber, onion, tomato with feta cheese and a splash of EVOO and seasoned salt. Or try bean salad with your favorite beans, throw in some tomatoes or onions with the beans and drizzle with EVOO and season to taste.

I also love rolling a bit of cream cheese and chopped onion in a slice of ham and having that for a snack.

Sometimes when I want to treat myself I buy the canned Dolmas in the Mediterranean section of the grocery store. They are quite good and I can stash them in my desk.

I take salads for my lunch pretty regularly. One of my favorite additions to salad is slow-roasted roma tomatoes. They're really easy to make: you just toss 1/2 inch slices of roma tomatoes with balsamic vin salt and pepper and a little olive oil, spread them on a cookie sheet and put them in a 250 deg F oven for a few hours. It really concentrates the flavor, and is an awesome to my salads!

I will definitely try couscous and slow roasted tomatoes.

Couscous is so quick to make, and there is so much variety. And I love tomatoes in an shape or form, so I will try both.

Thanks :)
Everyone always comments on my lunches how colorful they are. Broccoli, carrots, cherry tomatoes, yams, turnips (kind of hot pink) sure make lunch look prettier :)

A couple of times a week I take a container of chick peas mixed with a balsamic vinegarette (fig is my current fave), feta and oregano. LOVE it. I always keep a container of hummos in the fridge at work as well and some whole wheat crackers in my desk. Another favorite is peanut butter on a 1/2 pita, whole banana(too fit) and drizzled honey rolled up around the banana. YUM! Stuffed grape leaves are always a nice treat as well and I enjoy them cold.

I took couscous this week, it was great.
I tried to make the slow roasted tomatoes, but ti didn't work out :) First nothing was really happening at 250 F then I cranked up the heat and everything got black in no time.
I guess I was inpatient.

Tomorrow I'll take some chickpeas in a salad. And baby yams are great as a snack or part of lunch.

Congratulations on the new job! I take my lunch to work every day (so does hubby--we work together) and have for over 10 years. Usually, I make enough dinner the night before that we just take leftovers from dinner for our lunch (or a variation on leftovers...for example, a slice of turkey meatloaf for a meatloaf sandwich). Spaghetti is a wonderful thermos-friendly meal. Use whole-wheat spaghetti to avoid all the refined wheat/sugar pasta, and use homemade sauce to up the veggie quotient. For sandwiches, I love egg salad made with mayo, a touch of mustard, lots of dill, and pepper. If you don't like the idea of the yolks, mayo, or bread, try making your egg salad with the whites and a small amount of plain yogurt, mustard, and dill--and eat it by itself or with whole wheat crackers! Instead of sandwiches, try wraps made on whole wheat tortillas, made from organic grilled chicken with spinach and pesto, and filled with crunchy carrots, zuchinni & squash!! Yumm!!!! Hummus would also be a good, quick, no-heat meal if you made a quick tabouli salad to go with it and ate it with whole wheat pita chips.

A coworker of mine brings a big tupperware tub of chopped cold veggies and fruit every day, and just grazes on it all day long.

Falafel is a great lunch food, you can eat it on a pita hot or cold, and it's a nice vegetarian option (and might work well for the 12-year old?). I also love to bring a raw potato and bake it in the microwave for lunch--either idaho or sweet potato, and just eat that with a small amount of butter, sour cream, salt & pepper, maybe with fruit as a side dish. I love to bring kiwi to peel for lunch, or to buy pre-sliced fruit at the grocery store. Yogurt is a HUGE lunch item for me, I have it every day.

Good luck!! I hate eating lunch out except on very rare ocassions (and we don't get a long enough lunch to eat out, anyway). My mom always made my lunch when I was a kid--I rarely ate school lunch until high school...I probably didn't care much then, but in retrospect, i really appreciate all those homemade lunches!!!

Originally Posted by Qamar60

And taking of bento boxes, check this awesome website ..g.::

Happy Little Bento: Lion Ravioli Bento



And this one: pink piggies bento « bento zen


So cute! ,r:;

Qamar

Okay, I LOVE those pigs!!!!! Too Cute!

I forgot to mention Sushi---a GREAT easy to carry along cold meal!!

I usually make "skinny" lunches of fat free boiled ham with fat free cheese, a piece of fruit and a small "sweet" just to take the edge off. I also bring breakfast which is either yogurt with fruit, an English muffin or just a banana with a few fat free crackers. But I eat every two hours, mostly small snacks of fruit and crackers, so it keeps my metabolism going and the hunger edge at bay. I've been doing this for so many years that I have a hard time binging.

Originally Posted by Sonja2

Okay, I LOVE those pigs!!!!! Too Cute!

I forgot to mention Sushi---a GREAT easy to carry along cold meal!!

Qamar, you always illustrate everything with the best photos! ..l;,

I just discovered this salad Saturday and am utterly in love; I ate it today with romaine, avocado and honey mustard dressing (mostly bc I really wanted the honey mustard dressing and my avocado was dangerously soft). It is from one of the Skinny B/$#&$ books; I was shocked to see a recipe from their book that didn't rely upon processed foods.

(Mine wasn't really theirs as I subbed in what I had for items listed. Subs are prefaced with 'MN'.)

Edamame Three-Bean Salad

For the Dressing
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar (MN used apple cider vin)
1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
½ tsp. sea salt

Whisk together and set aside.

For the salad
¼ tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. extra virgin Olive Oil
½ cup corn, rinsed (MN used a can of Mexican corn)
1 cup Edamame (MN didn't have a full cup, used what I had)
1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans, rinsed
1 (15 oz.) can red kidney beans, rinsed (MN used black and pinto + the chickpeas above)
2 scallions (MN used shallots)
½ red bell pepper, diced (MN-included in the can of corn)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro, basil, or combination (MN only had cilantro so used gobs of it)


Gently stir together, then fold in the dressing.

what kind of recipes do you guys have for brown rice? brown rice is better than white, but I just don't like the taste. Is there anything I can use to make it better?

It's been 2 months and I have not touched any bread nor crackers. I'm so proud of myself. Instead I have been eating oatmeal pretty much every day, lentils and yams. But now I would like to "work" with brown rice; after the first time, 2 months ago, I wasn't crazy about it.

Originally Posted by Marianna

what kind of recipes do you guys have for brown rice? brown rice is better than white, but I just don't like the taste. Is there anything I can use to make it better?

It's been 2 months and I have not touched any bread nor crackers. I'm so proud of myself. Instead I have been eating oatmeal pretty much every day, lentils and yams. But now I would like to "work" with brown rice; after the first time, 2 months ago, I wasn't crazy about it.

Well, I LOVE brown rice and dislike the taste of white rice ,r:; I like to put Bragg's Liquid Aminos on it, it's a healthier alternative to soy sauce and very tasty. Buy it in natural food stores. I also eat rice cakes when I have to pack a lunch.

The very simplest packed lunches I make are: two cups of raw veggies - baby carrots, sugar snap peas, little tomatoes, baby sweet peppers or sliced bell peppers, etc. Three rice cakes. Two ounces of raw unsalted almonds or peanuts. A bottle of water. It's a complete meal and actually pretty satisfying. Goes together in about 5 min.

Originally Posted by maranajla

I just discovered this salad Saturday and am utterly in love; I ate it today with romaine, avocado and honey mustard dressing (mostly bc I really wanted the honey mustard dressing and my avocado was dangerously soft). It is from one of the Skinny B/$#&$ books; I was shocked to see a recipe from their book that didn't rely upon processed foods.

(Mine wasn't really theirs as I subbed in what I had for items listed. Subs are prefaced with 'MN'.)

Edamame Three-Bean Salad

For the Dressing
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar (MN used apple cider vin)
1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
½ tsp. sea salt

Whisk together and set aside.

For the salad
¼ tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. extra virgin Olive Oil
½ cup corn, rinsed (MN used a can of Mexican corn)
1 cup Edamame (MN didn't have a full cup, used what I had)
1 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans, rinsed
1 (15 oz.) can red kidney beans, rinsed (MN used black and pinto + the chickpeas above)
2 scallions (MN used shallots)
½ red bell pepper, diced (MN-included in the can of corn)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 Tbsp. chopped cilantro, basil, or combination (MN only had cilantro so used gobs of it)


Gently stir together, then fold in the dressing.

That does sound delicious!

I can't read this without getting hungry. All this healthy food looks so yummy! And as much as I would like to eat a big lunch, it's pretty hard to stay awake afterwards!

Originally Posted by Marianna

what kind of recipes do you guys have for brown rice? brown rice is better than white, but I just don't like the taste. Is there anything I can use to make it better?

When I was first trying brown rice, I mixed it in with white...kinda like when the animals go on a new food/litter, the vet recommends mixing so it's not a complete shock. ..l;, I must admit, the mixing didn't really help me like brown better and I eventually returned to straight jasmine. *However*, I have been reading The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics and I don't know what happened, but something changed in me and now I LOVE brown rice. I guess all the reading about it sparked a craving? I make a pot and portion it out during the week; I throw frozen mixed veg when I'm short on time, I toss it in soup (with miso), I eat it with a bit of oil and salt when I want comfort food. I'm obsessed.

PS: I've been using short brown rice (from the bulk section) as opposed to long grain. Not sure of the differences between them... anyone care to enlighten me?

Yesterday I made lentils Hungarian style. I haven't had for over 15 years, but it was yummy.

It's easy to make, you don't need any weird seasoning, and lentil is one of the healthiest foods I know. Also lentil cooks pretty fast, faster than rice or beans. So if if anyone would like to try it here it is:

you need: lentils, oil, sugar, honey, salt, flour, water, lemon juice.

Cook 2 cups of lentils in water and 2 tbs of honey until it's soft. Add water if needed. After they're soft, in a separate frying pan make a thickening using flower, oil and some water. Mix it in with the lentils. Add lemon juice, salt and more honey or sugar according to your taste.
The end result should be soft lentil, a little on the sweet side.
I don't know what it is but the honey and the lentil result in such a nice, unique taste.

I think I will experiment with adding some brown rice to it and see what happens.

When I was little I wasn't crazy about this, but now I love it!!! Especially nice to eat with meat, and other things that are slightly salty.

because I love lentils I looked up some recipes and found a new favorite.

It was a garden - burger made of lentils. I am not into the hamburger type meals, so I kind of changed the recipe. Basically you cook lentils in water and then you use that in place of ground meat.

I've made lentil-patties, with some crushed walnuts (the recipe originally called for that) finely chopped onions, bread crumbs, I put spices and eggs in there also. Then fried them in olive oil. Yummy! It can also work like meatballs, but in that case you need to make them even thicker. I really like this, I will experiment with this a bit more. You can also put parsley, mustard and all kinds of other stuff in there, too.
I'm taking some for lunch tomorrow.

I actually lost 10 lbs in the past 2 months, so I am definitely keeping up the good eats :)