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

It looks like I am starting a job (after 4 years of not having a day job) as a teacher assistant in a charter school. It looks like it's going to be 3 full days, since it's part time.
I've been to the location, but I haven't really scoped out the lunch area, so I don't know if they have microwaves, etc. If they do, great, I'll have no problem packing nutritious lunches. But if they don't....

What are some of your suggestions for a healthy lunch? Eating out is not an option, since it's usually fast food places and I just refuse...
I know I can take steamed (cold) veggies, fruits, yoghurts, but I really don't want to do sandwiches. (I try to stay away from bread)

I started to eat really "clean": eggwhites, tuna, lean meat (but mostly eggwhites) and fat free dairy for protein, brown rice, lentils, oatmeal, yam for carbs and lots of veggies, kind of like what body builders eat, but in smaller proportions.
Most of these has to be cooked. How am I going to do this?

I do love soup, and can take that in a thermos, but I don't want to do that every single day. I have some ideas, like hummus with celery sticks, or even baba ghanouj with crackers (I love Triscuits, they're so spicy, full of fiber and always make me feel like I ate a full meal. But high in sodium and fat so can't have it too often).
Any suggestions?

Another thing: school lunches for your kids.
I am appalled at the food that is served at my daughter's school (she's 7th grade) so she always takes lunch. However, it's always sandwich + some kind of granola bar. I try to switch it around, but she doesn't like changes. I want to send steamed (cold) veggies, fruits, hard boiled eggs, etc, but she just wants a sandwich. Sometimes she takes soup in a thermos. Any suggestions for a 12 years old?
She's a daughter of a belly dancer, :) so she has been exposed to all kinds of ethnic foods (loves Greek and Arabic, although she tries to be cool and play it down), so she does try different things. But I feel that her lunch is not adequate for nutrition / variety.

All schools have break rooms with fridges and microwaves. When I worked in the schools as a sub, it was one of the first things that I asked about when I went to a school for the first time.

I mostly brought salads and leftovers. Some of the teachers brought tv dinners and heated them up, but I think most people just bring leftovers.

Oh that's good to know. This school is really nice - not a traditional school, well equipped with lots of computers for student use, etc, so it makes sense that they'd have microwaves.

I still would like to hear creative ideas for lunches :) For the past 4 years I was able to eat / cook whatever I wanted. Before then, I was an on-site leasing consultant for 2 years and before then for 8 years I was an on-site property manager. I had the luxury to walk home to my apartment for an hour lunch, cook, eat, watch tv, take a power nap, etc. I could even go home for a break and make coffee. So in a sense, I have not been in this situation - that is normal for everyone - since 1996 :))

How about taking things to make sushi? This works very well for me. I buy the nori at my asian food store or Wal-Mart. I don't worry too much about wrapping it correctly, and sometimes I just roll and eat without cutting it into pieces. You may want to look into bento boxes. There's a whole online community of people making creative looking bentos. It's so fun!

Oh yeah! Lettuce wraps! Great cold!

Hi there Marianna,

My work lunch often tends to be a salad, but I really deck it out- it is usually spinach-based (or other dark green veggie), then I just add any veggies that I happen to have, and some sort of nut or seed on top, sometimes a small amount of cheese as well. Then I just make my own oil-balsamic dressing and carry that along in a container. There are other cold salads you can make with a couscous or lentil base.

A type of cracker you might want to try to replace the triscuit are Mary’s Gone organic crackers, they are gluten free, yet very tasty and hearty (a bit expensive though).

Another thing I try to do in a full work day is to have a couple of healthy snacks on hand (to reduce temptation of un-healthy snacks). A fantastic one that I am hooked on is a medjool date (just remove the pit) cut in half and fill with (a tbsp or so) of organic nut butter (I’ve used pumpkin seed, peanut, and almond). I often bring a hard boiled egg (with the yolk removed), or have raw almonds on hand. Larabars are also great.

Hope this is helpful-I think it takes just a bit of planning, but I find you get used to it pretty quickly.

Good luck!

In addition to my "main dish" for lunch (usually sandwich, soup, or leftover homemade pizza), I bring along other items to go with lunch or to have for midmorning or midafternoon snacks. Some of my snack regulars: raw baby carrots (with or without some kind of dip), trail mix (if you have a Trader Joe's in your area, they have the best trail mixes!), energy bar (I like Clif's organic Nectar bars, especially the lemon-vanilla-cashew one), yogurt with fresh or dried fruit, cottage cheese, an apple plus a handful of almonds, a mini whole-wheat pita with hummus. It can also be useful to make up at home something like potato salad, marinated vegetables, etc. so you have enough of it to bring some to work for a few days.

oh my God sushi - I love sushi!! I haven't thought about that. I can even make it at home, and then I just have to eat it.
Another thing: salad. wow. Salads are my favorite, how did I forget? I guess I've been all hung up on the weight trainers' diet that I forgot about. I can definitely pack the salad with chick peas, nuts and whites of hard boiled eggs.And other yummy stuff to make it filling.

And yes thank you for reminding me: dates. I love dates especially medjool dates. There's an arabic store almost next to my house, they always have them. I am hypoglicemic and heard that dates are actually really good because they don't raise blood sugar.

And just recently tried greek yogurt - wow, I love it. It's packed with protein, I tried the fat free one and tasted so yummy. Pretty filling, too. We have something similar in Hungary, but not quite as creamy. The texture is kind of like as if ricotta cheese was mixed in.

Thank you for the suggestions, I knew I would hear really great ideas!! I will take oatmeal, though, cook it at home, if they have a microwave and then I just have to heat it up. I fount that 1/4 cup uncooked oatmeal cooked in water + cinnamon with a splash of sugar and salt can be very filling.

Now what about my daughter? She won't go for the sushi :) , or dates. (I tried dates before). And a salad is not enough to hold her through 3:30 pm.

There are a lot of great ideas on this thread!

For your daughter, you may want to see how she feels about wraps if you're trying to avoid so much bread. When I was in school, my mom would pack kibbe, sfiha (bread that has meat with tahini and pine nuts), spinach triangles (either homemade or the kind you buy in a bag at any Arab food store) or grape leaves (we make ours with meat and rice) for lunch when we had them in the house and I thought it was awesome. I couldn't warm it up, but I didn't mind it cold/at room temperature (would take it in an insulated bag).

A couscous or quinoa-based cold dish would also be a good option for either of you, but I think it's been mentioned...

Marianna!

I love the suggestions everyone is throwing your way! Do do do check for microwave for you!
As for your daughter, she may be "worldly" in cuisine than other kids,but at that age, the kids want to blend in. She may get made fun of. Experience talking! Now that my kids are older,they want to stand out and be different. At their small school, I'm famous for my cooking and what I send! They have access to a microwave which is a God send. I'm NOT paying $3.oo for a tray full of mystery meat and starches!!!!

Every school that I worked in had a break room with refrigerators and microwaves. The smaller elementary schools only had one of each, but the middle and high schools had at least two, sometimes three of each.

Find out how long you'll have for lunch. It will depend on your school. It might not be an hour lunch, so you'll want to plan your lunch accordingly.

Don't forget that other people will be waiting to use the microwave,or you might have to wait to use it, especially if there's only one in the break room. That's why I mainly took salads, I got tired of waiting to warm up my food.

Shenudance, you're right. At this age it's all about fitting in, so the things my daughter would eat at home, or even claim as "awesome" would not take to school. If she ad a choice she'd take "lunchables" every day: that is crackers, pepperoni / salami and cheese, prepackaged, and probably infused with even more sodium and preservatives to last longer, and are sold at grocery store. And overpriced. Of course she knoes, there's no chance of that.

Gypsydanse: this is a charter school so it' will be slightly different. This particular classroom is "big" meaning there will be 4 teacher with assistant, but everything is staggered, the kids don't even go to school every day. So I'm sure I'll have the micro to myself. That is if there is one, which I suspect. I just found out I will have 30 minutes for lunch.

I heard a lot of great ideas!! Thank you everyone!! I still need to think about daughter's lunches...

I bring my leftovers that I cook for dinner to work with me for lunch.. Its usually brown rice with curried meat & sauteed veggies of some kind... couldn't do it without the microwave! Of course you can do a sandwich with shredded chicken etc too...I use Ezekiel sprouted grain bread. I second the call for healthy snacks... something to keep you grounded while everyone around you orders crap food to go.

Another thing I do is always keep frozen or microwaveable brown rice handy as well as bagged spinach... that way if you can't resist that fried chicken or enchilada platter you can still sub out the grody sides.

Why yes I think about food a lot ;)

How about grain and legume based salads--you can use leftover grains from dinner and and chopped veggies, your protein and enhancements and some tasty vinaigrette. Its wholesome, satisfying and balanced and safe to eat if kept cool.
I love brown rice, chick peas, chopped carrot, celery, cuke, red onion, currants and feta with olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Also, as a teacher I know that sometimes a trip to the staff fridge, let alone a lunch break, just isn't possible, so like all on-the-go jobs, an insulted lunch pack with an ice pack will ensure that foods like cheese, meats, et cetera stay safely chilled and yet are available at my desk in case I can't get out of the room and have to nibble as the day goes on.

I'd be very surpised if they don't have a microwave. Check with the office as to where the refrigerator is. The office staff knows best. I know, I used to be school office staff.

For my work lunches I usually pack leftovers from dinner. When I make dinner I immediately put some in my lunch containers so I am ready to go for the next day.

I've been on a big cole slaw kick lately. My current version is red cabbage, carrots and radishes. I make a big bowl of that, then I put a serving in a to go container and add whatever dressing I want. I usually don't use more than a tablespoon, as opposed to super creamy prepared salads. This week it's a sesame dressing (soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, dijon mustard and orange juice). Sometimes I use a premade dressing, such as Brianna's wine vinaigrette.

Roasted chickpeas are a good crunchy salty snack that's not chips. If I do want something chip like I go for pretzels over potatoes. Tortilla chips and salsa can be satisfying, or sub the chips with veggies.

Frittatas and quiches make great room temperature lunches and you can add tons of veggies to the recipe. Make them in muffin tins for single serving versions.

For your daughter, maybe make healthier lunchables. Good cheese over processed cheese food, good sliced salami over whatever they use. Add some olives or sliced veggies and dip. Make sandwiches in a pita instead of bread, or give her the meat/cheese and crackers to put it on. Pile sandwiches with veggies, use the other fillings as a garnish. Make chicken salad with grapes and almonds, or curried with dried fruit or other creative ways.

If she wants sweets maybe the two of you can make a batch of baked goods each week. A friend of mine makes rice krispie treats but uses RiceMallow instead of marshmallows and adds dried fruit and toasted nuts so they are not totally devoid of nutritional value. I like to make homemade Larabars (hint - if you have a KitchenAid you can grind the dried fruit in the meat grinder attachment): Enlightened Cooking: Homemade Lara-Type Bars (energy bars part 3) . Make them into balls and roll in toasted sesame seeds, poppy seeds, chopped nuts or cocoa and you have fruit "truffles".

The past few months I've been trying to avoid the sandwich trap. I realized I didn't really like sandwich bread (I prefer fresh baked boules and such) and that it wasn't a satisfying lunch option. So I've really been trying to give us non-sandwich options, so we have a lot of soup or leftover casseroles or big salads. I'm not always successful, some days we eat our lunches out, but it's been going pretty well.

Kazoogrrl I love your red cabbage coleslaw - I have to try it sometime.
I offered my daughter before to make the lunchables for her - well, of course she didn't want that, because it's not the same !! Kids are brainwashed today by commercials and trying to fit in.
But I talked to her, trying to brainstorm for new foods. She graciously stated: "ok, I would take hummus with pita but that's it!! " Meaning that's the only ethnic food :))
tomorrow she'll take some celery sticks with peanut butter.

Back to cabbage: I love it! To bad in American cuisine cabbage is not a favorite. I often make this: cut up cabbage into small pieces ( c1-2 inch squares) and just saute in a frying pan, either with olive oil or non stick spray. Salt, pepper, garlic, sometimes onions. I love it! It's healthy! Sometimes I use just a splash of vinegar, sugar and sour cream and mix it up (The Hungarian in me wants to use sour cream for everything). But lately I've been eating the simple version. In Hungary we a have a dish, in which we add the cabbage to square shaped cooked noodles. It's delicious. Usually I just eat the cabbage and that already reminds me of the whole dish.
I could even take this for lunch, heat it up, or even eat as room temperature.

Aww, poor kid! I remember being that age and just so . . . persnickity.

I love cabbage, sometimes I'll cut a hunk off the head and eat it straight! It's also great cut into big wedges, lightly coated in olive oil, roasted and topped with salt and pepper. Yum!

Originally Posted by Marianna

Usually I just eat the cabbage and that already reminds me of the whole dish.
I could even take this for lunch, heat it up, or even eat as room temperature.

Ah, I was going to suggest this! I think vegetables are the best for a room temp lunch! I eat mostly vegetables, sometimes alone, sometimes with rice, sometimes with homemade peanut sauce, sometimes with a splash of tamari I keep in my drawer. Sometimes I warm it, usually I'm too lazy to go down to the first floor to do so and I eat it room temperature. I keep my in a lunch bag; most days I use an ice pack, though some days I do not as I know I'll want it at room temp. Also, in my drawer I keep oatmeal packets (for utter emergencies), nuts, LaraBars (THANK YOU Kazzoogrl, for the recipe!), tea, hard candies and I always have a jar of peanut butter and a sleeve of rice cakes (I like Lundberg unsalted). The rice cakes/pb combo has saved me more than once, either for a meal or a snack.

Re: bento boxes - there is a site called Vegan Lunch Box (Vegan Lunch Box) where she packs her and her child's lunch every day in a bento box. I'm sure the recipes can be tweaked to add meat/cheese; it might be fun for her to bring a cute lunch? Then again, maybe not! I don't have kids so I'm just throwing stuff out there. ,r:;

ETA: Vegan Lunch Box just has straight up yummy recipes - the most current is for making homemade oatmeal packets - and bc she is vegan, they are mostly healthy and centering around vegetables. It is likely easy enough to add chicken etc.?

You're welcome! My personal favorite is dried cherries, dates, raw almonds and some cocoa powder.

I am so loving the bento boxes!! I had no idea what they were until now! I've been checking out website this afternoon. This week I am buying one. I will show it to my daughter and see if she wants one, too. (I'm not spending 25 bucks on something she may not use).

It will be great! And it's environment friendly, no more ziplock bags, plastic forks, (I have been using chopsticks to eat lately, they're so much fun!), so I will take chopsticks. And no brown bags.
Thank you everyone!!
I really think they'll have a micro, but if not now I have enough ideas for cold lunches :)))

but you can keep the recipes coming, I love them!! :-)

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.

- I already started working on Thursday. So they have one huge classroom, with no teacher's lounge nor lunch room. There are 5 teachers and 5 classroom aides, and about 20 kids on site at the same time (they come and go), like I said it's a charter school with an independent study program. We have 30 minutes for lunch, but I can pretty much break it up and take it whenever. They do have a micro and a huge fridge.
One thing I have to be cautious of is taking food that has a strong smell. Like tuna, or pretty much anything cooked that has seasoning. If i heat that up in the micro, everyone in the whole classroom will smell it and I"m sure it will be distracting. We eat at one of the big desks, often with the kids. It's very casual.

I pretty much have all the ideas to make my lunches enjoyable - thank you for all the suggestions!! :))

Rather than use a gel pak I freeze a water bottle and place it in my lunch bag. I refill the bottle each night and place it in the freezer for the next day. Lettuce wraps are my fav. Raw veggies are a must. Raw almonds every day.

I got a compliment from a teacher at our lunch table. He said: "Marianna, I have to tell you, that is the prettiest lunch I have ever seen. It looks healthy, and it's very colorful". :)
I took a salad (celery, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, olives and bean sprouts; egg substitute, dried mangoes with seasoning (chile), and oatmeal with cinnamon and dried cranberries. And coffe.

But I was still hungry later and my sugar dropped - I need more food. I have to get used to this job, just working in general but I also feel like my brain is on overload.

I bought some dates, almonds and bananas, they will be very useful.

What a timely thread! My husband started a job last August where he has to take a lunch because he can't leave the job site. This has been a real change for him since he's a big coffee drinker (I think he knew where every coffee places in Bakersfield was/is!)and with his old job, he use to eating out with his co-workers all the time. So it's been a real challenge for me to find things that he'll eat.

OMG Kazoogrrl, I love cabbage and do a lot of cole slaw type dishes but never thought about adding radishes to them! He loves radishes so I'm going to try that, I'm sure it'll be a hit with him. And thanks for the Larabar recipe.

Marianna, I'm going to try your cabbage dish this weekend! Can you believe I just bought some purple cabbage today. And I'll have to look for the stayfit lunch box. Thanks for starting this thread! ..l;,

I cook a big batch of chicken, pork, soups, chili, spicy rice and black beans, and other dishes at the beginning of the week. I just reheat them at work. I alternate that with salads, yogurt, almonds, string cheese, bananas, and things like that. Almonds really help keep me from getting hungry the rest of the day so I try to eat some at every lunch. I also get some frozen meals just incase I don't have time or don't have enough food to take. The healthy choice steamers aren't bad. Marie Calendar's pot pies are good too even though they have a lot of sodium it's ok every once and a while.

Also if you're looking for good fast food, jimmy johns or subway are pretty healthy choices compared to other fast food if you didn't bring a lunch.

Yeah I would be supper suprised if a work place didn't have a microwave these days.

For students it is a different kettle of fish. Looking back my packed lunches weren't that balanced during school and uni. But if I had to do it again today, sliced poached chicken breast with tomato and either roquette or baby spinach leaf on wholemeal bread would do.

These days for breakfast if I eat out it is what is described above except I have egg instead of chicken.

I am getting the hang of how much food to take. At the school, 3 days / week , 8 hours / day I pretty much grade papers all day and help students with their work. Time goes by so slooooooow. When I help a student, it's a bit more interesting. But I find myself staring at the clock every 20 minutes, and feeling either hungry or having low sugar every couple of hours. So I am bringing more and more food, finally I figured how much I need.

When I was subbing in a traditional school, it was totally different. I had 4 classes back to back, with 4 minutes in between. Time flew by, and by the time I realized it was lunch time- I wasn't even hungry. Then I had a couple of more hours, and I was finished. Definitely a different experience, and although I didn't eat from 8 am until 1 pm, my sugar didn't even drop.

I started taking yam. I found small yams, about 3-4 inches long only. At night I pop them in the oven, the bake really quick. It's the perfect snack, brings the sugar back up and is quite filling. Oatmeal is another one, I take oatmeal just about every day.
My typical lunch consists of : broccoli or celery or salad, eggwhites, or chicken, or cheese, lentils or oatmeal, and besides I take dates with almonds, yam, apples, carrots, yogurt, etc. At the end of the day I actually have food left over, which is good.

I am going to make hummus today, that will be great for lunch.
I just need to make sure I have protein but carbs as well.

I try not to eat out all. Subway although is healthy, is not a good choice for me because I am staying away from bread. And I could make the same thing at home, for less money :)

The stay fit lunch box is great I use it every day! I also use the 3 smaller containers, also from stay fit. They're prefect for dates, cheese, oatmeal, etc. I can have it at my desk and munch on it while grading papers :)

I've been eating couscous, specifically Israeli couscous, and it's been very good. I've been eating it with chickpeas, raisins, sundried tomatoes, and saffron, but I'm sure you can vary this to your taste.

I used to keep crackers and other non-perishable food at my desk. It was nice, because I have difficulty predicting how much food I need to eat in day.