Lunch ideas?

[cjcouple]

What are you having lately for lunch?  
I had been on a cobb salad kick but looking for other ideas. FYI - not a huge fan of taco salad. 

[sotally tober]

I always have leftovers from the night before. If we end up going to dinner or there isn't anything leftover, my go to is usually a salad (today, I'm having leftover short ribs and salad of arugula, prosciutto, goat cheese and walnuts with olive oil and balsamic for the dressing).

My latest obsession is all things curry - I just tried it for the first time and officially obsessed. Especially the Trader Joe's white chicken curry salad, it's an easy to grab lunch. I'll usually have some carrots or another vegetable with it.

For my H, we meal prep his meals for the week and usually it's chicken in the crock pot (a variation of either salsa chicken or crack chicken - which has ranch, cream cheese, shredded cheese and bacon in it. Sometime's we'll do BBQ chicken but he's low carb so we stick to the sugar free BBQ sauce). We'll add roasted veggies along with his meat and he's set.

Sometimes the salad kits from the store or Costco are good and depending on the lettuce can hold up for a few days in the fridge, I like taking those with apple chicken sausage for lunch.

[isabel]

We pretty much always have leftovers.

Today is leftover Buddah bowl: quinoa, roasted chickpeas and sweet potatoes, sauteed spinach, soft boiled egg, and a cilantro lime vinaigrette.

I also keep packets of TastyBite madras lentils in the pantry. They're pretty inexpensive if you buy them at Costco and that's a really easy thing to grab. Would be even better if I kept those microwaveable packages of rice on hand.

I just can't get into salads. I like them when I get them from restaurants, but I'm never happy with them when I make them myself. Same with sandwiches. So leftovers or something I prepare over a weekend specifically for lunches is my go to.

[cjcouple]

isabel , How funny, I just saw a recipe for a Buddha Bowl. Spinach, chicken, brown rice and a PB sauce/sesame seeds etc that looked really good. Never heard of it before but the PB sauce looked really good.

ETA: I always prefer my own salads to restaurants. But I HATE when the veggies are refrigerated.  the flavors are so much better when things are room temp.  (lettuce, tomatoes, cucs etc)   

[cabbagecabbage]

I'm at home so it's easy for me to do light cooking. Lately I have a microwaved sweet potato topped with any leftovers or plain yogurt and seasonings or scrambled eggs a lot. I also make leftovers soup by simmering steamed and roasted veggies in stock and blending it. I like the salad kits from Aldi and their veggie burgers. I'm also obsessed with carrot sriracha hummus and est it on sandwiches and cucumbers and crackers or whatever.

[cjcouple]

cabbagecabbage, thanks - I work home fridays and with weekend coming up. I will be home :-)

[cjcouple]

sotally tober, I love prosciutto. That chicken crack sounds amazing. :-)

[NewGirlNic]

I've been buying the precooked chicken sausages (from either Wegmans or TJ's) and browning a couple then pairing w/ a veggie (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spiraled zucchini)

"bento" box type lunch w/ a raw veggie and hummus, olives, HB egg, pickles, cheese/deli meat (I eat lowcarb, so this is perfect for me)

Egg salad, chicken salad or tuna salad in romaine lettuce boats/wraps

Greek bowls w/ olives, tomato, cucumber, feta, tzatziki, hummus and grilled chicken. You can do this over rice/cauliflower rice or a salad.

Eggroll in a bowl/crack slaw. I make this like twice a month for dinner and do a double batch for a couple days of leftovers. 

[Deleted]

I do a lot of leftovers. Then on the days when I don't have any, I just keep a lot of soup on hand, either homemade that I freeze in individual servings, or canned.

[jinkies]

I've been having better-than-usual lunches because I was doing Whole 30. It forced me to break out of my Lean Cuisine rut.

I really liked all of these (important to note that I am totally OK to eat the same thing for every lunch, so I prepped one of these recipes on Sunday and ate all week):

Mexican chicken meal prep: 40aprons.com/healthy-mexican-chicken-meal-prep-whole30/

Buffalo chicken ranch meal prep: 40aprons.com/buffalo-chicken-ranch-whole30-meal-prep/

Greek meal prep: 40aprons.com/greek-healthy-meal-prep-recipe-whole30/

Zuppa Toscana: 40aprons.com/whole30-zuppa-toscana/

[campermom]

Lately I've been making salad on Sundays with Asian dressing marinated chicken, spinach, hard boiled eggs, strawberries, and cucumber. I have little containers made up of raspberry dressing and another set of containers with all my crunchy things: almonds, sunflower seed kernels, candied pecans and dried cranberrries.

[isabel]

I haven't done much lately because I've been working from home more or taking leftovers, but at one point, I was intentionally prepping a week's worth of lunches, already divided out into containers. It made it easy to just throw a container in a lunch bag and know I had a solid meal for lunch.

Budgetbytes.com does specific blog posts about her lunch prep, so that may be a good resource if you're open to that.

Some things I've done that seem to hold up well over 5ish days:

peasandcrayons.com/2017/02/vegetarian-lentil-tortilla-soup.html

www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/white_bean_and_tuna_salad/

www.africanbites.com/black-eyed-peas-recipe/

www.eazypeazymealz.com/greek-chicken-bowls-meal-prep-easy/ (I keep the chicken separate or remove it from the container to warm it up)

Almost any soup, stew, or casserole will hold up well. I've also just done really basic stuff, like cooking a bunch of chicken and using a bag of frozen veggies as a side.

I know some people get sick of eating the same thing everyday. That would bother me long term, but I find that I'm not bothered by it over the course of a week. As long as I change it up week to week, I'm good. But you can also do smaller amounts of two different meals and alternate.

[mmmomof2]

I make a big chili or soup on Sunday and eat it for lunch through out the week. I just made this one and it's delicious!

www.bonappetit.com/recipe/black-bean-chili-with-butternut-squash

Note - I used canned black beans and cut water down to 3 cups and didn't simmer as long

[wambam]

I’ve gotten to the point where the only thing I cook is “bowls of stuff.” I cook meats, vegetables, and starches and choose one of each to go in my bowl. Depending on what I’m eating, I’ll put guacamole, BBQ, or another sauce on it. I am the kind of person that can eat the same thing over and over and be fine with it.

[mel]

If it's not leftovers, I do:
soups
different salads (buffalo chicken, Asian sesame chicken, chipotle steak, cobb, etc)
a "protein" platter, which is hard boiled eggs, cheese, some kind of nuts, dark chocolate, fruit
BLTs
deli sandwiches

[kadams767]

I have one of those stackable Bentos that look like a thermos, and it holds 4 different sized containers in it. I like the variety that gives me, and I've found it very useful for using up leftovers or small portions of things. I might not have enough ingredients to make a big lunch salad, but I can easily take a small side salad and add something else random with the other containers.

Today I have a cup of lentil soup; a side salad with spinach, arugula, tomatoes, goat cheese, and onion; and some smoked salmon with cream cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes and onion.

[shauni27]

I do lots of various salads and soups. There are some meals I will make on Sunday that I know I can batch out for the week (I have no problem eating the same thing for lunch all week).

Cheese and crackers and turkey pepperoni with veggies and hummus is on the menu for this week. Some of my other favorites are below:

This spaghetti squash pizza pie is always good: paleomg.com/almost-5-ingredient-pizza-spaghetti-pie/

Burrito bowls with steak or chicken or black beans

Thai curry cauliflower rice and sausage is yummy and super easy: littlebitsof.com/2018/05/thai-curry-cauliflower-rice-and-chicken-sausage-bake/

Greek chopped salad is delicious and satisfying and full of flavor:

Banh Mi salad bowls: www.chelseasmessyapron.com/banh-mi/

[shauni27]

Feb 20, 2019 10:17:38 GMT -5 wambam said:

I’ve gotten to the point where the only thing I cook is “bowls of stuff.” I cook meats, vegetables, and starches and choose one of each to go in my bowl. Depending on what I’m eating, I’ll put guacamole, BBQ, or another sauce on it. I am the kind of person that can eat the same thing over and over and be fine with it.

I do this a lot, too. Especially during a whole 30.

[cjcouple]

Follow up question, what sort of containers are you all using? I want to get new ones. Im looking at glass so it can be used hot or cold but I also want decent sized ones.

[notsopicky]

E and I are home today (snow day!) and we're having apps for lunch--lime shrimp from Costco (already made!), deviled eggs (mayo, mustard, dill relish, paprika, super simple), black olives, veg and dip, cheese, pistachios (b/c that's what I have on hand). I think apps for lunch would be fun even to take to work (in a Bento box?). I think we have hummus in the fridge too.

Now I want to take apps for lunch tomorrow!

[pandora89]

www.skinnytaste.com/instant-pot-chipotle-chicken-bowls-with-cilantro-lime-quinoa/

I’ve been making this recently and have really liked it.

[Deleted]

If you do not like taco salad, I cannot recommend anything because you clearly have terrible taste.

[ssmjlm]

Feb 20, 2019 10:35:52 GMT -5 cjcouple said:

Follow up question, what sort of containers are you all using? I want to get new ones. Im looking at glass so it can be used hot or cold but I also want decent sized ones.

I have some square pyrex that are just about the right size for a decent sized salad/bowl.  I think they are the 4 cup.  Also stack well in the fridge.

[mel]

Feb 20, 2019 10:55:03 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

If you do not like taco salad, I cannot recommend anything because you clearly have terrible taste.

LOL! Same! I could eat my body weight in taco salad.

[cjcouple]

Feb 20, 2019 10:55:03 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

If you do not like taco salad, I cannot recommend anything because you clearly have terrible taste.

lol - I actually dont knwo why because I love tacos (ground beef, shredded beef, pork, chicken, fish), I even like burrito bowls but just not as a salad.  I think the ratios throw it off.     

[mcmel]

I alternate each week and I’m very boring

Breakfast burritos- sausage, eggs, cheese, tortillas

Or

Tuna, eggs, mayo all mixed together with a side pickle, olives, and Babybel cheese wheel

I sometimes make chicken fajitas, but that’s pretty rare.

[wambam]

Feb 20, 2019 10:55:03 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

If you do not like taco salad, I cannot recommend anything because you clearly have terrible taste.

In HS, I would always get taco salad in one of those tortilla bowls. OMG, I could put away one of those right now. 

[Deleted]

Feb 20, 2019 10:35:52 GMT -5 cjcouple said:

Follow up question, what sort of containers are you all using? I want to get new ones. Im looking at glass so it can be used hot or cold but I also want decent sized ones.

I use glass containers like these that I got a Home Goods. They are 2c size. You can get bigger ones as well. They stack well which is good because I like to make soups/stews/chilis in bulk.

[msmerymac]

I've been making a lot of mock "poke" bowls with cooked shrimp. I take some sriracha mayo, cucumber, ginger, carrots, scallions and avocado along.