Lunch Ideas for A Big Snacker

[earthyfamily]

Are there any lunch ideas out there, that are either vegetarian or I could easily make vegetarian. Obviously needs to be healthful ideas. I tend to snack like crazy from about 12-4PM and call it lunch. On a typical day I'll eat a few handfuls of this, just one chocolate square, something from the kids' plates, I can have another chocolate square now because I only had one before, now I haven't had lunch yet so I need a couple of pieces of bread to hold me through until I get the kids down for nap, kids are down for nap so it's time to actually eat something for lunch, never anything healthy by the way, a chocolate square because I just have to have dessert don't I?, and oh the kids are up from their nap and want a snack...yay snack time for me too. So any ideas would be helpful. TIA!

 

[tiggerlover]

Some of the things that I save for snacks are: celery, pickles, carrots, veggie soup, Sugar-free tapioca pudding and fudgcicles.

 

[Judy from Boise]

grazing from 12-4 is not a bad eating habit per se........if the choices are healthy. It might be easier to swith to carrots and apples, ect than to try and change the eating pattern that fits into your life.

 

[dawnball]

I picked up "You On a Diet" a couple of weeks ago. One of the things that they strongly recommend (and I've found very helpful) is to pick the meal you rush through the most and always eat the same thing, every day.

So in your case I would either pick something vegetarian that I could make ahead/make quickly that would be a real meal like:
a salad with lots of vegetables, some nuts and dried fruit or beans on top
a sandwich on whole grain bread
a bowl or can of soup

or a set of quick snacks that you would eat every day for lunch:
a small handful of walnuts and an apple while the kids eat and then a piece of low fat cheese and a handful of cut-up veggies before you put the kids down and then a small salad (with an optional piece of chocolate at the end)

Eating it every day means that you stop thinking about what to eat. Instead of "Ack, it's lunchtime, what will I feed the kids, what will I eat?" you get "It's lunchtime, I'll put my soup on the stove while I make the kids lunch"

I'm actually rotating my lunches weekly. Last week I had a ham sandwich and salad every day. This week I'm having pasta and salad every day.