What do you bring to work for lunch?

[frannn]

I had been working at home for so long, I was spoiled when it came to lunch. Now that I am looking for a job at an office, I have to improvise. I'm not looking to eat lunch out often, so I'm looking for some ideas of quick, budget friendly, semi-healthy meal ideas that I can bring with me. I'm hoping there will be a microwave and fridge I can utilize. What are your favorite things to pack up from home?

 

[Abbie]

I've been on a kick of vanilla yogurt and fresh berries, usually strawberries and blueberries. I was bringing granola to mix in too but I decided I liked it just as well without it! I bring them in separate containers then mix together at lunchtime. Yum!

 

[bdcp]

I usually bring greek yogurt, fruit, almonds, whole wheat wrap with turkey, and sometimes make microwave popcorn as a snack. Sometimes I bring leftovers such as grilled chicken, salad, chili, whatever we have. I rarely bring sandwiches as we don't really eat sliced bread.

 

[kchughes]

We have refrigerators and microwaves and that makes things much easier than when I was working primarily from my car. I do leftovers a couple days a week. Sandwiches on those little flat bread thingys, usually turkey or roast beef and a slice of cheese, fruit and popcorn. Crackers, laughing cow cheese or cheese cubes. I keep the following in my desk drawer: soup at hand, raisins, microwave popcorn, packets of instant oatmeal and crystal light flavor packets. In a pinch, if I have forgotten my lunch and can't get away, then I have a meal. That little bit of stuff has saved me a ton of money by not having to go out as often. I do treat myself out once a week. Just for a change and to force myself to get away from my desk. good luck in your job search.

 

[Sagginit]

i have a no hot food policy (they don't want the place smelling when outside clients come in). i used to do leftovers when i had a microwave. now i do salad and sandwiches. i keep pantry salad items on hand at all time (chopped walnuts, craisins, almonds, feta cheese- ok its kept in the fridge but keeps for a while, dressings, roasted red peppers) and then buy greens each week with veggies and sometimes deli meat and cheese. i then chop up the veggies and in the morning can just toss together salad or sandwich. i also keep nuts at work to much on, yogurt in the fridge, string cheese, sometimes baby bell soft cheese wedges with crackers, fresh fruit, chips etc. i rotate the snacks each week as well. i also hard boil eggs, i can then toss in salads, eat for breakfast, or use for egg salad sandwiches. i sometimes make my own trail mix to munch on too, choc chips, cereal, mixed nuts and raisins.

sometimes if i have a pm shift i will do a grilled cheese type sandwich, rap in tinfoil and leave in my desk so its still warm when i eat lunch a few hours later.

 

[miralys]

I do a lot of leftovers. Salads are always a good choice as well. I keep a few "oh-no-I-forgot-to-pack-lunch" cans of soup at my desk as well.

 

[mom2val]

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[hj0519]

I bring pasta salad a lot. I'm picky, so it's just pasta, cut up cheese, pepperonis, and Italian dressing but obviously you can put whatever in it. Other than that I tend to just bring to stuff to snack on throughout the day and maybe some cut up strawberries and other fruit as "lunch."

 

[Poohforyou]

One of the quickest things for me to do is throw some of Trader Joes frozen quinoa with sweet potatoes and zucchini. Sometimes I'll heat it up and other times I'll just eat it chilled or at room temp. I love quinoa because it is a complete protein and very tasty. Other things are hard boiled eggs and some fruit/veggies, hummus w/carrots and an apple, yogurt with Kashi cereal and berries.

 

[Sandy61]

We have started to grill extra meat whenever we grill. That way we have a lot of lean chicken breast and pork the next day. We always have extra veggies and fruit.

 

[Tri-Delta4Life]

I make my own taco filling on Sunday evenings for dinner and then pre-portion the rest into 5 lunches for the week.

For lunch, I heat up the taco filling and then mix in shredded cheese and romaine lettuce to make taco salad. On Sunday evenings, I use the taco filling to make DH quesadillas, burritos or tacos.

Taco Filling Ingredients:
1 lb diced chicken breast
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can pinto beans (drained)
1 can Rotelle (diced tomatoes and green chilies)
dried taco seasoning (to taste)
Ortega taco sauce (to taste)

Cook in large skillet over medium-high heat until chicken is cooked through.

It's a cost effective, extremely heathy lunch option that I absolutely love!!! Co-workers always stop by with their frozen meals to ask what smells so good in my cubical

 

[tggrrstarr]

I bring a carton of eggbeaters and make various "egg mug" recipes from Hungry Girl. I usually bring mushrooms, turkey sausage crumbles or soy crumbles and cheese.

 

[JoiseyMom]

DH takes lunch everyday. It consists of a salad, and either leftovers, or healthy choice steamers. I will also grill a batch of boneless chicken breasts and freeze them. At one point he used to eat sandwiches...but has stopped eating carbs.

 

[daisyduck123]

I take a peanut butter sandwich with me every day. That's it.

That's all I have time to eat during my 25 minute lunch, & I usually eat it while I'm walking down the hall or standing at the copier.

During that 25 min. we also need to run to the restroom, check our mailboxes, check our email, return any parent phone calls/email, make any copies we need for the afternoon, & get out our materials for our afternoon lessons.

 

[ShanPooh]

DH takes leftovers when we have them. Usually he packs a yogurt, packet of oatmeal, and a Michelina's frozen meal.
He also brings his own coffee that he brews ahead of time and keeps tea bags at work.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We have a toaster so I usually toast a sesame bagel and put half of an avocado on it, wrap it up in a papertowel, and go to my car, park somewhere in the shade, and read. Very relaxing one hour break!

 

[puffkin]

I usually bring leftovers (I purposely make a little extra just for that purpose). I always pack my leftovers away in single serve portions just for this reason. Sometimes I bring sandwiches. And I always have Lean Cuisine type frozen meals on hand too. A quick trick with them is to just pack them in an insulated lunch bag and let them defrost a bit. Then you only have to mic them for 2-3 minutes. So much easier and takes much less time at the microwaves.

 

[indy1834]

Whatever I had for dinner last night. I always make just a little bit ore and then take it to work for lunch. I have saved a ton of money doing this.

 

[Lavaluma]

DH took leftovers for a while, but the cleaning people at his work kept throwing his food away including the containers. He'd get to work, put his food in the fridge, come back for dinner and it was already thrown away. They clean out the fridge on Fridays, but he sometimes works late and wouldn't get a chance to eat before they cleaned. Makes no sense.
Now, we grill chicken, pork or steak at the beginning of the week. He puts each day's serving into a Ziploc freezer bag. If he's not able to eat it by the end of the week, he's able to throw it into the freezer. Also, I chop up some fresh vegetables like zucchini, squash, broccoli or green beans and put them into a zip steam bag with some herbs. Sometimes, he takes the Steamfresh bags of vegetables or rice. That way, he has a healthy meal of meat and vegetables for lunch everyday and it's inexpensive. He also takes yogurt and fruit for snacks.

 

[prncess674]

You really don't need a fridge, you can pick up those blue ice packs for a dollar or two and an insulated lunch sack. My office has a fridge, but I find it sometimes to be a bit dirty and not a place I want to store my food. Unless you are working outdoors in the heat and insulated lunch bag with blue ice will keep your lunch a safe temp.

If you will have your own desk then keep a stash of individually wrapped snacks to ward off the afternoon run to the snack machines can become an expensive habit.

My other secret to office eating is to pack my breakfast and eat at my desk while booting up my laptop and paging thru emails . This helps me stay satisfied till lunch. Yogurt and some pre cut up fruit or packaged oatmeal is quick and easy.