What should I eat for lunch?

Soup, pot pies, microwaveable pizzas.

Do you have access to a microwave oven? The possibilities are endless if so.

Whatever you cook for dinner, make and set aside an extra portion for lunch during the week.

Leftover pizza
Soup
Chicken
Mexican
Salads

Cheese, crackers and fruit.

Well, what if i had to take it with me somewhere…like to work or school?

Depends, do you have access to kitchen facilities?

For a fully portable lunch, sandwiches, salads, packaged hiking mixes, and various other finger foods.

I make about a month’s worth of lunches at a time and store them in the freezer. The main dish is usually whole-wheat or wholegrain pasta with lots of fresh veggies and seasoning. For example this month I have Greek bowtiies with green beans, basil, oregano, feta cheese, etc., rotelli curry with eggplant, squash and assorted other veggies,and mixed pasta with mixed greens (chard, collards, etc.) with tomatoes and peppers. I put it in microwaveable paper trays wrapped in plastic and freeze them.

I also make big batches of wholegrain muffins with all sorts of fruits and veggies I run through the grinder- carrots, squash, apples, pears, fennel. etc.

I also make small snacks of things like dried fruit.

This is so much healthier, tastier and cheaper than the frozen junk food! And it just takes a couple of hours a month.

If you don’t have access to a microwave, you should invest in a good food thermos. Then you can make chili, soup, stew, pasta, potatoes with gravy, meatloaf, baked beans, lasagne, enchiladas or all sorts of hot dishes, that you can prepare ahead of time (make extra and freeze it in tupperware).

Pasta salad is always good too because you can put all sorts of different things into it each time you make it (and try different kinds of dressings): cheese, vegetables, cold meat, tofu, nuts, beans, greens etc.

And make a big green salad about once a week. You can mix up the ingredients any way you like. Get a good sized tupperware with a tight fitting lid for this. Make sure that you have either an insulated lunch bag or a bigger cooler to bring along with you for your lunches.

Then there are the pre-packaged lunch sized containers of: jello, pudding, cottage cheese, yogurt, applesauce etc.

Don’t forget about other pre-packed lunch time foods such as: string cheese, energy bars, raisins and other dried fruits and nuts.

And there’s always fruit (some can be taken to your destination whole and others can be washed, cut up and put into tupperware ahead of time): apples, oranges, pears, strawberries, pineapple etc.

And raw vegetables is super easy these days. Places like Trader Joe’s have them already cut up, washed and packaged for your convenience.

Every now and then, throw in some chips or a cupcake, but try not to make a big habit of eating potato chips every day. Try some healthier lower salt tortilla chips with some salsa instead. And make your own carrot or bran cupcakes at home. You can also freeze those. If you like chocolate, you can get some of those good individual sized bars of dark chocolate.

For your health’s sake, try to avoid soda. Get individual sized containers of milk, soymilk, iced tea, and 100% juice. Or get a good cold thermos for drinks.

It might help if you made out a menu each week and make sure to include a balanced meal for each lunch. When you go to the grocery store, plan ahead so you can make meals out of the same items (making different dishes) so that you don’t just buy a lot of random stuff. Bon Apetite!

I take a PBJ everyday for school. Always stick with the classics =]

sorry, @Kardamom , but if you’re trying to save money, prepackaged servings are very expensive. Buying larger packages, such as potato chips or cookies, that can be broken down to smaller servings is better.

Myself, when I take my lunch (which I don’t do very much anymore) I usually make a sandwich with left over meat from a dinner, and as much home made as I can (like cookies). I also take something to drink from home, it’s about ⅓ the cost.

Skittles

It depends on where you shop. I’ve been getting some really great deals at the 99 Cents Only store (not just any old dollar store). They often have either individual servings of things that are priced at either 2 or 3 of the item for 99 cents, or sometimes you can even get things like chips or crackers or protein bars in a pack with multiples for only 99 cents. I’ve also seen multi-packs of individually wrapped string cheese. And it’s still cheaper to buy stuff at most grocery stores than it is to go out to lunch at a restaurant.

I also shop at Costco and Sam’s Club so that you can get bigger quantities of stuff (for a better price) and then break it down into smaller portions. I was just giving the person some easy ways to make lunches that are basically hassle free.

Brains…

Salad is easy. Keep the dressing in a separate container until you’re ready to eat it.

Another microwave idea: Put frozen vegetables (broccoli, carrots, onions, endamame, corn) in a microwaveable container. When it’s lunchtime, pour in however much you want of a packaged creamy soup like these (which come in smaller containers that have one or two servings). Hit ‘em on high for 3 minutes or so. If you can’t refrigerate the vegs it’s OK if you start with frozen – they will thaw by the time you’re ready to heat them up. If you can’t chill or microwave, these soups are good on their own at room temp.

Salads are an excellent lunch, great way to incorporate mixed greens into your diet.

I send my mate off with whatever is left over from dinner the night before, stew, soup, whatever. On those days when there is nothing left he gets a can of tuna with a container of salad, an avo, some rice crackers, a handful of almonds, a piece of fruit. Whatever is in the fridge! Saves money and more importantly keeps him from eating too much junk food/takeaway!

Crab legs…..or maybe sandwich ;)