Easy Breakfast & Lunch Ideas
 

Hi again. I'm new so I'm looking for advice for breakfast and lunch for that matter. I'm not a huge fan of eggs, but I can tolerate them, but I absolutely HATE cottage cheese. I'm on the beige menu so I'm allowed a proten and starch only for breakfast. What do you usually eat for breakfast so it doesn't get boring by eating the same thing everyday? I need something that I can take to work with me since I eat breakfast at work. I've been eating a boiled egg, cheese and my HNS, but that's getting boring fast.

Also, what about easy lunch ideas for work? I'm really struggling with trying to come up with things besides salad and meat for lunch. Again, since I'm bringing it with me, I don't really have time to plan an elaborate lunch to pack so I just end up going with tuna and a salad.

I like the diet, er new lifestyle, but it definitely takes a lot more preparation than I'm used to! I'm used to just throwing a sandwich and chips in my lunch bag and going.

Thanks again.

Hi Shanna,
On the beige menu, you can have a meal replacement nutra bar up to 3 times a week for either breakfast or lunch, so that is something easy to take. I've never had that for lunch, just for breakfast. Another quick thing for breakfast is melba toast and cheese. For lunches, I try to mix things up so I don't get bored. I cook several chicken breasts and will take that along with a cooked vegetable if I'm getting tired of salad, and then my fruit. My center told me to brown the ground turkey breast and mix it with the low sodium taco seasoning, then place it over lettuce and top it with the in-a-minute salsa from the MRC cookbook. It's really good and I've had that quite a few times. Unfortunately, most of the lunches and dinners do require some pre-planning for me. If I cook enough for several meals ahead of time then measure and put it into individual containers, I can just grab what I need for that day and it's a little easier. Unfortunately, my lack of pre-planning in the past is probably what led me to my current weight!

For breakfast, I typically have cottage cheese or eggs and a 50 calorie tortilla or oatmeal. Then i do metaquick once a month which gives me a break from cooking all together.

For lunch, I make several chicken breasts in advance and I cut them into smaller strips so they have more flavor. My favorite is chicken covered in yellow mustard with herbs. With that I usually have 8oz of cherry tomatoes or 8 oz of sliced cucumbers, I prefer just a straight veggie than a salad. I'll also fix grilled asparagus or green beans. My typical fruit is strawberries, they feel like such a treat!

Hope this helps!

I like waffles supreme from the cookbook. You can make them ahead of time and toss them in the fridge then just stick them in the toaster in the morning.

I love cottage cheese and stick to that for lunch so I know that's out for you. There is a recipe that I've played with and like and that's the spicy tuna burger I can't remember what they call it. Basically for us on the beige menu it's a can of tuna drained well and 1 med egg. It calls for crushed red pepper but that was too spicy for me so I just experiment with Mrs. Dash. I haven't tried them reheated or cold yet though.

I know with this lifestyle there is a lot of planning and preparing so in the beginning I felt out of control and stressed about getting my food together. It's gotten a ton easier because it'll all fall into place.

I am going to have to look for that. Eggs and toast do get tiring after awhile. I made the bana bread once but it was too thick and just wasn't right for me. I need to try the oatmeal cookies and see if those fair better.

If all else fails, I have the meal replacement bar. I agree that it is so nice to be able to have those and not worry about cooking or buying something. Normally for lunch I do chicken and some veggie. Of course if I am tired of chicken I use a repl bar.

I have been really bad this week about not preparing ahead of time... I do need to get much better about doing this.

Breakfast...i get bored of eggs and toast too...so I started making grilled cheese. i cut a piece of bread in half, spray it with icbinb spray and put an oz of cheese into it. Then i either eat an egg and another oz of cheese with it or another couple oz of cheese. I LOVE grilled cheese and this is really the only meal that i justify it at. Remember if you do cheese to go easy on it at your other meals.
Lunch - do you like tuna? I LOVE the tuna salad that i've been making. I dice (large chunky dice) up cucumbers and green peppers and add cherry tomatoes until i hit my 8oz, then add in the tuna...usually a big can is 5oz, so i add an oz of cheese (like i said...be careful with the cheese, i don't have problems with it, but eating too much makes some people gain) and top it with enough balsamic breeze wishbone spritzer salad dressing to be sure the tuna is moist enough...sometimes i add a sprinkle of parm cheese too...but thats a big cheat for me...so that not often. I think this is an awesome alternative and it's quick to throw together.

For breakfast, I broil a low carb tortilla with 2oz of cheddar until slightly brown and top it with 1 scrambled egg - my favorite.

I usually do that too, but thought we could only have 1 oz of cheese with the egg? Am I cheating myself out of some cheese? Oh the horror ... :dizzy:

On the beige menu, you can have 2 oz. cheese and 1 egg. :carrot:

Thanks for the replies! The tortilla idea sounds wonderful, but I don't have a broiler at work. I can try it at home though!

Yep, I said 2oz for the beige. I'm on green now, so only use 1 oz. :)

I eat 2 ounces of cheddar cheese and one slice of 40 calorie toast with ICBINB spray nearly every morning. However, I am careful to buy Cabot brand cheddar, specifically the 75% less fat variety. It is available at Walmart. I once accidentally picked up a (Cabot) package that said 50% less fat, which was made with 1.5% milk, so you have to be careful. The good thing about this cheddar is that it melts! I like it fine, even after being spoiled by 25 years of living in Wisconsin. It is easy and cuts down on having to think too hard about breakfast on days when I'm not doing a nutrabar or shake.

I was told to eat full-fat cheese. ?

The counselors at my center told me about the Cabot cheese. Pretty interesting...

Hi, everyone, going on 20 days of MRC, and have lost 13 lbs, YEAH, just wanted to say, that I thought that I would hate planning my meals, and eating veggies, but I was so surprised by the way planning my meals, trying different things, has made me feel in control of my life! Enjoying being on MRC, and losing the weight. By the way I finally get to put a weight tracker on hope it works. Tammy

MRC Pancakes
1 egg
1/8 c oatmeal
3 oz cottage cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 packages splenda

Mix all in blender. makes 3 small pancakes

I hate cottage cheese too, but these are awesome!!