my fav lunch is:
Light flat out bread
1 wedge of lt laughing cow
6 slices of black forest delifresh ham by oscar mayer
1 small sliced tomato
and whatever lettuce I have on hand
I work in a hospital so, if I don't bring my lunch, I have a plain baked potato with salsa, or a fresh salad, from the cafeteria for lunch.
if I take my lunch from home, I have a sandwich (lean luncheon meat, ff cheese, lettuce, tomato and mustard/mayo), with baked Tostito's Scoops and green salsa.
Other times, I'll have leftovers from dinner, or a rotisserie chicken breast (bought at the grocery store deli) with black beans. mmmm!
Last edited by TexasLoser; 07-22-2009 at 10:07 PM.
I work at a concession stand at a pool so i HAVE to have stuff to eat on all day to keep myself away from the candy and chips. For Lunch I usually have a salad (spring mix with some type of berries) with Naturally Fresh Fat Free Balsamic Vinigarette (only 10 cal for 2 tablespoons!), some baked lays or 100 cal pack of cheezits, and one or two of the following: Yoplus yogurt, carrotts with light ranch,or apples. I used to pack a couple weight watchers chocolates as well but I'm on a 1 month no candy challenge right now
I have pretty much the same thing every day at work bcos its filling, delish, easy to zap and bcos of the first 3 things I listed means that I dont turn my nose up at it in lieu of going out for Chinese with my colleagues.
I have chicken "chilli". I prefer it the way I cook it but you can definitely add canned kidney beans or other beans to make it more chilli con carne like.
I make up a big batch on Sunday night usually and put it into single portion glad ware containers and freeze the lot. I freeze them bcos it tastes just as good from frozen and also its much more portable to take to work when its frozen (no spillage!!!). My recipe is:
ground chicken
onion
bell pepers
mushrooms
(can really add any cooked veggies you like)
spices - chilli flakes, chilli powder, garlic salt, italian herbs, pepper, paprika (just anything that seems like a good idea)
can of crushed tomatoes (you can sexy it up with the ones that come with other flavours in them . . . just check the nutritional content)
I sautee onions and bell peppers til soft, add the ground chicken til browned then mushrooms (I guess cos they are softer and dont take as long to cook, not sure why I do it this way lol). When the chicken looks cooked through I add all my spices and herbs, mix that through then add the can of tomatoes.
You can play around with it to suit you.
I serve mine with a 1oz mini tub of fat free Philadelphia cream cheese.
For some reason never gets dull and you can sneak in some veggie serves and all fairly low in fat and carbs to suit most plans.
I have the same thing every day because when I'm at work I need something fast and easy and that will keep me out of the lunch line. I bought one of those sandwich makers (the kind that heats up and turns your sandwich into little triangles) and I throw together a sandwich with some lean lunch meat and a slice of reduced fat cheese, sometimes it's even a kraft single made with 2% milk. Along with that I'll have either cottage cheese, soup, fruit, sometimes even spaghettios if I'm craving something a bit junky.
I'm also a SAHM and run into problems if I wait to long to start my own lunch prep and get so hungry that I start grazing on my kids food. Not that they eat "bad" food, I just would prefer something other than the PB&J leftovers that I'll resort to when I get so hungry!
My fav lunches include:
A mini quesadilla - cooked in a frying pan with oil spray - just to crisp up the tortillas.
2 extra thin corn tortillas (40 cal each)
.5 c. black beans
2 T. grated cheese
Top with fresh cilantro and tomatoes and salsa.
Tuna wrap or sandwich
I like those light Flat Out flat breads or the Oroweat flat sandwich rolls - both have roughly 100 calories.
I add 1 T light mayo and any other fixing I enjoy in tuna - tomatoes, garlic, red onion, pickles...
Homemade Turkey Chili
Ground turkey, black beans, other beans if you like, bell peppers, onion, taco seasoning, diced tomatoes, spices... I make it in large batches and put 1.5 cup servings into the freezer.
Flat Out flat bread BBQ Chicken Pizza
Bake a Flat Out for a few minutes to get it a little crispy on top. Spread 2 T BBQ sauce (the most flavorful you can find since it's not a lot of sauce) on top. Add minced garlic, thinly sliced red onions, shredded left over grilled blsl chicken breast and a small amt or real grated parm cheese. Yummo!
I always grill extra blsl chicken breasts tenders to have on hand. Sometimes I don't have time to make a "pretty" meal, so to be able to grab 3-4 tenders, and piece of fruit and some almonds and I have a good solid meal.
Lunch is hard for me too. Here are some things I try to do besides wraps (I always run out of ideas of what to put in the wraps):
Hard-boiled eggs; I keep these in the fridge all the time as a good "go-to" food. You can cut them up and toss with lettuce and crumbled up Melba toast for a hearty salad.
Split-pea soup; I make a big batch then freeze individual servings. For lunch, they are enough for a meal. For dinner, cook a small ham-steak to go with the soup.
PB&J sandwich; yes, with low-calorie bread and watching your serving portion on the side of the peanut butter jar, this can easily fit into any diet plan.
And always, always, always have raw fruits and veggies out with every meal.
soup, cheese and tomato quesadillas, sandwiches (tofurkey, avocado and tomato on whole wheat), shrimp fajitas, just to name a few.
These are really quick things to throw together and my 1 yr old doesn't get mad having to wait to share with me
You guys have given me a lot of great ideas and inspiration. And even reminded me of a few things I use to eat but had forgotten about.
It just seems lunch is a hard one for me to wrap my mind around b/c were so busy during the day and like PP said I dont want to graze on kids food. Yes he eats lots of veggies and such but he also he eats cheezeits and mac n cheese and stuff like that too. Thanks all!! When I get time Im gonna go thru and write some of these down.
