In my lunch box I carry 2 and half sandwiches all at half sandwich size a whole sandwich is 3oz total. So a sandwich has on it whole wheat bread thin coating of mayo one slice of cheese (my choice) 3 deli sliced pieces of meat then on the other slice of bread is a thin coat of mustard.
I need to stay between 2,100 and 2,500 calories per day. I drive a truck nearly all day so my foods need to be able to be in my cooler and I got to be able to eat as I drive.
So a day breaks down like this.
8:30am 1-cup kashsi go-lean with light soymilk, 1 banana cut up in the go lean cause yeah it needs it. 1 slice wheat toast with a lil country crock.
10:30am 1/2 sandwich 1 apple sliced
12:30pm 1/2 sandwich 1 apple sliced 4oz of baby carrots
2:00pm 1/2 sandwich 4oz of baby carrots
4:00pm 1/2 sandwich 4oz of baby carrots
6:00pm 1/2 sandwich 10 almonds
8:30pm 8oz of meat 8oz of veggie
No OJ or oranges, no potatoes, no corn, no peanuts
I'm getting bored with my sandwiches. I change up between ham, turkey, bologna, and chicken. An I change my cheese from week to week but yeah.
So I'm looking for new ideas or different types of like mustards or your fav sandwiches anything will be helpful.
I just got to the point where I'm not cheating and getting the meal times down and I want to keep it up by looking forward to eating my meals. Right now I'm loving 6pm so I can have my almonds lol.
Baby carrots are great, but what about other vegetables for snacks? Sugar snap peas are sweet and delicious. I also love grape tomatoes and pepper strips. What about subbing a piece of fruit for one of the carrot snacks? Almonds are good, but you can mix up dipping an apple into 2 tbs of almond butter. Carrots are super healthy, but I think it's really really important to eat a wide range of healthy foods to get as many nutritional benefits as possible. Cherries are currently in season and are a wonderful low calorie super antioxidant snack!
As far as sandwiches - what about wraps? Whole wheat wraps with hummus and vegetables or a whole wheat wrap with roasted vegetables?
Is your Whole wheat bread a light bread? If not you may want to switch to a light whole wheat. You can save yourself a few calories that you could use elsewhere.
Have you tried sandwich spread instead of mayo. Kraft makes one it has a mayo base but alot of other good flavors as well.
I use a Dijion mustard, and add pickle slices to my sandwich.
What about tuna?
Hard boiled eggs? Slice one egg for a full sandwich. *Good with mustard and mayo* - Probably not ok to eat while you drive but might be worth trying at home
How do you feel about grapes? You can freeze them and then they take a lot longer to eat and they travel well.
In my previous weight loss attempts I found the need to experience the crunch, even though I rarely eat chips.
Trader Joes and a few other stores sell this toast, which are crunchy and very healthy in terms of low carbs, and high in protein. In my past I used them instead of sandwiches. Also as far as meat: my mom makes veggie sandwiches with zuccini and tomatoe sauce. Another alternative would be to prepare the meat or fish in the slow cooker, cool it off and then slice it onto your sadwich as opposed to deli meat, which is still processed food to some extent. Instead of eating cheese on a sandwich, string cheese might be a good alternative. Finally there is yogurt which is super low in carbs, it tastes a bit weird but then once you get used to it, it is ok.
Good luck
Here are some my favorite sandwiches that are a little outside the ordinary:
Turkey, avocado, hummus: 2 oz turkey breast, 1 oz sliced cucumber, 2 tbsp hummus (I use Trader Joe's eggplant hummus which has 20 calores per tbsp), 1/4 sliced avocado, alfalfa sprouts or micro greens, and dijon mustard on your favorite bread.
Salmon, apricot, and cucumber: 1/2 lemon and dill salmon in a pouch (or half a can of salmon) mixed with 2 tbsp non-fat cream cheese, 1 tbsp non-fat yogurt, 1 diced apricot (I sometimes broil it for a few minutes before dicing it to bring out the sweetness) and some grated lime zest. Spread this on your favorite bread with arugula or lettuce, 1 oz sliced cucumber, and dijon mustard. You can also make this sandwich with turkey or ham, just leave the salmon out of the spread.
Egg and salmon salad: Hardboil four eggs and discard the yolks from three of them. Dice remaining egg whites and egg, then mix with 1.5 tbsp low fat ricotta, 1.5 tbsp nonfat yogurt, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp chives, and 1 can salmon. This makes enough for two sandwiches.
Tuscan tuna salad: 1/4 cup finely chopped fennel bulb, 1/4 cup finely chopped onion, 2 oz roasted red pepper (from a jar), 1/4 cup snipped fresh basil, 2 tbsp capers, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp dijon mustard, and 2 pouches meskite grilled tuna (or two cans tuna). This makes enough for 4 sandwiches.
Roasted eggplant and chicken pitas: 2 oz grilled chicken breast strips, 3 oz diced roasted eggplant (I buy fresh eggplant and roast it in my toaster oven with a little meskite seasoning), 2 oz halved cherry tomatoes, arugula, sea salt, ground pepper, and 1 oz goat cheese (I use Trader Joe's lite chevre which is 35 calories per ounce). Mix together and serve in whole wheat pitas. Makes enough for one pita/sandwich. For transport, I would mix everything together except the arugula and store it in a tupperware container. Then I would add the arugula and stuff it into the pita halves just before eating it. Otherwise I think the arugula will wilt and the pita will get soggy.
All of the above sandwiches are around 300 calories, including the bread. I don't put mayo on any of them, so if you do that, you'll need to adjust the calories accordingly. The bread that I use is 70 calories per slice (Trader Joe's fat free multi-grain bread). I know for certain that the first two will transport well because I've packed them to eat at baseball games and on planes. I am assuming your lunchbox is insulated and you have some sort of icepack that you put in it to keep the sandwiches cold--that's how I packed mine and they were fine.
I also love PB&J sandwiches and those definitely transport well. And, if you have access to Trader Joe's, they sell a couple varieties of egg white salad (one is an herb flavor and other is a ranchero flavor) that are great for sandwiches and remarkably low in calories. I use one container and sometimes mix it with a can of tuna or salmon. That makes enough for two very big sandwiches, each about 300 calories once you add in the bread.
Other ingredients you can add to your sandwiches to spice them up a bit include:
- Raspberry chipotle sauce (I get mine at Cost Plus)
- Chutneys (lots of varieties, look in the condiments section of your grocery store)
- Fresh herbs, especially basil
- Roasted red peppers
- Olive tapenade (think New Orleans muffaletta sandwiches)
I also love gourmet mustards. I don't have any particular brands to recommend but Cost Plus is a great source for unique mustards. You could also try Raye's Mustard. I haven't tried them yet, but they were recommended in my Martha Steward Living magazine.
Blue, those look absolutely delish!!! Thanks for posting.
My only suggestion is wraps. I get bored with bread so I will often have a "sandwich" with them. I like flatbread. I like Flatout light herb and garlic. It's huge and is only 70 calories.
Blue those sound tasty-- I'll have to give 'em a try.
I too sub tortilla wraps for bread. You can find flavored tortillas in the Ethnic section/ or wherever the tortillas are located in the stores. At my store they come green in color- spinach flavor / orange in color- sun dried tomato flavor.
I love em. You can put in some fresh deli turkey, lettuce/arugala, deli cheese, honey mustard, tomato.. etc. Hmm.. I'm getting hungry.
Blue - thanks for the apricot/salmon recipe!! Apricots got high marks in the 150 Healthiest Foods book but they aren't my favorite food, I was trying to think of a way to incorporate them.
I used to eat grapes a lot but I found that serving of grapes was 10 to 12 which was not filling. That why the change to apples. An I find I don't cheat when using apple slices cause they are crunch sweet and give a bit of a pick up during the low spots in my day which I used to use candy bars to do the same thing.
add lots of veggies to your sandwiches! Lettuce, tomato, onion, green peppers, roasted red peppers (make sure they're not packed in oil!), sprouts, pickles, spinach, shredded carrots, etc. I've found that basically anything that tastes good in a salad tastes good on a sandwich too! You can spice up your spread by using a low cal salad dressing instead of mayo/mustard. Also my favorite mustard is a chipotle mustard, its delicious! Maybe try a low cal tuna salad or egg salad made with a small amount of FF mayo or you can make your sandwiches on a whole wheat wrap or in a whole wheat pita pocket.
I'm glad you all like my sandwich ideas! I consider sandwiches to be one of my specialties!
A few other items I thought of that I add to sandwiches to keep them interesting:
- grilled onions and/or red peppers (I just spray a pan with a small amount of olive oil and saute them in that until they are limp)
- sun-dried tomatoes (I get the dried kind that you reconstitute with water)
- hummus
- exotic greens (arugula, baby spinach, mustard greens, alfalfa, micro greens, etc.)--these will also hold up better for transport than regular lettuce
Tuna and hummus pitas: Another pita idea is 1 can tuna (or 1 pouch meskite grilled tuna) with 4 tbsp hummus, roasted eggplant, thinly sliced cucumber and diced tomato (or salsa). This makes enough for two pitas. Again, I would pack the filling in a tupperware container and fill the pita just before eating it.
I don't have any suggestions for new sandwiches, but I like using fresh spinach as the lettuce on my sandwiches. They say spinach is a super food, meaning it is one of the most healthy vegetables to eat. Besides, I get tired of lettuce all the time. Fresh Spinach!
I am pretty much just using mustard these days...or mustard vinaigrette, or "honey" mustard (I use low carb "honey" fro Netrition.com)
I also choose between cheese or meat...and I am using lowfat soy cheese right now....
sometimes it's less about the meat then the veggies.....I liked some of Blueto blues suggestions...the more veggies the better...
although....my current favorite is this: 1 serving of thin sliced low fat turkey (60 cal) mixed up with Stubbs BBQ sauce (about 15 cal) on a toasted Wonder Lite bun (80 cal) I top that with horseradish sauce made with a teaspoon of lite sour cream and 2 teaspoons of fat free mayo and horseradish to taste....(about 20 cal)...it's kinda like an Arbys sandwich....
I like to use different breads too...wheat pitas filled with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, garbanzo beans and fat free feta cheese and topped with fat free vinaigrette...
roasted veggies (eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper etc) wrapped in flatbread or whole wheat tortillas...use hummous instead of mayo....
I love grilled/roasted red peppers and started subbing them for the light cheese on my turkey sandwiches a while ago -- yummy!
I do use mayo -- but light mayo when I make egg salad, tuna salad and chicken salad... but I'm going to have to try this hummus substitute of Barbara's. That could be good!!
changing up my lunches
I consider sandwiches to be one of my specialties!
