OKay folks, you are all so smart, I need some ideas! I am a college student, and my classes run T & W from 5-8 pm. I normally eat about 6 pm, and our teachers are all okay with us having dinner during class. We do have access to a microwave, but a lot of the time, we don't end up with enough breaks to heat up dinner, so I am trying to pack snicky snack foods that I can munch on cold. For instance, for dinner tonight, I am packing, homemade tuna salad with three large whole wheat crackers, 1 serving of Mediterranean vegetable chips, a cup of blueberries, and a yogurt for a total of 530 calories. In the past I also have brought kashi cereal to munch on (measured of course), and hummus and veggies. any other ideas? I like variety!

I figure we could all make use of this wonderful information!

Thanks!

you can bring a serving of your fave soup in a thermos mug

i'm a sucker for string cheese as a snack in place of yogurt

make pita pockets with hummus and veggies and some chicken or turkey

i like making tabouli (with either quinoa or bulgur) and either add more veggies into it or bring more on the side. the good thing about tabouli is that you don't have to heat it up, you can make a big batch, and it travels well, keeps in the fridge for a couple of days.

veggie burgers take 1-2 minutes in the microwave, if you're pressed for time

laughing cow wedges with apples are GREAT!!!

in college, when i had night classes, i would sometimes grab a couple of sushi rolls (nothing too crazy) for dinner, have a salad or some fruit when i got home.

hope these ideas help!

If your plan allows it, I'd bring a little mini smorgasbord of stuff: a couple of different kinds of cheese, a few olives, strips of prosciutto and smoked turkey, and a nice assortment of vegetable and fruit slices to mix and match with all of the above. I love variety in my meals and this is one of my favorite ways to eat, brown-bagging it or otherwise.

Wraps are excellent for traveling, too. If you don't want it to get soggy, you could wrap each thing individually; depends on how long it'll sit and which ingredients you use. My current favorite wrap contains a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, mixed greens, roast pork, apples, and red onions rolled up in a Flat-Out. That and an orange makes my mouth and my stomach happy.

While we're on the wrap theme, another great-tasting wrap is a BLT. Because of the long, skinny shape of the finished product, wraps work really well with bacon; you only need a strip or two to flavor the whole wrap. I generally use two strips of applewood-smoked bacon and half a tablespoon of olive-oil mayo (half the calories and tastes as good as the regular version). My "L" is actually an "S" most of the time, as I prefer spinach to lettuce.

The thermos of soup is a good idea. Soup is so good, and you can sip it and pay better attention Also could bring your crackers for that. I guess a thermos opens up a lot of possibilities. I tried a brand of chicken chili for costco once (they no longer carry it but I remember the name was "Cattle Drive brand Chicken Chili" It was a lot of food for maybe 190 calories for half the can, which was amazingly filling. If that kinda stuff gives you insta-gas though you might want to watch out

If you get one of those insulated lunch bags (which are relatively cheap as I have found) you can explore many more warm possibilities!

I'm a teacher and brown bag every day. My favorite lunch is a slice of Aunt Millie's Potato bread with 2 ounces of lean smoked ham. I pack a little baggie of sliced hot peppers to put on the sandwich AND to suck on and eat so I drink MORE water (I LOVE spicy food and I drink a ton of water to help with the "burn"!). I also pack 3 boiled egg whites and a whole cucumber sliced, or sweet red peppers or carrots or or or...

I am also a huge fan of Silver Creek dried meats. 50 calories, 8-12 grams of protein. Hungry Girl endorsed and excellent with a Laughing Cow cheese wedge spread over it. 85 calories of wonderfulness!

Best wishes!