Question: I *know* fresh food is best, but I really struggle with lunches at work, and planning ahead can be problematic. Will SB branded frozen entrees work for lunch? Do you have any other brands/types/suggestions? Feel free to PM me or point me to a thread where this has been discussed. I have been digging around here for a couple of hours but haven't found a definitive answer.
The SB prepackaged foods are okay once you reach Phase 2 (14 days), but they aren't for Phase 1. What I found useful was to find a soup recipe from the board, make up a big batch and have soup and salad everyday for lunch. Also I kept turkey pepperoni and lowfat cottage cheese for snacks. Ziploc baggies and small plastic containers are my new best friends. I measure everything out at the begining of the week and then I can just grab it and go in the morning.
Hi There!
I KNOW how you are feeling! It takes such an effort to eat well and eat right. One thing that really helped was getting a salad container that had a separate dressing holder. I would load it up the night before and it would be ready. Like dixiedieter said, pre-planning is really the key. Sunday has become my planning, shopping, preparing day.
Now that I'm on phase 2, I have started using the SB frozen lunches on occasion, just for something different at lunch. Honestly though, they don't satisfy as much and I'm usually hungrier for that afternoon snack than when I have a salad. There ARE a few that are ok on Phase 1. It took me awhile to find them but the boxes do say which phase they are ok for on the back. My favorite are the breakfast wraps. 8-)
I would also add that they don't taste great. I tried a couple when they were on sale, and I wasn't impressed. I haven't ever found a frozen dinner that tastes as good as fresh food. I always cook twice as much as we need and we eat leftovers for lunch, or I freeze the extra for another dinner.
I know it's a lot of work at the beginning until it starts to feel routine.
Thanks so much for the help and ideas! Soup/salad sounds like a great combo, especially when it starts to cool down here. I'll have to hunt and see if I can find a container that has dressing part included -- that's awesome!
I'll look for those P1 ones for my emergency days. We plan a menu for the week and I usually spend part of one weekend day getting things ready, but we aren't always able to follow the plan.
Off to make some sausage/egg muffins (ham for me this week). We went to an apple orchard yesterday, so have a lot of peeling/coring to do for applesauce for the kids.
Jenn - I think you will find most of the long time beachers avoid the frozen meals especially since they don't have nearly enough veggies. If you do eat them regularly for lunch, make sure your snacks are veggies (such as raw cauliflower, zucchini, peppers, etc).
I buy the Ziploc freezer containers and then make up batches of stuff for lunch. The Wendy's chili recipe can be made in the crockpot and makes a LOT of soup. It reheats great for lunch and freezes well. Use a large crockpot. I also make the broccoli cheese soup recipe (phase 2 - I think by beachgal) and it freezes great. Other soups work well too. There are also many dinners that I freeze leftovers for lunch. There are some where I even double the recipe to have more to freeze. This week I will be fixing a crockpot Cajun turkey sausage and beans recipe that is wonderful! DH likes it over rice. I sometimes put it over chopped cabbage if I want a more phase 1 recipe. These fill me up more than a frozen meal at less calories and more veggies. Oh, I love jambalaya for lunch too and my ham and vegetable pasta recipe posted here is really good leftover too.
That chili recipe looks great! I have a similar one that adds black beans and uses Morningstar burger crumbles instead of the meat. I'm intrigued by the unsweetened cocoa as an ingredient!
Has anyone tried the broccoli/cheese soup recipe in a crockpot? Wondering if I could double the recipe, let it cook on low all day, and add the cream cheese about 15 mins before serving?
The chili is very good. In fact, I have a container of it in my bag for lunch today.
The broccoli cheese one that I use has Velveeta instead of cream cheese. I'm thinking that it might overcook in the crockpot and it doesn't take very long on the stovetop. I use my spaghetti pot to make it and double the recipe. I have a hand blender that I use which purees the soup really easily and then I also like to add some cooked broccoli to it that isn't chopped so fine but I do that at the very end. Sometimes I also add mushrooms.
Frozen entree / lunch help needed
