I work in an office where I can never be sure I'll get a lunch break so I often have to eat at my desk, one thing I've found which is cheap and filling, is that pre-cooked wholewheat pasta with some Dolmio pasta sauce and a sprinking of cheese. Its tasty, filling and easy to make. I eat on a very tight budget so getting that on offer in the supermarket really helps.

Also sometimes I take tortilla wraps into work and fill them with salad and protein. Usually I fill with either prawn mayo or egg. Again its filling and relativly cheap.

steamed veggies, whole wheat with hummus and cucumbers (my fave), chiciken salad (low on mayo), or yogurt and granola (becareful how much you granola you eat)

Lots of great ideas here so far!

My lunch standbys are:

Progresso soups, esp. Black Bean, Split Pea and Lentil. These have pop-tops, perfect for work.
Foil packets of tuna & salmon. Bring bread & mayo for a sandwich or use in a spinach salad.
Leftovers.
Enthnic Gourmet frozen entrees. Minimally processed - Indian dishes are my fave.
Chicken or veggie wraps I can buy here at work.

I round out my lunch with some combo of grape tomatoes, raw baby carrots, Dr. Kracker crackers, olives. I always bring snacks, also - fresh fruit, nuts, yogurt.

One thing that helps greatly in packing my lunch are the Tupperware Midgets/Midgies (not sure what they're called)? They're small clear plastic cylindral containers w/ blue lids that hold just a few ounces. They're perfect for nuts, salad dressing, peanut butter, olives, etc. Great for portion control! I use them nearly every day.

Lately I have been setting aside recipes that I know my SO won't eat (so I can't make them for dinner) to make for my lunches. On Sunday I'll make about 4 servings of whatever recipe I am interested in for the week, divide it into single serving containers, and it is ready to go for lunch. One week it was shrimp tacos; another week was chicken, apricot, and mango salad with yogurt dressing; another week it was pitas with turkey and cole slaw. I have a whole stack of recipes to get through; each week it is something new. I find that I really look forward to these lunches.

I'm also a big fan of sandwiches but I make a heckova sandwich, a lot more than just your basic meat and bread. Typical sandwich fixin's include roasted red peppers (from a jar), laughing cow light cheese, various varieties of jarred bruschetta, muffaleta spread, horseradish, pickles, fresh basil and/or thyme, lettuce, home-grown or farmers market tomatoes, and cucumber. Of course not all of this goes on the same sandwich, I usually just choose a few items from the list. Everything is on the list is pretty low in calories (some of it, like the horseradish, the basil/thyme, and the pickles are so low I don't even count them); at 35 calories per serving the cheese is the highest in calories. Since the tomatoes will make the bread soggy if you cut them in advance, I usually just grab whole tomato and slice it just before I'm ready to eat. I add a couple of slices to my sandwich and eat whatever won't fit on my sandwich. But I <3 home-grown tomatoes.

Last week I had tuna and hummus (1 can tuna with 4 tbsp hummus = 2 servings) with fresh chives, roasted eggplant and red peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, and lettuce in 1/2 pita pockets. It was yummy and the tuna with hummus was way lower in calories than traditional tuna salad with mayo.

The week before that I had a heartier version of salmon tea sandwiches. I mixed 1 can of salmon with 8 tbsp NF cream cheese, fresh chives, and capers. Then I fried up 1/4 cup egg subsitute (you could fry up 4 servings and store them in the fridge) and made sandwiches with the 1/3 of the salmon mixture, the egg, tomato, thinly sliced cucumber, and lettuce. They were yummy.

I also am a big fan of PB&J. I eat it at least once a week. You can't get much simpler than that.

If you aren't against frozen foods, I really like the Lean Cuisine Panini sandwiches. They are all about 300 calories (give or take 20 calories) and I find them very satisfying. I usually keep one or two in the freezer for emergencies. I also like the Lean Cuisine pizzas.

Another sandwich idea that I'm planning to try is sardines (I have a can waiting for me in the cupboard now). Low in calories (if you get them packed in mustard or tomato sauce, rather than oil) and very high in omega 3 fatty acids! But I realize sardines aren't for everyone.

- Barbara

Good grief Barbara your lunches sound devine :hun:... I also LOVE sardines!

For quite a while I was on a sweet potato kick. Minimal preparation time required in the AM. Just grab a sweet potato, and at lunch time put in the microwave for 7-9 minutes (depending on size). Remember to poke a few holes in it first. Then slice down the middle and eat the inside. No toppings necessary and yum, yum, yum. Several people at my work have been inspired to microwave sweet potatoes because I did this. I usually brought it with a cup of microwaveable soup. A nice warm lunch requiring no preparation!

I try to make sure I always have soups in my desk that way no matter what I have a low calorie, healthy option for lunch. Campbells makes some yummy soups in ready to eat, pop-top containers.

I try not to go out but if I do for fast food, I'll do a side salad with a plain chicken sandwich and then throw away the bread and eat the chicken in the salad. For sit-downs, I try to look at the menus online ahead of time to know what to order.

I just started a new job on friday and there is a huge cafeteria.. but they only have vending machines in it.. so I bring a lunch and keep my money home!