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coneman5259

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 20, 2007
81
0
Chicago
I need to stop eating out everyday at work, it's just too damn expensive. I would love to bring my own lunch but the idea of a ham and cheese sandwich everyday makes my stomach turn. So what do you guys bring to lunch that makes lunch interesting and less mundane?
 
I usually do this:

-On drive into work, 1 piece of dried toast (60 cal). Gets metabolism started.

-After settling into work, 1 banana (90 cal.).

-About mid morning, fruit (strawberries, pineapple, whatever). My grocery store sells pre-packed containers of cut berries, etc. (about half-pound or 1 cup aka 8 ounces). About 75-100 cal.

-Lunch time, a homemade dry sandwich of turkey, swiss, lettuce, etc. About 230 cal.

-Lunch time, a lean cuisine frozen meal 300-400 cal.

-Lunch time, strips of bell peppers, about 2/3 of a cup. About a full sandwich sized ziploc-type bag (14 calories).

-Mid-afternoon, apple slices (grocery store sells a container of 5 pre-packed washed, cleaned, sliced apples bits), 30 calories

-Mid-afternoon, baby carrots. (grocery store sells a bundle of 4 pre-packed cleaned, washed baby carrots. About 30 calories.

-Late-afternoon, a Quaker chewy granola bar. 100 calories.

-Dinner time, a glass of wine or two (200-400 cal). :)

-Dinner time, anything else I want- reasonably of course. Chipotle burrito, or Z-Pizza, or Corner Bakery, etc. Up to 1000 calories.

This is a day's total of about 2300 calories which is just enough to maintain my 160 pounds, even losing a half-pound a week so I supplement by having a cheater day on the weekend (Chicken Parmigiana, Mexican food, etc.)

Hope this helps. I mix up the foods a bit, but yeah- unfortunately I eat a lot of the same during the day, except for the dinner meal.
 
This is what I do too. This has two advantages. You get a tasty lunch and you can buy things in bigger bulk (to guarantee leftovers) so it works out a bit cheaper.

This is so true. I wasn't into leftovers that much before this awful recession, but now it's all about eating at home and leftovers for me and most of the people I know.

The eateries around me, besides McDs and Starbucks, are pretty much empty most of the time.
 
Well the restaurants around me are mostly packed, and I still eat leftovers. :p

It's just so convenient to just cook more food than you need for dinner. Nobody at work gets jealous of some awful tuna salad that someone else brought to work (or made at work!), but people have looked at my lunch and told me that it looked really good!

And I can't cook for s***. "Looks good" doesn't mean "tastes good", but they don't need to know that. ;) They're jealous, and that makes me happy about my crappy homecooked food.
 
Well the restaurants around me are mostly packed, and I still eat leftovers. :p

It's just so convenient to just cook more food than you need for dinner. Nobody at work gets jealous of some awful tuna salad that someone else brought to work (or made at work!), but people have looked at my lunch and told me that it looked really good!

And I can't cook for s***. "Looks good" doesn't mean "tastes good", but they don't need to know that. ;) They're jealous, and that makes me happy about my crappy homecooked food.

Wow, I want to move into your town. Detroit and Flint look like booming towns compared to me but then again, we hope we can get back to a day when they return puddle jumper flights and reasonable bus lines again.

I remember when I was a kid and we visited California and Nevada ghost towns but these days, ghost town pretty much describes much of both of those states.
 
I work out of the house now so I usually eat lunch at home.

However, I used to just get nice bread from the store bakery like Dutch Crust, Sour Dough, and various European Round Breads. For sandwich meat I get from the deli Capicola, Black Forest Ham, Pepper Turkey, Salami or whatever sounded good. For cheese I like to get Muenster, Port Salute, Swiss, Pepper Jack, Smoked Gouda &c. For the produce vine ripened tomatoes are a must, Romain Lettuce or Spinach and anything else you like. As for the condiments vary between good Red Wine and Balsamic Vinegar with a good Olive Oil (not the cheap bulk bottles for cooking but the small $10 bottles they will last two or three months) and get a pepper grinder for fresh ground pepper.

For a side I would get fruit like grapes, bananas, mango, strawberries &c.

As for a drink I would use a refillable bottle and fill it with different Kerns Nectar's or Tropicana's.

So you can eat sandwiches everyday. It is not monotonous if you use high quality ingredients and vary them weekly. A 1lb of meat, 1/2lb of cheese and loaf of bread should make five sandwiches. Be sure to refrigerate the bakery bread or else it will be stale in one or two days. I also dropped 50 lbs by cutting out the fast food and soda. Whenever I eat any fast food it just seems so bland and tasteless now.
 
Left-overs from dinner the other night.

I love leftovers. :)

Yeah, they're usually just as good or better the second time around. Add some fruit (e.g. apple, orange) and I'm good to go.

Okay, OP's question, assuming you have the basics at work (i.e. refrigerator, microwave oven, maybe a toaster oven if you're swanky):

  • Top Ramen, augmented with store-bought frozen veggies
  • Various rice dishes -- even Rice-A-Roni, if you must
  • Those frozen entrees you get at the supermarket. Still cheaper than eating out every day.
  • Pre-made pasta and a can of marinara sauce. Open and heat up.

That's all I can come up with off the top. Good luck!
 
Basically my only vice. I have it most days for lunch :D
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If you have access to a microwave you could take soup or pasta and warm it up, providing your co-workers don't get angry because of the smell lingering.
 
I go to school, but I think this is still pretty relevant.

Normally I just snack on crisps, fruit and cereal bars. It probably isn't healthy but I always eat a big breakfast and have something as soon as I get home. It's a shame the cafeteria doesn't cater for vegans :(
 
Left-overs from dinner the other night.

I love leftovers. :)

That what I would often do while I was working. It was normally leftover from something I made over the weekend as I would have more time for it. Soups was my most common item to bring as they were easy to make.

Something else I would take fairly often was Greek Pasta Salad. Part about the greek pasta Salad is that it would not require heating back up at work. It was supposed to eaten cold and it is fairly easy to make.
 
Working in a grocery store definitely has its advantages. ;) Usually I'll buy one of the pre-made salad's or sandwiches we have, sometimes just a frozen meal that I heat up in the break room microwave. Other times, I go without. But it would be pretty easy to bring something from home, there's a fridge in the break room as well to store things in, just have never thought about it the night before work for some reason.
 
My grocery store sells pre-packed containers of cut berries, etc.
(grocery store sells a container of 5 pre-packed washed, cleaned, sliced apples bits)
(grocery store sells a bundle of 4 pre-packed cleaned, washed baby carrots.

Your grocery store must love you XD I love those things, but I also recall that the pack of mini packages of baby carrots costs about twice a whole package of baby carrots, and the other stuff is fairly expensive too.

I love your idea though, plus it sounds like you eat a lot! :D
 
Your lunch possibilities are endless. As many have said, leftovers are always a great option, but you've also got:

- sandwiches (cold cuts, PBJ, meat/chicken/fish, veggie, salad-style meat, etc.)
- soups
- cereal
- oatmeal with fruit
- wraps (same type of fillings as a sandwich)
- salads (numerous possibilities)
- tacos, burritos, and other mexican style options
- pasta (spaghetti, lasagna, stroganoff, etc.)
- homemade burgers or sliders
- pot pies
- homemade pizza
- fruit, nuts, vegetables
- any meat and veggie combo

You've always got the option of frozen meals, but you can make most of this stuff on your own at home and it will taste better.

I definitely agree with the idea of snacking with healthy options and making your meals a smaller portion. I'm bad with breakfast, but I try to eat it when I can. I'd suggest a mid morning snack around 10:00 to 10:30, lunch anywhere from 12:00 to 1:00, and an afternoon snack around 3:00 to 3:30. This will keep your metabolism up all day and you will not be starving at meal times.

Today my lunch is a chicken salad wrap with strawberries on the side. My mid morning snack was some almonds and my afternoon snack will be a granola bar. Dinner will be whatever the wife decides to make, so I'm not sure about that one.

Being consistent with bringing your own lunch takes effort, but it's worth it for your health and your budget.
 
Since I work at a restaurant I can make my own food but I am also a student. So this applies to me as well. I would say that about ninety-percent of my food is from my work. Probably more. I can't remember the last time that I didn't eat a meal that was at work or I took home from work.
 
Im pretty boring and bring just about the same thing for lunch everyday - but its effortless to shop for and make, its super cheap, and not too unhealthy. I really should mix it up a bit and maybe even break up my calories into more smaller snacks to keep the metabolism up... but right now I bring;

Breakfast
Apples (precut - costs a tad more but easy to bag/pack)
Rasberries
granola bar of some sort

Lunch
PBJ (yes, i eat like a 10 year old) on wheat, natural PB, and sugar free jelly
Pretzels (prob could be swapped for something better for me)
and my one vice, soda. I go through spells of quitting, reducing, etc. Unfortunately I have made it like a treat in an otherwise boring day.

Dinner
The above gives me a little room to cheat and eat about whatever I want though I know this is also backwards - you should eat the bulk of your calories during the day, not evening.

To the OP, there are other good ideas out there for lunches - if you have access to microwaves check out some of the healthi-"er" options at the frozen section of the grocery store. Also fitness magazines/websites tend to have a lot of ideas/variety for cheap and easy meals.
 
Free food from my place of employment (a cafe). My breaks are frequent and tasty :D
 
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