# Does anyone have healthy and easy lunch ideas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-healthy-and-easy-lunch-ideas/613144 "2012-02-17T16:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-healthy-and-easy-lunch-ideas/613144/21 "2012-02-17T19:34:16Z")
Thanks for the further advice regarding hard-boiled eggs. > [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Along the protein idea … do you like canned tuna? They sell it now in easy-to-open (no flicking tuna-water everywhere!) no-drain and very office-friendly containers now, and I’ve seen some versions that are even seasoned with lemon and pepper, or teriyaki-style, or what have you. I keep a few little things of tuna at my desk for hunger emergencies, occasionally bolstered by stirring one into a single-serving cup of EZ-Mac. (I know, I know, not the healthiest of options, but it’s cheap, filling, shelf-stable and requires only the hot water dispenser.) That’s a good idea. I do like canned tuna. I already have some in my pantry that I bought at some point in preparation for hurricane season. I will check to make sure it’s not expired and maybe use it for lunch. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-healthy-and-easy-lunch-ideas/613144/22 "2012-02-17T21:45:39Z")
I think the tuna referred to comes in tinfoil packets, not cans. Salmon, too. No need to drain, cut open and scoop it out. For your afternoon snack, you might try ‘light’ popcorn, already popped or make it at work in the micro if they let you. That’s good for de-railing the hungries. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-healthy-and-easy-lunch-ideas/613144/23 "2012-02-17T22:33:37Z")
It’s in both [foil pouches](http://starkist.com/all-about-pouch?gclid=CL6E7bqIpq4CFWm-tgodQxJ3Pw)and in tiny [plastic tubs like this](http://www.globalpackagegallery.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=18001&g2_serialNumber=2)now. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-healthy-and-easy-lunch-ideas/613144/24 "2012-02-18T05:54:37Z")
> [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > I know! I wouldn’t admit to people IRL about this failing, but feel less ashamed admitting it here. It’s been awhile but I’m guessing I didn’t let them boil for long enough. 15 minutes at a boil is an awfully long time. A _much_ easier technique: Put eggs in pan. Cover with lots of cold water. Set on stove. Bring to boil. Immediately remove from burner, cover, and let sit for 12 minutes. Rinse under cold water, remove from water, and let cool / put in fridge / peel and eat right away. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-healthy-and-easy-lunch-ideas/613144/25 "2012-02-18T17:17:28Z")
You need to add some protein with your snack of dried fruit, like an ounce of good cheese, a hard boiled egg, some greek yogurt, etc. Have you tried quinoa? It’s very versatile, can be eaten hot or cold. You can bulk up your lunch with a simple salad with a homemade vinaigrette. Carbs burn off quickly. Proteins and fats keep you satiated longer. Your choice of whole grain bread is a better choice than a refined bread, and overall you are making good food choices. The dried fruit is really nothing but sugar, so you may want to swap it out for a piece of whole fruit instead. It’s still sugar, but dried fruit is concentrated and you can eat more than if the fruit were not dried. I think you will feel a world of difference just by adding an additional protein to your snack. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-healthy-and-easy-lunch-ideas/613144/26 "2012-02-20T23:07:13Z")
Thanks again everyone for the help. I made the hard-boiled eggs like instructed, where you get the water boiling then take it off the burner and leave until water is cool, and they came out perfectly. One more question regarding this- how long do hard-boiled eggs last? I was thinking about making enough for several days on one evening but didn’t know if they’d be funky after the 3rd or 4th day. I’d never had Greek yogurt before, so I got some at the grocery store to try it out. I had to look carefully for the regular kind since most of them were made with 0% milk or other low fat ones, but I found a regular kind by Fage. It’s pretty good, especially once I added some fruit. Also I got an idea from Details Magazine. I subscribe to it for the eye candy but read some of the articles too. It had an article about “health” food that isn’t that healthy, and it mentioned whole wheat bread and how you could replace it with lettuce to make a lettuce wrap. I usually buy lettuce anyway to make salads for dinner, so I thought that could work for me. So for lunch today I had a lettuce wrap with turkey and cheese, a generous 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt with some blueberries and a few strawberries thrown in, two hard-boiled eggs, an apple, and a piece of chocolate. For a mid afternoon snack I had a piece of string cheese and a small serving of banana chips. In the future I’m going to buy some quinoa and try that out. I also bought some pistachios and will bring them into work to have at my desk. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-healthy-and-easy-lunch-ideas/613144/27 "2012-02-20T23:17:00Z")
Half a cup of greek yogurt is only 4 ounces, so either have a full cup (8oz) or buy in the individual serving sizes (6oz). Will definitely fill ya up more! Plain with Truvia is also very nice. What are you eating for breakfast? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-healthy-and-easy-lunch-ideas/613144/28 "2012-02-20T23:31:42Z")
I’d rather not buy the individual servings of yogurt, since I think it’s more expensive that way and definitely be more wasteful in packaging. But I might increase the amount of yogurt I put in a tupperware to take to work. I don’t have any Truvia, but I might try getting some of that and trying it. I had been having cereal and coconut milk for breakfast. It was some kind of wheat flake with strawberries and pretty good, but not terribly filling, and I would end up snacking too often in the morning. So recently I’ve been making smoothies instead and they’re pretty tasty and and fairly filling. I get two bananas, some other fruit, some coconut milk, and a little bit of honey and blend it. I have bags of frozen strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, and peaches in my freezer and just throw in whatever I feel like. I make it in the evening and it makes two decent glass fulls so I have one glass the next morning and the other the morning after that. I’d seen various recipes that instructed using yogurt or orange juice or something, but I think my smoothies are fine without them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-have-healthy-and-easy-lunch-ideas/613144.md?page=1)