In a nutshell: I’m spending too much eating out for lunch.
Problem: After two and a half years or so of sandwiches for lunch every single day, I have become so thoroughly sick of them that unless it’s professionally made at some restaurant, I can’t stand to look at another sandwich for lunch under any circumstances.
Anyone have any tips for me? Any good, cheap lunches I can either buy or make at home? Soup is definitely a possibility, and I do occasionally take it to work, but that too can get monotonous quickly.
I used to have the same problem. What I do now is make several differnt types of dinners on my day off. Then I stick them in a entree dish (you can buy disposable ones at the grocery now) then throw them in the freezer so they don’t go bad. All you have to do then is throw them in the micro when you’re ready for lunch.
Do you have a microwave at work? Then either leftovers from dinner or those little microwavable frozen boxes of food. I noticed frozen bowl meals, too.
I do either leftovers or frozen microwavable meals. The cafeteria at work is terrible and going to a restaurant would run well over my alloted lunch period. So I nuke it and eat at my desk while surfing the boards…
[ol]
[li]I second the “Leftovers” idea. Remember to pack it up when you’re cleaning up after dinner and it will be ready to go in the morning.[/li][li]Lean Cuisine meals are surprisingly good for frozen meals. They are a bit on the small side though. You may want to supplement this lunch with some fruit, yogurt, or other snack of your choice.[/li][li]You may be able to find some instant meals in your grocery store that just require you to add hot water (I usually use the hot water spout on the coffee machine in the break room). Often these are soups, but I’ve also seen beans and rice, polenta, pasta, etc. These tend to be really high in sodium so stay away from them if you have high blood pressure or any other reason to avoid a lot of salt.[/li][li]Birdseye and other companies make some good frozen veggie meals (veggies, veggies and cheese, veggies and rice, veggies and pasta). Again, you may want to supplement this with fruit or other snacks.[/li][/ol]
I buy a bag of frozen boneless skinnless chicken breasts on Saturday, let them thaw, then bake them all together on sunday night. Each weekday morning I grab 2 (lunch is my big meal) and tear htem into chunks with my fingers and throw them into a tupperware thingy. Then I add a small can of corn or pinapple and the seasonings that match (i.e., cajun seasoning with the corn, but not the pineapple). Very good, fairly cheap and easy, and good hot or cold.
This is what I eat for lunch. I get Green Giant frozen veggies–broccoli with cheese (ok, cheese-flavored sauce), cauilflower with cheese, green bean casserole, and they have some with potatoes, rice or pasta in there too, which are more filling. The best part is, I bring five in and keep them in the freezer at work so I don’t have to prepare anything in the morning.
Or make a big casserole over the weekend and divide it up into freezable portions, and microwave at work. As suggested.