Try some of the other nut butters if you’re sick of peanut butter. My grocery store has almond butter and Cashew butter. A bit more expensive than PB but delicious.
I love an apple or carrots or celery with nut butter.
One of my favorite sandwiches is fresh sliced mozzarella, tomato, basil, and a little olive oil on a nice roll.
Instead of regular bread, try a FlatOut wrap or something similar. It’s like a tortilla, but not a tortilla. Place whatever fillings you like on it in a thin layer and roll it up. There are several variations that I rotate frequently, but the possibilities are endless.
Roasted chicken with Fontina and sliced Granny Smith Apples
Deli sliced ham and Muenster
Deli sliced turkey with Havarti
Peanut butter and jelly with sliced strawberries, bananas, and granola
Get a cold pack and toss in things like yogurt or cottage cheese, and leave room for fruits like apples, oranges and bananas that come in their own wrappers.
You can roll up lots of stuff in tortillas. I buy the whole-wheat ones and make my son lunches with leftovers - chicken, tuna, ground beef, lunchmeat, cheese, etc. You can add pretty much any veggie to it. Or spread some hummus on it and a slice of turkey or sliced veggies and roll it up, good to go.
I also like the mini-pitas that many grocery deli sections have. Good for stuffing salads into them.
Cold pasta salads are good, bagels, hard boiled eggs, pretzels and spreadable cheese…
Wander around the deli or lunch to go section of the grocery store and see what they have, it can give you ideas of what to make yourself. Sometimes just switching the bread of a sandwich makes it more appealing, try pretzel rolls, or swirled rye or something fun.
Vary it. Roast beef is good. I like Lebanon bologna, when I can get it, and this week I’m eating salami from Katz’s deli in NY which I got as a thanks for doing booth duty last week. (With real NY rye bread. Yum.)
If you make chicken for dinner, make a few extra pieces and slice them for sandwiches. That’s a lot tastier than deli meat.
I don’t make this, but when I’ve got a choice of sandwiches from a trade show lunch I often prefer the vegetarian alternative, with eggplant and peppers. When we make eggplant at home, there is seldom any left.
The two sandwiches that get asked for most in my house are as follows:
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Thinly sliced Granny Smith apple with cream cheese or cheddar on either toasted raisin bread or a toasted cinnamon raisin english muffin. I sprinkle the apple lightly with cinnamon, as well.
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Sliced avocado with cream cheese and either sprouts or lettuce on brown bread. The only seasoning necessary is a little salt and pepper.
Both sandwiches are extremely easy to make, but very yummy.
One of my most favourite lunches is just a little container of hummous packed with separate containers of whole wheat pita wedges and crudites. I especially enjoy broccoli as it has lots of surface area for the hummous, but celery, carrots, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes are good, too.
try pita bread instead of loaf, or try lettuce roll-ups or tortillas
French bread pizza is easy to make, easy to customize, and easy to pack. It’s just as tasty cold as it is warm.
My current schedule doesn’t allow a lunch break, so I actually eat lunch while driving. Lunch consists of: a bottle of milk or kefir, an energy bar, and fruit. With the different flavors of milk or kefir you can get, and the endless variety of energy bars and fruit, this doesn’t really get boring. The combination also has good sustaining power without making me drowsy.
I cook a lot, so I usually just bring leftovers. Some work cold better than others. I think this recipe for Panthay Noodles was particularly tasty cold. Another favorite was Thai beef salad and quinoa, both of which were meant to be eaten at room temperature anyway.