Really quick lunches?

novella1186

FI and I go home every day for lunch to eat and let our dogs out (we live a few minutes away from where we work, and it's a nice break from the office). So we try to always cook extra for dinner, so that we can eat the leftovers the next day for lunch. We found out over time (and trial and error) that it's better for our budget and our health. But it doesn't always work out, and then we wend up getting fast food. 

Lately I've been trying to figure out what we could keep in our fridge to make a fast lunch instead of getting greasy cheeseburgers so often. Here's the thing, I hate sandwiches. Well, not sandwiches in general, just lunch meat. I can't stand it. I'm weird. 

I also hate soup. Did I mention I'm weird? 

We eat tons of salads. Usually I have a salad twice a day, but since I eat it all the time anyway, I don't want to make that my go-to fast lunch. 

So... is there anything that can be made in about 10 minutes that's not a sandwich and not soup and not a salad, with ingredients that preferably can sit in the fridge for about 5 days without spoiling? Does such a thing exist? I need your brilliant genius food ideas please! 

maeday2

What about a whole wheat tortilla? 

I prep carrots, black olives, peppers, pine nuts, chicken and whatever else I'm in the mood for in their own containers each week then throw them on a bed of spinach and romaine at work. It's easy and fast. 

You could do the same thing with a wrap at home if all your desired toppings are prepped. 

kat1114

Sometimes I make a Greek yogurt parfait for lunch. I add a bunch of berries (whichever ones are on sale/in season), a little bit of honey, some unsweetened shredded coconut, and sometimes some almonds. It's quick, easy, healthy, and super filing.

theartistformerlyknownas

Quesadillas are my stand-by. I've been doing a lot of quinoa lately too... I'll make a big batch with veggies and cheese in it, have some for dinner and pack up the rest for lunches. In the summer I do that with black bean salad (tomatoes, corn, avocado, garlic, cumin, balsamic).

climbingsingle

A wrap? A fritata?

wandajune6

I hate lunch meat too. Though I love soup. A lot.

When I'm in need of something fast, I like to keep a lot of chopped veggies around. With hummus, you still get protein and something that sticks with you. A piece of string cheese on the side is good too. Or, skip the hummus and add a chunk of Laughing Cow or something like that.

Or, since you eat at home, a quick quesadilla with jarred salsa works. Tossing in some leftover chicken or beef works well. Though DH would be appalled by the suggestion, you can even make them in the microwave in a pinch.

novella1186

Yeah if I did some prep this would probably not even be an issue lol. Keep some chopped veggies around sounds like an excellent idea! 

luckya23

I get the Healthy Choice steamable meals.  I normally hate frozen meals, but I like them.  Stay away from the beef though!

mrsdee15

Lunchmeat grosses me out unless it's the fresh kind from a deli counter, so I get what you mean.  So is it all soup you hate?  Chili is one that we love to reheat because it's filling and yummy, but I'm not sure if that counts as soup.  Leftovers are usually the fastest.  

This weekend I made some chicken and sliced it, and got a bunch of veggies cut to bite-size pieces and made hummus to bring in.  It doesn't even need to be heated up, I just grab some of the hummus and veggies and chicken on a plate. 

beachyone15

I know it's not the healthiest thing to eat, but when we're out of food in the house my go-to is a pb&j.

And according to the "last meal" thread I would eat a grilled cheese everyday for the rest of my life...apparently I have the eating habits of a ten year old.

novella1186

beachyone15 said:

I know it's not the healthiest thing to eat, but when we're out of food in the house my go-to is a pb&j.

And according to the "last meal" thread I would eat a grilled cheese everyday for the rest of my life...apparently I have the eating habits of a ten year old.

lol when I met FI he was still in college and lived alone his last semester. The only food he ever had was milk, cereal, the stuff to make pb&j. Whenever I'd go visit, the first thing we would do was go grocery shopping to get stuff to make dinner. He said if he hadn't met me, he'd probably still be eating nothing but cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But there are definitely worse things you could eat! 

AprilH81

You can do pizza bagels (or french bread pizza) pretty quick in the oven.

Cheese and crackers

Eggs and toast or an egg sandwich

Cereal and Toast

mrscomposer

I always prep a week's worth of lunches at once (I don't mind eating the same thing every day) so that before my shift I can just grab a baggie and go.  It's usually a couple different kinds of veggies, and half a chicken breast.  This week it's celery and grape tomatoes.

mrsdee15

Sometimes I do a hard-boiled egg, string cheese, and a salad or some raw nuts.  I've been meaning to make a cold Mediterranean quinoa salad with chicken, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, and lemon juice, that's pretty easy to just scoop out.

littlemushroom

Maybe some microwave baked potatoes? I also do eggs and toast a lot for a quick lunch. Grilled chicken wraps are a personal go to for me as well. We also keep some things frozen that are quick to reheat, like crumbled Italian turkey sausage to add to a quick omelet or top a baked potato. We also always have homemade pulled pork and some ready to serve chicken sausages (I have an apple and Gouda one I love) in the freezer that thaw really quick.

ElcaB

Homemade rice bowls & pastas packed with veggies are your friend! 

princessleia22

Last night I made Shepard's Pie for dinner, figuring I'd eat it for a few days.  It reheats nicely in microwave, so it's an awesome quick lunch.  Unfortunately, I woke up this morning and realized it was still sitting on top of the stove and not in the refrigerator.  I was so sad! 

 

novella1186

princessleia22 said:

Last night I made Shepard's Pie for dinner, figuring I'd eat it for a few days.  It reheats nicely in microwave, so it's an awesome quick lunch.  Unfortunately, I woke up this morning and realized it was still sitting on top of the stove and not in the refrigerator.  I was so sad! 

 

Oh no!!! I hate it when that happens  

And Shepard's pie is the greatest thing ever! 

labro

I've been in to buying chicken salad from Costco lately and stuffing it into a pita pocket for lunch. I usually add a clementine to my lunch bag or some other fruit. I keep the chicken salad and the pita separate until I eat at lunch time so I can prep my lunch the night before and nothing gets soggy.

We do a lot of dinner leftovers for lunch too but I've been trying to make a separate lunch more often so our leftovers stretch further and I don't have to cook every night.

novella1186

LaPeanut1018 said:

I've been in to buying chicken salad from Costco lately and stuffing it into a pita pocket for lunch. I usually add a clementine to my lunch bag or some other fruit. I keep the chicken salad and the pita separate until I eat at lunch time so I can prep my lunch the night before and nothing gets soggy.

We do a lot of dinner leftovers for lunch too but I've been trying to make a separate lunch more often so our leftovers stretch further and I don't have to cook every night.

Oooh I love chicken salad... 

blabla89

Do you like quiche? You can make a couple of them over the weekend and they'll keep for the rest of the week. Make it crustless if you want to cut some of the calories.

novella1186

blabla89 said:

Do you like quiche? You can make a couple of them over the weekend and they'll keep for the rest of the week. Make it crustless if you want to cut some of the calories.

We do a lot of quiches, chicken pot pies, and big dishes of stuffed pasta shells. Those pretty much always stretch through the week. But sometimes I don't think ahead, and then I'm screwed, like today lol, and unless we have leftovers, there's really nothing in the fridge normally that doesn't require being cooked. Aside from like... that random jar of olives in the back. 

theartistformerlyknownas

H eats a microwave baked sweet potato and grilled chicken breast for lunch every.single.day. I grill up a whole Costco package of chicken breasts for him every Sunday, and that lasts him the week. 

littlepep

I also do quinoa a lot. It's my go-to lately. I make a big batch with veggies/spices and eat that for the week. It keeps well. I like to do spinach garlic and goat cheese, but you could do anything really. Last night we had quinoa with sweet potatoes, onion cumin, coriander and chili powder. It was delicious!

cupcait927

lolo883 said:

H eats a microwave baked sweet potato and grilled chicken breast for lunch every.single.day. I grill up a whole Costco package of chicken breasts for him every Sunday, and that lasts him the week. 

When H was doing the Whole30 last January, that was his lunch every day as well. And dinner. And sometimes breakfast. I actually had to tell him to stop eating so many sweet potatoes because his hands and bottoms of his feet were turning a disgusting shade of yellow.

novella1186

Every time I see the word "quinoa" it makes me giggle. I had never heard that word spoken out loud before (or I did and just didn't pay attention) so a few months ago I saw some at the grocery store when I was with FI and I said "We should make quinoa sometime" but I pronounced it "Kin- oh- wah" 

Whoops! Then I heard someone say the word on a food show on the travel channel and I just started cracking up. I'm the type of person I make fun of. 

mrsdee15

novella1186 said:

Every time I see the word "quinoa" it makes me giggle. I had never heard that word spoken out loud before (or I did and just didn't pay attention) so a few months ago I saw some at the grocery store when I was with FI and I said "We should make quinoa sometime" but I pronounced it "Kin- oh- wah" 

Whoops! Then I heard someone say the word on a food show on the travel channel and I just started cracking up. I'm the type of person I make fun of. 

A few months ago there was a Budweiser (?) commercial with a tailgating guy whose girlfriend made him eat a quinoa burger for the last football game and his team won, so he was making it again because he thought it would make his team win again (even though it tasted like a dirty shoe or something).  Someone asks what it is on the grill ("Is that a loofah?"), and he goes "No, it's qqquuueeennnnooooo."  

I'm a terrible commercial recapper but that used to make us laugh.

kmmssg

Omelettes are pretty speedy and tasty.  Especially if you keep some veggies on hand to toss in there.

JennyColada

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mackenziekruvant/easy-healthy-lunches?bffb&utm_term=4ldqpj6#.ckEZOm56Y

novella1186

JennyColada said:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mackenziekruvant/easy-healthy-lunches?bffb&utm_term=4ldqpj6#.ckEZOm56Y

oooh thank you! 

JennyColada

novella1186 said:

JennyColada said:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mackenziekruvant/easy-healthy-lunches?bffb&utm_term=4ldqpj6#.ckEZOm56Y

oooh thank you! 

You're welcome! I'm excited to start working again so that I can use some of those. They sound FANTASTIC.