Packing lunch

Some of my favs that don't need to be heated up:

String cheese
Larabars, KIND bars, Clif Bars, Zone bars
Clementines, Apples
Salad
Nuts
Yogurt (lowfat with cereal in it, or Greek w/ fruit)
Cottage cheese
Granola (homemade)
Hummus w/ veggies
Veggies like baby carrots, broccoli crowns, cauliflower, green pepper strips
A homemade bread like banana or zucchini
Homemade muffins (cornbread is good)

I follow pretty much the same template every day - I always eat two snacks and one small lunch at work.  Here is what I generally do.  Since my lunches are small, I'm including my afternoon snacks since together they probably make a decent sized meal.

Snack 1 - I always like this a little sweeter, so it's generally one of two options:
1: Plain Greek yogurt with nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans) and fruit (pomegranate, figs, strawberries, blueberries, or fruit preserve in a pinch)
2: Cottage cheese with hempseed or flax and a fruit (melon, strawberries, or fruit preserve in a pinch)
These are pretty good protein options too, so they get you through if you eat breakfast early and like a late lunch like I do.

Lunch is generally a salad, unless i have some soup from the night before.  I'll use whatever protein I have on hand in my salads.  If I don't have meat, or don't feel like meat, then I throw in a ton of beans, nuts, and/or hard boiled eggs, and I'm good to go. The key to a good and filling salad is TONS of veggies and decent protein. 
    Alternatively, I'll quickly cook up something in the morning for my protein if a cold salad doesn't appeal.  For instance, a quick sautee of peppers, onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes takes very little time in the morning.  Rarely, I need more carbs (if I'm training longer that day or immediately after work), so I will add some fruit or brown rice to my meal.  I don't eat pasta, but obviously that would work too. 
Note: I try to avoid microwaves for reheating, and it's not even necessary because you can easily keep the warm stuff warm for a few hours in a good bento or thermos type container. 

Snack 2 varies depending on what training I'm doing that day.   Here are examples of what I'll have:
- Clementines and hard boiled eggs with nuts or cheese
- a big load of edamame and a piece of fruit (edamame is super filling)
- Carrots and peppers with homemade hummus (make ahead for the week, it's easy and cheap)
- Banana or apple with almond butter dipped in rice puffs (only if I have a big run within 2 hours)
- Protein shake in almond milk I brought from home (I put a piece of ice in so it chills while I mix it)
- Whole grain cracker with cheese and veggies (rykrisp or ryvita, although I'm trying to get away from processed whole grains, this works in a pinch)
- Meal replacement bar with sufficient protein and no added sugar (Organic Food Bar, Protein  or Greens+ Whey bars work well)

I also keep "emergency" snacks in my desk just in case - rice puffs, a nut butter packet, almonds, dried fruit.  Then I just go down and buy a piece of overpriced fruit from the cafeteria, and I'm all set.


Edited by DMW 2009-11-30 2:11 PM

I am a terrible lunch person, thanks for the tips you guys! With my job I tend to be driving most of the day so it is challenging for me to eat something that is not in sandwich form...and I have picked up the terrible habit of eating and driving, but I literally am on the go from when I eat breakfast to when I get home....but I do try to bring lots of fruit and veggies (carrot sticks, pre-cut celery, etc)...String cheese, but I am guilty of ODing on it....

For those days where you would like a hot meal such as leftovers, look into a lunch thermos or the Zojirushi line of lunch jars.  I really like my Zojirushi Mr. Bento.  It is designed to have 2 hot items in the lower compartment and 2 room temperature items in the upper compartments.  However since I have a microwave available at lunch time, I generally keep everything cold and just microwave when I am ready to eat.  Two things to keep in mind with the Mr. Bento is that only the one compartment is completely water tight and the lids are not microwave safe.  The other compartments are fine for yogurt to solid food but not liquids like soup.  I just remove the lids from the containers before microwaving.  From bottom to top, I usually like to pack: a meat or soup, a starch or casserole, salad or vegetable, and yogurt.  Checkout Amazon for reviews.

For lunch ideas, there is almost a cult like following of bento boxes.  Search the web for bento box and laptop lunch ideas.

That's the bento I have.  It rocks. 

I will sometimes put wraps, cheese, lettuce, lunch meat, and a small bottle of dressing in a shopping bag, tuck it in the corner of the work fridge and that's first lunch for the week. I still bring second breakfast and second lunch each day, but that's usually granola bars, nuts, fruit, etc. I also keep a container of mixed nuts in the car for emergencies.

Oh, and pizza's good cold, too.

Well tomorrow's lunch is packed and ready.  I've got a salad with spinach, tomatoes, chicken, and almonds.  I also have an orange, a small yogurt, some wheat thins crackers, and a couple of cookies (gotta satisfy the sweet tooth!).  Not bad for day one.  

One question...when you take a salad, how do you pack it?  Right now I have the tomatoes in a separate tupperware and then I just packed the whole bottle of dressing so I could keep everything from getting soggy beforehand.  That'll work, but it seems like there must be a better way...   

Here's my salad method for 4 days of lunches:
1) On Sunday night, I wash a ton of lettuce and spin it dry.  Then I place in four containers with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture.  I use about 5 heads of romaine total, or 3 heads + some of a bag of baby spinach.  Red leaf lettuce tends to get funky though, so avoid that.
2) I generally make the rest of my salad in the morning before work so I don't need to worry about soggy ingredients, but if I make it the night before, then I would keep the wet ingredients separate and add them in the morning.  For something like sliced tomatoes, I would just add a fresh paper towel over the lettuce, and stick the tomatoes on top.
3) For salad dressing, I make viniagrettes.  I keep it in tiny glass jars that I save for this purpose (buillion jars or gourmet jam/mustard jars work well).  You can also use the 1oz gladware or whatever it's called at the supermarket.

I have one of these and I love it. It has a dressing container built into the lid - plus a space for a utensil and a removeable ice pack to keep everyting cool.

Got it at Bed Bath and Beyond but I think I also saw it at my local grocery store the other day in the tupperware section.

Edited by lisac957 2009-12-02 9:16 AM

If they made one twice that size, I'd be all over it!