Bagged Lunch Ideas! Post em Here!
 

Hey all,

I made a commitement with my self to try to cut back on eating at my school. Almost to the point of not eating the food there. Now it didnt go too well last year because I was bored of the same exact thing that I made for lunch.

So I need some new Ideas. Every from sandwich to drink. Something thats not loaded with fat but not just a bag of veggies (unless put in a sandwich in an interesting way). I need some new idears people!


Thanks so much.

I eat the same thing every day. Except dinner.

1 bagel for breakfast and one cup of coffee

1 ham & turkey with swiss on a potatoe roll or wheat bread. A Martins potato roll has fewer calories than bread but the same carbs. The ham & turkey i get from a pre portioned package from Sams Club. Oscar Meyer makes them. They're Deli Sub paks. I use mustard.
1 small bag of pretzels - low cals and no fat.
1 small jello.

On occasion i'll a have tuna instead of deli or leftovers from dinner the night before.

I used to eat chinese food 5 days a week. I havnt bought my lunch in months. I have saved a fortune and spent the savings on a FSA Team Issue Carbon crankset and Truativ Team SL ISIS BB.

I drink water all thru the day.

For dinner i have limited my carbs to pasta, rice or Zatarains red beans and rice mix, or their black beans and rice mix. Sometimes a small salad. No more red meat except ground beef. Pretty much chicken and pork. The occasional treat is Italian sausages or a cheeseburger.

In the evening i'll drink a glass of red wine and/or a caffiene free diet coke.

If i feel the urge to snack, i eat a couple of pretzels and chase it down with water. Pretzels are a great no fat snack. It cures my need of a salty snack. I have switched back to Healthy Choice ice cream. I have suspened drinking beer and martinis untill the off season.

My wife is also dieting and exercising with the Curves program. Its working for her, but she cant eat my high carb diet and i cant eat her low carb diet. We share the meat course but everything else is different.

hmm ok, ham and turkey with swiss. I will probably stick with a whole wheat bread/wrap. Although potatoe rolls doesnt mean white flour right? or am I wrong?

Please more ideas. I dont neccesarily need breakfast/dinner ideas too. But its appreciated.

Thanks

Sandwiches/Wraps:
Tofu "No-Egg" Salad with Sprouts on Whole Wheat
Smoked Turkey & Swiss Wrap with Sprouts & Jalapenos
BBQ Chicken Wrap (Grilled Chk. Breast with BBQ Sauce, Avocado, Onion, Tomato & Jalapenos)
TBLT on Wheat (Turkey Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato)

Snacks:
Trail Mix
Granola
Nuts
Fruit

...and water all day

ooooooo BBQ chicken wrap sounds really good. Except the jalapenos. Tofu no egg salad douest soudn bad at all eithor. Please more more more! thanks

half of the week i'll make a giant pot of pasta and dress it with olive oil and parmeasean cheese. i'll scoop some out and bring it to work. for some reason that just doesn't get old for me.

so, that'll take care of 1/2 my meal. the other half is usually a turkey sandwich. i make it a triple decker - with just mustard. i'm now keen on saving portions of large dinners for left overs. i would usually just sit and stuff myself, but now because everything is so freaking expensive, i keep portions for the next day. my GF is great - she'll sometimes give me her leftovers to take.

1 cup cooked short-grain white rice
1 bottle rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sugar
1 can tuna fish
1 cucumber
1 package Nori 12 sheets, pre-toasted (seaweed)

- peel, then cut cucumber into thin strips lengthwise
- cook rice, mix rice vinegar and sugar to taste, then sprinkle cooling rice w/mixture
- open, drain tuna fish
- place 1 sheet on countertop, flatten 1/4" rice across 3/4 of sheet
- spread a thin 'finger' of tuna along bottom of sheet on rice
- dip fingers into vinegar mix, then wet top of sheet (like an envelope)
- roll sheet into cylinder
- cut into 1" circles, place in rubbermaid/tupperware/glad 'bento box'
- do above, but use only cucumber or tuna and cucumber

take some soy and/or tubed wasabi (green horseradish), then mix at lunch table...

use fingers to eat... share w/pretty girl at table

sushi on, sushi off, all good!

:-)

hmmmm sushi does sound like a good idea. Sushi is a big oart of my life. I love the stuff. Im still trying to master my rce recipe. It is the hardest stuff to make!

but I like. again thank you.

Make salad with all kinds of vegs., especially green pepper, onion, raw zucchini, carrots, etc. put a little olive oil, lemon juice and plenty of salt on it. Pile it on a whole wheat sub bun. Slap on a slice of lunch meat and a slice of provolone cheese.

I have two suggestions:

The Fiber Salad: this takes 10 minutes to make but is worth it. I think its so good that i have it almost every day. it even tastes good if you make it the night before (although its a little less crunchy so i add the cashews only when I am ready to eat. a little lemon juice on the cabbage and apple helps it stay fresh throughout the day too)
1 apple, cut up into little pieces
1/2 cup chopped up cabbage
1 orange, cut up into little pieces over the rest so the juice gets on everything.
3 Ts of roasted, unsalted cashew pieces
large handful of shredded carrots (TJs sells them pre-shredded)
1 teaspoon of wheat germ
Mix all together. I like it sans dressing, but a way to make it less dry is to add orange champagne vinegar over it.

the next idea is my fav contraption ever - perfect way of bringing along a side salad to a small sandwich. http://tinyurl.com/9j5q7
it keeps the dressing off of the salad till you are ready to eat it all in one handy container.

ok one last idea - wrap: Saute thinly sliced peppers of all colors and onions with a little oil. Take wheat tortilla, toasted, spread cream cheese or hummus and throw in veggies and some deli meat.

sweet! this is awsome! no more plain old turkey for me! :D

Egg salad sandwich, dressed with home-made ranch dressing. Melon cut into chunks. Fruiit flavored tea--buy and brew your own.

Cheese and fruit. A classic is medium to sharp cheddar and apples. Try gorgonzola, walnuts and dried fruit.

Cheese and crackers with fruit of your choice. Try string mozzarella and oranges and somesort of wheaty-whole grain cracker.

Make a stew called ratatouille of cubed summer squash(3 small), cubed peeled eggplant(one),ripe tomatoes (4 to 6, about 2-4 oz each), cubed peppers(2, whatever color you like) and onion(one large)and a couple of cloves of garlic. Brown the summer squash and eggplant in 4 tablespoons olive oil--make sure you don't burn it. Add the onions, cook just until they begin to get soft then add all the rest of the ingredients and salt and pepper to taste and simmer till the veggies are just soft, no longer. The mixture should be dry and if it seems to be too dry, add a little water. This stuff is good topped with a little fresh chopped basil, or cut open a french roll, line the roll with some cheese of your choice and spoon the stew in--this makes a great san'wich, cold or hot. Eat it on rice or noodles with parmesan for a change.

Leftover pizza, especially when topped with lots of veggies. Squeeze some valencias for orange juice and take it along.

Left overs are great. If you cannot stand eating the next day for lunch what you had the night before for dinner, wait till the day after the next day and eat it then. Or freeze in eating portions for future lunches/dinners and let it defrost in your lunch bag.

Many a day I've had a big Red delicious applle and a can of tuna for lunch.

Also "Tuna Suprise" Made the night before (very fast, easy and tasty):
1. Cook about a cup of whole wheat spiral pasta
2. Defrost 1/2 cup of green peas in the microwave
3. When the pasta is done cooking, add the peas, a can of tuna, about 1 teaspoon
of crumbled feta or goat cheese, and toss some oil/vinegar on top and stir.(Two
to one, olive oil to vinegar and use balsamic, not white or distilled).
4. I might even throw some garlic powder and oregeno on top too.

1/2 baked yam and 1/2 baked chicken breast are also always yummy.

yah the ratatouille sounds good. So in it you dont eally want the veggies to brown just till soft.

Do you guys no anymore snack things? IM trying to think of things for that too. PLease more sandwich ideas!

thanks

pretzels, nuts, dried fruit, baby carrots (I'm addicted to them), a jelly sandwich (cut out the peanut butter to make it a "snack"). Oh with the preztels, I'm not sure if you're trying to go organic or whole grain but there are whole grain preztels made by either Snyder of Rold Gold, I forget which.

You brown just the squash and peeled, cubed eggplant. Brown just lightly the add onions, cook just till the onions begin to soften then add the rest and cook till the veggies are as soft as you like. All the veggies should be cut in approximately 1" chunks or squares.

Another thing--I recommend peeling and seeding the tomatoes. I usually cut an "X" inthe bottom of each tomatoe, stick the tomatoe on a big fork and roast over the flame on our gas stove. Blister and lightly char the skins all around then allow to cool till you can handle them then the skins wil strip easily off. To seed the tomatoes, cut in half so the stem scar is at one side and the blossom end is on the other(each half with have either a stem scar or blossom scar opposite the cut edge. Squeeze gently over the sink to remove seeds, or scoop the seeds out with your fingers. Remove the stem scar(core) and chop roughly into large cubes.

I had a sandwich yesterday with this stuff in it and I through a couple of small slices of Monterey Jack in the roll to add some protein. Good stuff and very filling; my daughter finished off the sandwich.d

Yah, you could say im trying to go organic. Pretty much my family has. I mean im not strict strict organic, but I dont really eat much white flour anymore (except for pizza). I dont know if you have this but newmans own makes a spelt pretzle which is good. With the baby carrots, I can havethe bag and some dressing and keep dipping and before I know it ive eaten the whole bag! I try to watch it, ya know. :)

Newman's makes some I'm sure but also one of the major brands makes them I know (which means they'll be cheaper). I'll check it out. I was real surprised to see that they were whole grain because it was just the regular pretzels if I remember right. With the baby carrots, I'm content with eating them plain. They just taste so damn good. :lol:

yeah it's Snyder's of Hanover. They make a multi-grain pretzel stick. I thought the rold gold sourdough were whole grain b/c they said "wheat flour" instead of enriched or unenriched. But now I'm thinkin wheat flour isn't whole wheat flour.

Dropping the tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for about 10-15 seconds after making the x is another effective way to remove the skin and faster/easier IMO

Yes this is another way, but as it has been very humid and hot here I use(d) the flame method as it takes less time and you don't have as much of that water vapor and heat as boiling a pot of water.

Flame is more for a few tomatoes, rather than scads and scads. I have canned tomatoes and boiling water is the way to go if ya gotta peel alot of them!

97% fat free ham, 2% American cheese, lettuce, Jalapenos mustard (oops brown mustard for you), one apple, 2 oatmeal cookies, plus baby carrots, broccoli, or cauliflower. Ice tea for a drink.
I read a post where someone suggested using salsa for a dip.

I have used salsa as a dip.

So any mroe?

Tuna Salad

1. 4 to 5 Romaine lettuce leaves
2. 1 Tomato
3. half a cucumber
4. half a lemon
5. 1 small can of tuna

• Wash and drain Lettuce then grab all the leaves in one hand and tear them into 2 to 2 and half inch strips and place them in a large bowl. Make sure you tear them across not lenght wise.
• Wash tomato, cut in half then slice into quarter inch slices. Spread over lettuce.
• Peel Cucumber and cut in quarter inch slices. Place in bowl.
• Open tuna, drain oil and place on top of other ingredients.
• Squirt lemon on top and you're ready to go.

* I prefer to use the oil from the tuna but I'm sure some of yous would rather go without it so I left it out but if you like the oil here's how I do it. I drain it over the lettuce before I add the tomato or cucumber then toss it a little to spread it out. I feel it adds a little flavor.