I am sure that since this is a bike commuting forum, that many of you (like me) try to live a relatively healthy lifestyle and may also be money conscious. As such, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of you packed your lunches vice going out to eat. If so, what does it consist of? I usually pack a turkey sandwich with fruit and pretzels. I've been packing a boiled egg as a snack lately. They seem to travel well, when wrapped appropriately. What about you?

I'm a big salad fiend. 4 out of five days I'll pack a salad of spinach, radish, broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, onion, with grilled chicken and some feta cheese. Also a piece of fruit and some chocolate chip cookies.

A 55 mile ride then some hummus and chips.

I'm starving now.

Chocolate milk, orangina, wrap of some kind, or sushi.

- Andy

It amazes me what some people eat for lunch on a work day, such as fast food burgers on a regular basis. I am not a vegetarian, but eating something like that would make me want to sleep. Not conducive to getting anything done.

Usually whatever was leftover from supper the night before. I have a variety of glass and plastic containers that fit into my lunch cooler and is strapped to the handlebars. I don't put plastic in a microwave. Sometimes the meal leans to the "gourmet" side of things. Cracks me up when people, after asking what I have, will say something like, "Dang, I just have a ham sandwich." Sometimes a pack a sandwich, but there are usually some good home cooked sides to go along with it. And yes, I do take a 10 min nap after lunch!

Now that's the way to do it!

When I go to work: Whatever I've cooked that week. Salmon w/rice and veggies, black beans w/rice, burritos, beef stew.

When I ride for fun: Some crackers, or a pop-tart, which stands a 40% chance of being eaten.

If I have leftovers, that's what I'll pack. Otherwise it's a sandwich, a fruit (rotates but usually applesauce), two servings of veggies (rotates, but usually carrots) and a salty snack like pretzels or chips and a fiber one bar for dessert. My mother was a nutritionist so I have habits...

I haul in all my fruit on Mondays, then every workday, I pack a ham and swiss on gluten-free. When I first had to switch to gluten-free, I was upset and angry that the bread is so small (and for so much money). But, a sandwich fits perfectly in a jersey pocket.

I arrive at work just after lunchtime. I found out early on that eating lunch then cycling to work doesn't work for me. So I'll ride to work, sandwich in jersey pocket, and have the sandwich and a banana after I arrive and before I start. Later, I'll have an orange and an apple on my break.

I do something similar. Every Monday I pack in a week's worth of fruit, plus a hard-boiled egg (plus clean clothes) for each day I'm riding. Then I just bring my lunch along in the rack trunk (in a snap lock container). Sometimes it's leftover pasta or other dinner grub, but it's usually a sandwich.

Doughnuts, muffins, bagels, cheeseburgers, French fries...pretty much anything leftover from the breakfast/lunch rush. I carry very little on the bike in the morning. In the afternoon I often have a box strapped to the rear rack for day-old muffins and doughnuts for the kids, they love 'em and it beats trashing them.

I keep three lunch ingredients at work: bread, peanut butter, and jelly. I eat that most days. Occasionally I'll bring a deli meat sandwich or leftovers from home.

I usually bring a banana, apple, crackers or something with me to snack on during the day. I tend to snack a lot in the mornings, especially if I woke up early and went for a run before the commute (about 3x per week).

I usually pack - my lunch normally consists of a sandwich, alternating between turkey and ham (occasionally roast beef), a few different kinds of fruit, greek yogurt, and maybe a snack of something later. Sometimes I'll have oatmeal once I get into the office. I try to keep a desk drawer stocked up with various snacks - granola bars, peanut butter crackers, and whatever else i can find that is non perishable. If nothing strikes my fancy, I just have an excuse to hop on my bike and pedal to the coffee shop and pick something up there.
I try to keep the left overs for a later week dinner when neither the wife nor I feel like cooking.

I have a lunch cooler that fits perfectly in one of my panniers, and I put shoes/clean clothes in the other one. An ice pack or two and it does the trick for me. I like to eat a bigger lunch/space it out throughout the day if I can. Sometimes I just want to eat the whole thing at once. I try to save my sweet tooth for breakfast (I read somewhere it is better to eat the sweets early so you don't crave them so much later).

usually it is peanut butter and jelly, goldfish crackers or cheeze its, applesauce or mixed fruit, and a cookie or two.

sometimes it is leftovers and sometimes a coworker shares his mom's homemade carne azada and other mexican favorites.

Wendy's

Not sure who is copying who here. Oh, and my name is Matthew too. But have you tried the Monster Trail Mix from Target? That is my favorite snack to store at my desk - a couple of handfuls at a time.

For me it is usually mobile events and classes that I am riding to... I often pack Polish dry cured sausage and sauerkraut in a separated storage container as it travels well and needs no refrigeration.

I've been trying to eat better this summer so often lunch is a variety of veggies (cucumber, celery, carrot, peppers, beans) and hummus with a fruit. Sometimes, when I think of it, I'll bring cheese too (a Canadian brand of good cheddar called Baldersons, generally 2yr old cheddar, don't want to pay the extra for the 5yr or 10yr except on special occasions).

I'll have a fruit for morning and afternoon break and a full meal for dinner.

I pack breakfast and lunch, reasoning that I'd rather ride the 6 miles to work then eat on the clock rather than eat breakfast quickly and ride to work. I'm a big fan of Greek yogurt or cottage cheese and fruit for breakfast, and lately it has been a lot of salads for lunch. Typically I'll grill chicken or sausage for dinner and toss the leftovers on some spinach and peppers for a quick and easy lunch the next day. Speaking of which, it's lunch time

I like to always pronounce "orangina" so that it rhymes with another word that ends with 'gina'

As for what I eat at lunchtime, sadly no 'gina of any kind. I keep bulk-bought noodle soups on hand (i.e. top ramen, noodle bowls), and big bags of frozen mixed veg in the freezer (we have some pretty ample communal fridge/freezer space), so I can have soup that is approaching nutritious. Also sometimes frozen burritos in the freezer. Also I bake bread so I keep sliced bread in the freezer and sliced cheese in the fridge, sometimes also cold cuts, so I can toast bread and have a cheese&mustard sandwich. I recently brought the unused panini press from home and have had some lovely 'grilled' cheese. Also other snack food that can be bought in bulk at costco: Sun Chips variety pack, flamin-hot variety pack, for breakfast instant oatmeal and pop tarts and coffee

Funny. I see your office-fridge comic and raise you a Dilbert...

I've had good luck with my food in the communal fridge, maybe because it's rarely ready-to-eat, but it needs like 60sec of prep. Whenever I bring leftovers from home I keep the container on my desk to warm up through the morning so it microwaves quicker at lunch (less microwave time = fewer rubbery bits)

Call me boring, but I have a turkey/ham and cheese sandwich with potato chips and a banana/apple everyday. I cut out soda years ago, so it's just water to drink.

I can't fathom why people would spend $5-$10 a day on buying lunch at a restaurant instead of $1-$3 on a packed lunch. That's potentially an extra $85 per week. It has nothing to do with health for me.

Exactly, I am so all about keeping long-term costs down. Going out once in a while to celebrate somebody's retirement or new baby or something, OK, but 3-5 times/week?! That's just flushing money down the toilet. Although your homemade sandwich and fresh fruit is probably a lot healthier than my noodle soup full of salt and MSG...

I just got back from a business trip, the 3-meal per-diem was $71. There was a Trader Joes near my hotel, I spent less than $10 for breakfasts for the whole trip, cafeteria lunches under $10 each, probably netted a couple hundy out of the whole deal.

I think this kind of thriftiness is tied to the mentality of the bike commuter: why pay $5+ per day for somebody else to make me a lunch, when I can make it nearly for free myself? Why pay $X per day on gasoline to move a multi-ton vehicle and myself between home and work when I can, with my own power, move a 30-lb bike and myself between home and work for free?

That's also why, even though I'm generally a techie, I have no interest in paying $30-50-??/mo (per person in my family) for smartphones, when I can buy a tracfone for $10 and spend $10-20 every few months to add minutes (which I never use). If I got a smartphone fully-paid as a work benefit, that would be a different matter, but to pay to be able to waste more time on mobile than I already waste on computers....it's just silly.