REALLY quick lunch ideas

[brikis98]

I'm currently doing a cut and have been able to do very healthy breakfasts, snacks and dinner. However, lunch has been a struggle. At work, our cafeteria/kitchen will be under construction for a while, so you either need to bring your own lunch or go out. I brought a lunch a few times - a sandwich, yogurt and fruit - but the rest of the time, I've been going out, and it's VERY tough to eat healthy when you don't know what's in your food.

I have very little time in the morning to prepare a lunch (< 10 min) and I'm already tired of the simple sandwiches I make. What are some healthy lunch ideas that I can throw together in a matter of minutes?


EDIT --> forgot to mention - I can't just take left-overs from the previous night's dinner because (1) there often are none, as my gf and I rarely cook large portions and (2) there is no microwave or any way to heat up food at work as the kitchen is under construction.

 

[purbeast0]

cook a bunch of chicken breasts at night and bring it to eat the next day, and save the extra for the following days.

i personally eat cold cut sandwiches pretty much every day for lunch w/yogurt.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
cook a bunch of chicken breasts at night and bring it to eat the next day, and save the extra for the following days.

i personally eat cold cut sandwiches pretty much every day for lunch w/yogurt.

see the edit - there is no where to heat up food at work now. i guess i could eat cold chicken, but i'm not sure i'd be a fan of that :-\

 

[Kaido]

Make sandwiches -

Whole wheat or whole grain bread, sub rolls, tortilla wraps
Lettuce, baby spinach
Tomatoes, Pickles
Mustard, mayo
Meat - sliced chicken, turkey, ham, roast beef

They're fine eaten cold or at room temperature. Add some baked chips and fruit and you're all set

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

Well, I can't think of any good foods for you to bring atm but if you eat out you can get one of those chicken wraps at mcdonalds and a thing of yogurt or salad. That wouldn't be too bad.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Perhaps take a different approach to the problem? which foods you enjoy, I obviously don't know, however, a generalized plan can still be implemented.

Take Sunday for instance, with 90 minutes or so in the kitchen, you can make lunches for the whole work week. Even hot foods aren't completely eliminated, because the right thermos will hold some tasty stuff and keep it hot till lunch. Just heat it in the nuker before leaving in the morning, and put it in the thermos.

Some cold lunch ideas for the week include-egg, tuna, or chicken salad, for use in a sandwich or by themselves. Cold pasta and pasta salads are good options too, Some healthy hot foods include soups, stews, pasta, chili, and meatball sub. Just make healthy versions of the dishes, many recipes out there, do all the prep for the week on sunday, then refrigerate and use through out the week.

For the meatballs, just use lean meat/s *ground chicken breast and bison make for a good base*, add your favorite jarred sauce, nuke and thermos before leaving, and bring the roll and stuff with you.

Just some ideas I'm throwing out there, because when people constrain themselves with things like, "not much time in the morning" and "can't heat anything at work" it is usually because they just couldn't see the forest for all the trees in their way. From what I've read of you, you aren't the lazy type, so a bit of weekly lunch planning, and kitchen work time on the weekends shouldn't put you off.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
Perhaps take a different approach to the problem? which foods you enjoy, I obviously don't know, however, a generalized plan can still be implemented.

Take Sunday for instance, with 90 minutes or so in the kitchen, you can make lunches for the whole work week.

you know, i'm not generally an idiot, but somehow that approach didn't occur to me... for some reason, the only concept i considered was having to prepare lunch the night before or the morning of, and that just doesn't work well during my ridiculously busy weekdays. sometimes the simplest solution is the hardest to see i guess

i think i'll give this approach a shot - I'll reserve some time this Sunday to cook up a batch of something I can eat just for lunch the rest of the week. any more recipe ideas that can reasonably last a week are welcome

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Do any combo of 2 or 3 healthy dishes you like for a week. Obviously eating chicken salad every day for a week would get old by Wednesday. I use the multi-grain higher protein pasta *store brands work fine* with pasta dishes, and eating it cold with kidney beans, chick peas, colored bell peppers, some fresh herbs, sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and tossed with EV olive oil and balsamic vinegar is good stuff. Low-fat mayo, olive oil, plain yogurt, healthy stuff like that, I use for bases. I don't pay any attention to sodium though, I sweat a lot here in Florida, and my BP has aways been excellent. .