Feast At Your Desk

[Darrell]

I eat my lunch at my desk most days (usually while reading here at the same time truth be known). Quite frankly, I'm sick and tired of most of my usual menu options at this point which are either 1)leftovers 2)tuna 3)Ramen or 4)(when I'm loaded with cash which is almost never)fast food.

So for those of you who pack a lunch to work, what do you do to keep it interesting?

[C_Fresh]

I've been eating a fair amount of tuna recently myself. Most of the time I have some kind of pasta. Or sometimes ham/cheese. Used to eat PB&J a lot but got tired of it. I tend to make one thing a lot until I can't stand eating it any more.

[JoeR]

It's mostly leftovers for me, but sometimes we'll buy some good deli roast beef and I'll have that for a couple days. Sometimes a PB&J if there isn't much else to make.

I very rarely leave the office to get lunch. Some of us go out on Fridays for lunch when it isn't tax season.

I notice that some of my coworkers bring in small freezer items like taquitos or lean cuisine. Maybe you could try those? or Hot Pockets. (ok, kidding, cuz those are kind of gross)

[laurat99]

Hubby takes Healthy Choice or Marie Callendar's Steamer meals to work a lot. Between those and leftovers, he gets lots of variety.

Try Peanut butter and Nutella. Switch up your bread. Change your jelly.

Hummus on a tortilla with fresh vegetables is a great lo-cal option.

[JessB]

Egg salad
Chicken salad
Ham salad

Turkey/Ham/Roast beef on a gourmet bun with lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayo

Tortilla wraps

Boiled/devilled eggs

Frozen dinners

Your favorite canned soup or stew (Progresso makes some really good soups)

Chef Boyardee

Grilled chicken salad

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Mixing up your side dishes can help keep the lunch interesting.

To keep costs down, make your own fruit cups with whatever canned fruits you like.

Yogurts

Raw fruit

Raw veggies and dip

Cheese and crackers plate

Homemade cookies or muffins or whatever snacks/desserts you like

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Some tips to cut fast food costs:

Drink water. Soda is the single most expensive item item on the menu in that restaurants make the most money on the drinks. It is also bad for you.

If you have to have the soda sometimes, pack your own. It is less expensive.

Use coupons. If you get restaurant coupons in the mail or the newspaper, use them. My favorite sandwich from Arby's costs over $4.00 normally, but with a coupon, I can get 2/$4. I save the other one for later. That particular sandwich also has lots of veggies on it so it is more of a balanced meal and also more filling.

If you do choose fast food, get something you didn't get last time to keep the variety.

[Mommy2Kids]

My husband takes Hormel Completes or leftovers. I used to take homemade deli-style sandwiches or big salads with stuff to add on the side. Or a candy bar and Diet Coke from the vending machine.

[Elijah Craig]

I work from home. My kitchen is downstairs.

[drvenkman]

I find what's on sale/coupons at the grocery store, make something, and bring that to work. Some weeks, ground beef is on sale, so I'll make burgers or tacos. Another week (or over the course of a few), chicken and pasta sauce is on sale, so I'll make a chicken pasta dish. If deli meat is on sale, I'll make sandwiches.

My occasional splurge is making large one-pot meals that my wife doesn't like and using that for a week to week-and-a-half for lunches.

[drvenkman]

And ditto on the progresso soups. One of my fallbacks is cooking up some ground sausage (freezes well) and mixing it in the progresso lentil soup. I get 2 lunches per can that way.

[senda wales]

(03-09-2012 10:18 AM)Elijah Craig Wrote:  I work from home. My kitchen is downstairs.

I work from home. My kitchen is down the hall. I frequently work from the kitchen.