Working Lunch

[colinr]

I'm getting really bored of tuna-pasta-mayo salad but can't think what else to have for lunch at work. Any suggestions for low-fat and filling lunches?

No training goal here, just want something relatively healthy that isn't going to pile on the calories.

Criteria:

1. No bread, just not that keen on sandwiches
2. Has to be edible cold, no means of heating it up
3. Should be something I can make on Sunday night and divvy up into 5 portions for the week, so anything with meat has to be ok to keep refrigerated.

Suggestions welcome, help make my days more exciting

 

[lukesdad]

Your going to make it Sunday to last till friday?

 

[colinr]

Yep, tuppaware and fridge does ok.

 

[ASC1951]

Suggestions welcome, help make my days more exciting

Coming at this from a slightly different angle, but...

If you have a choice, I have always thought it is a Bad Thing to bring your lunch to work. I make it a point to leave the office for at least half an hour, whatever the weather.

I walk off to the market, wander round the fruit and veg stalls and buy whatever takes my fancy. A lot of fresh fruit. Some veg that you can eat raw, like tomatoes, carrots or courgettes. Wholemeal bun occasionally. Odd bits and pieces from the meat and fish market - a chicken drumstick, rollmop herring or something off the tripe stall (yes, really. Cold pressed chitterlings, with a bit of pepper and vinegar). So, loads of choice out there - the secret is not to make your mind up at home, particularly not a tupperware tub of the same stuff for a whole week!

Of course this won't be any good if you are on an industrial estate three miles out of town.

 

[ChrisKH]

Pasta salad. Cook up pasta the night before and throw in whatever you like.

Oh sorry, just realised you're sick of that.

 

[colinr]

Of course this won't be any good if you are on an industrial estate three miles out of town.

And guess where I work?

I can easily walk to Asda at lunch but their fresh produce isn't that impressive.

Pre-cooked pasta with whatever I feel like on the day is a good middle ground though.

 

[marooncat]

Not really much help but a variety on the tuna mayo and pasta is prawn cocktail (ie prawns in mayo with tomato ketchup) and pasta.

Have you tried cous cous? Can mix a variety of stuff with it (and I find that if I bung it all in a container before I leave home after the cycle ride to work it is well and truly mixed up)

 

[colinr]

Prawns is a good idea, I can grab ready-to-eat ones and lunch and stick them with the pre-cooked pasta. I love cous-cous, never though of doing it for lunch.

All good ideas thanks, sounds stupid but I get stuck in a mental rut over what will work.

 

[ASC1951]

And guess where I work?

Buggrit!

Yes, trundling into a supermarket is a very different experience from going round an open air market. I still reckon it is worth getting out in the middle of the day, even if it's only to grab one of their suspiciously shiny apples ("our customers prefer them like that, it's just our good luck that wax makes them keep for weeks").

Cold rice works as a base, too - but only for the next day. Things grow on it which don't grow on durum wheats like pasta and couscous.

Could your employers not invest in a pinger?

 

[colinr]

Could your employers not invest in a pinger?

We have one, but there's office politics involved in it's use. It's better for my sanity to pretend it isn't there.

 

[darkstar]

Why not just whip up a salad? Mix is up often with different meats, fish, dressings etc Nice and healthy and tasty when cold.

 

[colinr]

Because I'm quite fussy and I need carbs to fill me up, the appetite doesn't fade however much I try to cut down. It's nicer with fresh meat and the nearby Asda doesn't have a deli counter, bit too fancy for their crowd!

 

[Telemark]

as Marooncat says, couscous is excellent - pour over boiling water, stir, cover and 5 min later it's ready, so you can make it fresh, to last for a couple of days, and then repeat. I would get bored eating the same every day for 5 days

very nice with lots of different things, e.g.

+ olives, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce or rocket or whatever (and fresh herbs if you have any) + feta cheese or tuna or leftover cooked chicken

+ raisins, slivers of carrot, chopped walnuts, chickpeas and some moroccan spices and lemon joice

+ leftover ratatouille

or ...

also "freshly made":
a can of any type of cooked beans/chickpeas (not the "baked" variety), + any type of chopped vegetables/salad stuff, + salad dressing.
(I do that quite a lot, throw everything into a tupperware container in the evening, but take the dressing in a separate container and only mix it up just before eating, that way the veg + lettuce stay crunchy)

T

 

[02GF74]

Coming at this from a slightly different angle, but...

If you have a choice, I have always thought it is a Bad Thing to bring your lunch to work. I make it a point to leave the office for at least half an hour, whatever the weather.

I walk off to the market, wander round the fruit and veg stalls and buy whatever takes my fancy. A lot of fresh fruit. Some veg that you can eat raw, like tomatoes, carrots or courgettes.

Of course this won't be any good if you are on an industrial estate three miles out of town.

Agreed. I bring my lunch to work but at lunchtime will go for a run, cycle or walk into town - like you, I work on industrial estate and town is about 1.5 miles away.

I never eat at desk either - it is important to have a break, not to mention getting liquid or crums into the computer keyboards.

 

[colinr]

I always get away from the desk at lunch and get some fresh air. Couscous is definitely the way forwards, with a selection of things to add to it in my desk drawers, if there's room amongst my changes of clothes

+ raisins, slivers of carrot, chopped walnuts, chickpeas and some moroccan spices and lemon joice

That sounds especially good, thanks.