Everyday Systems

Ok, well not really...
but it's the meal I have the most trouble with. I have breakfast and dinner nailed down, and both are balanced and healthy. (My major is dietetics, so I also try to have a balanced diet within my 3 meals). Salad with some sort of protein and some crackers would be an ideal lunch, but salad fixings go bad SO quickly that I'd constantly have to buy fresh. Sandwich with a piece of fruit would be easy, but then the only time I'm getting any veggies is at dinner, and I'm not happy with that, either.

Any ideas?

Jocelyn,

I buy salad greens at farmers market every saturday, I rinse and keep them in my large salad spinner in the basket ... red leaf lettuce, arugla, baby romaine, sorrel, butter lettuces, lamb's quarter... I often create a mix ... that seems to keep them fresh so I can have salad through the week, another way is to wash the greens and wrap in damp paper towels in a plastic container.

I usually have a salad for either lunch or dinner and keeping the salad greens either way holds them all week, plus already having washed them it makes the salad much easier to prepare during the week.

Another great thing are Amy's bowls ... www.amys.com ....actually anything Amys and glad/ziploc steaming bags. I steam veggies in the microwave and then mix with olive oil salt and pepper.

Yum yum!

Blueskighs

I have trouble with lunch, too. I don't leave the office for lunch, so that makes it a bit harder. Someone will usually go out and pick something up for everyone, but the choices are exactly the foods we should try to avoid. A salad does not satisfy me until supper. I guess frozen low calorie meals might be okay. Like you, I don't have a problem at breakfast or supper, only lunch.

Lunch is my hardest meal to get right, too. I have breakfast down (oatmeal made from milk with almond butter mixed in and fruit on top) and dinner comes naturally out as dinner (protien, carbs, veggie) But lunch... brown bagging it....always feels a bit like a snack to me, and it's the hours after the sandwitch and apple that are the hardest for me to get through.

I wish there were time to go somewhere and have a nice, sit-down lunch, but at my job its always on the fly, adding to the snacky-feeling.

what I do, somethimes, which helps, is to make a big pot of chilli on the weekend. Really load it up with beef and beens and tons and tons of veggies. Chilli and an apple, even on the fly, does feel more like lunch than a snack.

Betty

Lunch is my hardest meal to get right, too. I have breakfast down (oatmeal made from milk with almond butter mixed in and fruit on top) and dinner comes naturally out as dinner (protien, carbs, veggie) But lunch... brown bagging it....always feels a bit like a snack to me, and it's the hours after the sandwitch and apple that are the hardest for me to get through.

I wish there were time to go somewhere and have a nice, sit-down lunch, but at my job its always on the fly, adding to the snacky-feeling.

what I do, somethimes, which helps, is to make a big pot of chilli on the weekend. Really load it up with beef and beens and tons and tons of veggies. Chilli and an apple, even on the fly, does feel more like lunch than a snack.

Betty

I am a creature of habit and so I eat Lean Cuisine for lunch everyday. Even on my S Days. There are so many varieties to choose from and I have only found 2 or 3 that I wouldn't buy again. They also have pizzas, paninis, and any kind of other cuisine you like such as asian, mexican, italian, and american. They are the ONLY frozen foods that I really like and think has a good taste.

Lunch, at least on weekdays, seems to be the hardest one for all of us. At least if we work outside the home. I have my own Organic Grocery store and I still find it hard to figure out my lunch each day!
I usually have a piece of fruit, some cheese and crackers and a granola bar. I don't treat this granola bar as a sweet, because it only has 5g of sugar. I am trying to figure out some other things too, as I do get tired of eating the same thing everyday.

Soup! I love soup for lunch. I usually make at least two batches of soup every week. One will be more vegetable based; one more bean based. It's incredibly easy to make and pretty much takes care of itself once you get ingredients in the pot. It can be done in as little as 30 minutes or can cook for several hours. It's really a time (and money) saver.

Soup with bread or a sandwich (half or whole) plus fruit makes a great lunch. I might add a salad instead of or in addition to the sandwich.

Soup can be heated early and put in a thermos or heated in the microwave.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... 1091/print
The Garlicky Tomato Soup base used in the recipes is really good and there are a lot more variations than those mentioned.

Great things about soup:
You get your veggies (and even greens such as cabbage, kale, spinach escarole can be added)

You can get protein in the form of meat, fish, poultry or beans

You don't have to make huge amounts.

In this thread is a soup formual I use most of the time:
http://everydaysystems.com/bb/viewtopic ... 62d8e02380

Lunch is my wild card as well. As a partner, I am often (3 or 4 days a week) expected to participate in business lunches.

I would say the lion's share of my calories are eaten at lunch, salad dressings etc, they add up quickly in restaurants.

I keep a back up of "better" frozen meals, kashi, Amy's and even a few Lean Cuisine spa meals for the days I can eat in, I add a piece of fruit and call it good.

I plan leftovers from dinner, and figure out a few "back-up" meals for when there aren't any.

I also plan an "entree," (could be a sandwich), and 2 veggie/fruits (could be a carrot and an apple) each day. Somehow, three different items is just more satisfying to me.

Other ideas...
- keep single-serve pre-packaged applesauce or canned fruit for the end of the week when you've run out of fresh
- plan a couple of meals that are "big" (black bean chili is a favorite of mine) that you can portion and freeze for back-up lunches
- I also plan a couple of meals per week that will give me a few days of leftovers. A big casserole or pasta dish, that kind of thing.

If I do have PB&J, I have it on really good bread, with all-natural PB and my favorite jam. Good bread really makes a difference in how satisfying it is!

If you're not already eating it for breakfast, oatmeal makes a healthy and convenient default lunch:

http://everydaysystems.com/podcast/episode.php?id=23

(apologies if you've seen this already).

Reinhard

My standard lunch is a sandwich with a protein filling (egg, cheese, left over dinner meat, cold meat), fruit, 2 veggies - chunk of cucumber / carrot / celery / pepper / tomato.

This gives me 2 veggies and a fruit for lunch and the combination fills me till dinner.

I'm in the same boat.. And my choices are a bit more limited since I'm vegan.

But I do eat alot of soups....black bean, veggie, split pea, etc. Even though it's getting warmer outside my office building is always freezing so soups or hot meals are welcome. I also do left overs..which usually consists of pasta or stir-fries. I would love to eat salads at work but it's just too cold in my office.

Meikmeika

If you're going to be committed to eating fresh veggies, I think you may have to suck up buying them frequently.

I combine this with Urban Ranger and just walk to the local market a couple of times a week.

It works out okay for me.

I wrote on another thread that I used to just have a slice of cheese and an apple and 'wonder' why I was so hungry that I would spend all afternoon thinking about food. I just ate my new type of lunch: a sandwich on multigrain bread. Today I put tofu bacon, Swiss cheese and tapenade between the bread. It might sound a bit strange, but it works for me.

Airen08 wrote:I am a creature of habit and so I eat Lean Cuisine for lunch everyday. Even on my S Days. There are so many varieties to choose from and I have only found 2 or 3 that I wouldn't buy again. They also have pizzas, paninis, and any kind of other cuisine you like such as asian, mexican, italian, and american. They are the ONLY frozen foods that I really like and think has a good taste.

Me too! I've found they really help me maintain/lose weight. And I actually LIKE most of them! Especially the ones with spiniach, mmm.

I've only just started eating them on the weekends, but I think that will help keep my weekends NOT out-of-control..