Bring Your Lunch to Work Club

I hope you are all having a wonderful lunch today that you packed from home :slight_smile:

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I ate all week * from Sunday night’s leftovers as there were a lot. Took them in Monday and kept in the office fridge.

  • Most weeks I go in only three days and work the rest from home.
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Friday and yesterday we had celebrations at work where lunch was provided. Today, I’ll have oatmeal I keep in my desk. I also brought peanut butter, walnuts and chocolate chips to put in my oatmeal. It fills me up for the day and is also quick and tasty.

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I prepped vegetables on Sunday. I also remembered to defrost chicken on Sunday night, so on Monday I was able to bake chicken and pumpkin. This morning (Tuesday) I made us chicken & salad buns for lunch, and remembered to pack some extra veg for me. Everyone also got a piece of fruit. Absolutely nailing it today. We do so much better when we actually chop and wash all the vegetables so we have it available to eat over the week.

Does brown rice freeze well? I’m thinking of cooking it up and freezing it in lunch-sized batches, and taking one out each morning and adding the toppings before I pack it up for DH.

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Yes , brown rice does freeze well. It thaws better if you can flatten rather than freezing in a lump - maybe between sheets of waxed paper if you’re avoiding plastic bags?

After an extended long weekend I brought in my lunch and then remembered that I have half day training today and lunch is to be provided. So I guess I have lunch for tomorrow.

Also, I think this is the last week with broccoli for a while. Need to figure out another good vegetable for my bowls.

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Thanks! I think I can riff off that - don’t want to take peanuts to the office in case of allergies.

I love people like you.

I should warn you that I am that person who takes tuna to the office. And fish allergies are as bad as peanuts. And now I’m questioning my tuna-for-lunch plans…

What else goes into your bowls? I’m thinking bok choy plus mushrooms, or sweet potatoes might be good.

Bowls have been very basic since August when I got back into a routine: rice, meat, roasted broccoli, and a dressing or cheese of some kind. Sometimes there is edamame or bell peppers.

I am only getting lunches done if I prep everything on Sunday. My evenings do not have reliable spoons, and I tend not to have leftovers from the dinners I make these days.

Broccoli has the advantage of being inexpensive, available frozen and requiring limited prep, and providing a decent amount of bulk (unlike frex frozen spinach)

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Carrots and brussels sprouts are available frozen and are imminantly roastable. Head cabbage is not usually available frozen, but it takes approximately 90 seconds to cut up a head of cabbage up into cubes of roasting size – either green or red works.

Edit: why, autocorrect?

Maybe a frozen stir fry mix? A lot of them include broccoli but then at least it’s not the only vegetable.

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yes. and this is where I get all princessy. I can’t swallow cooked carrots without gagging, and brussel sprouts and cabbage are going to trigger the same brain complaints as broccoli. And green beans are not quite as bad as cooked carrots, but almost.

I should probably just go beige and white food for December. Maybe a bit of tomato and corn and be very tex mex.

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cubed sweet potato is very good in bowls, though you do have to roast it or cook it somehow…?

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Tomatoes are healthy!

ETA you could add in a frozen pepper and onion mix.

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Yes - I love sweet potatoes in bowls, I just always feel like I am cheating because carb on carb.

Not saag paneer because it didn’t have any paneer. Not butter chicken because lots of spinach and no cream. But something between the two plus roasted sweet potatoes on rice for lunch this week.

Since Monday and Friday were both supposed to be eating out and both are rescheduled, I will be eating this all week.

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I sent Ponder to work with half a rolled mango chicken & veg, and a tub of frozen brown rice. The mango chicken was pre-made from the local butcher and worked a treat. We got 2 and serve him half of one at a time, plenty of protein. The brown rice seems to freeze well in the plastic tubs I use and defrosts nicely too, especially if served with something saucy.

Last night I made hardboiled eggs and ramen noodles for dinner. I’m eating it for lunch today, and now know we need to buy some tiny sauce containers for the soy sauce and kewpie mayo. I didn’t try any of the fancier noodle sauces last night but I feel confident enough in the rest of the meal that I can be next week!

I also have 300mL of hommus to eat. Yuuuum.

ETA: Oh AND I remembered to make overnight coffee last night, so Ponder can have an iced coffee every morning this week.

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I cheated and came home for lunch. And stayed all afternoon. It’s amazing how much more work I get done when I’m not at work.

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