Lunch food for work.
I need help coming up with ideas for lunch food for my everyday at the office. I'm tired of spending money eating out, I'd like to save some money.
However, I've tried things like making simple sandwiches, from PB&J's to salami/ham with mustard and the taste just isn't how it was when I was a kid. Looking for things I can make during breakfast to take for lunch.
Of course I could bring frozen dinners but I am looking for things to actually make to eat later.
>>7099249
get you some of those divided tupperware trays and pack an actual meal like you would make at home
deviled ham, ham salad, tuna salad, chicken salad. either by itself or in the packages that come with a plastic spoon and crackers
fruit cups, beenie weenie in the little cans
trail mix
pastas
>>7099263
That's horrifying.
>>7099267
/thread
every night i cook for 4 basically so me and bf have lunches. it takes barely more time to make more of one meal and it takes double the time to sit down and make two, so this is time efficient
>>7099295
er.... stand up and make two*?
Personally I usually have a rye bread sandwich with cheese and ham for dinner, but sometimes I might either cook some extra oatmeal porridge in the morning (in the microwave) or make some cold porridge (greek yoghurt with oatmeals, put it to soften up in the morning when arriving at work). There's also an oven at my working place so I sometimes make oven porridge, straight into a plate.
And lastly, as said, frozen stuff in tupperware packages is a good.
>>7099295
OP here, I am by myself here, so I often don't cook "big"
Is there a nukebox? Howsabout a freezer?
>>7099336
so start cooking and storing the leftovers as lunches
>>7099406
at work there is both (microwave, fridge/freezer), same as home, no oven at work.
also i never made soups or strews before. The closest thing I ever made was hamburger helper.
>>7099507
soups and stews arent difficult. just flavor the water with chicken or beef stock/cubes/ whatever. usually add tomato sauce and then add your choice of pasta, veggies, meats, or whatever.
>>7099507
So you've both. Good.
Then keep some instant rice at work.
You can make a meal-sized (rather than side-dish-sized) portion of fakemeout pilaf that takes nine minutes to cook up: one to heat the water and dried onion, four cooking it in the microwave and four cooling it off enough to eat.
Keep some frozen or dried veg, some dried onion, stock cubes/powder, some instant rice and some butter or oil at work. Powdered spices aren't a bad idea, either.
When it's time for lunch, get a cup of water, a stock cube and any hard dried veg (IE not tomatoes) you intend to use. For maximum taste, always use dried onion/leek/scallion.
Put all these into a 4-cup/1-litre/1-quart container/bowl, putting in an additional tablespoon of water for each tablespoon of dried veg.
Nuke it all for a minute or two.
When out of the microwave, add butter or oil, some spices, some frozen veg (if using) and/or dried tomatoes and a cup of rice to the water.
Some spices that work well are curry powder, good quality turmeric powder, cumin powder, garlic powder, green chilli powder and paprika, but most any would be find. Find a combination or blend that suits your tastes.
Stir to combine, pushing any rice bits that come out of the water and up the side of the container/bowl back into the water.
Nuke it four minutes.
Take it out and allow to cool a bit.
Fluff up and eat.
It's fairly satisfying, pretty cheap and only about 500-600 calories.
You can also add bits of cooked meat, of course. A good idea is to go to your deli and ask them to cut you a hunk of chicken or turkey. You can cube/dice it up yourself to add to your fakemeout pilaf at the same time you add your rice and stuff to the water.
Would you like some other suggestions?
>>7099647
many suggestions would be lovely, i'm still taking in this first one
>>7099703
Sure.
WaiWai is a noodle manufacturer. They make several sorts of noodles, the best of which, IMO, is their rice noodles. They're so thin, they cook in just a minute or two. You can buy them in 500g packages at Asian grocery stores.
Anyway, nuke three cups of water to boiling, add a leaf of the noodles (they come in five, 100g nest-like leaves) and lid the container to soak a few minutes, then drain.
While still hot and wet, cut the noodles with a pair of scissors then pour out into a bowl.
Top with finely crushed peanuts, stock powder, oil, crisp-fried shallots, dried green onion or chive flakes, dried coriander/cilantro flakes and frozen veg.
Mix through then nuke an additional minute.
There are also wheat-based noodles that cook with similar speed, but they're usually far more expensive. Both wheat and rice noodles like this can be used to make instant soups. Just be sure to add dried veg to your water while it's heating up before adding your noodles.
Hot dogs and buns with some chili beans (from a can) and a side salad is a good idea, too. Keep a bit of vinegar, mustard and olive oil at work so you can make a vinaigrette to order with your salad.
Simply put all your washed salad veg into a liddable container, add a spoonful of mustard, three of vinegar, five of oil and salt to taste.
Lid the container and shake to mix your vinaigrette. I use dessert spoons for one serving. That would be two tsp of mustard, six of vinegar and ten of oil or roughly half, one and a half and two tablespoons, respectively.
As for things you can make just before work: bacon, scrambled egg and cheese wraps are a good one since eggs are great both for breakfast and for lunch. Just be sure to have some fruit or veg with it, too, like a salad (as mentioned above) or some grapes or something.
Cap cai, (Indonesian version of "chop suey" and is pronounced nearly the same way), is a good meal to prepare at home to eat with rice at work.
Want tips on how?
One thing I recommend is be very careful about the type of lunchbox you store your food in. I've been experimenting by watching my co-workers reactions to my different lunchbox types for some time now and here is what I have found
>Clear plastic container
No real reaction. However, this allows EVERYONE to see what you are consuming, which is bad in my opinion as they are likely to judge you. Especially as I often eat raw cream cheese which looks bad in the container. Not a bad choice if you eat salads.
>Metal lunchbox in the style of a construction worker
You get strange looks. And unfair comments. One of my co-workers thought it would be funny to slap my head then tell me "you should have had your hard hat on". I wouldn't do this.
>Sectioned plastic lunchbox
Many people complimented my taste, and sensibility in choosing such a lunchbox, so I would say this is a good choice and very useful.
>Fabric soft lunchbox
I don't like this. It keeps collapsing and makes getting food out difficult which draws attention. Avoid
>Lunch straight out of backpack, foil wrapping
People look at you oddly due to the size of the backpack but they look away quickly as they can't see through the foil
>Lunch straight out of backpack, clingfilm wrapping
Same problem as above but people watch you unwrap the food, so avoid if you dislike attention
>Japanese made bento box
Got a few questions about it that were mostly complimentary
I know this isn't what you really asked for OP, but if you have a place where you can do a light prep (just a counter in the lunch room worked for me), I used to bring things to make sandwiches and keep them in the fridge there. Making the sandwich fresh right there at work always made it much more appealing to me than if it just sat there premade in the fridge all morning with the bread getting cold and soggy, the tuna drying out etc. If you can trust your coworkers not to get into your stuff, that is. Also you can open some pickles and chips to go with. Yum.
>>7099889
>keep them in the fridge there
the ingredients, not the sandwiches
>>7099823
Is this autism?
I think this is autism
>>7099823
jesus christ REEEEE
Pkg of microwave rice
Can of soup such as chunky vegetable beef, pour your soup over the rice. Really good, stick to your ribs, hot meal for this time of year. Not too expensive and it is something off the beaten path.
>>7099249
Rice or lentils-based dishes.
They'll get you full extremely easily.
>>7099823
wtf senpai
>>7099895
>>7099982
>>7101765
>
> HELPFUL ANON: Well reasoned and researched post, on-topic photo included, properly formatted and easy to read post, providing useful information.
> JR HIGH: "hurr durr, autistic!"
/b/ is thataway --->
>>7099249
make a salad, dude:
mixed greens
sliced cucumber
diced tomato
smashed avocado
onion
chick peas
corn
a protein like sliced grilled chicken or lean steak
sprinkle with steak seasoning
apple cider vinegar
cayenne pepper
tastes so good, smells so good, it's cheap, it's healthy, you'll probably lose some weight and save some money.
>>7103300
When do you prepare that? I mean grilling chicken seems like too much work in the morning, but preparing the day before i would say that the veggies get each other messy.
Which kinda reminds me, those of you who take leftovers to work, what foods do you prepare? I'd rather not eat anything whole day than to eat dem terrible fries/rice/mashed potatoes ruined by refridgerating and then microwaving it
>>7099249
I made chili with three types of beans and ground turkey and corn and it lasted me 4 days, ate it for lunch at work every day and by the third day one of our accountants noticed how miserable I was and slipped me ten bucks
I got a publix sub with that ten bucks and it was the best thing I ever ate
I like how she knows the struggle of eating canned food. Canned food is only for old people in war time.
>>7103492
You can grill the chicken in advance without having to assemble the whole salad in advance, bro.
Grill the chicken. Put it in the fridge. Then, whenever you want to make the salad just take out the grilled chicken along with your veggies, etc and assemble it.
>>leftovers to work
Stews, soups, chili, etc. Those reheat very well.
>Not bringing your own personal cheese to work
>Not having piggin tea breaks to call yourself during the spin war
Fucking switch it up bro.
Try wraps, burritos, leftover homemade pizza, pasta or soup in a thermos. As a bachelor one of my moves is to make a massive meal one day of the week, eat it for dinner, and eat the left overs for a couple of days afterwards. If it's something like chili throw in a sandwich or wrap. Variety is the spice of life my friend.
Other people have good suggestions in here too.
>>7099823
thank you anon
very interesting
>>7103508
>work at a place with accountants
>scumming off them for lunch
You're a janitor right?
>>7099295
D-d-do you have big boobies?
>>7099336
Fetuccini Alfredo with chicken is always a good choice. Just make enough for 2 meals the night before, and it actually reheats in the microwave (assuming you're in an office setting) pretty well.
What I normally do in a pinch, is grab a cheap bag of salad and shove it in a Tupperware container.
Then I slap on some ham/chicken/turkey from the counter (usually reduced because fuck paying full price).
Then I buy some Olives and/or cheese. Something nice like Brie or Stilton, and I take some of those and chuck it on the salad.
Then if I have a little Olive oil handy, I'll spinkle a little on, and maybe some mixed seeds too.
You can also grab some vacuum sealed beetroot and some goat's cheese and whip up a nice salad for cheap.
