Well I’ve I a stay at home mom so I eat lunch at home all the time. My husband works from home a couple of days a week as well and he benefits from some of the things that I do and make. Hands-down the easiest thing you can do to set your week off right is spend one or two hours on a Sunday meal prepping. Chop all your vegetables, cook a big batch of rice chicken breast ground turkey or beef whatever you want. I do this every single week and I meal plan dinners for my family so that nothing is bought and doesn’t get used no money wasted etc. but I also meal plan lunches for myself. There are a whole bunch of things that I would eat throughout the week for lunch
Tuna salad in a bowl and I spread it on celery sticks
Guacamole on toast with a side of hard-boiled eggs and berries
Lean ground turkey wraps with avocados salsa sautéed peppers and onions
Chicken breast on a salad that is usually made up of cucumbers tomatoes olives feta and peppers or arugula with strawberries blueberries cucumbers pumpkin seeds dried cranberries etc.
Salmon or Basa in the air fryer for seven minutes with a side of rice and chopped cucumbers
Fry up some peppers onions broccoli throw it over a bowl of rice and top it with chicken breast like a stirfry with soy sauce
Chicken and veggie quesadillas with plain Greek yoghurt and salsa to dip
Pasta salad, just go easy on the pasta, and heavy on the vegetables. Heavy enough on protein as you like.
Cottage cheese salad: cottage cheese, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, a little garlic powder and parsley if you have it. I like kalamata olives and a little feta, and lots of black pepper.
Veggie stir fry with or without rice and ramen eggs.
If you have a mandolin, thin sliced zucchini, quickly sauteed with olive.oil and garlic, top with a little parm, salt and pepper. With whatever protein you want.
Tuna salad with extra veggies. I put the normal celery, onion, pickles in there, just a lot of it in there. Sometimes I add a bunch of diced cucumber and kimchi. My granddaughter can't have gluten, so I always have cauliflower crackers around. Or chickpea chips.
Honestly I just double the veg in everything. It's an easy way to lower the fat and calories, and put more fiber in everything.
Things that I do for lunches when working from home, although I'm not calorie counting.
Leftovers from dinner the night before - perhaps serve a smaller portion
Omelettes - add veg like spinach and mushrooms
Soup - could add some toast
Salad with leftover protein from the night before
Fruit and yoghurt
Yes, these sound perfect! I especially like the breakfast for lunch ideas, and I’m totally gonna be eating a lot of leftovers. We already always make huge dinners, even though there’s only two of us, specifically so there are always a lot of leftovers.
I’ve been eating a simple lunch of grapes + cheese + salami + baguette lately. Super quick to put together and like a personal charcuterie board! It’s hard for me to eat more than that in the summer. Its easy to mix it up week to week with a different fruit or type of cheese so you don’t get bored
> I’ve been eating a simple lunch of grapes + cheese + salami + baguette lately
I packed a similar lunch for my wife and the calories ended up being way higher than I expected, the items can be pretty calorie dense while not being as filling!
+1 here. I do "Adult Lunchables" often. Usually heavy on veggies like cucumber, carrots, sprouts...and mix in with hardboiled eggs I make by the dozen on Sunday, some shredded rotisserie chicken or lean deli turkey, and cheese. Sometimes I use triscuits, but often just put the meat/cheese right on a slice of cucumber. Cottage cheese on the side.
This is an awesome idea, I’m excited to try it! I love doing a little DIY charcuterie board, sometimes my partner and I go to the store and buy slightly higher end charcuterie type items, and then have an at-home charcuterie board date. Been a while since we’ve done that, so thanks for reminding me lol.
If you have an air fryer - I’ve really been enjoying these pizzas lately, for a quick healthy-ish lunch. Use a carb balance tortilla for a solid protein and fiber boost and add whatever toppings you like. I do onion, bell pepper, broccoli and rotisserie chicken.
[air fryer tortilla pizza](https://reallifenutritionist.com/air-fryer-tortilla-pizza/)
I’m not calorie counting. Just tracking my protein. But these are some of my go-to meals.
Since it’s the summer. Salads, I know you said you’re not a fan. It’s been in the 90’d here all week so I just want something cold. lol
Wraps with tuna or chicken. Maybe a chicken buffalo wrap, or tuna salad wrap.
Leftovers if we have them.
I’ll do some food prepping where I’ll make chicken and freeze it. I’ll also make rice and portion it out and freeze it. I’ll chop up some vegetables to throw in a salad or bowl. And have frozen vegetables and sometimes throw the bag in the microwave to steam them. I’ll also make beans or lentils to throw in something to get some more protein and fiber in. I like to make a bean salad that I can throw in a bowl or salad as well. That way it takes less time with the prepping. (I’m just throwing whatever in bowls and salads)
In the winter I was hyper fixated on making ramen. I just used a packet of the cheap ramen. Tossed the seasoning. Added cooked chicken and frozen vegetables, and chili crisp oil, and Cajun seasoning. It was so good I made it almost every day. lol
Get a rice cooker and make a thing of rice. I typically rotate between three things, each of which take about 20 mins to prep:
stir-fried chicken teriyaki (rice with thin chicken breast or tenderloin, chop it up, stir fry it with frozen peppers and onions, throw in some bottled teriyaki, add chopped frozen broccoli if you want more veggies)
Mexican “chipotle” bowl (rice with can of black beans, stir fry some chopped thin chicken breast with frozen peppers and onions, add a little salsa/hot sauce, sour cream, guacamole as desired)
Mediterranean bowl (chop tomatoes, zucchini, onions, marinate it in basalmic and olive oil, place on a baking sheet. Place salmon, chicken, tilapia, or another fish of choice on another baking sheet. Throw it in the oven at 400 for like 15-20 minutes, then just pour it over rice, add feta or whatever else if you want)
Once I got the hang of it I’ll just make 2 batches of 3-4 Tupperware bowls of the above, 1 batch on Monday and 1 on Wednesday, and that’s 6-8 solid easy, cheap, healthy meals for less than an hour of work a week.
You just reminded me I have a tuna thing. Trader Joe’s has these packets of Indian food vegetables you microwave for 1 minute. I poor that into tuna and there’s like no fish taste left. It’s surprisingly tasty.
Prep ahead components and combine daily to mix one protein, one whole carb, and about half veggies.
Separately simmer up lentils and farro or other grain (or skip the grain), they both keep well about two weeks. Prep ahead roast veggies - sweet potato cubes, Brussels, roast mushrooms - whatever you like, and storage time will depend. Frozen broccoli and cauliflower are quick to prep but don’t keep well. Prep ahead cut up, oiled, salted, massaged kale. Keeps perfectly 3-4 days.
Mix in any ratio and top with a cube of soft goat’s or sheep’s cheese. Instant lunch, great fiber and protein. You can pop a fried egg on top, play with flavor profiles (feta, olives, capers / furokake, soy)… Possibilities are endless.
I buy the ramen boxes at Costco and don't use the flavoring, just ramen with peanut butter and soy sauce plu any protein or veggie (usually leftovers) is perfect for me. Quick and great
A rice cooker that has stay warm feature you can buy the mini ones or small , I like sandwiches can be toasted and healthy canned soups , frozen samosas , curries cooked in batches, Japanese potato salad and frozen fish like salmon that can be cooked from frozen quickly
I'm fond of making grilled cheese with some spinach inside. I use whit cheddar and mozzarella. Not the healthiest, but it's a good way to get green veggies in, and using whole wheat bread doesn't make the sandwich any less tasty.
Savory grits? I like doing a quick sautee of the greens (kale, collards, mustard), adding in instant grits and then adding water and broth. Takes just a few minutes to cook up. Ratio for me ends up being about half and half, but you could go heavier on the vegetables if you wanted.
Stir fry or fried rice could work well if you already have rice cooked.
Donal Skehan and Jamie Oliver both have some 15 minute recipes, though some do require a bit more cook time, and I am not sure if that is too far away from just microwaving. The other thing would be to... how to describe this... the grocery store has the already prepped stuff that you just pop in and cook? Prep like that so that you only have the final cook day of at lunch time. So they have citrus shrimp and vegetables as one of the meals, so that the shrimp is prepped and seasoned, the vegetables are chopped, so day of, you toss oil in the pan, add the veg, cook them for a few, add the shrimp, cook til done and eat. All my local grocery stores have tons of these, so peeking at what and how they prep (chicken/eggplant parmesan, stroganoff, miso salmon, fettucine, pot pie, roast, stuffed peppers, lasagna) could be a good way to figure out how to make what you want to cook in the short cook time you have.
Also, batch cook and freeze a vegetable soup in portions. Take out one to thaw in the morning, and you can heat up as a vegetable side to your lunch.
I will look up those 15 minute recipes, and check out instant grits. I have also tried savory oatmeal, and I could probably do that the way you’re saying to do grits, to mix it up sometimes.
If you do savory oatmeal I highly recommend cooking it in stock (I use better than bouillon) with a hefty dose of soy sauce. I needed that to make the oatmeal not taste bland to me. It's converted my very skeptical partner!
I work from home most (roughly 75%) of the time I’ve worked for my current company the last 16 years. I mainly make big dinners for the family, and I typically eat those as leftovers the next day
Salads!! My current favorite is spinach leaves, dried blueberries, fresh strawberries, feta cheese, nuts (walnuts or pecans or whatever I have), sunflower or pumpkin seeds, and whatever else you want.
I find I get enough protein from the nuts, seeds, and cheese. I don’t eat much meat anymore but chicken or shrimp would be delicious to boost the protein.
I usually have less time to make lunch at home so if you need a couple really fast ideas, here are a few of my favorite go-to’s:
Cottage cheese topped with half a chopped apple and 2 tbsp pepitas (high protein, I like the salt/sweet combo)
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced up and sprinkled with furikake (it’s a yummy seaweed and sesame seed topper) or drizzled with sriracha and sprinkled with everything bagel seasoning. Some cheese and fruit or veggies on the side.
Siggi’s skyr yogurt (has 15g of protein) with a couple teaspoons of chia seeds stirred in. And a slice of peanut butter toast with banana slices.
The first two are under 400 cals. The last one is higher due to peanut butter so you would need to be mindful of the portion size on that. I eat it when I’m behind on calories anyway.
Slow cooker/instant pot/rice cooker recipes work well for this.
Anything you can find at a fast casual place (chipotle/panera/any poke or bibimbap place) can easily be recreated at home.
I am totally stealing your tuna rice thing.
My favorite work from home lunch is to do a quick sauté of whatever veggies I have around and then fry an egg or two in the same pan at the end. So good, so easy, and really makes the most of being in my kitchen at lunchtime (without taking up my whole break fussing with a recipe).
Wraps. Low carb wraps (I'm a fan of the green ones), grilled chicken (or whatever meat. Steak thinks sliced works well too. I'm a repurpose leftovers person), romaine lettuce, thin sliced onions, tomatoes, and a light drizzle of dressing.
If you like a good rice dish, get yourself a rice cooker. You can just pour in the ingredients and it will turn off/turn to heating mode when it's ready. Some of them have built in veggie steamers. Then all the work you have to do is plate it and put sauce on it. Or you could make onigiri stuffed with whatever you like, and eat them on the go.
One that I like is a smoked salmon on toast with a light cream cheese. (You need to watch out for the sales on smoked salmon though, because when it's not on sale it can be pricey). Simply toast or heat the bread of choice, put some light cream cheese on it, and put the salmon overtop.
You could do a lot of soups with instant broth and pre-cut ingredients plus boiled kettle water. Miso with dashi crystals, seaweed or spinach, green onion, and cubed tofu, mixed around. Chicken noodle or chicken and rice with the chopped and cooked veggies of choice. A nice french onion style soup with toast and cheddar (though this one I do digress is a bit less healthy).
Anything that you can throw into a crockpot is also a good choice, like chilli, pulled pork, stewed beef, casseroles, etc. Put everything in in the morning, then when lunch rolls around, it should be ready (provided you have a good crockpot that cooks fairly fast)
I’m a big fan of the veg roll up. I use Damascus Bakery’s flax rollups. They are really big and only have 80 calories. I like to fill it with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, onion and mayo or hummus or some avocado. Sometimes I add cheese (usually feta, sometimes sharp cheddar). The base sandwich is very low in calories, do there’s lots of wiggle room with the mayo, hummus, avo, cheese.
If you like hummus, you can really bring the calories down by making it yourself and using less olive oil and more bean liquid. Blend with a couple of ice cubes for a super smooth product. If you replace 1/4 cups of the hummus with Greek yogurt, you’ll also bring the calories down. I do wraps with hummus, spicy dill pickle spears, Kalamata olives, and shaved red onion.
These are super healthy and really inexpensive.
I work from home, usually have half an hour to cook and eat, so tends to be:
Omelette (cheese & spinach is my favourite)
Veg curry and couscous - I mostly buy the curry but you can make it yourself in advance obvs
Fish fillet - mackerel, salmon, seabass - with green veg - mostly just fry it all up in a pan, maybe some bread with it
Soup & bread
Spaghetti with a veg-heavy pasta sauce - again can buy or make up in advance
Stir fry - I sometimes buy the pre-cooked packet rice, then use leftover chicken/pork/beef and a load of frozen veggies then chinese 5-spice and a bit of soy/honey/chilli sauce
Toasted sandwich - usually ham, cheese & tomato
I’ve taken to this one-pot quinoa and lentil/chickpea bowls
- 4 cups liquid (water/pickle juice/broth)
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 cup lentils (I use green)
- 1 can (540ml) chickpeas
- assorted veggies
- spices
1. bring the liquid to a low boil on medium high
2. Add all your ingredients
3. Let it come to a low boil again
4. Reduce to a low simmer
5. Cook until all the liquid is absorbed/evaporated
I like this recipe (and left it vague) because you can vary the veggies, spices, and broth base to get variety. For instance one week I did veggie broth with tomatoes, onion, celery for veggies and cumin, pepper, paprika and chili flakes to kind of go for a southwest vibe. The next week I did half water half pickle juice, just an onion, and some umami mushroom seasoning to go for a pickled vibe.
Depending on what you’ve made it may taste better hot or cold.
You can make Thai basil pork/chicken stir fry over rice (pad kra pao). It's simple to make as it's all in a wok/pot and taste delicious 😋 Recipe below if interested [pad kra pao recipe ](https://youtu.be/-nOivj5u2no?si=8uBNY3jxMC6M_dbv)
I hate meal prep (for protein at least, just hate the taste of leftovers) and I also WFH so I just cook chicken thighs in my toaster oven/air fryer for lunch.
Prep is ridiculously easy.
2 chicken thighs onto a plate. spray with cooking oil (i do avocado oil) and coat with a spice blend (I have a few I rotate: lemon pepper, middle eastern, cajun, etc.)
Put into an oven safe dish (easy clean-up), 400-425F for 25-30 mins. Set a timer and come back.
Serve with rice, veggies, whatever.
You can prep things like veggies ahead, so chop up carrots, celery, onion, peppers, broccoli or whatever and then make a quick stir fry or something and you can use chicken leftover from cooking a whole bird the night before. Then the next day you make a chicken salad sandwich or wrap. If you have chicken still make a soup with stock you made with bones from the carcass after picking all the meat off.
Riced cauliflower or broccoli (the freezer kind cooks quickly) topped with meat if you want and whatever sauce you want. Like for example, riced broccoli (use the entire bag to get more veggie servings), canned tuna, pesto, and a bit of shredded parmesan. This can easily be prepped in advance. For me this is a great salad alternative because it ends up being 2-3 servings of veggies and is a hot meal.
Well I’ve I a stay at home mom so I eat lunch at home all the time. My husband works from home a couple of days a week as well and he benefits from some of the things that I do and make. Hands-down the easiest thing you can do to set your week off right is spend one or two hours on a Sunday meal prepping. Chop all your vegetables, cook a big batch of rice chicken breast ground turkey or beef whatever you want. I do this every single week and I meal plan dinners for my family so that nothing is bought and doesn’t get used no money wasted etc. but I also meal plan lunches for myself. There are a whole bunch of things that I would eat throughout the week for lunch Tuna salad in a bowl and I spread it on celery sticks Guacamole on toast with a side of hard-boiled eggs and berries Lean ground turkey wraps with avocados salsa sautéed peppers and onions Chicken breast on a salad that is usually made up of cucumbers tomatoes olives feta and peppers or arugula with strawberries blueberries cucumbers pumpkin seeds dried cranberries etc. Salmon or Basa in the air fryer for seven minutes with a side of rice and chopped cucumbers Fry up some peppers onions broccoli throw it over a bowl of rice and top it with chicken breast like a stirfry with soy sauce Chicken and veggie quesadillas with plain Greek yoghurt and salsa to dip
Hi there, I’ve been looking for a remote job Is your company hiring?
Pasta salad, just go easy on the pasta, and heavy on the vegetables. Heavy enough on protein as you like. Cottage cheese salad: cottage cheese, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, a little garlic powder and parsley if you have it. I like kalamata olives and a little feta, and lots of black pepper. Veggie stir fry with or without rice and ramen eggs. If you have a mandolin, thin sliced zucchini, quickly sauteed with olive.oil and garlic, top with a little parm, salt and pepper. With whatever protein you want. Tuna salad with extra veggies. I put the normal celery, onion, pickles in there, just a lot of it in there. Sometimes I add a bunch of diced cucumber and kimchi. My granddaughter can't have gluten, so I always have cauliflower crackers around. Or chickpea chips. Honestly I just double the veg in everything. It's an easy way to lower the fat and calories, and put more fiber in everything.
For the pasta salad I also love a chickpea pasta that packs 18g of protein per serving, affordable at Aldi
Things that I do for lunches when working from home, although I'm not calorie counting. Leftovers from dinner the night before - perhaps serve a smaller portion Omelettes - add veg like spinach and mushrooms Soup - could add some toast Salad with leftover protein from the night before Fruit and yoghurt
Yes, these sound perfect! I especially like the breakfast for lunch ideas, and I’m totally gonna be eating a lot of leftovers. We already always make huge dinners, even though there’s only two of us, specifically so there are always a lot of leftovers.
I’ve been eating a simple lunch of grapes + cheese + salami + baguette lately. Super quick to put together and like a personal charcuterie board! It’s hard for me to eat more than that in the summer. Its easy to mix it up week to week with a different fruit or type of cheese so you don’t get bored
> I’ve been eating a simple lunch of grapes + cheese + salami + baguette lately I packed a similar lunch for my wife and the calories ended up being way higher than I expected, the items can be pretty calorie dense while not being as filling!
It's the fat content on the salami and cheese - makes both very calorically dense. Sadly.
+1 here. I do "Adult Lunchables" often. Usually heavy on veggies like cucumber, carrots, sprouts...and mix in with hardboiled eggs I make by the dozen on Sunday, some shredded rotisserie chicken or lean deli turkey, and cheese. Sometimes I use triscuits, but often just put the meat/cheese right on a slice of cucumber. Cottage cheese on the side.
This is an awesome idea, I’m excited to try it! I love doing a little DIY charcuterie board, sometimes my partner and I go to the store and buy slightly higher end charcuterie type items, and then have an at-home charcuterie board date. Been a while since we’ve done that, so thanks for reminding me lol.
If you have one near you, Aldi is great for inexpensive charcuterie ingredients.
If you have an air fryer - I’ve really been enjoying these pizzas lately, for a quick healthy-ish lunch. Use a carb balance tortilla for a solid protein and fiber boost and add whatever toppings you like. I do onion, bell pepper, broccoli and rotisserie chicken. [air fryer tortilla pizza](https://reallifenutritionist.com/air-fryer-tortilla-pizza/)
I’m not calorie counting. Just tracking my protein. But these are some of my go-to meals. Since it’s the summer. Salads, I know you said you’re not a fan. It’s been in the 90’d here all week so I just want something cold. lol Wraps with tuna or chicken. Maybe a chicken buffalo wrap, or tuna salad wrap. Leftovers if we have them. I’ll do some food prepping where I’ll make chicken and freeze it. I’ll also make rice and portion it out and freeze it. I’ll chop up some vegetables to throw in a salad or bowl. And have frozen vegetables and sometimes throw the bag in the microwave to steam them. I’ll also make beans or lentils to throw in something to get some more protein and fiber in. I like to make a bean salad that I can throw in a bowl or salad as well. That way it takes less time with the prepping. (I’m just throwing whatever in bowls and salads) In the winter I was hyper fixated on making ramen. I just used a packet of the cheap ramen. Tossed the seasoning. Added cooked chicken and frozen vegetables, and chili crisp oil, and Cajun seasoning. It was so good I made it almost every day. lol
Get a rice cooker and make a thing of rice. I typically rotate between three things, each of which take about 20 mins to prep: stir-fried chicken teriyaki (rice with thin chicken breast or tenderloin, chop it up, stir fry it with frozen peppers and onions, throw in some bottled teriyaki, add chopped frozen broccoli if you want more veggies) Mexican “chipotle” bowl (rice with can of black beans, stir fry some chopped thin chicken breast with frozen peppers and onions, add a little salsa/hot sauce, sour cream, guacamole as desired) Mediterranean bowl (chop tomatoes, zucchini, onions, marinate it in basalmic and olive oil, place on a baking sheet. Place salmon, chicken, tilapia, or another fish of choice on another baking sheet. Throw it in the oven at 400 for like 15-20 minutes, then just pour it over rice, add feta or whatever else if you want) Once I got the hang of it I’ll just make 2 batches of 3-4 Tupperware bowls of the above, 1 batch on Monday and 1 on Wednesday, and that’s 6-8 solid easy, cheap, healthy meals for less than an hour of work a week.
These sound like just the right balance of effort and convenience that I’m looking for, thanks!
You just reminded me I have a tuna thing. Trader Joe’s has these packets of Indian food vegetables you microwave for 1 minute. I poor that into tuna and there’s like no fish taste left. It’s surprisingly tasty.
Sounds great, and I bet chickpeas would work for that too!
I believe those are often in the packets but yes, there are a few varieties
Prep ahead components and combine daily to mix one protein, one whole carb, and about half veggies. Separately simmer up lentils and farro or other grain (or skip the grain), they both keep well about two weeks. Prep ahead roast veggies - sweet potato cubes, Brussels, roast mushrooms - whatever you like, and storage time will depend. Frozen broccoli and cauliflower are quick to prep but don’t keep well. Prep ahead cut up, oiled, salted, massaged kale. Keeps perfectly 3-4 days. Mix in any ratio and top with a cube of soft goat’s or sheep’s cheese. Instant lunch, great fiber and protein. You can pop a fried egg on top, play with flavor profiles (feta, olives, capers / furokake, soy)… Possibilities are endless.
Vietnamese bun salad. Super fresh and filling. If you buy the ingredients you will get a few lunches easily. I add either chicken or prawns.
I buy the ramen boxes at Costco and don't use the flavoring, just ramen with peanut butter and soy sauce plu any protein or veggie (usually leftovers) is perfect for me. Quick and great
A rice cooker that has stay warm feature you can buy the mini ones or small , I like sandwiches can be toasted and healthy canned soups , frozen samosas , curries cooked in batches, Japanese potato salad and frozen fish like salmon that can be cooked from frozen quickly
I'm fond of making grilled cheese with some spinach inside. I use whit cheddar and mozzarella. Not the healthiest, but it's a good way to get green veggies in, and using whole wheat bread doesn't make the sandwich any less tasty.
I make a soup on Sundays & have it 4 days, usually with crackers,cheese,ham or a snack plate with hummus,veg,cheese
Savory grits? I like doing a quick sautee of the greens (kale, collards, mustard), adding in instant grits and then adding water and broth. Takes just a few minutes to cook up. Ratio for me ends up being about half and half, but you could go heavier on the vegetables if you wanted. Stir fry or fried rice could work well if you already have rice cooked. Donal Skehan and Jamie Oliver both have some 15 minute recipes, though some do require a bit more cook time, and I am not sure if that is too far away from just microwaving. The other thing would be to... how to describe this... the grocery store has the already prepped stuff that you just pop in and cook? Prep like that so that you only have the final cook day of at lunch time. So they have citrus shrimp and vegetables as one of the meals, so that the shrimp is prepped and seasoned, the vegetables are chopped, so day of, you toss oil in the pan, add the veg, cook them for a few, add the shrimp, cook til done and eat. All my local grocery stores have tons of these, so peeking at what and how they prep (chicken/eggplant parmesan, stroganoff, miso salmon, fettucine, pot pie, roast, stuffed peppers, lasagna) could be a good way to figure out how to make what you want to cook in the short cook time you have. Also, batch cook and freeze a vegetable soup in portions. Take out one to thaw in the morning, and you can heat up as a vegetable side to your lunch.
I will look up those 15 minute recipes, and check out instant grits. I have also tried savory oatmeal, and I could probably do that the way you’re saying to do grits, to mix it up sometimes.
If you do savory oatmeal I highly recommend cooking it in stock (I use better than bouillon) with a hefty dose of soy sauce. I needed that to make the oatmeal not taste bland to me. It's converted my very skeptical partner!
I work from home most (roughly 75%) of the time I’ve worked for my current company the last 16 years. I mainly make big dinners for the family, and I typically eat those as leftovers the next day
My new favourite WFH lunch, the chickpea wrap from this: https://youtu.be/5EU76q3Vf3Q
Salads!! My current favorite is spinach leaves, dried blueberries, fresh strawberries, feta cheese, nuts (walnuts or pecans or whatever I have), sunflower or pumpkin seeds, and whatever else you want. I find I get enough protein from the nuts, seeds, and cheese. I don’t eat much meat anymore but chicken or shrimp would be delicious to boost the protein.
I usually have less time to make lunch at home so if you need a couple really fast ideas, here are a few of my favorite go-to’s: Cottage cheese topped with half a chopped apple and 2 tbsp pepitas (high protein, I like the salt/sweet combo) 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced up and sprinkled with furikake (it’s a yummy seaweed and sesame seed topper) or drizzled with sriracha and sprinkled with everything bagel seasoning. Some cheese and fruit or veggies on the side. Siggi’s skyr yogurt (has 15g of protein) with a couple teaspoons of chia seeds stirred in. And a slice of peanut butter toast with banana slices. The first two are under 400 cals. The last one is higher due to peanut butter so you would need to be mindful of the portion size on that. I eat it when I’m behind on calories anyway.
Cheese and tomato sandwich.
My Mother’s go to. Fantastic on a hot summer day!
My mother's as well and mine too of course..
Slow cooker/instant pot/rice cooker recipes work well for this. Anything you can find at a fast casual place (chipotle/panera/any poke or bibimbap place) can easily be recreated at home.
Yeah, a lot of slow cooker recipes can cook in 4 hours on high. That's perfect for prepping before work and having it ready at lunch.
I am totally stealing your tuna rice thing. My favorite work from home lunch is to do a quick sauté of whatever veggies I have around and then fry an egg or two in the same pan at the end. So good, so easy, and really makes the most of being in my kitchen at lunchtime (without taking up my whole break fussing with a recipe).
I think this week im just going to do rice, beans, and throw a bunch of vegetables in it with some type of sauce on top, maybe teriyaki sauce, idk.
I have a two basket air fryer and it rocks. I'll throw some salmon in one half and some veg and potatoes in the other and let it do its thing.
Arugula, tossed with chickpeas, roasted red pepper, cherry tomatoes, capers, cucumber, dill, drizzle balsamic vinegar and EVOO, and favorite protein.
Wraps. Low carb wraps (I'm a fan of the green ones), grilled chicken (or whatever meat. Steak thinks sliced works well too. I'm a repurpose leftovers person), romaine lettuce, thin sliced onions, tomatoes, and a light drizzle of dressing.
If you like a good rice dish, get yourself a rice cooker. You can just pour in the ingredients and it will turn off/turn to heating mode when it's ready. Some of them have built in veggie steamers. Then all the work you have to do is plate it and put sauce on it. Or you could make onigiri stuffed with whatever you like, and eat them on the go. One that I like is a smoked salmon on toast with a light cream cheese. (You need to watch out for the sales on smoked salmon though, because when it's not on sale it can be pricey). Simply toast or heat the bread of choice, put some light cream cheese on it, and put the salmon overtop. You could do a lot of soups with instant broth and pre-cut ingredients plus boiled kettle water. Miso with dashi crystals, seaweed or spinach, green onion, and cubed tofu, mixed around. Chicken noodle or chicken and rice with the chopped and cooked veggies of choice. A nice french onion style soup with toast and cheddar (though this one I do digress is a bit less healthy). Anything that you can throw into a crockpot is also a good choice, like chilli, pulled pork, stewed beef, casseroles, etc. Put everything in in the morning, then when lunch rolls around, it should be ready (provided you have a good crockpot that cooks fairly fast)
I’m a big fan of the veg roll up. I use Damascus Bakery’s flax rollups. They are really big and only have 80 calories. I like to fill it with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, onion and mayo or hummus or some avocado. Sometimes I add cheese (usually feta, sometimes sharp cheddar). The base sandwich is very low in calories, do there’s lots of wiggle room with the mayo, hummus, avo, cheese. If you like hummus, you can really bring the calories down by making it yourself and using less olive oil and more bean liquid. Blend with a couple of ice cubes for a super smooth product. If you replace 1/4 cups of the hummus with Greek yogurt, you’ll also bring the calories down. I do wraps with hummus, spicy dill pickle spears, Kalamata olives, and shaved red onion. These are super healthy and really inexpensive.
I work from home, usually have half an hour to cook and eat, so tends to be: Omelette (cheese & spinach is my favourite) Veg curry and couscous - I mostly buy the curry but you can make it yourself in advance obvs Fish fillet - mackerel, salmon, seabass - with green veg - mostly just fry it all up in a pan, maybe some bread with it Soup & bread Spaghetti with a veg-heavy pasta sauce - again can buy or make up in advance Stir fry - I sometimes buy the pre-cooked packet rice, then use leftover chicken/pork/beef and a load of frozen veggies then chinese 5-spice and a bit of soy/honey/chilli sauce Toasted sandwich - usually ham, cheese & tomato
I’ve taken to this one-pot quinoa and lentil/chickpea bowls - 4 cups liquid (water/pickle juice/broth) - 1 cup quinoa - 1 cup lentils (I use green) - 1 can (540ml) chickpeas - assorted veggies - spices 1. bring the liquid to a low boil on medium high 2. Add all your ingredients 3. Let it come to a low boil again 4. Reduce to a low simmer 5. Cook until all the liquid is absorbed/evaporated I like this recipe (and left it vague) because you can vary the veggies, spices, and broth base to get variety. For instance one week I did veggie broth with tomatoes, onion, celery for veggies and cumin, pepper, paprika and chili flakes to kind of go for a southwest vibe. The next week I did half water half pickle juice, just an onion, and some umami mushroom seasoning to go for a pickled vibe. Depending on what you’ve made it may taste better hot or cold.
This makes 4x 400-500 cal servings with tons of protein and fibre from the lentils/chickpeas
You can make Thai basil pork/chicken stir fry over rice (pad kra pao). It's simple to make as it's all in a wok/pot and taste delicious 😋 Recipe below if interested [pad kra pao recipe ](https://youtu.be/-nOivj5u2no?si=8uBNY3jxMC6M_dbv)
I often do a hard boiled egg, some hummus with flat bread and/or veggies like bell pepper, cucumber. Maybe a couple slices of salami or cheese.
I'm a big fan of microwaved sweet potato. Topped with black beans/corn/salsa/cheese/whatever. Very fast, and surprisingly filling.
I hate meal prep (for protein at least, just hate the taste of leftovers) and I also WFH so I just cook chicken thighs in my toaster oven/air fryer for lunch. Prep is ridiculously easy. 2 chicken thighs onto a plate. spray with cooking oil (i do avocado oil) and coat with a spice blend (I have a few I rotate: lemon pepper, middle eastern, cajun, etc.) Put into an oven safe dish (easy clean-up), 400-425F for 25-30 mins. Set a timer and come back. Serve with rice, veggies, whatever.
You can prep things like veggies ahead, so chop up carrots, celery, onion, peppers, broccoli or whatever and then make a quick stir fry or something and you can use chicken leftover from cooking a whole bird the night before. Then the next day you make a chicken salad sandwich or wrap. If you have chicken still make a soup with stock you made with bones from the carcass after picking all the meat off.
Sandwiches with delicious delicious bread
Riced cauliflower or broccoli (the freezer kind cooks quickly) topped with meat if you want and whatever sauce you want. Like for example, riced broccoli (use the entire bag to get more veggie servings), canned tuna, pesto, and a bit of shredded parmesan. This can easily be prepped in advance. For me this is a great salad alternative because it ends up being 2-3 servings of veggies and is a hot meal.
Just like buy lunch food and make it at lunch?