Packed lunches for work - boring sorry!

[MrsMaryMooFace]

So after 5 years I'm going back on site for work. Interested in what people take for lunch these days.
I used to have a food flask so will be re-purchasing one of those so can take soup, stews etc.

What sort of things do you eat at lunch?

Will have access to fridge, kettle, microwave and toaster BUT bear in mind there will be 8 other people potentially using them too and we only get half an hour.

I'm gluten free and allergic to all fish/seafood.

GO!

I sometimes take in some eggs and do scrambled eggs in the microwave to have with a bagel or toast.

I take bagels, salads, soups, sandwiches.

Couscous with bits of veg/cheese/meat in

I pre cook/part cook night before. Air fryer is a godsend. I’ll miss out the fish stuff:
G/F sausages and have them warmed up in the microwave with beans.
Sausages in G/F bread.
Same can be done with bacon
Hunters chicken with rice
Chicken meatballs in pasta sauce & pasta or
with gravy and part cooker microwave veg
Sandwiches for toasties (use a toastie bag)
Jacket potato + filling
Salads
soups
i use one or two plastic tubs and meal plan for the week. It’s all about being organised the night before. Or making twice as much so have leftovers for the next day. I’m not G/F but have an intolerance so I keep it as g/f as possible.

I'm GF but not allergic (so you won't be wanting to hear about the salmon, tuna or prawns) - but the combination of flavours might help;

Carbs - long grained rice, sushi rice, GF pasta, glass noodles, pure buckwheat soba noodles, boiled potatoes, quinoa

Protein + seasonings - chicken breast or thighs, beef, pork, halloumi, feta, boiled egg - garlic & lemon marinade; garlic, chilli, lime and coriander; yoghurt & curry spices; tahini, lemon juice and a little water; tamari, sake and mirin; GF and seafood free (it exists) gochujang, GF miso of various types; five spice powder; thyme and mustard, pesto, peanut sauce (add chilli, onion, garlic, chicken stock, coriander and spring onions)

Cooked veg - broccoli, butternut squash, edamame beans, corn, fresh plums cooked down with some GF plum sauce, tamari and sake (add some rice vinegar if it's too sweet), green beans.

All of the salad veg. Lots of herbs.

Tinned bean salad in vinaigrette.

Pickles - beetroot, dill, olives, artichokes, pickled garlic.

Fruit - grapes with cheese, watermelon with feta or halloumi, plums, peaches, pineapple with pork, fruit salad in a separate compartment with yoghurt, berries.

Snacky things - brazil nuts, walnuts, dates, homemade popcorn (sea salt and a drizzle of syrup).

You could make GF nuggets, spicy or otherwise, buy GF mini Kyivs, have mini brie and grapes.

There are so many variations, you needn't have exactly the same thing twice - and none of that requires a microwave (and looking at most workplace microwaves, you probably wouldn't want to be anywhere near them with a fish allergy).

Soups or stews or leftovers in winter. Sandwiches or freshly prepped salads in summer. Ploughman's lunch or tapas too.

Make an effort when it comes to sandwiches. You need interesting bread, varied fillings, condiments.

I’m GF. At lunchtime I have things like:

GF pitta and hummus

GF toast and hummus (take the bread in untoasted)

GF oatcakes and cheese, with pickle and an apple

Tilda microwave rice packets with leftover whatever from the night before

Salad with roast chicken / quinoa (keep dressing separate until ready to eat)

baked sweet potato (baked at home) reheated in microwave with feta and spinach in the middle

stuffed jacket potatoes made at home (stuffed with cheese leeks and bacon) reheated in the microwave with green salad on the side (these freeze well)

Ooh you fancy! This all sounds delicious!!

Love this, thanks 😊

Oh this is good to know, bloody love a jacket potato

I usually take some sort of salad. If I'm organised I'll prep something like a couscous or lentil salad that will last a few days, or if not I throw together whatever I can scavenge:
The same base every day (salad leaves, cucumber, peppers) with some of the following:
Olives
Sweetcorn
Grated carrot
Beetroot
Radishes
then some protein:
Chicken
Smoked mackerel
Halloumi
Feta
Otherwise, leftovers. I deliberately make too much of meals that reheat well - bean chilli, pasta, soups, jacket potatoes etc.

I made a big batch of harissa roast veg (cauliflower, chickpeas, and a can of tomatoes) on Sunday night and put it into lunch boxes for me and my partner to take during the week. I’ll maybe add some fried halloumi or some stuff vine leaves out of a can to the lunch boxes over the course of the week to give them a bit of extra variety.

i really like taking in a jacket potato - if I make jacket potatoes for dinner I do a couple extra and then have it either with baked beans and cheese or tuna mayo & salad. General leftovers also good - curry and rice, pasta and sauce etc. do you have a microwave/toaster at work? I sometimes make a load of homemade baked beans (butter beans in can x2, can of tomatoes, finely chopped onion and carrot and lots of smoked paprika and/or chipotle). Then I make toast at work and have baked beans in toast.

I tend to do a rotation of:

Jacket potatoes. I bake a load at once as you can keep them in the fridge for 5 days. I add butter, cheese, beans or sometimes chilli at home and take it into work in a sistema microwavable bowl so I can put it straight in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

Soup is an easy one. Or I have porridge as I can mix oats, milk and frozen berries in my microwavable bowl in the morning and then just nuke it for a couple of minutes at work.

I'm currently enjoying oatcakes with chunks of cheese and grapes.

Cous cous with whatever roasted veg I may have in the fridge, or just with mixed beans or chickpeas added. Pour on boiling water, leave for a few minutes and it's done.

Or I take in sliced bread and those pots of either hummus or smashed avocado and toast the bread at lunchtime as there is a bigger queue for the microwave in my office than the toaster.

Whenever possible, I cook a bit extra for dinner and take some the next day. It’s so much easier than trying to think of something to take. Doesn’t always work but often.

Some brilliant ideas thanks. Big shout out to stuffed vine leaves, not had those in ages.

Also didn't know you could reheat jacket potatoes safely!! This is a revelation to me 😂

Please try and avoid eating eggs / smelly soups at your desk

GF as well. I make things at the weekend and stick in the freezer that I can defrost - at the moment in the freezer I have bacon and onion egg bites, broccoli and cauliflower cheese cups, gf pizza muffins and baked porridge cups. Also usually have a traybake cake frozen in squares to take one for my afternoon snack.

So most days I will take a couple of things from the freezer and have them with some salad or cucumber and carrot sticks with dip. Other days I take leftovers (on Sundays I usually cook for dinner something big that'll have enough leftovers for my lunch on Monday and dinner for us all on Monday too)

Sometimes I take gf wraps, filled with chicken and salad and guacamole.

Today I'm taking a jacket potato with skagen filling.

Someone at work often eats an egg sandwich, no one cares, so disagree about not taking things with eggs in. But if someone ate liver casserole at work I'd not be happy, that smell makes me sick!

My workplace is putting in a new kitchen so soon we'll have an oven which increases possibilities (currently have two microwaves, a hot plate, and an air fryer. And a toaster but obviously can't use that because of gluten crumbs)

I have a big ice cube tray. I make lots of soups and freeze them in the big ice cubes and store in bags in the freezer. Two ice cubes in a sistema soup mug and microwave at lunchtime. Packet of oatcakes. Piece of fruit. I have this every workday. Takes the away the stress of decisions.

I often do a stir fry with rice for DDs food flask

You can prep all on Sunday.
Cook rice with vege on Sunday and eat roast leftovers with it and different sauces monday and Tuesday.
Also chop small amount of pepper, cucumber, tomato...cook few eggs and eat that on Wednesday.
Grate some carrot and cabbage. It will be good for Thusday and Friday. I used to add chickpea or lentil and some asian sauce type for stirfry-ish salad. But add that evening before or on a day so vege is not super soggy. You can eat that hot or cold.

I’ve been batch cooking soups and freezing a months worth at a time. DH & I are in the office a few times a week so it’s not too much cooking. Just grab a bag out the night before and usually a banana and some chopped veg & cottage cheese in a box.

This week I’m trying some new ideas with the warmer weather. Today is chorizo frittata with some salad and then carrot top pesto with pasta. Will throw in a banana and small choc bar for snacks during the day.