What do you eat for lunch at work?

[Smokingsocially]

I'm usually ravenous by my lunch break and end up grabbing something from Sainsbury's, a prawn salad or a pre packaged sandwich. It's not particularly nice and it is very dull.

What do you have for lunch? What kinds of things do you bring if you take stuff in? I'm really unimaginative and unconfident when it comes to cooking food that I could take cold in the next day, or even constructing delicious salads - I just don't know what goes with what. I just have no idea. I tend to cook basics like curries, chillies, spag bol etc for dinner and don't want to also eat them for lunch, if you see what I mean. No idea how to make a nice soup.

Any suggestions?

Posted here for traffic.

Sandwich/ wrap/pitta bread with ham/chicken/tuna/Quorn with rocket & sometimes cucumber/tomatoes; yoghurt; fruit such as apple/grapes/melon. Sometimes tuna pasta salad. In winter I take soup (fresh soup from tesco) instead.

I try not to eat bread much for lunch as I get awful bloating/ trapped wind in the afternoon- nice! So I stick with things like-

Oatcakes, cheese/ meat & pickles
Tuna and bean salad (maybe with a bit of pasta in too)
Soup- today I've made one with chicken stock, a little chicken and bacon, onions, mushrooms, garlic, a bit of orzo pasta and some borlotti beans. Grated some courgette in at the end- quick to make, lovely and light but filling, a bit like a light broth. Also love making curried cauliflower soup- often will just cook up a bag of frozen cauli with curry powder and seasoning, and blitz the lot.

I try to have a decent amount of protein and veg in my lunch and limit the carbs a bit, as it keeps me fuller longer. Just having savoury stuff seems to keep me right too- I used to always eat a cereal bar or yoghurt for 'afters' but this seems to give me an afternoon energy slump (almost falling asleep!).

Soup.

Lentil soup is filling. I use knorr stock pots as stock, bung in carrots, onions, half a potato , two handfuls of lentils any other over I may have, boil 15 mins and blend.

Lentil sweet pot and squash is nice .

Broth also, buy dried broth mix, soak overnight, add stock, any veg.

Homemade soup or some miso soup. Occasionally a pre bought salad or sushi or similar. I work in central London so options are endless..

cant
Have you tried the John Burton Race cauliflower soup? I ditch the truffle oil for everyday but it is divine and the garlic makes it very sweet (not pongy)

Maybe a namechange to ilovenicesoup !

I usually make a bean-based salad, so a small tin of mixed beans and then whatever is in the fridge, usually cheese or chicken, tomatoes, cucumber etc. I'm not very inventive.

We don't have a toaster at work (not allowed), otherwise I'd probably do toasted pitta bread and hummous a couple of times a week.

We don't have anywhere to eat lunch apart from at our desks, so I try not to take in anything too smelly, eg tinned fish or eggs, as I don't want to upset all my colleagues.

I like hot lunches - sandwiches leave me ravenous. I tend to do a big batch of something on a Sunday and take a bit in each day - shepherds pie, chilli etc. Otherwise, soup and crisp breads and cheese. Friday is usually treat day - something nice from M&S or some sushi

There are many places that do nice food around the office, from salad bars to curry, so I'm spoilt for choice. If I want to bring something in, I boil some bulgur and add whatever I've got in the fridge, cold chicken, ham, or tomatoes and feta. It ends up looking like cat food, but it does me for lunch and it's the quickest thing I can make in the morning.

big salads with hummus and falafel

soup

pasta and veg (from the night before)

I make my own versions of the innocent veg pots using a sistema soup mug.

Half a sachet of frozen rice in the bottom and then either sweet potato dahl, vegetable thai curry, mexican bean pot, Moroccan veg tagine or similar and then some fresh spinach leaves on the top or some coriander leaves.

Then at work just microwave for 4 minutes, stirring half way through and eat at my desk with a fork.
I feel like I have had something substantial and it usually contains at least 2 portions of veg, I also have portions of the main bit frozen so I can just decide what I want the night before and take it out of the freezer.

OH makes our lunches, usually sandwiches with ham and mustard mayo, cheese and pickle or tuna mayo, fruit and a treat like some jaffa cakes or packet of wotsits. Occasionally, we switch to wraps and add some mixed beans to pad it out or he does amazing chorizo quesadillas if I'm really lucky.

I'm trying to follow slimming world atm so I take

overnight oats for breakfast (35g oats, a muller light and some frozen berries thrown into a tupperware pot the night before)

Massive Salad box with anything from the fridge thrown in. I make 3 pots on a Sunday night of the salad / veg / chopped stuff then add extra low syn dressing or beetroot vinegar each morning. Saves messing about making lunches every night.

Would like to know more about the pearl barley janine - anyone know if it's slimming world friendly? ?

Jacket potato with beans
Lettuce, tomato, cucumber, hard boiled egg, apple and tuna
Cooked chicken, apple and a mug shot
Lots of leftovers
Homemade soup
Couscous with roasted veg

I am also lucky enough to have a full kitchen at work (we actively promote healthy eating) and so sometimes cook - salmon fillet with veg and couscous or a stir fry!

buy a pressure cooker, chop up any old veg, chuck in a handful of barley, a stock cube and a tin of tomatoes, a bunch of herbs or spices then water put the lid on and cook for 15 mins then stick in a hand blender, salt and pepper, dash of worcester sauce and voila... SOUP!
I often do this but recently have been taking slad with egg and fruit as I am following SW to lose weight. sometimes take leftovers from night before.

Have no idea, BobPat, but it's healthy and unprocessed proper food, so I don't see why it shouldn't be. Sometimes I do pearled spelt instead of pearl barley, depends on what's in the cupboard.

Evening all. We're going to move this thread to Chat in a moment where we think it'll get more relevant traffic and lots more responses. Happy lunch prepping!

I make salad boxes with all sorts of salad stuff and add things like couscous, boiled egg, new potatoes etc to make it a bit more interesting. Other days i take crackers and a small tub of cottage cheese or something like that. If I'm in a hurry I take a tin of soup or something from the cupboard.

At the start of the week I make a huge basic salad with spinach, rocket & watercress (bagged), tomatoes, radishes, spring onions, cucumber and whatever else I have in the fridge that would work (broccoli, carrots etc), and keep it in an airtight container in the fridge. Each evening I take out a portion and put into a smaller container then add some tuna, ham, mixed beans, hard boiled egg, feta cheese etc. I take that to work in a cool bag and also usually do a quick fresh fruit salad as well. If I run out of salad I'll make a sandwich but much prefer the salad as it's lighter and doesn't make me feel as bloated.

I hate soup, so that's a no-no for me .

whatever I go buy from the bakers. usually a sausage roll or a bean and tottie pie or a bridie or something.

Lunch? At work?

School dinners!

I find sandwiches and salads very insubstantial and get the munchies later. They encourage me to fill up on rubbish.

yes barley is SW friendly on a green day. i have not been for ages so no idea how it fits in the new regime.