When it comes to work snacks, I have no trouble at all thinking of ideas. I also have no trouble taking time to pack / prepare the snacks in question. There is always fruit, at least two pieces. Then some selection from cereal, dried fruit and nuts, home-made muffins, English muffins, yoghurt, or even over-day yoghurt and oats, sometimes in rather decadent form.
Snacks are easy. What I struggle with is having a proper lunch in there, and not making lunch a variation of the above foods. I would be quite happy with fruit, cereal and yoghurt for lunch every day, but I think it's probably best for vegetables to feature sometimes too.
Given that I have relatively little time before work most mornings, and I leave the house at 6am two days per week (gym before work), I have been trying to address the lunch challenge by using dinner leftovers. This sounds like an obvious solution, but several years ago I was convinced I wouldn't like dinner food at lunch.
I suspect the shift (I actually do like dinner food at lunch!) may reflect the extra variation in my dinners now, relative to a few years ago, in large part due to experimenting with a broader range of vegetarian and vegan dishes. Here are some examples from the last few weeks.
...it hasn't, quite. My discovery of almond milk is keeping it firmly tethered in place, if nothing else!
Do you see how much milk is on the cereal? This would have been unheard of 6 months ago.
This is still in first place for my best work snack for 2012.
Snacks are easy. What I struggle with is having a proper lunch in there, and not making lunch a variation of the above foods. I would be quite happy with fruit, cereal and yoghurt for lunch every day, but I think it's probably best for vegetables to feature sometimes too.
Given that I have relatively little time before work most mornings, and I leave the house at 6am two days per week (gym before work), I have been trying to address the lunch challenge by using dinner leftovers. This sounds like an obvious solution, but several years ago I was convinced I wouldn't like dinner food at lunch.
I suspect the shift (I actually do like dinner food at lunch!) may reflect the extra variation in my dinners now, relative to a few years ago, in large part due to experimenting with a broader range of vegetarian and vegan dishes. Here are some examples from the last few weeks.
Purple fried rice was just as good the next day as it was the night it was cooked
(and just as entertaining in colour).
Green salad with raw mixed nuts and dried cherries...
...with a wholemeal English muffin.
I made another batch for the sole purpose of having it for lunch.
This is a re-used photo, but if you picture this as a messier version served in a tupperware container,
you have my work-based variation of four-bean mix with salsa, capsicum and nutritional yeast, invariably also with crackers.
A less exciting combination - chickpeas with stir fry vegetables.
I think chocolate may have followed.
But lest we think cereal has disappeared completely...
...it hasn't, quite. My discovery of almond milk is keeping it firmly tethered in place, if nothing else!
Do you see how much milk is on the cereal? This would have been unheard of 6 months ago.
I figure cereal with almond milk is at least better than dry cereal, which was my previous standard. Right? Right.
What do your weekday lunches look like? Any more ideas you'd like to share with me?
Or are there others that are similarly cereal / snack inclined?!
My weekday lunches are always leftovers and if they are running low, I cook up a pot of soup for lunches. We are always happy with leftovers for lunches as most of the time they taste just as good the next day and things like curries develop even more flavour with time. I have rediscovered Ryvita's for snacks recently and am loving them.
ReplyDeleteGiven how impressive some of your dinners are, I'm quite glad to hear that they get used for lunch too! I do find the flavours are often better - certainly just as good - the next day. And Ryvitas are great for snacks :)
DeleteI'm a huge fan of leftovers, so I'll see what I come up with for tomorrow's dish and hopefully that may end up being a weekend lunch x
ReplyDeleteSounds like a winning system!
DeleteThese are great lunches. You prepare so well for lunchtime. I struggle with lunch boxes every day - especially with kids who are a range of ages. I find it a battle but you have given me wonderful inspiration xx
ReplyDeleteYour recent post on lunch boxes did make me realise how lucky I am to only have to worry about myself! I can't imagine worrying about it on a larger scale.
DeleteLately?? I have been having a lot of yoghurt / fruit / cereal for lunch! Lazy I know!
ReplyDeleteThat makes me feel so much better - except, of course, you have a good excuse in the form of Miss Charlotte! I think less laziness and more necessity :)
DeleteI'm a big leftovers gal, but I live only 3 minutes from work so I often get to come home and make a "proper lunch"!
ReplyDeleteOh, how cool! I actually live quite close to one of my workplaces too, but I rarely take advantage of it. Perhaps I should start doing so :)
DeleteI love leftovers! This week? I made some tuna salad Monday and I have been eating on it all week. I am a huge creature of habit. :) I don't mind at all having "dinners" for lunch. When I come home from work, the last thing that I want to do is eat a huge meal. Have a great day Kari!
ReplyDeleteSomething that lasts all week is my kind of lunch dish :D
DeleteI have been making my lunch + snacks everyday for work since last January. I am proud of myself to sticking with it! It really isn't that hard. I love to use leftover also just because it is easy. I have my own office so I stock some snacks there (granola, pretzels, clif bars etc.) I like to bring fruit and veggies with me for additional snacks. One thing I really want to try and just haven't had time yet is a mason jar salad. Have you tried those yet?
ReplyDeleteYour efforts are so impressive :) Leftovers do help as you say - your snacks sound great too. I haven't tried mason jar salad but keep seeing them around! I should give it a go.
DeleteAll of your eats look tasty! I rely pretty heavily on leftovers for lunches!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like that is a winning approach!
DeleteI wish I had big civilised sit down lunches a lot but I don't. I do leftovers some days but am often keeping them for dinner. One of my favourite lunches is soup - I make big batches and freeze in individual containers - or sometimes do this with the soup we have for dinner - so easy to heat and eat in a microwave at work. I also love cheese sandwiches - notice your lack of bread in your lunches - you are not a sandwich gal? I mainly make cheese sandwiches when I have really nice bread. I love a pack of veg sticks, crackers and dip but this happens less often. And if I don't get organised I have started buying La Zuppa soups which seem quite good compared to a lot of prepackaged soups.
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried La Zuppa soups - I'll make a note to keep them in mind as my soup 'back up' for winter (I do love soup too but tend to favour it only in the cooler months - starting up now so that should help my lunch efforts!).
DeleteI am not a big sandwich person, although I'm not really sure why. Before doing dinner leftovers I often made wraps, which I suppose are basically sandwiches, but I found it hard to make them interesting and unless I had salad prepared in advance it took more time than I'd like to get them put together. I do like them on occasion though.
I usually always use leftovers for lunch. The last 3 workdays was chicken with green beans and brown rice. I also take a lot of salads because they don't need to be reheated. I am not big on the typical lunch stuff like sandwiches.
ReplyDeleteI agree, most of the time anyway - although sometimes wish I did as sandwiches can at least be quick to make!
DeleteI struggle with work lunches - if I have the same thing all the time, I get bored, but I avoid buying lunch because of the expense. Some of these ideas appeal to me - especially the maple roasted pumpkin!
ReplyDeleteThe maple roasted dish has become a firm favourite :) I'm hoping I won't get bored of it (I'm the same if I have the same thing too often) as it's easy to make up in advance.
DeleteThe cost of lunches astounds me. I don't know how places can charge so much for what is sometimes quite basic!
I often make a big batch of ratatouille and freeze it in lunch size portions with some cous cous. Heated up it is a great lunch option. I do soup or salads quite a lot too. But I need variety, I become bored very quickly so dinner leftovers are great for that reason.
ReplyDeleteFreezing is a great idea. I have never done that, mostly because I don't have a big freezer, but I could probably squeeze a few containers in there. Ratatouille and cous cous sounds like a lovely lunch combination!
Deleteokay, have to agree that first snack pic does trump all in my opinion...yummy!! also, i agree that almond milk ROCKS!! i really don't like normal milk, soy is okay too, but almond hits it best. :P now if only i could tell myself that pouring the almond milk on the entire box of cinn. toast crunch is totally a healthy, and legit lunch. ;)
ReplyDeleteI wish you could - because then you could tell me the same and I'd be very happy indeed!
DeleteYeah, I totally snack at work more than I eat proper lunches. I like having food to look forward to all throughout the day, not just one thing and endless expanses of Just Work And Now Eating Fun. You're so much more grown-up than me ;)
ReplyDeleteThis month at least - we'll see how long I last ;)
DeleteI used to have the regular snacking over the day approach, but things keep interfering with my days and eating opportunities! Highly inconvenient.
It's so easy to pack 'snacky' things for lunch so I try and make sure I have something proper at least a few times each week! I love pasta salads with protein like tuna or salmon, or rice salads, or leftovers from the night before. Your purple rice looks awesome by the way!
ReplyDeleteI think I need to try out pasta and rice salads - they aren't things I've ventured into much. Thanks for the ideas :)
DeleteLooks yummy! I want to Buy Fresh Raw Mixed Nuts and try this. Thanks for sharing. Keep exploring
ReplyDelete