Need healthier options for Speedy-Lunch

I have a very busy schedule during the day, and at times, I can't get away from my desk long enough to eat a decent lunch. There are times when I have to eat something super quick and easy while I'm working.

Today, I had a Soup at Hand, a 5.5 oz bag of Gardetto's snack mix, and a 20 oz. Dr. Pepper. So basically, I ate the nutritional equivalent of a fistful of salt.

What do you all eat when you're on the go, with no time for a proper meal?

Brown bagged leftovers from the dinner the night before. Cheap, quick/no fuss.

Zombie,

Takes only a little preperation...but generally, in one of the drawers in my desk I have a couple of apples and a bannana or two.

Also, a couple of protein bars. I usually like Odessy bars, because they taste better.

I used to weight lift a lot...before I got married...and just can't eat those protein bars that anymore...but they're a quick fix in lieu of many more non-nutritous things.

Also, I usually keep a tin of mixed nuts..non-salted..on my desk. If I can't find that, then lightly salted is OK.

I sometimes will get some low fat string cheese and keep that in the fridge at work along with some low fat, low carb yogurt.

Watch how many fistful of nuts you eat....the calorie content can be high, depending on how often you exercise and your general calorie consupmtion, but they do have nutritonal content.

One other recommedation is to lose the regular soda. Empty calories are a no-no. All sugar and no nutrional value...means to be consumed not too often.

There you go.

Tupperware is your friend. Cook up some pasta in the evening, add some olives, pesto and a diced skinless roast chicken breast. Mix it all in an airtight plastic container, and stick it in the fridge overnight. Remember to take it with you to work in the morning (with a fork) stick it in your draw till lunch. Open, eat and enjoy. Whole thing takes 15-20 mins to prepare, including washing up.

lets see. I have some instant oatmeal for in the mornings. The coffee pot also has hot water - who knew.

Tuna in the bag, the little stake style ones are good - but I would not eat that all the time.

Lance crackers. OK not really good for you, but I like them

I have some of the usual powders as well, but I can't eat the bars as most taste way too bad. I have hade MREs that are better.

I suggest leftovers. This works for me. I put some in a container, and I heat it up at work.
School's a different story. I usually have wraps because there isn't always a microwave available on my breaks if my classes are back to back.

With the sale of an amazing product called a vacuum sealer you can have pretty much anything you want. Instead of tupperware containers i have a few vacuum containers. I make 2-3 healthy meals on the weekend (enough to last the week) and seal then in the containers then toss them in the fridge. They can actually stay fresh for weeks. I also dehydrate my own fruits and seal them in vacuum bags. There are new vacuum sealers on the market with an instant seal feature that prevents you from crushing softer foods.

Invest a couple hundred dollars in a vacuum sealer and a dehydrator and you will save a lot more on prepackaged foods and snacks. This is great for both low cal and low carb diets in addition to healthy snacks. You can make salads for the whole week with out the fear of the lettuce wilting.

The vacuum sealers range from $40 to $300. I advise getting one with the instant seal feature. Food dehydrators run about $50 and you can make your own dried fruits and jerky.

Great suggestion Laff!! I will look into whether these things are available in the uk for domestic ownership yet (we had one at the butchers shop i worked at when i was a kid).

Tks laf. I forgot all about vacuum sealers. They will even help on storing the food for the week. The tubber ware would take up soo much space.

tks..

Vacuum sealers? Why have I never heard of these? Where are they available? What are they? Some sort of machine, I presume. Are they available in regular stores, or only specialty stores? Can you put cooked food in it, or only fresh foods , ie: salad?s So, I can vacuum-seal food, and freeze them in packages? I'll have to get one of these. I"m going to google it.

You can vacuum seal most anything cooked or not. With some of the older machines sealing something soft like muffins meant crushing them. Some new machines have an "instant seal" button. Once the air is removed push the button and it seals right then with out crushing your food. You can get various attachments for them too like containers and jar sealers. There are pretty cheap compared to the money you will save on prepackaged meals. I've found some at as little as $30 and as much as $300. I paid about $100 for mine and use it all the time. Most retail stores sell them.

There is a type of French cuisine focused around vacuum sealers. The raw uncooked ingredients are placed in to a bag with seasoning or marinade, sealed and left for 20m or so. Then the bag (the entire thing) is usually boiled. It's done with several types of food and i've heard it tastes great. I know using these things to marinade foods is great. When the air is vacuumed out it causes the pores of the food to expand and allows the marinade to penetrate better. Twenty minutes in the refrigerator is all you need.

I work a messed up schedule and i never get a traditional lunch break. A lot of times i end up eating in the car between calls. These two items have been lifesavers, not to mention the stress relief on my wallet.

Thanks, laf.
I'll definitely check into one of those.
Have you tried the Vitamix blender? I think you might find that very useful too, if you like making smoothies, shakes, ice cream, sorbet, soup, or grinding your own wheat. It's versatile, and it's worth it in the long run.

Tks for the info Laf. I have one, but I think it is time to upgrade for a cooler model.

Wow, that blender ain't cheap...Is it really good?

The blender costs about $600 Canadian, so think about it this way: $600 over a 5 year period is $120. So, you'd be paying $10 a month for five years, and the machine would obviously last longer than that. That's Canadian currency, so it would be even cheaper for you. $10 a month is nothing. One smoothie costs $3 or $4 at Jugo juice or Orange Julius. I make smoothies daily, or enough for two days, so it's worth it for me.
It's good for soups too. It is something to consider. They often have demos. Check it out, and if the price is bothering you, consider what I've said.

Greetings Zombie Zero

I find a great lunch for me is a smoothie soy, cow or goat's milk, fruit, little protein powder and whatever healthy goodies you can throw in there. Greens powders, Chlorella or Spirlina both green super foods avaliable at health food stores.I like to have a sandwich as well, use a good bread like spelt, kamut or good old whole wheat. I like tomato, cucumber, vegetarian mayo and lots of alfalfa sprouts. Sprouts are very high in many vitamins and minerals. Great enegry food.

It takes me about 15 mins to make this in the moring and I feel its very worth it.

Hope I helped

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The blender costs about $600 Canadian, so think about it this way: $600 over a 5 year period is $120. So, you'd be paying $10 a month for five years, and the machine would obviously last longer than that. That's Canadian currency, so it would be even cheaper for you. $10 a month is nothing. One smoothie costs $3 or $4 at Jugo juice or Orange Julius. I make smoothies daily, or enough for two days, so it's worth it for me.
It's good for soups too. It is something to consider. They often have demos. Check it out, and if the price is bothering you, consider what I've said.

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Can you not do all that in a £20 blender?

Anyway... back on topic.

You could always have a bowl of cereal as suggested in another thread.