Lunch Ideas for Working Mom

Hello! I am a working mom too and finding time to pre-prep lunches is a no go. One thing I like to do is, on Monday, bring in the things I need to make sandwiches for the week - i.e. a loaf of bread, cheese, meat, veggies, etc and then just keep them in the fridge. I also always keep some mustard and mayo handy. That way, each day at lunch, I can just go the fridge and make myself a yummy, fresh sandwich to eat. It keeps me happy with very little pre-thought except what you would normally have when at the grocery store. I also keep a couple of cans of soup and chili handy as well, just in case, but the sandwich plan usually works great. Good luck! D.

i chop my husband a salad to take to work the night before, that way all he has to do is grab it and go! he also likes me to make him wraps with deli meat and cheese instead of sandwiches!

Last week I happened to buy a small hunk of Boar's Head ham from the meat section, not the deli, and everyone has loved munching on it. What a surprise! Cheese & crackers with ham, tasty ham sandwiches, and plain thick slices of ham.

My husband likes the Campbell soups in the microwaveable containers. You could also keep a bag with salad ingredients in the office fridge...or in a small cooler under your desk? Boiled eggs, pre-sliced or shredded cheese, ham, baby carrots, pouch of tuna, fresh pea pods...you get the idea. Bon appetit!

Yogurt & granola mixed (I pack a baggie of granola & just add it to the tub of yogurt a little at a time)

Invest in a nice stainless steel thermos (the shorter/fatter ones) & you can pack; soups, oatmeal, chef boyaredee, chili, mac n cheese, scrambled eggs, etc...this way you can heat it in your microwave at home in the morning (or breakfast leftovers), and it will still be warm at lunchtime.

A pack of crackers and...1)tuna & mayo mix, 2)hummus

Peanut Butter & raisins on an apple &/or banana

Have you tried a cold cut sandwich or tuna sandwich?

I hope one of these at least might fit your taste palette....good luck!

I am a big fan of lunchables, the adult size portions. I also eat hummus for lunch with carrots, pretzels, or wheatables. Good luck on your lunch quest. :)

I would also eat leftovers from the night before, or make a big batch of hummus and eat it with veggie sticks and pita bread. Some really quick lunches for me were all breakfast food: toaster waffles, pancakes, frozen hashbrowns (toaster) with scrambled eggs (made them in the morning and heated them at work). I would also make some rice the night before and just toss in some deli meat and leftover veggies. I also made a lot of casseroles and would take a square of that in the morning.
One of my absolute favorite lunches of all time? Diced avocado mixed with salsa, eaten with "hint of lime" tortilla chips. Tasty!

I make tuna casserole for me and meatloaf for my husband and one batch will last all week. Easy to warm up too.

I agree with salads, wraps, cold spag salads with feta, olives, olive oil, garlic, parm cheese.....anything quick/cold. When you need to warm something up, try soup to go's or spag and mt.
Simple is better:)

I like the Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers. They're pasta & rice dishes. You add water (I use hot water from the coffee machine @ work), then heat for 3 mins, then add sauce. Basically you need to be able to boil water. You can find them for around $3 at Walmart.

Hubby used to work at a place with a fridge but no microwave. So when I made lunches for him, I often gave him cold cooked chicken breast (or sometimes turkey) on a wheat bagel, and a little honey mustard in a baby food jar (so the bagel was not soggy by lunchtime). I put lettuce and tomato in a separate baggie (again, to prevent sogginess), and sometimes I'd also add bacon if we had it (although cooked bacon doesn't last long in our house! lol). No heating required, just construct the sandwich and eat. :-)This "construction" method works for lots of sandwich combos, just keep the sauces/dressings and the tomatoes separate until it's time to eat.

Sometimes just changing the bread to something different helps get you out of that "blah" rut, too. Try using toasted bread for your regular lunchmeat or a BLT; or try pita bread stuffed with lettuce and hamburger, with cucumber sauce to top it; or a few split dinner rolls with a cooked sausage patty inside each; or even peanut butter and jelly between two pancakes (my 5yo LOVES that one).

I would also send hubby things for lunch like canned smoked oysters or sardines (he loves them), hard-boiled eggs or deviled eggs, tuna patties (a small but welcome change from tuna salad), a large chef salad (with chopped tomatoes in a separate baggie and the dressing in a baby food jar), cocktail shrimp (again, no heating, since they're eaten cold), or leftovers that still taste good cold, like meatloaf, fried chicken, meatballs, or BBQ pork tenderloin.

Sometimes I'd toss in a trail mix, jerky, protein bar, or protein shake for a snack to tide him over until dinnertime, too. He definitely didn't starve! lol

Also, I almost always made his lunches the night before, because he had to get up at 5 am, and I am NOT a morning person, either. ;-)

HTH!
--A.

My lunch today is 2 hard-boiled eggs & cottage cheese. I eat this quite frequently. Do you not have any leftovers from dinner? I always do, and package them to take to work the next day. Look closely around your grocery store and you will find lots of things that are usable for lunches.

I like to take a yogurt, or a tuna salad kit (although the Bumble Bee ones are horrendous!). maybe you could make a batch of tuna salad on Sunday and put it in 2 or 3 containers for Mon through Wed? I also like to take a can of Progresso soup and keep a large soup mug at my desk. Cheese & crackers, egg salad, veggie burgers, Soup At Hand, or leftovers from dinner the night before. Bagel & cream cheese?

I used to make a pasta or a bean salad on the weekend, and then eat it through the week for lunch. I don't have a recipe for you, but I'm sure you can find one online that you would like.