I work two full time jobs! I generally only have minutes per day to prepare and eat food. I'm getting really tired of eating quickly prepared ham sandwiches for every meal. What are some ideas for a grab and go meal that I can keep all day and eat for late lunches and dinners? Help!
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One of my favs that I used to take to work was chicken fingers. I would make them before work and they would be fine by lunch time. I keep the packets of dips from fast food restaurants to dip them in. Sometimes I would bring a packet of mayo and a tortilla and make a wrap. If you have a microwave you can use walmart has these great little meals that dont have to be refridgerated. You just stab the top of them and microwave. They are by the ravioli. My fav is chicken and dumplins, I take a crossaint from the bakery and eat with it. These crossaints are also great cut in half and then add whatever meat you like. I like to add a chicken strip and cheese. Can you tell I love chicken lol. If you have a fridge, you can make a small salad, or chicken salad, ham salad.
I like to spend one of my days off cooking a bunch of different things then I have choices for what I want to eat on the days I have to work. For example, I might make a lasagna, spaghetti, vegetable or chicken noodle soup, etc. and place them all in individual serving dishes in the freezer. Then throughout the week, I pull whatever I want out of the freezer and microwave it at my meal time. Hope this helps some?
God Bless,
Sheila in Cocoa, FL
When I worked I would make wraps to take to work. You can make them the night before. I used fresh salad fixings and whatever kind of meat I wanted with salad dressing and I would throw in some fresh fruit for afterwards. Makes a quick and healthy meal.
When you order a pizza, get one that is larger, and freeze a slice or two in a baggie or a plastic container for another lunch or two.
If you have access to a microwave, there are all sorts of things you can buy to take for lunch.
If you can't afford that, go to a deli and get a selection of different sliced meats-- ham, roast beef, turkey, and so on. You can get a variety of buns and breads to mix it up to give some variety.
Think of some foods that you like to eat that come in a can that you can just take the whole can (ie sardines, tuna, pork and beans) or that you can spoon into a tupperware container and just eat. Canned fruit is good.
Make or buy some individual sized puddings, fruit cups, jello, juices.
I also spend a few hours (two or three hours) one day a week preparing food for the coming week and freeze in individual containers but I also make extra of my favorites to end up with a small extra stockpile because then I don't get bored from eating the same meals every day during any given week and can pick and choose :-) I make enough for both lunches and dinners :-)
One other thing I do is cut up enough salad veggies (each ingredient stored in a separate container so each veggie stays fresher longer in the fridge) and just pick and choose what to throw together for a salad on any given meal ... Plus I cut up a melon or two for the fridge :-)
One more thing I do once in awhile is stop at the local pizza parlour and order maybe two or three small personal pan pizzas, let them cool and place each pizza (still in the box) in a freezer bag and freeze them ... They hold up quite well for a few weeks and you can re-use the freezer bags :-)
Maybe if I was in your situation I might think about buying ready meals that are microwavable.
In the morning heat up your dinner...for example a Shepherds Pie or something... then scoop into a thermal flask especially for food.
Seeing as you work so terribly hard you need to keep your strength up and eat properly. A man can't live on sandwiches alone.
Good luck to you,
Best wishes, Monique :)
I mostly bring leftovers since I love home made food. Meat, potatoes, veggies, make a great meal, if you can reheat them. Tomorrow is left over spaghetti. Day after I'm having a sliced beef sandwich from a pot roast I cooked in the crock pot. I am fortunate to have a microwave at work, so heating up left overs is easy. Sometimes I make grilled cheese with onion in the morning, wrap it up, and microwave it later. Home made soup, chili, and stew are all good in a thermos or even canned if you don't have time to make home made.
I use an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack. Yogurt, fruit, bagels with cream cheese, breakfast bars are all good snacks too. So much to choose from!
All the offerings are great. I find a product called Frigos Cheese Heads are yummy and convenient. I get the cojack cheese but you can get mozzerella, too. They snap apart and are the perfect portion. You can match them with Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuits and some grapes, and have a nice snack. That, and a soup is a great lunch. Buying microwave meals is nice, but most taste like old bus...
Some stores have cooked meals like roast beef, baked ham, roasted turkey/chicken and premade salads. Those, portioned up, won't cost you any more than the microwaved kind, and you will be getting real food that keeps you working hard (you must really be a dedicated guy!) and won't fill you up with salt and nitrites. Ham is loaded with them...that is why they are pink (hot dogs and bologna, too, but don't get me started on those)!!
Put good gas and oil in your car and it will run for years. The same is true for your body. Live on sandwiches and snacks and you will break down.
I hope you can slow down soon.
I takes just 20 minutes to boil up a dozen eggs. Put the eggs in a pan with cold water, bring to a boil and let sit covered 15 minutes off the heat, cool under running water. I make hard boiled egg sandwiches with english mufins, mayo, salt pepper and onion powder. I slice the egg into 3 pieces and it fits just right on the muffin. Eggs are good cheap protein and not as bad for your cholesterol as once thought.
Think of homemade meals that you may especially like and are easy to fix. I suggest meat loaf, pot roast, and chicken with rice casserole(uses Campbells soup). Make at least one of those meals on a day off work. You'll have a great meal that day. Make baked potatoes or something easy to go with it. I often use Lipton Sides (aka Knorr). Then, you'll have leftovers to take to work. meatloaf is wonderful because you can make sandwiches. But I like to use the leftovers in bottled spaghetti sauce like meatballs. (its the same recipe ... smile) Whenever you make food, try to throw in a handful or two of frozen veggies. You'll add value to your diet that way and it doesnt effect the flavor. Let us know how you make out.
Buy one of those already roasted chickens at the supermarket. They are good for many different meals. Leftover chicken is great in casseroles made with soup and rice or noodles with frozen veggies. Or you can make homemade soup and eat it all week. Soup is great as it has everything a person needs for a good diet. Make your own on the weekend. It's easy.
Working two jobs? Are you married?
What about those soup at hand from Campbells they are usually on sale for 1 and what about buying fruit and cutting it up the night before and just grabing some and put in in a small containter. I have a plastic container that sits on the shelf and has 3 different sizes and a place for lids that fits all of them about $10 at Wal-Mart. Hubby usually takes the same things except I make his sandwich the night before. Me I don't like the same thing so he always has a different sandwich from peanut butter and jelly or different meats (I use different jellies too). Make muffins on the weekend and have them or leftovers from the night before just use your imagation.
Whoah these are all great articles of feedback! I'm so glad that everyone has some great ideas, I can get my mind thinking about all of this...
With Fall in the air this is a good time to get out your crock pot. I pop a thawed whole chicken, seasoned, a little chicken broth and let cook all day on low until done. Add a instant in the microwave side dish, a veggie and you can call it good. Or since hamburger sometimes comes in a nice loaf size I freeze like is and put it in it's frozen state in the crock pot. Add your fave sauce (ketchup mixed with brown sugar, vinegar and a little mustard is good).
Of course a pot roast with veggies is a all time favorite. Then the leftovers are the coup de grace for the next day. Use thinly sliced roast beef with a tossed green salad, or use the beef in tortilla shells, add cheese, taco sauce sour cream all rolled together. Have fun experimenting! Jann
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