I’ll admit that in normal times I eat fast food for lunch every day. So last week I’ve been getting take out from inside because my van is tall. Today the Burger King was drive thru only and for some unknown reason cash only. I ended up with a bag of chips and peanut m&ms from a gas station. What can I take to work to eat? I’m thinking no to little prep time. Best I could come up with was can chef boyardee that I could let sit in the windshield to heat up. Don’t make me be that guy.
Bread
Meat
Cheese
Condiment
Add some sliced vegetables if that's your thing.
If you don't like regular sandwiches, then some ideas:
- meat and cheese roll ups.
- hard boiled eggs.
- use a thermos and fill with hot soup, stew, leftovers, or mac&cheese.
Do your prep on weekends or the night before
Another vote for sandwiches. Quick, easy, and minimal fuss to eat on the go. Beefaroni isn't a bad move though, I just restocked my locker and hid a piece of Parmesan in the back of the office fridge.
We used to make the next day's lunch at the same time we made dinner, the kitchen is already torn up and at 5:00 am it's the last thing I want to do.
I can't do all the salt in BKing etc. so I make a salad in a big tupperware, chop chicken or beef on top. Bread, meat, condiment works with a bag of chips, but that gets old after a while. All the money you don't spend on fast food you stash in your sock drawer for car parts.
I always make enough dinner to have leftovers.
In reply to 914Driver :
Word.
If you like sandwiches, they are quick and easy to make. $15 will get you enough fixins for a week. You can switch around each week or have your favorite every day. Sandwiches not your thing? Frozen entrees or leftovers and nuke em at lunchtime. No access to micro , leftovers that are good cold as well as hot. Sometimes leaving it on the dashboard will warm it up enough in a plastic container. Into really healthy stuff, fruits, nuts and veggies, that seems extreme however.
Sandwich maker , buy "real" bread , Rye , Sourdough etc
Rice cooker , and then so many flavors to put over it , salsa , curry , asian
if you need to eat in the truck , some big cans of soup warmed on your dashboard !
I always keep canned soup or chili in my car for if I get stuck somewhere (earthquakes) , just remember to have a can opener......
Get yourself some sort of lunch cooler and those refreezable ice packs since the van probably gets hot in Florida.
I buy the pouches of flavered tuna when they are on sale for $1. Eat with chips or crackers or something.
Now I'm trying out Keto so it will probably be just the Tuna with some nuts or something or meat/cheese or lettuce wrap.
John Welsh said:Get yourself some sort of lunch cooler and those refreezable ice packs since the van probably gets hot in Florida.
I was thinking just the opposite - get some aluminum foil, wrap up some food & strap it onto the engine with bailing wire. It'll be nice & hot when lunchtime comes!
Some good ideas. Thanks. Tomorrow is grocery day so I'll see what I can find.
I expect no one to follow my example, but just to be an outlier I'll post what works for me.
I'll preface this by saying that I actually really enjoy this, too.
I alternate bites of a Fuji apple and some roasted mixed nuts, and possibly a piece of cheese, every day. Possibly a granola bar, and then a few more of the nuts with some high quality dark chocolate.
I like zero prep time, either getting it ready when I'm going to eat it, or getting it packed up to leave in the morning.
I like sandwiches, but I prefer them when they're freshly made, and I don't want to spend the time getting sandwiches made when I'm getting ready for work.
Almost everyone I work with buys their lunch every day. That would interfere with the time I have available (often only a fraction of the hour that I'm supposed to get), my goal of spending as little as possible, and my intention to live to a hundred.
Aldi has some really good nut mixes/trail mixes. I gravitate toward the ones that have no chocolates in them. They're not really cheap at about $5.99 but compared to others they are a good price.
Aldi has some good jerkys too.
I just walked to my pantry and took this picture. All Aldi.
Stampie said:I’ll admit that in normal times I eat fast food for lunch every day. So last week I’ve been getting take out from inside because my van is tall.
Not every fast food joint has overhangs that will block tall vans, check around your area.
In reply to stuart in mn :
Problem is my area can cover several counties in NE FL and SE GA. While I do normally just work the east side of Jacksonville I've gone an hour north, south, and west of here. I'm kinda leaning towards a Publix trip for lunch. That way I can get something fresh and there's generally a Publix within 10 minutes of anywhere I am.
Shadeux said:Bread
Meat
Cheese
Condiment
Add some sliced vegetables if that's your thing.
I'll take this a step further.
When I had to do the early morning thing for work last thing I wanted was to deal with making lunch, but $5/day for fast food adds up quick.
Sunday night, I'd pack 2 slices of bread in a bunch of ziplocs bag and lay them beside the fridge. Lunch meat, leftovers, whatever and cheese in foil packs in the fridge.
Sandwiches for the week without everything getting all soggy before lunch.
In reply to RevRico :
That's a good idea. My problem is I like my condiments so trying to figure out the spicy mustard plus I really like my cucumbers. Ok so I'll have like 5 baggies to take to work to make my sandwich. I have an idea. I'll update tomorrow at lunchtime EST.
When I was on a machine all day I would make something like a burrito or chicken wrap in tin foil and put it on the exhaust manifold an hour before lunch time.
Just recently I started having turkey sandwiches for lunch most days. I mix it up with different types of cheeses, and sometimes honey mustard instead of mayo. It's not as exciting as fast food, but it's acceptable.
In reply to Stampie :
Are you on the road all day? If so you can get the small lunch heaters that run on 12v or 120v
I usually pack some form of chicken with rice and veggies but nothing boring. Like wine herb chicken, wild rice and seared brocollini etc. These go in the glass meal prep containers and when lunch rolls around I have a hot meal ready to go.
And meal prep makes it easier. Have it ready to go in the fridge and grab a banana and almonds/beef jerky or something to snack on
I have a little ice chest thing that plugs into the lighter in the car. Gets cold with the plug turned one way, warm turned the other way, like an electric ice chest. Better for keeping stuff warm than cold though.
For sandwiches, keep your tomato slices and lettuce in separate bag and it keeps your bread nice.
You can make a bunch of pasta salad or potato salad, can even buy that stuff pre made. Make enough for a week. Soup in a thermos goes well with a sandwich. Bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon makes a nice change from a sandwich.
EvanB said:I buy the pouches of flavered tuna when they are on sale for $1. Eat with chips or crackers or something.
Now I'm trying out Keto so it will probably be just the Tuna with some nuts or something or meat/cheese or lettuce wrap.
My wife did tuna and an avocado a lot for awhile. Apparently it's great.
Personally....I hate sandwiches so I usually do jerky if I can't get a lunch.
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