Lunch Foods

[Susan3]

I'm new here and need ideas for lunch at work. Quick, throw in the lunch box food. I'm having a hard time knowing what to eat as it is. Anyone know of foods on the grocery store shelf that take little or not time to prepare that are gluten-free?

Thanks!

Sus

[tarnalberry]

I'm new here and need ideas for lunch at work.  Quick, throw in the lunch box food.

Here are some things that I often take for lunch (it's usually two each of the first two items and one of the remaining ones, and I'm also dairy free):

* raw veggies (carrots, cauliflower, zucchini, bell pepper, celery, etc.)

* fruit - dried or fresh (mango, kiwi fruit, strawberries/raspberries, apples, oranges, pears, peaches, bananas, etc.)

* leftovers (stir-fry, soup, chili, gluten-free pasts w/sauce, baked chicken w/ vegetables, stew, etc.)

* salad (shrimp and avocado, chicken, bean, vegetable, pasta, etc.)

* rice cakes w/ peanut butter

* tuna tacos (tuna mixed with mashed avocado and salsa, and corn tortillas - carried separately and put together at lunch time)

* lettuce wraps (leaf lettuce rolled around a slice of lunch meat with a slice of tomato and red onion in the middle)

* optional snacks: a serving of almonds or walnuts or a piece of dark chocolate

Anyone know of foods on the grocery store shelf that take little or not time to prepare that are gluten-free?

I think other members will give you better answers on this one that I will, but that's because I'm not a fan of purchasing prepacked, prepared foods. You run the risk of cross contamination, it's not as healthy as cooking fresh, and it costs more. There are plenty of basic ingredients that take very little of your time to do anything with that you can quickly combine to make meals that take 15 minutes to prepare and cook. It's more a matter of finding or inventing these dishes than finding prepared foods. Also, a bit of planning and making use of time you do have can make cooking MUCH faster when you don't have time. (Pre-cutting vegetables, making a large pot of rice so you have leftovers to use for the next few days, freezing large batches, premeasuring spices or the like you mix together often (I do this to make my own hot cereal and just leave a big bag in the fridge and work through over the mornings...), etc.)

[nettiebeads]

I'm new here and need ideas for lunch at work.  Quick, throw in the lunch box food.  I'm having a hard time knowing what to eat as it is.  Anyone know of foods on the grocery store shelf that take little or not time to prepare that are gluten-free?

Thanks!

Sus

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've been brown bagging it for years - I rarely take things off of the store shelf. Do you have a microwave available? When I don't take a salad or leftovers, there are a few of the Campbell's Chunky soups that I eat that don't bother me. Of course it takes longer to shop because of the never ending label reading.

[Jnkmnky]

Kinnikinnick makes great white bread that packs well. I make my son sandwiches for school on the bread, lightly toasted, and it's fine after several hours in his bag. He eats deli meats, pbj, pbfluff , oscar mayer bologna, etc... He also has hotdogs cut up into baked beans in a thermos, stew with buttered chebe balls, Tinkyada pastas with spaghetti sauce, hot chicken, rice and broccoli...broccoli smells a bit but he is a broccoli fanatic. Cantelope with cottage cheese, or pineapple, a salad from the salad bar at the supermarket. Manwhich is gluten free, so a thermos of that with chopped meat...bring a Kinnikinnick bun and dip or make a sandwich. Chebe pizza sticks with a side of sauce. We put chopped pepperoni, mozzerella cheese, extra garlic salt and make the sticks that way. You could make Chebe hot pockets and stuff with ham and cheese..these are really good.

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[luvs2eat]

Oh my, Jnkmnky... all those sound wonderful!!

I always brown bag it too... or pick up salad at the salad bar at the local grocery. I make Manna from Anna bread and slice it into slices when it's cool and freeze it in 2 slice bags. I toast it and make awesome sandwiches to pack... or I just roll up meat and cheese to dip in a little salad dressing or mustard. I often take a container of whatever was for dinner last night and microwave it.

Check out the microwavable packages of red beans and rice (and others) by Zatarains in the grocery. I like those too.