What is in your lunch bag?

[CurlingHouse]

With about 25-30 minutes to eat your lunch, what do you pack? Trying to get some ideas beside packing a PB&J sandwich or a Trader Joe's salad. Won't have time to run to the school/hospital cafeteria. Bonus for being inexpensive.

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[confettiflyer]

With about 25-30 minutes to eat your lunch, what do you pack? Trying to get some ideas beside packing a PB&J sandwich or a Trader Joe's salad. Won't have time to run to the school/hospital cafeteria. Bonus for being inexpensive.

lean cuisine (they're cheap, and i'm not getting any younger) $2.50-$3
Chobani yogurt - $1
Take a bulk bag of sun chips and divide into small bags - ~$.25
Can of soda - ~$.25 (get them on sale, like 4 x 12 pack for $10-12

total: $4.50

ways to save: overcook dinner the night before and pack for leftovers, drink tap water, switch to store brand yogurt.

 

[Notecard]

I always keep a loaf of bread and just buy stuff at the store to make a sandwich. They're mostly random combinations of lunch meat and cheese with lettuce and vinaigrette dressing.

Maybe $10 - $15 a week

It's one good thing about working at a pharmacy in a huge grocery store. I can't imagine what Costco employees do for a cheap lunch Stroll around the store for 5 minutes?

 

[CurlingHouse]

I can't imagine what Costco employees do for a cheap lunch Stroll around the store for 5 minutes?

My friend refers to Costco as "dim sum"

 

[schamj01]

my typical lunch

lunchmeat sandwich with lettuce, swiss or provolone, and honey mustard
some greek yogurt
a couple clementines
a banana or apple
a bag of mixed vegetables (sugar snap peas, carrots, cherry tomatoes, spinach, etc.)
a fiber bar or granola bar
if I'm feeling extra hungry I might throw in some candy or trail mix too

 

[PharmDstudent]

Taco Bell, Papa John's, Burger King, or McDonald's

 

[xiphoid2010]

Cafeteria food, with employee discount a McD style combo comes out to $4. Lunch out at other near by joints once or twice a week.

 

[rxlea]

Whatever my fiancée packs for me. It's always a surprise. The other day it was gruyere cheese, hummus and pita, an orange, coke zero, and a pbj. Yogurt and granola for breakfast and banana for snack in class. She sends me with a homemade latte and nalgene with water.

 

[CurlingHouse]

I think Lea wins for best lunch. PharmDstudent and Xiphoid are high rollers!

 

[Protongenic]

Whatever my fiancée packs for me. It's always a surprise.

Jealous~~!

I usually switch it up between commercially prepared frozen meals and home-made left overs. Some of what I've been eating over the past week:
-Amy's organic black bean burrito: $1.75
-Homemade slow-cooker chili: ~$15.00 for 4.5 quarts = ~$2.00 per meal
-Homemade salad with nuts, dried fruits, and sundried tomatoes: $3.00
-Lightlife frozen meals: $4.00
-Odwalla bars: $1.00 (especially when certain attendings with never-ending rounds come on)
-A piece of fruit; whatever's in season.
-40oz homebrewed white tea (one container of loose leaf ~$15.00 can last a month) in a non-plastic container (I like klean kanteen)
-Bran cereal, frozen raspberries, and unsweetened chocolate almond milk for breakfast.

Back in my meat-eating student days, I used to love packing all sorts of wraps:
-Turkey wraps with lettuce, tomatoes and sliced cheese
-Hummus wraps
-Chicken deli wraps with mushrooms
-Pastrami wraps
-Snacks would include a wedge of laughing cow swiss cheese (or muenster, gruyere, brie...), crackers, peanut butter on bananas/apples. Greek yogurt with honey used to be a staple since the protein keeps hunger at bay until mealtime (also cheaper if bought in bulk).
-Water

 

[PharmDstudent]

PharmDstudent and Xiphoid are high rollers!

... I laughed so loud that I just choked on my 20oz Diet Coke.
I order candy direct from Germany, too! Katje's are my fave.

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

-Hospital Cafeteria is very cheap and has a good salad bar
-Yogurt with granola, cottage cheese with pears, peanut butter and celery, sandwich
-Cereal, I keep milk in the breakroom fridge
-I have an assortment of random breakfast and energy bars
-Protein shake
-Soup and a breadbowl, very cheap. Make a huge crockpot of soup and buy some breadbowls at the store. Microwave at work and wala!

 

[ImmunoPharmD]

Being an Asian decent, my food usually presents...an interesting odor that the American mass may interpret it as stinky. So to compensate and conform, I usually have bagels and almonds on the drive to school in the morning, follow by coke/commercial brand soda, a "sandwich" (blech) with pbj or ham, and a piece of fruits. If I stay late in the nights, then I pack a light American snack such as apple and water, or a fat-free snack or campbell soup. When I get home I fry up them Asian food and eat till my heart contend.

 

[xiphoid2010]

PharmDstudent and Xiphoid are high rollers!

My wife used to pack my lunch, but I keep on forgetting to bring them it in the morning (brain doesn't function before coffee), so she finally gave up.

Our hospital's cafeteria has reasonably priced food that doesn't taste too bad. If you feel guilty about the burgers and Philly cheesesteak, you can grab a chef's salad with a ton of ham and cheese + a 20 oz diet coke for $3.85.

 

[Ackj]

burgers and Philly cheesesteak

Now the real reason for that LDL comes out


I used to do a sandwich, yogurt, cookies to dip in the yogurt (don't knock it till you try it), piece of fruit, some baby carrots, raw almonds. Lately I've been cutting back on my carbs so the sandwich has become a salad. I bake a batch of chicken early in the week and have it for a few meals. Throw that in the salad with blue cheese and hot sauce, which makes a great salad dressing and chicken dipping sauce. Cookies have become pepperoni or cheese sticks. I always have a few big water bottles that I drink throughout the day, so I'd budget about 1L toward my meal.

 

[schamj01]

Now the real reason for that LDL comes out


I used to do a sandwich, yogurt, cookies to dip in the yogurt (don't knock it till you try it), piece of fruit, some baby carrots, raw almonds. Lately I've been cutting back on my carbs so the sandwich has become a salad. I bake a batch of chicken early in the week and have it for a few meals. Throw that in the salad with blue cheese and hot sauce, which makes a great salad dressing and chicken dipping sauce. Cookies have become pepperoni or cheese sticks. I always have a few big water bottles that I drink throughout the day, so I'd budget about 1L toward my meal.

yeah, I used to do that with granola bars...always got weird looks

 

[Momus]

Oatmeal covered with shredded chicken = $1.75

Slowly digested carb, protein, and fiber I guess... Yea, I can't cook... and cheap at that lol... Occasional fast food joint if I crave them >_>; I fear fast food joints, their high sodium/fat content ugh including subway!

 

[FenderBender]

I always make my lunch for the week on Sundays. Saves a lot of money. I get my recipes from Cooking Light magazine. My favorite recipe so far is probably the Enchilada Casserole.

 

[joetrisman]

I always make my lunch for the week on Sundays. Saves a lot of money. I get my recipes from Cooking Light magazine. My favorite recipe so far is probably the Enchilada Casserole.

Ditto. Habit carried over from my bodybuilding days. It's a lot of work on Sundays, but I constantly get longing looks from my peers as they stare over at my tupperware.

 

[NorthwestRph]

Once or twice a week I drive to my mom's (another city), pack the food she's spent all day cooking for me into a zillion tupperwares, then eat out of them for lunch and dinner every day. My mom gets really worried if I don't have salad. So I buy the basic salad (just greens) from Safeway.
I know I am really lucky and my coworkers say I am sadistic and enjoy torturing them every time I heat up my food .
Granola bars and yogurts?? For 12 hours!! I would starve! I have a huge appetite. And once I get home I only eat oranges.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

What is this "lunch" you speak of?

 

[Ackj]

Once or twice a week I drive to my mom's (another city), pack the food she's spent all day cooking for me into a zillion tupperwares, then eat out of them for lunch and dinner every day. My mom gets really worried if I don't have salad. So I buy the basic salad (just greens) from Safeway.
I know I am really lucky and my coworkers say I am sadistic and enjoy torturing them every time I heat up my food .
Granola bars and yogurts?? For 12 hours!! I would starve! I have a huge appetite. And once I get home I only eat oranges.

How old are you? 12?

I kid... if I drove back to my parent's house, I'm sure my mom would be more than happy to make lunch for her pride and joy.

 

[Glycerin]

I always bring my lunch, and it's always a home-cooked meal. I stay as far away from processed foods as I can. I work 10-hour shifts, so I usually also bring a salad on the side and some fruit/nuts/cheese to snack on throughout the shift.

 

[Pharmavixen]

Left-overs!

And yogurt, granola bars.

I avoid eating the food in the jail as it's high in fat, and the people who eat it daily (some guards) are almost all obese. There's a hospital next door, and I sometimes go to their cafeteria; entrees < $5.00.

To save money, drink water, or bring tea bags and make tea, if you can.