typealice

22 Mar, 2009

Dreading Lunches

Posted by: typealice In: Gillian

I am seriously dreading lunchtime at a job again. This is always the low point of having a job for me- having to pack a lunch. I am seriously UNINSPIRED. I think it has been passed down by my mother who hated packing lunches for three children, herself and her husband for years and years and years while we all lived at home.

Even with her hatred of packing the lunches, she still managed to make homemade bread, cookies and milk the goats for our daily bottle of milk (seriously! fucked, right?). I’m not that kind of lunch maker, not in the slightest.

Before I had a kid and became all eco-conscious (and especially hungry because of being pregnant), my lunches were filled with tubs of yogurt, pudding, and other highly disposable and wasteful products, stuff I don’t want to purchase and throw away any more.

I hate salads, I’m not a fan of sandwiches. If I cook enough food that I think there will be leftovers, Clive just eats it all for supper because he loves to eat! I am not going to have a lot of time to cook food between trying to spend as much time with Ash before bedtime and working full time. I’ve got a meal plan and an accompanying extensive grocery list started, but lunches stump me.

Ideas would be appreciated. :)

I’m also going to sew my own lunch bag. I haven’t had a lunch bag since I was in junior high school probably, and am thinking of going classic… something similar to these, which I think are cute.

I wonder how much energy I’ll have once I’m working full time? Since I will have to change out of my elastic waistband pants well before 1:30 in the afternoon, I’m thinking my productivity will diminish quite a lot!

20 Responses to "Dreading Lunches"

1 | Siobhan

March 22nd, 2009 at 6:09 pm

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I’m in charge of cooking around here and I also hate making lunches. I also have a partner who loves to eat. What I do is cook a lot of dinner and immediately portion the next day’s lunches into the lunch containers. Having it already removed from the pan or pot or whatever really makes a differences. Do you have to pack Ash a lunch? I’m of no help in that department. I also like having A LOT of fruit on hand. Nuts and hard boiled eggs are also fast and easy. I hope that was somewhat helpful.
One thing I was thinking about that I would like to see is re-usable wrapping paper (made of cloth) and cloth gift bags. I love unwrapping presents, but feel bad about the waste. I just thought I’d throw that out there, because I’m definitely not sewing anything for the time being.

2 | Siobhan

March 22nd, 2009 at 6:10 pm

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Oh, and about yogurt. I love yogurt, but find the small containers both expensive and wasteful, so I just fill up little tupperware containers at home and take them to work.

3 | Bhavana

March 22nd, 2009 at 8:56 pm

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Have you made yogurt at home…curdled milk? Its easy, easy. Home baked goods can do for lunch..no??

4 | angellee

March 22nd, 2009 at 10:43 pm

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laptoplunches.com has some good starter ideas for different kinds of lunches. A lot of them are veggie friendly. If you sign up for their newsletter there’s also more lunch ideas in those.

5 | sanna

March 23rd, 2009 at 1:04 am

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do you know about bento boxes? you could even get ash to help out a little.

http://community.livejournal.com/bentolunch/ has lots of inspiration and infomation

6 | Jenni

March 23rd, 2009 at 4:04 am

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Hey Gillian

I HATE making my packed lunch and I dread doing it but I found something that is quite easy and filling and healthy!

I make a HUGE bowl of fresh fruit salad on Sunday night and every morning I fill a Tupperware box with it and take it to work – it doesn’t sound very inspiring but its filling and doesn’t take up too much time. Occasionally i’ll take some other snacks to have with it but a big tub of fruit salad at lunch time really is yummy.

I like bento boxes too :)

Jenni

7 | Shannon

March 23rd, 2009 at 6:46 am

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I also rec putting your lunch portion into a container as you are serving plates. That way it’s out of sight, out of mind. I always have almonds in a baggie, a banana, yogurt, and dried fruit. Oh, and an apple.

8 | Elaine

March 23rd, 2009 at 11:36 am

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I do the same – make a recipe for 4, make two lunches, THEN serve dinner. I also make stockpiles of certain things – like a huge batch of burritos where I roll each one up in foil and if I don’t have a lunch ready some morning I can just grab two from the freezer.

9 | Danielle 2.0

March 23rd, 2009 at 1:59 pm

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I have the same problem.

About your leftover problem though, put your lunch portion in a container BEFORE Clive gets his hands on it and toss it in the fridge so he doesn’t even know it’s there!

10 | typealice

March 23rd, 2009 at 2:02 pm

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Thank you for everyone’s suggestion about taking out the food before even serving it. I hadn’t even considered that!

11 | Michelle

March 23rd, 2009 at 3:10 pm

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Non-sandwichy ideas: bagel with (pick one) hummus, cream cheese, veggie spread, any kind of nut butter, tofu ‘egg’ salad. Crudites and dip/spread. Rice and beans or lentils (your new fave, right?) :) Salads don’t have to be lettuce based, what about a bunch of cold potatoes with dilly dressing? Chopped garlicky portobellos? Cukes and tomatoes tossed with balsamic vinegar? Baked calzones… cold chik’n nuggets…

Breakfast stuff is awesome too. Pumpkin pancakes, french toast, a bowl of Swiss muesli…

Spend an hour on Sunday in the kitchen to make your week easier. One big pot of rice, one of lentils. Keep in fridge all week and portion your lunches from there. Ian makes a big bowl of Swiss muesli on Sunday nights. Whizz up a big vat of hummus, and a smaller one of cashew cream dip to eat with fruit salads. I also like to make a double batch of muffins, and put one batch on a cookie sheet in freezer immediately (then transfer to a container or bag, this way they don’t stick together though). If I don’t freeze, refrigerate or portion things immediately we’ll go through them within the day!

Oh and buy yourself a wrap’n'mat or two! :)

12 | Charlene

March 23rd, 2009 at 4:00 pm

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As soon as I’m done cooking dinner I store two servings in a pyrex container for lunch for me and Hannah.
That way all that gets eaten for dinner is food that is “supposed” to be eaten.

13 | typealice

March 23rd, 2009 at 6:36 pm

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Michelle: those are some great meal ideas!!

14 | Stephanie

March 24th, 2009 at 1:45 am

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Pasta salad: you could make it with zucchini, tomatoes, onions, peppers, with whole wheat penne and it’s good cold.
Rice mix: Also surprisingly good cold and super easy, just brown rice with cabbage, tomatoes and onions. This is something I eat cold in Kenya all the time.
My lunches in the US are typically strange combinations of snacks though. Cheese on multigrain crackers, an apple and a pear, or applesauce (can make yourself or buy in a glass bottle then keep the bottle for other things)…

15 | Rachel

March 24th, 2009 at 9:34 am

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I posted this before on ap-mamas, but these reusable bags have been great for the lunches I pack: http://www.snacktaxi.com/. http://www.reusablebags.com/ also has some good products/ideas.

I make huge batches of trail mix out of granola, nuts, seeds and assorted dried fruits. Small amounts of that pack a punch! One of Gage’s favorites that I pack are little apple sandwiches. I core an apple and slice it thinly. I then spread a thin layer of almond (or any other spread) on them and make little sandwiches. Citrus on the outside prevents them from browning.

16 | Jennifer

March 24th, 2009 at 9:27 pm

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I don’t even pack a lunch, but I love this blog:
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/
Her creativity amazes me. Good luck.

17 | Vicky

March 25th, 2009 at 8:47 am

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I have always been a hater of lunch (not just packed), I’ve always hated sandwiches and from as long as I can remember have made myself alternatives.

As a household we’re big fans of pasta, so I regularly make up large batches of pasta salad that I’ll have for lunch for days, couscous salad with Mediterranean vegetables is delicious. Sometimes I’ll add a baked potato or other times throw some into a tortilla wrap..

There are so many different ways to prepare a lunch, just look to the food that you love and see how you can make it work for you.

19 | Charlene

March 30th, 2009 at 10:41 pm

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okay I just made it tonight for lunch tomorrow:

steamed broccoli, carrots, brussel sprouts and cauliflower
with an almond milk sauce on top:
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 lime
3 tblsp tahini
1/2 tsp of cinnamon

I really want to eat it NOW!

20 | Danielle

March 31st, 2009 at 7:21 pm

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Daal is really easy to make and it’s good for you too!

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About

I'm Gillian, a world-traveller turned natural parent. I believe in primal parenting; breastfeeding, baby wearing, cosleeping, cloth diapering, elimination communication, vegetarianism and all things natural. I have very strong parenting views. There's nothing better in my life than my days with my kid. Also: sushi and sweet white wine, skinny jeans and black tshirts, torrents and sugar.

My sustainable accessories company Pip Robins keeps me busy in the evenings.