what are your favorite foods for lunches?
what are your favorite foods for lunches?
"you dont have to be tall to see the moon" - african proverb
I usually end up just eating meal bars of some sort because I work all day...usually without a break.... I reeeally like lara bars, organic food bars...and luna bars...I ususally eat these with dried fruits like prunes and apricots or ill pack a pb&j
If i dont have to rush and im at home, Ill make a huuuuge salad or smoothie of some sort
Im so used to eating very little at lunch, that when I actually eat a real meal at this time I feel totally stuffed and kinda guilty..which ends up spoiling my dinner...and I loooove coming home and relaxing, cooking, an eating lots of yummy food...so I make sure I have a big breakfast too
I almost always have sandwiches for lunch - and I go through phases with what I put in them - the flavour of the month right now is avocado and tomato - and if I am cold, I will toast it! I love wholemeal sourdough bread. I can't eat main meals at lunch - I never could. I sometimes have soup though. I always finish lunch off with something sweet - like fruit or dried fruit.
I'm like Sarah - usually I work through the day without a break (we have the option of taking a 30min break during the day or going home 30mins early - I choose to go home early). So, I too, usually eat things that are easy to munch on while working - such as an energy bar, dried fruit, a sandwich or sometimes a banana.
If I'm at home for lunch, I'll usually make a late breakast/early lunch type of meal, depending on what is in the fridge or cupboards. Toasted sandwiches are nice during the winter.
So i stupidly agreed to 'do lunch' for four blokes i am working with. They're curious about veganism - but do look at each other wryly when i'm eating my salads (and occasionally make comments about ' how i need to get some meat on my bones' in a semi jokey way). Whatever i take in has to be portable and filling and not too 'unusual'. I'm stuck for ideas....Help.
My turn of mind is so given to taking things in the absurd point of view that it breaks out in spite of me every now and then.
- Byron
Hi how about Holland & Barratts porkless pork pies they are vegan so is their vegan sos rolls. Then there is cheatin ham or cheatin chicken or cheatin turket from H&B.
Serve those up with plain crisps and walkers chicken flavour is vegan.
Pudding how about toffuti 'rock and rolls' vegan cornettos or vegan yogurts.
Yeah!! I found the vegan sausages pretty nice. I am not sure how much variance in taste it has with the real sausages ( I have never tried sausages before in my life ). But I am pretty sure, your guests will like it. Another alternative would be to have vegan mince which is quite filling and good to taste.
Life is like a boomerang: What goes around comes around - "Karma"rocks!
Yes, H&B own veg, sausages are lovely.
hi catmogg, maybe this thread is interesting for you:
http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3975
I will not eat anything that walks, swims, flies, runs, skips, hops or crawls.
What do they usually eat? And do any of them have food allergies or dislikes? For instance, my sister really hates beans so I try not to feed her any bean-based meals or she won't give them a chance. I don't like beets and probably wouldn't enjoy something with them as much as without.
I shy away from the meat substitute dishes with my meat-eating family members because I try not to focus on meat but rather vegetables. Also, they are never satisfied with something that doesn't taste exactly like meat or cheese. I always tell them that I can't make soy tasted like a chicken any more than I can make a cow taste like a tomato.
Hi Catmogg. I like the vegan pie/sausage roll idea too! They would be a hearty, filling lunch and what man doesn't like a pie!
Roxy
What about cold pasta, it is so easy to make. Just make a really simple sauce with plenty of olive oil, onions, peppers, a tin of tomatoes, some herbs, a veg stock cube and job done
Thanks for all this. It's for tomorrow and i'm doing a buffet affair incorporating pretty much all your ideas, including sos rolls, bread, hummus, those chicken flavoured walkers crisps, salad leaves, couscous, pasta, nuts, vegan cream cheese oh and i made some no bake chocolate fridge cake with green and blacks... Yum yum. If they don't like it i'll dine out on it for weeks!!!
My turn of mind is so given to taking things in the absurd point of view that it breaks out in spite of me every now and then.
- Byron
p.s.
Oh yeah, tails, i also bought some tofutti cornettoes just for me. Devine.
My turn of mind is so given to taking things in the absurd point of view that it breaks out in spite of me every now and then.
- Byron
WoW... Catmogg.. you made my mouth water. I mainly cook Indian, but I love the types you mentioned above.. Sounds like a big feast!! I wish I was in sheffield to have a dive at your buffet For me, when it comes to food it is like "somebody stop me!!!". Oh, by the way if you still have got some of it left till saturday, I would not mind some at the roadshow!!! haa hhaa!! Just kidding!! .. All the best hostess! Good luck for the grand finale tomorrow. And let us know how it goes.catmogg
Life is like a boomerang: What goes around comes around - "Karma"rocks!
It was a hit and facillitated some very open minded discussion, so thanks again to all who contributed.
kiran_2k
My turn of mind is so given to taking things in the absurd point of view that it breaks out in spite of me every now and then.
- Byron
Good news!! So we now have 4 blokes considering going vegan? Nice.
Life is like a boomerang: What goes around comes around - "Karma"rocks!
Not quite!!But they have a much better understanding........
My turn of mind is so given to taking things in the absurd point of view that it breaks out in spite of me every now and then.
- Byron
mm, ok my mouth is watering too...
time to go and make falafel and avocado and hummus and carrot in pita bread... *drool*
i think i may be a little late with this response... but my severly carnivorous family member always eats this chinese food dish.. chop souey i think. it is bean sprouts and celery and water chesnuts, snap peas, other crunchy veggies. the sauce is a cornstarch base i think. serve with rice.
mainly i think he likes it cause it's so salty.
next time
I am a recently converted vegan and having a SUPER HARD time with lunch ideas. I have been going to this place called Pita Rollz by my job and they have a "build your salad"- I have been getting them to make it for me with lettuce, tomatoes, avacado, cucumber and sunflower seeds. Balsamic dressing. I really love it but I can't eat it daily. I am having a hard time picking things for lunch from fast food places, chains, etc. Any help??
Can't you make your own lunch and take it with you? You'd save a lot of money... Rice or pasta salad, tons of possible sandwich ideas, make your own felafel and put it in a pitta with sald and tahini dip, or just fruit and nuts somedays. I don't know how big an appetite you have. As for chain fast food joints, although some might have vegan choices, the chains themselves are not very ethical. But that's for you to decide. Good luck
try and go into the recipes on the site, and find some recipes for hummus, butterbeanspread, and other nice spreads, and make a really nice sandwich.
or even better - bring leftovers from your dinner; curry and rice, chilies, pancakes, lasagna, pastasalad, home-made pizza, samosas, potato/pastasalad with pesto, couscoussalad, bulghursalad, stir-fries, potatosalad, veggiepies, all make exellent lunches
I often take a huge salad bowl to work, I vary the dressings and sometimes include soya cheese, sometimes chop up some fake meat and sometimes include grilled falafel or even mini indian snacks such as bhajis and samosas. I always take some pieces of fruit and maybe even a soya yogurt or a small piece of dark chocolate or cake. A small bag of dried fruit, such as apricots or some seeds or nuts could be a good idea too. Most work canteens can always do a baked potato with beans if you are really stuck.
Obviously, you can't go wrong with sandwiches, vary the fillings as well as the bread, alternate between pitta, ciabatta, wholemeal etc.
This woman has a fantastic blog with some great lunch ideas!! If you scroll down the page, on the left side, you will see her archives. Click on those and you will find many, many, wonderful lunch ideas
Thanks! I am in the food section now looking at all the ideas.
Mock chicken Salad
Directions:
- 1 lb. firm tofu (freeze, then thaw in refrigerator, then steam over water for a few minutes which will give the tofu a chewy texture). When cool, squeeze out as much water as you can and crumble into small pieces.
- 1/3 cup minced red onion
- 1 large rib of minced celery
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon minced parsley
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon ground thyme
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup veganaise, or nayonaise
- Mix all the above ingredients together in a bowl.
- Chill and serve.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
I'm new to Vegan life and I'm trying to figure out what to do about lunches. I bring lunch to my office, I have access to a microwave and toaster oven however I'm on limited time so I have to keep my cooking to a minimum. I went and did a bit of shopping today, picked up some Morningstar meals, the "chicken" nuggets, buffalo nuggets and the spinach and artichoke nuggets...figured between those and fruit and soy yogurt I can get through the day for now. Would love to know what others bring to the office. Right now I'm still eating some meats (turkey and chicken) until I can get a full grocery list together and figure out exactly what has eggs and milk in it...that stuff hides in everything!!
Thanks in advance for the ideas!
Carren
Yes, it does!blueyegrl
I'm glad you have decided to become a vegan! That's great! At first, it seemed a little daunting to me to find out what products have animal ingrediatns and what don't, but after awhile, it gets a lot easier. Certain brands tend to be "safer" than others, too, I've found.
Some quick and easy lunch ideas for a bagged lunch:
-Chic pease, veggies (baby carrots, corn, tomato, ect) with dressing
-Bean burritos
-PB and J sandwiches. Or, for variety, PB and Banana, almond butter and jam, ect.
-Hummus, with veggies as a dip or on a pita/bagel. (Can be made, bought in a tub or jar, or baught in a just-add-water mix)
-Pasta salad
-Baked potao (that you can re-heat) topped with chili
-Rice (cooked in vegetable broth gives it more flavor) and beans
-Bagels with tofu-based cream cheese (Tofutti's good)
-Left-over grain-based salads (Like quinoa, veggies, and a little oil/dressing) (from the night before)
-Chinese food (like lo mein)
Good luck!
hello!!
unfortunately, most morning star products aren't vegan i miss them-
i really like anything frozen that is made by amy's ( right before they list the ingredients, it says vegan in ( ) if it is- it cuts down on reading in the grocery store!! or else i make sandwiches and veggies. my favorite is left overs from the night before- they only take a few minutes to microwave
welcome!!
-mo
hi blueyegrl
Some more suggestions...
-cous cous
-rice with stir fried veggies
-veggies that are "durable" and don't squish easily (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, celery sticks, etc)
-cook enough stew or soup for a few days and put it in separate containers and freeze them. Then, you just have grab one and microwave it at work...you can make lentil soup or chili (both are high in protein ) or any kind of vegetable soup that you like.
-baked potatoes (if you have a fridge at work, you can buy a container of Earth Balance to spread over your potato)
-pasta with marinara sauce and veggies
-tabouleh salad (bulghur, tomatoes, cucumbers, lemon juice, cilantro, and salt)
-pita wrap (put whatever you like in it: hummus, veggies, sprouts, beans)
-if you feel would like to spend more time cooking at home, you can make a vegan lasagna, freeze it, and bring a slice to work every day
-fruit like apples, bananas, and oranges make good snacks, and so do different nuts, raisins, and other dried fruit
hope that helps
You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
~John Wooden
I loved lo mein and loved eating it after I became vegan until I found out that lo mein is made with egg noodlesveggiegirl3
You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.
~John Wooden
More ideas...
First of all, check out the Vegan Lunch Box (veganlunchbox.blogspot.com)! Even though Shmoo, the lucky kid the lunches are made for, is just that- a kid- many of the ideas appeal to adults or can just be altered a bit to fit the bill.
- Falafel with tahini sauce and lettuce in a pita
- Hummus and raw or roasted veggies in a sandwich or pita
- Wraps with refried beans, lettuce, tomato, and any other toppings (spiced black beans, guacamole or avocado, salsa, casein-free soy cheese, etc)
- Spaghetti with marinara
- Salad with beans, chickpeas, nuts and/or seeds, assorted veggies, and a yummy dressing
- Chili (either on its own, perhaps with cornbread on the side, or topping pasta or a baked potato)
- Veggie deli slices (some of Yves' and other brands are vegan), casein-free soy cheese, sliced tomato and lettuce, and any other toppings in a sandwich
- Soy yogurt with berries and granola
- Fruit smoothies with protein powder or nut butter, ground flaxseeds, and anything else you like
Good luck!
-Any kind of salad wraps
-Baked potato with vegan margarine, vegan sour cream / Salad
-Sliced veggies with vegan ranch dip or hummus
-Amy's Black Bean & Veggie soup
When you cook dinner, make enough to have leftovers for a day or two.
You are not required to complete the task of repairing the world, neither are you free to abstain from it.
--Pirke Avot
Yeah, I saw those spinach artichoke things and they sounded SO GOOD, but of course they had cheese or some kind of milk product in them. I went to their website, and out of ALL of their products, these are the only vegan ones:mophoto
Morningstar Farms® Grillers® Vegan
Morningstar Farms® Grillers® Burger Style Recipe Crumbles
Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Sausage Style Recipe Crumbles™
Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Steak Strips
Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Chik'n Strips
NO! I nerver knew that! I've had it only twice this past year (since becoming vegan in September); once I made at home (no egg), but this winter I got some at a Chinese place...I never knew to watch for that- Thanks!DancingWillow
I didn't even remember the cheese in the spinach artichoke nuggets!! I guess it takes some time to get used to that! I also went to buy some bread yesterday and at the last moment looked at the ingredients, and there was egg...I was all proud of myself for catching it, but go and buy the Morningstar with cheese *smacks forehead* I didn't even think of Hummus, will have to pick up some of that! yum
Thanks for the great ideas! Is salsa Vegan? I'm thinking it must be, but I'm also finding stuff hidden in everything so better ask! I think salsa on a baked potato would be pretty tasty!
Thanks again.
~Carren~
Salsa usually is vegan but always double check.
Peace, love, and happiness.
[quote=blueyegrl] I didn't even remember the cheese in the spinach artichoke nuggets!! I guess it takes some time to get used to that! I also went to buy some bread yesterday and at the last moment looked at the ingredients, and there was egg...I was all proud of myself for catching it, but go and buy the Morningstar with cheese *smacks forehead* quote]
Please don't be too hard on yourself, especially at first. You're doing the best you can for yourself and the animals. Finding vegan-friendly products will get easier, I promise! But, for now, here are some of the most common hidden animal ingredients that I've seen pop up:
-Casein (in soy cheese) (from milk)
-Whey (in bread a lot of times, and other stuff) (from milk)
-Lactose (from milk)
-Geletin (from bones and hooves)
-Enzymes (in bread a lot of the time)
Can be animal or vegetable source:
-Natural flavors
-Glycerin
-Monodiglycerides/diglicerides (in breads, crackers, ect)
-vit D (D3 is always animal-based, D2 can be either, but if the company specifically states "Vit. D2," I've found that it tends to be a veggie-friendly brand and is ok)
Ok ingredients that sound bad:
-Lactate
-Lactic acid
-Caramel color
Those are the things that pop up a lot for me. There are more, but these ones seem to be the ones I'm always commong across. But, if you do discover you bought something with an animal product, you're new to this and doing your best. Everyone makes mistakes.
Anyone familiar with The Vegan Lunchbox Blog? She has amazing ideas for lunches and shows everyone what she packs for her vegan son everyday. I don't have the link, but if you Google it, you'll find it. I think she is going to do a cookbook based on her blog.
hi
im new here =]
anyway for lunch i make smoked tofu burgers and then keep them in the fridge for a few days. deeeeeee-lish!!!! i also make tahina, aduki bean, nut burgers
I eat homemade veggie soup with a bagel most days.
I have a new craze. i loveeeee to make these wraps out of all different flours. You use any flour (corn, millet, quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat etc) and then mix it with soya milk about a nice smooth mixture. in a pan add a bit of olive oil and make the wrap i then fill it with different beans like kidney beans, aduki beans , chickpeas, add some hummus and some olives, and salad and ta dah!!!! yum!!
Lately it's been either
-fruit and a Larabar
or
-soy yogurt and fruit
I'm a big eat-outer and I usually grab a veggie sub from Subway (Italian bread, obviously no cheese), bean burrito w/ no cheese from Taco Bell or some Pad Thai from Nothing but Noodles w/ no egg. If I cook something, it's usually just for me, and, since I'm lazy, I usually end up in the Taco Bell drive-thru around lunch time...lots of protein and fiber...yum
Yummy & fast:
Get a vegetable/tomato juice like V8 (try to find low sodium varieties! Tomato soup is often packed with salt!), measure out a cup, put it in a bowl and microwave.
I do this mainly to save cabinet space (too many cans + instant mixes wastes room) but also the veggy juices tend A)come in low sodium and B)have extra vitamins & antioxidants added in. Get a boost where ever you can.
I have thought about trying that. Unfortunately, most low sodium varieties use lemon juice or grape juice, which I'm allergic to.
Peace, love, and happiness.
Ok, today is one of those days I feel completly uninspired about what to cook...I just don't know what I fancy...anway, i was wondering if anybody had any suggestions, i've got some mushrooms, a couple of carrots, celery, spring onions, salady stuff(lettuce, tomato,cucumber)but not in a salady mood,tofu,pressed and fozen....and some dried seaweed I think is kombu but not sure cause on the paket it just says seaweed....(also got rice,pasta and bread)...I'm spoilt for choice!...but as I said..very uninspired...
Thanks for anyones ideas!
caitlin
I've just remembered, I also have tinned tomatoes, and some red and green peppers....and one more thing, I dont have lots of time so it's got to be something reasonably quick ...
Last edited by Korn; Feb 18th, 2007 at 06:55 PM. Reason: This was the first post in a similar thread
How about a risotto? Get some rice cooking and then chuck in your vegetables of choice. Quick, easy and delicious.
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