Lately, I have fallen into the habit of making lunches for my significant other (MSO). Is that a habit one can fall into? It’s probably more an intentional act to show my appreciation… Either way, there’s been a learning curve to it.
At first, I would pack him one sandwich with nothing but cheese and meat, then I learned that he likes mustard, mayo, lettuce, tomato, and jalepenos on his sandwiches. After that I figured out that apparently one sandwich and an apple are not enough, so began packing “ants on a log”, an apple, two sandwiches, and chips, and the occasional few cookies. Of course, this portion size and flavor thing has taken me half a year to even start getting the hang of.
Anyway, after a few months, I have gotten together a list of some of MSO’s favorite lunches that I pack him. These are big, filling meals that hopefully will help satiate a full-grown (or growing) man.
If you’re having trouble figuring out what to pack in a.) your adult lunch box, b.) your teen’s lunch box, c.) your adult significant other’s lunchbox, I hope this helps. Portion size is everything. I have had to triple and sometime quadruple amounts that I once thought were “enough.” They eat so much! I pack MSO’s meals in rubber maid’s 5 cup easy fin lids container. They are my favorite container for packing lunches. I know that if I don’t have it filled 2/3 with carbs and protein, and 1/3 with veggies, I definitely have not packed enough.
Quesadillas
Shepherd’s Pie
An example of how much food I pack to send with MSO for one shift: 2 sandwiches, shepherd’s pie, quesadillas, tapioca pudding, and a salad
Side view of Mac n Cheese with ground beef and broccoli with a slice of “healthy” deep dish chocolate chip cookie pie
Top view of Mac n Cheese with ground beef and broccoli, with a slice of “healthy” deep dish cookie pie
So, onto the Lunch Ideas!
- 1 box of Annie’s Kraft mac n cheese, 2-3 hot dogs, 1 cup of frozen broccoli
- Prepare mac n cheese according to directions and put into quart-size tupper ware, add frozen broccoli, then chop hot dogs and put on top of mac n cheese. Broccoli will defrost in a few hours and then will heat up nicely in microwave for lunch. Or, if short on time, cook broccoli before putting in tupperware.
- Dal with chopped cooked/boiled chicken tossed in at end, naan bread (we get naan near the deli with the pitas and wraps)
- While I make the dal, I boil about 1/3 lb chicken per serving of dal and shred it and add it into the dal during the last few minutes. I serve the dal and chicken with rice.
- 2 sandwiches, chips, apple.
- I’ll make ham and cheddar sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard, but I’ll also do tuna sandwiches. Personally, I like egg salad sandwiches made with avocado instead of mayo, and PB&J’s and nutterfluff sandwiches. But apparently MSO is not cultured enough for nutterfluff… ha.
- 12 chicken nuggets, 2 potatoes, salad
- Yup, my grown-up MSO eats chicken nuggets. I cook the chicken nuggets and fully cook the potatoes in the oven (according to separate directions for each). I cube the potatoes and might even toss them in a pan with olive oil, S+P, chili powder, and dill. I toss the potatoes and chicken nuggets together, sometimes chipping the chicken nuggets smaller and mix with a little ranch dressing. I then pack a garden salad on the side. I give him chicken nuggets, he gives me the pleasure of knowing he actually ate a salad. All is fair.
- 2 tuna sandwiches (half avocado, half mayo, with tomato and hot sauce and lettuce), carrots and dip, pretzels
- Just like it sounds, 2 sandwiches again, since apparently one is not enough for a growing
boyman. I take 7 oz canned tuna, quarter of an avocado, a tablespoon or so of mayo and a gooooood helping of hot sauce and mashed it all together. I then smear the tuna mix onto the toasted bread, add tomato and lettuce, and then put the top piece of bread on.
- Just like it sounds, 2 sandwiches again, since apparently one is not enough for a growing
- Tortellini salad with peas and chopped chicken, plus parmesan
- For this one, buy the frozen tortellinis and cook them up. Buy some chicken and cook it -boil, roast, fry, whatever- then shred it. Toss tortellini with chicken and peas and as much parmesan as you want. Top with a vinaigrette of lemon juice with S+P and olive oil. Or jarred Alfredo sauce, mayo with sugar and vinegar, anything really.
- Pasta with red sauce, cooked turkey kielbasa/sausage, and parmesan, served with a salad
- MSO gets kielbasa, I get him to eat a salad. Enough said.
- Chicken, spinach, mushroom quesadillas
- Super easy. Cook up some chicken, shred it and place it on half of a tortilla, cover with mushrooms that you sautéed lightly in oil or butter, spinach that you wilted, and LOTS of cheese. Fold the uncovered half of the tortilla on top of the covered half. Broil in oven for 1-2 minutes -do not walk away, or it will burn. I recommend placing tortillas on a baking sheet covered in tinfoil before even beginning to fill them. Once filled and folded, place baking sheet 4-6 inches away from broiler.
- Beef burritos
- Shepherd’s Pie
- I love making shepherd’s pie and then saving a couple of servings to wrap in cling wrap and put in the freezer to pull out for fast lunches. I use this recipe usually, though I often swap out broth for red wine or beer, and double the veggies as well as put in whatever random frozen veggies I have on hand (I love to include peas and green beans and cauliflower, in addition to carrots and broccoli and lima beans). Also, I only get 5-6 servings out of it, not 8.
- Mac n cheese.
- 1 prepared box of Kraft mac n cheese, 1/3 lb ground beef cooked with 2 teaspoons taco seasoning, and 1 cup cooked broccoli.
- Calzone with a salad
- I loooove making these. Not exactly the fasted, but they are great to have on hand. I make the dough in advance, freeze it after the first rise, and then thaw it in the fridge the night before I want to use it and then, once thawed, I roll it out and fill it with toppings/fillings.
- I use Bobby Flay’s pizza dough recipe. From one recipe, we get 4 calzones (4 meals, yay).
- Make the dough, roll it out into 4 pieces (or roll out 1, freeze the other 3), and fill with a little red sauce, 4oz of fresh mozzarella hunks, and a diced medium-size tomato. Fresh basil and/or pepperoni are great to add here too. Fold over the dough and make into a calzone shape, pinching edges to seal. Place on greased baking sheet and bake in oven at 450F for 12-16 minutes.
Snack Ideas
- Bumps on a log
- Graham crackers spread with PB or Nutella
- Cheese and crackers and pepperoni/beef jerky
- Yogurt with fruit and chia seeds
- 2 eggs bacon cheese bagel sandwich (cook 2 eggs (I like to scramble them), place on bottom slice of toasted bagel with cheese and bacon, top with top slice of bagel) – these taste pretty good re-heated
- Bagel with cream cheese, hard boiled eggs, and peaches mixed with cottage cheese
- Tortilla, PB, banana, honey (or Nutella) – spread a tortilla with peanut butter, diced a banana and sprinkle on top of PB, drizzle honey on top of, then roll up like a wrap/cigar.
For a fun dessert, that’s not too bad and at least has lots of fiber ad protein, try this:
Deep Dish Cookie Pie from Chocolate Covered Katie
Sweet Spatulas 