I try to eat healthily these days, and am always looking for healthy lunch options that I can eat in the office when I am working.
While working in the USA for the past few years, the companies I worked for all had microwaves and fridges so employees could bring their own food in to the office and cook/re-heat it if desired.
Now that I have a new job in the UK, the company does have a fridge for the employees, but there are no cooking facilities, other than hot water for tea, coffee or cup-a-soup etc.
The company does have a subsidised staff canteen that provides full meals, but since Debbie and I usually eat together at night, I don’t really want to have two full meals in a day, however with winter approaching in England it does get chilly, and I will need something filling and warming inside me to help me get through the day. The question is what?
Aside from the staff canteen serving full meals, I still don’t have much money, so I want to spend as little as I can on lunch, however I do want to eat healthy, and not fill up every day on anything that has a high fat or sodium content (like cup-a-soups).
I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for something healthy to bring in to eat. Obviously leftovers that I have to re-heat are out of the question, since I have no way of heating them up. Bare in mind too that while a salad is ok in the summer, it’s not necessarily enough to warm you through on a chilly day. Also, I don’t really want to spend ages preparing anything in the morning before I leave for work, but I don’t also want to make something like a sandwich the night before, and find it stale or soggy by the time I come to eat it.
For breakfast in the USA I was having Oatmeal (Porridge) most days, with either Applesauce or Honey on it. This was really low in fat and sodium, good for the cholosterol levels, and also filling and warming. Since I can’t cook Oatmeal here at work (no microwave), I am bringing in Muesli, since we do have a fridge, and that is filling for breakfast. But what about lunch?
So do you have any ideas for a filling nutritious lunch that might help me out? If so, please leave a comment on this post and let me know. Thanks in advance for any help.
6 thoughts on “Healthy Lunch Options For Work – Any Suggestions?”
No microwave? That’s tough. Is your work space big enough to bring in a small microwave? I bet there’s some used ones you can get in classified online ads locally for under $50.
True, I thought of that, but I think one of the reasons that the company doesn’t have a microwave is that they want staff to use the canteen, which they subsidise.
The fridge is barely adequate as is is, and the drink preparation area consists of a water heater and a sink/drainer. They would need to find space to accomodate everything. Then the people in the warehouse would no doubt complain that the office staff had a microwave and they wanted one too… and then the number of people using the canteen would drop and the company might close it down. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for starting a vicious cycle…
Of course I do have space behind my desk for a microwave, but then the smell of cooking would drive the other people in this large open plan office crazy.
I could also end up tripping the circuit breakers while re-heating some leftovers, resulting in all the pc’s in sales and accounting going down, lost orders and work, and I could become rather unpopular.
So, as much as I would love to have a microwave to heat up some food, I can think of plenty of reasons why it wouldn’t be a good idea.
Hi Tony, I think it’s time to break out the ol’ Thermos Flask!!! We always make soup in the Winter, you get to use any leftover veg, (even un-fresh veg is ok), chicken bones etc it’s really cheap and filling. Just make a large batch and freeze in containers, defrost and re-heat when needed. All you need is a flask and bread…. You could also use the flask for boiling water and have noodles, should stay hot enough cook them…?
Failing that you could heat a tin of beans with a gas stove or a Zippo lighter, maybe a bit primitive though.
A Thermos Flask is a good idea, thanks. I purchased 2 aluminium flasks a few weeks ago for bringing water into work, since there isn’t a water cooler here, ad I only use one of them. I am sure I could come up with some good recipes for soup or stew and bring them to work. Just have to mak sure I make time to heat something up before I leave home in the morning.
How about a salad made of: cold pasta (macaroni type, not the long ones) mixed with canned tuna, veggies (I use peppers, onions, olives and sometimes pickles). You can add either mayo or olive oil and lemon. Salt pepper and herbs to your taste. Sometimes I put cubes of cheddar (but only if I am going to eat it warm).
That sounds appealing. This can be easily prepared the night before, but it might not be enough to keep me warm on a wintery day. Maybe if I combined it with a flask of soup it could be really good.