What do you do about lunch at work?
 

Do your wives make you lunches to eat, or do you go out to eat? If they make your lunch what sorts of things do they pack for you?

I am kind of opposed to sandwiches. I know that's weird, few people understand the aversion. Let's just say that after years of nothing but sandwiches for lunch I got some serious burnout. I'll eat them if someone else makes one, or if they crop up at a meeting or something, but you'll never catch me making one for myself.

Which leaves me in kind of a dilemma as to what to eat for lunch. I don't really like eating out, so I try and avoid going that route. I know it's not entirely normal but if I don't pay attention I'll forget to eat lunch all together and then have to eat a big dinner to try and compensate for lost calories (which fyi, is not effective).

So in an effort to improve my eating habits I've been trying to remember to take food with me to work for lunch. I taken frozen tamales sometimes and microwave them. I don't usually have a lot of leftovers. Is that what you all eat for lunch? Leftovers?

Everyday I have basically the same thing....

10AM - Fruit Cup or Yogurt

12 - Carrots, granola bar, banana or hardboiled egg (sometimes I mix in fat free pudding)

2pm - apple

3pm Orange

Leftovers or whatever the cafeteria was serving. And a jar of peanut butter at the desk in case of emergencies.

Mon - Thurs = Prepacked salads (good use of leftovers)

Fri Lunch = Seafood out - we alternate between The Dancing Crab, McCormick and Schmick (Reston), or Legal Seafood.

I typically like to rotate between a PBJ (Jelly), PBJ (Jam), PBH and if I'm all out of bread, then just PB. It keeps things interesting. I've been doing this for about 10 years now. Trust me. It never gets old.

BTW, did you know that 96% of people put the PB on first when making a PBJ? Interesting, eh. I, for one, am one of the 4%.

Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself:

http://www.peanutbutter.com/funfacts.asp

What flavor of jelly/jam do you use?

Or do you rotate?

I eat 6 times a day and I hate preparing the 3 meals that I eat at work. So, I usually go with a protein bar and a yogurt for the first 2 meals and a Myoplex shake for the lunch. When I get home I have real food.

Always Strawberry jam, usually grape jelly. Honey is, well, honey.

How about you?

Your taste isn't half bad.

I use Smuckers 100% Fruit.

1. Strawberry
2. Grape
3. Peach (if I have to)

Raspberry is a crime against the very essence of jam.

Does anyone's wife make them lunch? That would be an incredible thing.

I try to change up on the usual sandwiches with lots of soups that I make, but I have access to a refrigerator. Also, in an effort to broaden the lunch menu for myself and my daughter I started making hummus burritos. These are super easy (tortilla, hummus, maybe avocado or tomato) tasty, and avoid a lot of the fat that is in peanut butter. Always a little fruit. Maybe some almonds, something crazy like that.

What about boysenberry or blueberry or orange marmalade? Surely you have enough room in your palate for some variety.

I usually take a low-cal frozen tv dinner and a yogurt, apple, and granola bar. Sometimes I'll eat leftovers if we have them.

That actually sounds pretty good. I might have to give that a try I guess.

I usually eat out once or twice a week...cook up a lean cuisine or something like that once a week...have soup or sandwich for the other two days. I then have string cheese, dried fruit and peanuts for snacks.

When I was working, I usually took a lot of snacks: crackers and cheese, fruit, nuts, homemade granola etc. (I like a good sized breakfast and dinner, but mostly nosh during the day) During the hot months, I'd take cold salads. For example, I'd make a cobb salad for dinner the night before (but not mix the dressing in the whole salad) and take leftovers the next day. Or pasta salad with chickpeas and veggies in it.

Now I throw leftovers in a tupperware for Mike, along with fruit and yogurt. That's the easiest. Sometimes I'll make sure to make extra for dinner to ensure there will be leftovers.

This should eliminate any doubt for Archaea that you are a female.

Babs...thems fightin' words! I've never met a berry I didn't like. Raspberry is right up near the top!

Well, there's no accounting for taste, I guess. ;)

I hate all those little seed things. They pollute the jam.

Raspberry jam is delicious. My mom makes her own and has stocked us well.

Mrs. Meanie makes me lunch every day (although I often go out on Fridays) - she has been for the past 12 years.

My lunch is as follows:

- If we have leftovers and I feel like eating them for lunch, then that is the first option.
- If there are no leftovers, or at least no leftovers that I feel like taking to work, I get a sandwich (either turkey or pastrami) with mustard, lettuce and tomato in a separate baggie (so they don't make the sandwich soggy by lunchtime), pickles in a separate baggie from the lettuce and tomato (if you put them in the same baggie the pickle juice tends to wilt the lettuce), carrot sticks, and an apple or occasionally an orange. I also get cookies every once in a while if there are any left over after making the kids lunches.

Sometimes my friend Wendy makes my lunch, other times Mr. McDonald does or I may consult a Subway Sandwich Artist about a creation.

I missed this before, and that is sheer blasphemy! My grandma made the best raspberry jam

And I do spread pb on the bread first, wipe the knife clean on the other piece of bread, then spread the honey or jam on the other slice. It's a system that works well for me.

The best jelly in the world is "Mustang Grape Jelly."

Mustang grapes are wild grapes that grow in Texas. They are dark purple and are tart.

http://www.nativesoftexas.com/Vines/MustangGrape.html

It is exquisite, and my dad is going to be making a batch this summer.

They make seedless jam, y'know.

I can't stand by and let such blasphemy against honey go unchecked! As a former beekeeper (I've had the stings to prove it - 12 stings to the temple just before major social activities is not the best way to pick up on the ladies), I'm here to say that there's a big difference between clover honey, alfalfa honey, orchard honey and corpse flower honey. The last is used as a precursor to castor oil so the castor oil doesn't taste as bad.

Wife make them lunch? Oh boy. That's a good one. I think she made me lunch once. And I think she made me breakfast twice. I pack leftovers if there's something good or go out.

Don't forget tupelo honey, Yaupon honey, and chinese tallow honey.

Dude, you've got your wife trained as well as your kids! I'm jealous.

How is that project going, by the way? Any complaints from the neighbors yet?

It's easy - just yell at them and browbeat them until they are so intimidated by you that your very wish is their command. Then hope that they don't turn out to be psychotic whackos that kill you in your sleep one night.

I wonder what it would take to find and marry a man that would be willing to do that for me every day.

I've got a programmer from India working for me using a student visa that's going to expire soon. He's motivated...

Now THAT was funny.

Men will give you the idea that they will make your lunch EVERY DAY, even multiple times of day, but trust me, once you are married, you will be lucky to get your lunch made once a week. There will be many excuses. If you are like some, you will just go hungry. Others make their own lunch.

Don't think marriage will solve your lunch problem.

:)


That's funny, Mike.

Oh, I don't think I wanted to get that little reality check, don't destroy the dream.

Sadly it's true. You may go weeks, even months without so much as a stale sandwich. I've even heard rumors that these dry spells can last years, but I have to think that's an exaggeration.

Since I'm a man, I have a Porterhouse steak every day. None of that sissy salad and yogurt stuff. If it doesn't come from a dead animal, I won't eat it.