Advice on portable food

nexuscrawler

Basically I'm sick of paying like 10 dollars a day on crappy deli food everyday at work. I'm looking for some food options that might be a decent substitutes. I'm not much of a cook so my options are pretty limited there. So I'm looking for stuff that's: fairly cheap, easy to cook, not too unhealthy and can be carried to work without too much trouble. I'm willing to cook my own stuff at home if it's easy enough or take decent microwavable foods that aren't too terrible for me.

The only thing I have access to at work in a microwave and everything I'd bring I'd have to carry with me in my backpack. Any ideas?

locomotiveman

Those soup in hand from Campbell's are good although the sodium content is a trifle high. I know that Progresso pushes having lower sodium then Campbell's and they do also make microwaveable soups in a bowl.

You could consider something like instant oatmeal or instant grits but your coworkers might find hot breakfast cereal a bit odd for lunch. Oatmeal also can quickly mess up a microwaves insides.

onceling

Just want to double check, you don't have a fridge? EDIT: at work I mean.

nexuscrawler

Yeah I have a fridge at work I could use

Deathwing

Soup is definately good, and obviously sandwiches.

Also coming to mind would be various types of pasta or chicken & rice, both of which can be made in large batches and will keep reasonably well in your fridge for a few days while you parcel it up. Plain old pasta with tomato sauce or chicken & rice with a curry sauce seem to work good for me.

There are plenty of microwavable pre-made meals out there that are decent too, but as someone already mentioned, you have to be careful as they tend to go sky-high on the salt content.

I'm partial to the Annie's microwavable mac n' cheese packets also (if they sell it where you are), it's slightly more natural tasting than the Kraft Easymac.

Muramasa18

Fruit and granola/protein bars are good too as well as everything else that's been mentioned.

Quid

Pasta/Rice are good options if you're willing to cook. The latter especially so if you have a rice maker already. There are loads of recipes that boil down to sauteeing something and adding it to the main dish.

If nothing else a large can of Campbell's chunky soup (what I use when lazy) is maybe three dollars. Bring your drink too and you're set.

KalTorak

Casseroles/rice dishes are great to stick in some tupperware and nuke. You can make one or two during the weekend and eat the leftovers all week. Right now I'm eating swedish meatballs & sauce over rice. You can do the same with chili, fried rice, a ton of different things.

Serphimera

How about making your own burritos (the ones they sell at the store are nasty imo)? You just brown some ground beef and throw in a seasoning packet and dump that and whatever else you want (cheese, beans, etc.) on a tortilla. They freeze nicely and are actually pretty healthy.

Solandra

locomotiveman wrote: »

You could consider something like instant oatmeal or instant grits but your coworkers might find hot breakfast cereal a bit odd for lunch. Oatmeal also can quickly mess up a microwaves insides.

I do the instant oatmeal thing occasionally, but I don't bother with the microwave. I put the oatmeal in a cup or bowl and then use hot-water from the tea-tap on the coffee maker instead. This also works fairly well for reconstituted soups (i.e. dried stuff, not condensed stuff).

Szechuanosaurus

Homemade soup. Make a really big pot, spoon it into sealable tupperware tubs, store them in your fridge, grab one each day on your way to work, heat it up in the microwave at work at lunchtime. Very healthy, very filling, very portable.

ihmmy

make yer own chili. really simple - brown meat (and onion if you want), add spices, add tomato sauce, canned crushed tomatoes, kidney beans, salt and pepper to taste, tadah. very reheatable and very filling

sandwiches and wraps. You can do some nifty things too, I really like having a turkey wrap with swiss cheese, pesto, spinach and tomato... doesn't have to be just meat cheese n' mayo.

If you're bringing soups from home that you made yourself, make sure you get some good tupperware that's watertight. The ones with screw-on lids tend to be less leaky than the regular lids are, I find (ziploc sells 'em for not horribly expensive)

and if you're a dessert person, make cookies or buy a back of individually wrapped chocolates and bring 1-3 with you for dessert afterward

Forbe!

SANDWICHES: VERSATILE DELICIOUS AND NUTRITIOUS.

Granola bars, trail mix, raisins, craisins, cashews, nuts, peanuts, all portable, delicious, nutritious, and great for snacking.

Szechuanosaurus

Also pies. Like, good old fashioned pies. I think that's pretty much why they were invented. Yummy food wrapped up in an edible parcel.