Lunch Ideas

wrccitroen

Who of ya's is planning to pack a lunch during PAX? & what are you making? I need some simple ideas 'cause I'm no chef & I'm done with the whole pb&j shananagins...I'd even be willing to pay someone to make an extra lunch for me & possibly my buddy

reverend_tobias

The past few years, I've neglected to plan ahead for proper meals, opting to spend the extra coin on the local fare when I got cranky/light-headed enough. Since I plan on sticking around the Tabletop area more closely than previously, I'll probably be packing some sandwiches and snacks.
I'm thinking I should make an effort to sample some Boston seafood, though. Anyone have any suggestions in mind?

The Mattador

My second year I did some penutbutter and Nutella sandwiches, last year grabed some subs from a roadside deli on the way in. Definitely saved some cash on that.

gamerman1227

The problem with bringing your own lunch is that it's got to be something that's going to remain palatable in a bag being stored at above room temperature for a fairly long time, which kind of eliminates anything with mayonaise or deli meats.

JerYnkFan

Last year I just went to South Station to eat lunch. You can find food for a relatively low price compared to the BCEC.

Sir Auros

An option I've used in the past was picking up stuff from a 7-11 and having a cheaper lunch ready to go later. Probably not the best idea with egg salad, but I haven't gotten sick from any of the other sandwiches. Ymmv, of course.

Scorpius

Reverend Tobias, the Legal Seafood test kitchen is just a couple of blocks away from the convention center. You'll get decent seafood there.

gonexall

Hard cheese and apples on a sandwich are delicious and last all day (apples get brown, but usually not mushy and never spoil). Hard boiled eggs last several days unrefrigerated without going bad (leave the shell on till you eat). Roasted nuts are excellent fuel for a day at pax, and super tasty when mixed with some dry fruit and chocolate bits. Trader Joe's is your friend. This requires some pre-planning, but ends up being incredibly cheap.

zerzhul

http://advantageboston.com/BCEC/BCEC-Dining/In-the-Neighborhood.aspx

ravnos13

I follow a fairly strict nutritional diet, no gluten, very little carbs, no processed foods, which makes just buying food incredibly tricky for me. Last year I brought a wrap every day and a bag of snacks to tide me over throughout the day. Living in Boston I can eat breakfast at home before heading over, which helps.

This year I'm planning to stock up on Cliff bars, fruit, veggies and beef jerky to tide me over for lunches.

I usually just bring dinner as well, so I'll probably bring a wrap, some cold meat, etc.

gamerman1227 wrote: »

The problem with bringing your own lunch is that it's got to be something that's going to remain palatable in a bag being stored at above room temperature for a fairly long time, which kind of eliminates anything with mayonaise or deli meats.

Head to your local 7/11/deli/whatever and grab an armful of mayo, mustard and ketchup packets. They store at room temp and you can just pop one open when you want it! Just store them in a ziplock baggie in case something happens - wouldn't want that stuff all over the inside of your bag...

Schmulki

In past years, I've normally brought things like granola and energy bars, have a large breakfast, and do my best to skip a formal lunch.

flatline

I haven't seen anyone else mention it yet, so I'll post it here in hopes that you lot don't ruin it.

Flour Bakery+Cafe is about 3 blocks away from the BCEC. They have amazing food and great coffee (apparently they were featured on Food Network recently). For the past 2 years, it has been a great spot to pop out for breakfast or lunch, as it has rarely had much of a crowd.

TheCarpe

If you don't mind a bit of a walk, some friends and I got lunch one day last year at a little place called the Whiskey Priest on the waterfront. Was pretty decent food at not a bad price. Would recommend.

zerzhul

So this has sort of turned into a repeat of the "restaurants in boston" thread that we already have/had. The topic specifically of this one is intended to be "how can I make my own lunch for pax" and I also have been a tad off topic. let's hop back on that topic though.

Elzemere

Does anyone recall if there were microwaves available within the BCEC? I want to say I caught one out of the corner of my eye last year.
If they're there,k that certainly opens more options for me personally as far bringing supplies.

Schmulki

Elzemere wrote: »

Does anyone recall if there were microwaves available within the BCEC? I want to say I caught one out of the corner of my eye last year.
If they're there,k that certainly opens more options for me personally as far bringing supplies.

What doesn't need to be refrigerated but is better/needs to be heated in a microwave, that could be a meal? I don't see where the venn diagram of those meets up.

ravnos13

@Elzemere
I don't believe there were, but I could be wrong. If anyone could clarify that, that would actually be a big help to me as well...

@Schmulki
There are a lot of dishes that don't need to be refrigerated that need to be heated up. Soups, Chef Boyardi, Chili, etc. etc. Well, you don't have to heat them up, but... ew...

gonexall

There's always this:

http://www.geekychef.com/2008/12/elven-lembas-bread.html?m=1

ravnos13

gonexall wrote: »

There's always this:

http://www.geekychef.com/2008/12/elven-lembas-bread.html?m=1

I... I wonder if I can make easily substituting almond flour in...

Edit: Actually the real question is whether or not they'd be as filling as Lembas Bread...

Schmulki

ravnos13 wrote: »

@Schmulki
There are a lot of dishes that don't need to be refrigerated that need to be heated up. Soups, Chef Boyardi, Chili, etc. etc. Well, you don't have to heat them up, but... ew...

OK, yea.....ew.

embraceternity

You could bring a burrito, either one of those cheap ones from the grocery store that just needs to be heated, or you can whip up a tortilla, black beans, cheese, and anything else you like. When I went to PAX Prime in August, a friend of mine made a group of us a quick and yet delicious burrito, two per person...and yum. For being almost as easy to make as a PB&J, they were certainly more filling + tastier.

aj31907

I plan to get a cooler and have lunch meat in it to make sandwiches. I'm sure the hotel I'm at will have ice to fill my cooler. There's a meat market in my area ill get 4lbs of lunch meat and a lb. of cheese. So there will be plenty to eat and share.

wrccitroen

gonexall wrote: »

Hard cheese and apples on a sandwich are delicious and last all day (apples get brown, but usually not mushy and never spoil). Hard boiled eggs last several days unrefrigerated without going bad (leave the shell on till you eat). Roasted nuts are excellent fuel for a day at pax, and super tasty when mixed with some dry fruit and chocolate bits. Trader Joe's is your friend. This requires some pre-planning, but ends up being incredibly cheap.

Great ideas thanks! trail mix is good for snacking along with the cheese & crackers route

wrccitroen

embraceternity wrote: »

You could bring a burrito, either one of those cheap ones from the grocery store that just needs to be heated, or you can whip up a tortilla, black beans, cheese, and anything else you like. When I went to PAX Prime in August, a friend of mine made a group of us a quick and yet delicious burrito, two per person...and yum. For being almost as easy to make as a PB&J, they were certainly more filling + tastier.

Homemade burritos definitely aren't a bad idea but how would you heat up the components?

ironysparkles

Made sure to have a fridge in the hotel we're in this year, so I plan to bring some sandwich stuff. We've also ordered subs late-night and made sure to skip anything really perishable such as mayo, and just carried our subs around the next day. I love Italian subs warm so it was pretty awesome.

I'm also going to make some trail mix with cinnamon almonds, craisins, and chocolate chips. Great for snacking while busy in a panel/game.

Jlsoikitty

ravnos13 wrote: »

This year I'm planning to stock up on Cliff bars, fruit, veggies and beef jerky to tide me over for lunches.

Cliff bars and fruit majorly saved my butt last year. Being strapped for cash and not having a microwave in the hotel room made my life...interesting. This year'll be better though; my friends and I are parking our car at the BCEC so we can stick a cooler in the trunk. I want to at least pretend to eat somewhat healthy that weekend (HA).

wrccitroen

Jlsoikitty wrote: »

ravnos13 wrote: »

This year I'm planning to stock up on Cliff bars, fruit, veggies and beef jerky to tide me over for lunches.

Cliff bars and fruit majorly saved my butt last year. Being strapped for cash and not having a microwave in the hotel room made my life...interesting. This year'll be better though; my friends and I are parking our car at the BCEC so we can stick a cooler in the trunk. I want to at least pretend to eat somewhat healthy that weekend (HA).

How far is it from the BCEC South parking lot to the main entrance? Cause leaving a cooler in the car seems like a good idea

Ana Ng

After going hungry quite often and getting very cranky at my second PAX, least year I made sure to try to eat a somewhat filling breakfast (not just a coffee) in the mornings, and then bring a gatorade, some cliff bars, yogurt covered raisins and other small filling snackfoods. Bonus to the gatorade is that once the bottle is empty you just keep refilling it with water to stay hydrated. It's amazing how long you can go on water and cliff bars :P

Also, don't forget the Cookie Brigade for quick sugar fix

Krissta

Fluffernutter. You're going to be in New England. Embrace the Fluff. Fancier: Nutella and Fluff!

wrccitroen

Toasted fluffernutter used to be the go to for me...nutella & pb is good (nutella & fluff isn't too sweet for you?) & pb & applebutter is pretty awesome...ever try the strawberry fluff?

Krissta

Oh yeah, and I packed a TON of snacks last year. Bought a giant box of Goldfish, brought granola bars, and made a giant bag of trail mix. In the room, I brought a box of snack-size Ziploc baggies for individual sizing, and let my "roommates" share all the foods. I'll be doing the same this year.

ravnos13

As a health food freak (kinda) I wanted to offer this up - Making your own trail mix is significantly cheaper than buying it, especially if you plan on eating a lot of it. I'll be making a huge bag of it right before PAX to bring. If you want suggestions on what to put in, here's my recipe...

raw cashews (I only eat raw nuts because roasting them kills most of the nutrients, but you can add whatever you want!)
raw almonds
dried cranberries and/or dried cherries
raisins
dried apricots (I actually usually don't mix these in, I eat them on the side, but you can!)
crystalized ginger
sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
chocolate covered peanuts or chocolate chips

I think that's it... I just mix to taste...

wrccitroen

ravnos13 wrote: »

As a health food freak (kinda) I wanted to offer this up - Making your own trail mix is significantly cheaper than buying it, especially if you plan on eating a lot of it. I'll be making a huge bag of it right before PAX to bring. If you want suggestions on what to put in, here's my recipe...

raw cashews (I only eat raw nuts because roasting them kills most of the nutrients, but you can add whatever you want!)
raw almonds
dried cranberries and/or dried cherries
raisins
dried apricots (I actually usually don't mix these in, I eat them on the side, but you can!)
crystalized ginger
sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
chocolate covered peanuts or chocolate chips

I think that's it... I just mix to taste...

Massachusetts represent!! Now let's hope we don't get snow during PAX lol...

That is a wonderful suggestion thank you! & seeing as there's tons of fruit & nuts in there perhaps I'll be able to substitute that for lunch as long as I get a hearty breakfast & dinner in...however isn't all this really pricey? Eating uber healthy isn't cheap & Wholefoods or Trader Joe's don't have Walmart's prices (I'm assuming)...thanks for the "raw" tip too I didn't realize that

Jlsoikitty

wrccitroen wrote: »

How far is it from the BCEC South parking lot to the main entrance? Cause leaving a cooler in the car seems like a good idea

I'm going to have to look it up since I've never parked there before. I imagine it's probably a bit of a trek. Although I doubt it's as a far as, say, south station.

wrccitroen

Jlsoikitty wrote: »

wrccitroen wrote: »

How far is it from the BCEC South parking lot to the main entrance? Cause leaving a cooler in the car seems like a good idea

I'm going to have to look it up since I've never parked there before. I imagine it's probably a bit of a trek. Although I doubt it's as a far as, say, south station.

Mmmmmm, & seeing these posts about hearty trail mix makes me think of scrapping the cooler-in-the-car idea, however looking at google maps, the South Parking lot is literally right in front of the BCEC, if I'm not mistaken...soooooo with that in mind I may wanna pack a hearty salad along with trail mix

wrccitroen

Ana Ng wrote: »

After going hungry quite often and getting very cranky at my second PAX, least year I made sure to try to eat a somewhat filling breakfast (not just a coffee) in the mornings, and then bring a gatorade, some cliff bars, yogurt covered raisins and other small filling snackfoods. Bonus to the gatorade is that once the bottle is empty you just keep refilling it with water to stay hydrated. It's amazing how long you can go on water and cliff bars :P

Also, don't forget the Cookie Brigade for quick sugar fix

You go with the standard Clif or have you tried the Builder's before? The chocolate mint is tasty imo, like a grasshopper protein bar

ravnos13

wrccitroen wrote: »

Massachusetts represent!! Now let's hope we don't get snow during PAX lol...

That is a wonderful suggestion thank you! & seeing as there's tons of fruit & nuts in there perhaps I'll be able to substitute that for lunch as long as I get a hearty breakfast & dinner in...however isn't all this really pricey? Eating uber healthy isn't cheap & Wholefoods or Trader Joe's don't have Walmart's prices (I'm assuming)...thanks for the "raw" tip too I didn't realize that

Woot! I think we'll be good on weather haha.

I guess all the ingredients end up being pricey but I balance volume to cost. Everything I listed should give you about 5 pounds of trail mix, which if you eat it often (like I do) it's worth it. The cost ends up being about the same as 2-3 1 pound bags of decent pre-made trail mix. I buy everything at Stop & Shop, so... I'm going off of their prices. If you hit Market Basket or sales at T.J./W.F. you could probably reduce that price a little.

I honestly will probably eat the trail mix for lunch with a clif bar or larabar to supplement if I'm still hungry. As a side note I'm not big on their builder's bars, but it's entirely personal preference, just not a fan of protein bars.

Krissta

wrccitroen wrote: »

Toasted fluffernutter used to be the go to for me...nutella & pb is good (nutella & fluff isn't too sweet for you?) & pb & applebutter is pretty awesome...ever try the strawberry fluff?

Nope, not too sweet for me. But I have never tried PB and applebutter. Oh man, that sounds amazing! And I have tried strawberry Fluff, but I'm more of a traditional gal.

Krissta

ravnos13 wrote: »

As a health food freak (kinda) I wanted to offer this up - Making your own trail mix is significantly cheaper than buying it, especially if you plan on eating a lot of it. I'll be making a huge bag of it right before PAX to bring. If you want suggestions on what to put in, here's my recipe...

raw cashews (I only eat raw nuts because roasting them kills most of the nutrients, but you can add whatever you want!)
raw almonds
dried cranberries and/or dried cherries
raisins
dried apricots (I actually usually don't mix these in, I eat them on the side, but you can!)
crystalized ginger
sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
chocolate covered peanuts or chocolate chips

I think that's it... I just mix to taste...

I think my husband would LOVE that mix. Mine is way more simple:
dry roasted cashews
milk chocolate chips
dried cranberries

Yes, dessert. lol

ravnos13

Update:

My girlfriend and another friend recall there being condiment packets (ketchup, mayo, etc.) at the food vendors in BCEC, so you can just snag those for your sandwiches! That way you don't have to grab them from another place and carry them around all day...

coconutcrow

I live a half hour from Boston, so I brought in subs, some granola bars, and water. Those kept me pretty energized and didn't weigh down my backpack. The only times I actually got stuff from the BCEC restaurants were at night, when my bag was emptied.

...That said, yeah, pack a bag. If you're out of state, I'd bring a lunch bag and just stop at a local grocery store rather than blow a bunch of cash at the convention center's places. A buck or so for a coke beats $3.50 from a con vending machine. A $5 footer sub beats a $10 or so plate of nachos.

Yeh ;u