Need lunch Ideas for my husband

[libranbutterfly]

My husband is trying to eat out less to save us some money.....But he eats so much when I pack lunch that I think is was cheaper when he ate out. I need ideas for things to pack in his lunchbox that will fill him up!

He gets to work at 6 am, has a break at 9, and a break at 12, and leaves at 2. He had been stopping and getting 3 sausage biscuits from McD in the morning, eating one on the way, and the other 2 at 9. Then going somewhere for lunch at 12, and needing a snack the second he got home too.

This week, I have packed his lunch, and he is still hungry when he finishes it. Mostly it has been leftovers, or sandwiches. he is as close to a carnivore as you can get, every meal has to have meat. He tried Toaster strudel this morning and he was still hungry when he got to work so he got McD.

Does anyone else here pack a lunch for their husband? What does he eat? What do you pack it in? I have 3 laptop lunchboxes that are for me and the girls, but I cant think of anything for him that would fit in it. He works in a refrigerator ( packing ice cream), so space is not an issue, and has access to a microwave at work.

[kallyn]

I pack breakfast and lunch for my DH. For breakfast he gets a piece of fruit and some sausage patties. If he's feeling really hungry he might grab some nuts too. For lunch he gets a salad and whatever meat is leftover from last night, and another piece of fruit for dessert.

[cristeen]

Well, first of all, regardless of what the advertising says, toaster strudel is not sufficient breakfast for anyone.

My DH eats a sausage and 2 eggs just about every morning. This morning he had smoked salmon and 3 eggs, since I was up and made it for him. It's got plenty of fat and protein to get him through the morning... those are the important things, plenty of fat and protein. If you need to pack his breakfast to go, then either egg custard or egg muffins would probably be your best bet (I make a week's worth on the weekend and we eat them cold). I've also been known to buy bulk sausage, form it into patties (I weigh them so they're uniform), cook them up and tell him to eat a couple of those for breakfast. My DH doesn't find egg custard (2 eggs, 1/2 c heavy cream) satisfying enough to make it from breakfast at 7:30 to lunch at 12, but I do. He needs at least 3 eggs or 2 eggs plus some meat.

For lunch, what do those "leftovers" look like? My DH gets leftovers every day, but for us leftovers would be a full serving of meat, a starch and a veg or two veg (again, fat and protein are going to tide him over - a starch heavy lunch won't). And then he also has a snack, at least 1 fruit (fresh or dry), nuts (usually peanuts - his fave), and some cheese. If I've baked, then i'll add that in there too. It did take a while of me packing his lunches for him to be able to say that he wasn't still hungry/there wasn't food leftover. I had to figure out the right amounts for him, which were different than they were for me (when I was working). For a while there I'd make sure that he had something extra in his bag/car just in case I'd gotten it wrong (a can of wasabi peas, a bag of nuts, a bag of jerky - something that wasn't going to spoil).

As for what to pack it in, we use a tiffin. DH carries a 2 piece tiffin - when I was working, I'd take a 3 piece tiffin, because he would eat his breakfast before work and I'd eat mine at work. We actually have 4 tiffins, which is really nice on the dishes, because they're mix and match, I don't have to wash them every night. And if I have lots of leftovers from a meal, I can pack several days worth at once, stack them and pop them in the fridge for easy grabbing in the morning. The one drawback is that they are not microwave safe (they work really well in a toaster oven though).

HTH

[Magelet]

I don't pack lunch for DH really, he generally takes a container of leftovers (90% of the time this is a bpa free tupperware or pyrex container, 2/3 full of brown rice, 1/3 full of stir fry/curry/etc. He let's it sit in the car, which brings it up to about room temp or hot.)

The first thing I would look at, if it doesn't fill your DH up, is the fat content of the food you are packing him. If it's pretty low fat, there's your reason. Fat makes you feel fuller faster (and is also really healthy).

Also, if he's working in the cold, his body is using a LOT of energy to keep it warm. So think heavy, think eastern european/ashkanazi jewish/german/russian/Scandinavian.

I would suggust for breakfast something like hard boiled eggs (easier to transport than scrambled), bacon, maybe some whole wheat bread or homemade biscuits and butter and maybe a whole milk smoothie (with a raw egg yolk in it). Or like a bacon (or sausage), egg, butter sandwhich on whole wheat bread and a smoothie. To mix it up, depending on what he likes, oatmeal with cream and fruit in a thermos or reheated in the microwave, and some eggs/bacon/sausage/smoothie.

For a snack, maybe

For lunch, think fat, protein, complex carbs, and lots of em. the fat and protein are important for staying full, if there aren't enough, he will get hungry again fast, but the carbs will also help since he's in the cold.
So things like: really hearty sandwhichs (put some butter on the bread first), maybe 2 big sandwhiches, on whole grain bread, and a thermos of soup (with lots of butter/fatty meat.). Make sure you aren't using low fat cheese or lean meat. Maybe add other fatty things like avocado.

I agree with cristeen, in regards to your leftovers. If it's slices of meat from a roast, can you dowse em in gravy? If they're leaner, maybe add some cheese on the side, and nuts, and other fattier foods to help. If it's something like curry and rice, maybe add some fat to the rice. If it's mexican food, likewise, add some extra cheese and fat to the beans/rice/meat, whatever it is.

Maybe also packing some snacks. Nuts, cheese, avocado and salt, jerky.

HTH

[libranbutterfly]

Thanks. I am making him sausage and eggs for breakfast today, and packed hot dogs with chili and cheese for lunch. I am going to try to make my grocery list to run to the store Saturday. Thanks for your help,keep the ideas coming!

[BetsyS]

My dh has an office job, so not quite as active as yours.

Every day, for breakfast, he either eats cereal (a dense kind like granola or Raisin bran or shredded wheat) or a pb&honey sandwich. The days he eats sandwiches, he actually eats 2.

For lunch, he mostly takes leftovers. I send a main dish, a drink, a vegetable or fruit, something crunchy, and a treat. Today was crawfish etouffee over rice (leftovers), pork rinds (LOL), a drink, a side salad, and a brownie. Yesterday, I sent 3 bean burritos with chips and salsa, strawberries, a drink, and a brownie.

Sometimes, if the lunch is a little lean, he comes home really hungry, but mostly, it's enough.

If we don't have leftovers, I often do quesadillas or chicken salad or a green salad with some sort of leftover protein on top (tuna, chicken, pork chop, whatever).

[HappyMommy2]

Can you throw in an extra granola bar or two for when he gets extra hungry and wants a snack?

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by HappyMommy2

Can you throw in an extra granola bar or two for when he gets extra hungry and wants a snack?

Or, how about beef jerky? Sounds like the OP's husband is not craving carbs, is not filled up by carbs.

Also, maybe cheese, like string cheese with the jerky?

[gini1313]

What about breakfast burritos? you could make a bunch at the start of the week and send two per day, one for before work and one at 9 AM? You can make them really filling, with egg, sausage, potatoes, veges, avacado, and salsa. Yummy!!!

I have a pretty active job, and get hungry alot during the day, too. I usually eat something small before work (I start at 6:30 AM and don't like to eat that early) like toast and a hard boiled egg or a smoothie or something, then eat yogurt and fruit or a PBJ sandwich somewhere between 8 and 9. I kind of like eating that way. I am never too full or too hungry. Maybe it will work for him to eat everytime he has a break and then a snack when he gets home, just more filling foods so he isn't crazy hungry when it is time to eat?

[tinuviel_k]

I am the primary cook in my family, so of we all want yummy homemade lunches it falls to me to make them. Right now I usually just make Aaron's, ut starting this fall I am on duty for a lunch for each of us, so I've given the matter a lot of thought.

First off, forget the Laptop Lunches for him. He needs something bigger! My husband also gets to work early and needs food for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. A cute little Laptop Lunch is just not going to do it for him. I found that when I have a dedicated larger sized "lunch container" for my husband it is a lot easier to fill it up and to pack him a good lunch. Before I bought these lunch containers it was a challenge for me to pack him enough food. Now it is easy: I just fill up the containers and know it will be a good amount for him.

I use To-go Ware. I have a two tiered model and a three tiered model, and switch depending on what i am making. the two-tiered model has large compartments, and the 3-tiered one has smaller spaces but more of them. They both come with a "sidekick" container for dressing, condiments, or small things. http://www.to-goware.com/store/cart....oduct_list&c=4
I also have a stand-alone stainless steel box like this: http://lifewithoutplastic.com/boutiq...ots-p-322.html I like it for when I have a larger lunch planned and need more room that the To-go Ware containers provide.

Here is a list of things which we have found to work great in lunches:

1. Cooked chicken sausage. Costco, Trader Joes, and our Food Co-op all carry pre-cooked chicken lunch sausages in various flavors: Chicken jalapeno mango, applewood smoked, chicken gorgonzola, whatever. The sausages pack a lot of protein and are tasty. I pack them with a small container of spicy mustard. Two sausages completely satisfies his need for protein.
2. Hearty soups in pint sized mason jars. I cook a lot of soups, and always make enough to go in the freezer. Almost every day I send one with Aaron. I use thick, filling soups: split pea, lentil, chili, black bean, and the like.
3. Burritos. I make my own in bulk and freeze them, but you can buy frozen burritos pretty economically.
4. Cheese and fruit. We have a couple of cheeses that we REALLY like: Dublineer, wasabi cheddar, etc. I slice an ounce or so and pack it with fruit, like apples or pears.
5. Carrots and hummus.
6. A large salad with lots of filling toppings, like nuts, smoked salmon, sliced salami. The dressing goes in the small "sidekick" container from To-go Ware.
7. Hard boiled eggs. Simple, easy, filling.
8. Sliced fruit. Apples, bananas, grapes, whatever.
9. A smoothie. Sometimes the night before work I'll make a huge yogurt and fruit smoothie, and then pour it into three pint mason jars for each of us to have in the morning. Aaron can take his to work if he wants.
10. Legume salads. Beans, lentils, and the like.
11. Leftovers. I often throw in leftovers like pasta, meat, roasted veggies, or anything like that.
12. Sandwiches

[libranbutterfly]

Thanks for all the ideas! I do think having dedicated containers for his lunch will help. He forgot his lunch today, so he went out. Friday he was full after each meal

[JulAmber]

I don't have any suggestions since it sounds like what my husband eats for lunch/snacks would not cut it! I'm finding out from all of your posts that my husband doesn't eat much, ha! When he was working (he's unemployed/laid off right now), he would have a banana and granola bar for breakfast and coffee with milk. For lunch, he would pack a salad with light italian dressing. (Salad with romaine and spring mix, diced ham, cheese, pineapple, cheese, grape tomatoes, sunflower seeds, raisins.) He would just drink water with that and lots of water throughout the day. Then he would have another granola bar for a snack later and generally our dinners were not that heavy and he would normally only have one serving and we almost always just drink water. Guess he is not the norm! I didn't realize.