what do you eat when packing lunch?

[kfillmore]

I am struggling with what to bring with me when I pack a lunch. I remember eating being an issue last pg (no cold meat, I eat no dairy, tired to go very light on nuts etc) Now that I am always with my toddler. I always seem to seem to need to pack lunch for Zoo, a class, park etc.

[1love4ever]

Why no cold meat?  I would not hesitate to buy organic cold meats, or make a sandwich with meat myself as long as I know it has stayed cold.  A few hours at a slightly higher temp than maybe it should be at is not enough time for it to grow bacteria.  Why light on the nuts?

I have this problem too.  I like to pack boiled eggs, fruits, pieces of raw milk cheese(for those who do eat dairy this is a good option anyway), PB&J sandwich with lots of peanut butter(or other nut butter) and organic jam, nuts, pasta salad with tomato and spinach, crackers, sandwich with meat, spinach, cheese, etc.

I cant think of anything else at the moment:)

[emmaegbert]

I eat lots of nuts and seeds, but no meat and pretty much no bread or grains... so maybe I can't help here all that much. For DH I just pack up some of dinner into a couple of half-pint mason jars at night and that is what he takes the next day with an apple or other sturdy fruit every day. For me I often pack a kind of "trail mix" and some fresh fruit, veggie sticks and hummos work for me, or like DH, leftovers from other meals. I do eat dairy so cheese or yogurt is easy. I wrap the jars up in a cloth napkin so the glass doesn't clink around. I've never had a mason jar break on me (ha! shouldn't say that or its sure to happen) Alternately, you can get one of those bento-box lunchbox sets and often they pack easily into a cooler type lunch pack, which is an easy way to pack various things. Cold boiled eggs are easy and you can make a bunch early in the week to have. High protein muffins, you can bake those and keep them in the freezer, just throw them in your bag before you go out. We make tahini cookies  (1 c tahini, 1/4-1/3 c sugar or maple syrup, 1 egg, other seeds and whatnot, chopped dried fruit and/or chocolate chips, vanilla, a little baking soda, flattened balls on a baking sheet and cooked at 350ish). There is also a blog, enlightened cooking, where she goes over making your own "lara bar" type snacks and other energy bars, I make those with the ingredients that work for us (like I've made them with seeds instead of nuts so DS can take them to school which is nut-free) and I also make them pretty small, like "truffles" so they are easy to pack and take.

[Altair]

I bring a lot of healthy snacks that are protein-produce combos, like apple slices and almond butter, celery and peanut butter or cream cheese or goat cheese, or slices of veggies with hummus.  That's not really lunch, that's my all day long snacking. 

Lunch is dinner leftovers, or a piece of chicken cooked at home with a hard boiled egg over a salad, homemade chicken salad or egg salad sandwich or over green salad.  Bean salad.