Breakfast/Lunch Ideas?

M

Ms.Holyoke

Connoisseur
What do you generally have for lunch and breakfast on school days?

I have loved summer because I am finally eating healthy and feeling a lot better! It has been hard to eat healthy breakfasts and lunches during the school year. I often found myself just drinking coffee and eating a granola bar for breakfast. For lunch, I usually made a peanut butter sandwich which got boring very quickly! Ideas?
 
I usually pack my lunch everyday because I'm almost always hungry... So I pack a bag of different snacks and stuff. Mostly things I can sneak in between classes or during labs or something like that. I like to have a variety of things and I almost always share with anyone who asks. I go to Sam's Club and get bulk snacks for such things. But anyways, usually for breakfast I like oatmeal, cereal, or sometimes if I'm feeling lucky I'll make some eggs sausage and toast. For lunch I usually take left overs (we cook almost every day) or we if we don't have left overs I'll grab lunch from the cafeteria. As far as snacks go I LOVE peanuts/cashews/trail mix. Really good snacks that fill me up and I'm not hungry in 2.5 seconds. Fruit slices are another favorite. But my guilty pleasure is white cheddar popcorn and peanut butter. I'm terrible about that.
 
Breakfast is usually a protein shake or scrambled eggs. Scrambled eggs take just a few minutes to whip up, so it’s good for something quick. Lunch is either leftovers or a salad. If I have time on Sunday, I will meal prep for the week—different types of chicken and veggies for lunch.
 
I drink a protein shake before I leave my house, and I make another to bring along with me for a mid-morning snack at school.

For lunch, I either bring leftovers or an EVOL frozen microwaveable lunch. Sometimes I bring fruit along with that.

I also bring a protein bar, meal replacement bar, or granola/snack bar to eat as an afternoon snack. I often don’t eat it, but I bring it just in case, especially for the days that we have after school meetings.
 
Breakfast: I make a week’s worth of ommlettes using muffin tins on Sunday. Use cooking spray. Load each muffin cup with your preferred ommlette fixings. Beat your eggs (one for each muffin cup) and pour them into the muffin cups, submerging the fixings. Bake at 350 for a half hour. Refridgerate and then microwave when ready.
 
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For breakfast I eat scrambled eggs with fruit on the side every single day.

For lunches I do left overs. Whenever I make a meal, I freeze the left overs in separate lunch containers, so I can just grab one and go. I keep Larabars, tortilla chips, apples and carrot sticks on hand to add to my lunch kit. I like having options during the day.
 
For breakfast I stick to coffee and a bagel.

For lunch I buy those Barilla microwaveable meals and spruce them up with a little parm cheese and a roll.
 
Breakfast- every single day while working is yogurt and granola. I make my yogurt and it's with whole milk. Need that fat percentage to keep me full until lunch time! If I'm wanting something more sweet I mix in some fruit or jam. I know it's bad, but in the summer I just don't eat breakfast.

Lunch- leftovers most days. In fact, my goal when cooking dinner is to cook something I can take for lunch the next day. We have "emergency lunches" which are quick heat Indian food and Thai food.
 
Breakfast is cheese and beef stick, or boiled egg and pre-made bacon, oatmeal
Lunch is vegetables and meat usually chicken or fish
 
This year I haven't really taken care of myself eatingwise (bad school year, bad boss, I was in shoulder - pain for most of it), and guess what? I've felt horrible, and I'm sure it also contributed to some weight gain.
So I will do this year what I had done in the previous years:
- breakfast: still not much, just a lot of coffee with creamer. I'm not a breakfast person, unless I get up early and go to the gym at 5 am. Then I'll get hungry. In that case it's probably a homemade smoothie.
Lunch: Prep for all 5 days ahead of time. I actually don't mind eating the same thing for 5 days but sometimes I make variations.
- a big salad. I often pack some steakbites (it can be chicken, pork, etc) which I heat up in the microwave and toss in with the salad
- some type of meat + veggies, often a full on meal with mashed potatoes or rice as well.
- sandwich. Not my favorite, but sometimes it can be nice.
- stew
Cooking and prepping the food takes 1-2 hours on a Sunday, but then you're set for the whole week. Like I said this year I didn't do it most of the time, so I just grabbed something to take. That meant it either wasn't nutritious, or simply wasn't enough and didn't provide enough energy.

In addition to the lunches I always stocked up on protein bars, put crackers in small ziplock bags, and early in the week I grabbed a few apples, and yoghurts to have on hand. Sometimes I would get hungry during break or if I stay after school, I need food.
 
We only get 20 minutes for lunch, there is one microwave for all of us who eat at the same time, and my room is far from the cafeteria. We also don't have a lounge, so we eat in the cafeteria with the kids. Most of the time I do a meal-replacement shake or bar for both breakfast and lunch. Sometimes I'll keep string cheese on nuts on hand for snacks.

Our cafeteria does have a salad bar, but I hate iceburg lettuce, which is all they have for greens.
 
My eating habits are horrible during the school year. Since I have lunch duty each day (and lunches are staggered between 11am-1:30pm), I end up eating lunch super early (around 10:30) or super late (well after 2:00). If I eat an early lunch, I end up eating enough dinner for two people (because I’m famished). If I eat a late lunch, though, I don’t eat much dinner at all.

#adminproblems
 
YoungTeacherGuy said:
My eating habits are horrible during the school year. Since I have lunch duty each day (and lunches are staggered between 11am-1:30pm), I end up eating lunch super early (around 10:30) or super late (well after 2:00). If I eat an early lunch, I end up eating enough dinner for two people (because I’m famished). If I eat a late lunch, though, I don’t eat much dinner at all.

#adminproblems
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Can you eat 2 small lunches? I mean 2 large snacks lol. 10:30 is just the right time for a nutritious snack to hold you over and then your late lunch can be something small, and that way you have more energy and not feel beat by dinner time.
 
I live off Powercrunch bars. I eat them for Mid morning break. Lunch is usually a tin of canned salmon or chicken and some crackers. If I bring in leftovers I eat it cold. I’m not a foodie.
 
Linguist92021 said:
Can you eat 2 small lunches? I mean 2 large snacks lol. 10:30 is just the right time for a nutritious snack to hold you over and then your late lunch can be something small, and that way you have more energy and not feel beat by dinner time.
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I’m going to try this! I’m tired of feeling nutritionally depleted throughout the day!
 
YoungTeacherGuy said:
I’m going to try this! I’m tired of feeling nutritionally depleted throughout the day!
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As I said in my earlier post this year I didn't really take care of myself. Because most of the time I didn't prep my lunches, every morning I just grabbed something to take. Those days my snack and lunch might have been 1-2 small yoghurts, a small bag of crackers, an apple (in addition to my coffee). This is really not enough for a 7 hour day to be at a physically, mentally and emotionally optimal state.

The year I religiously prepped my lunches (also measured and logged my calories I lost 33 lbs from November through June and then kept it off for a year and then slowly sneaked back. this past year I gained about 20 lbs, mostly due to being inactive (my shoulder pain) but my diet played a huge part. Weight loss / health is 80 % diet + 20 % exercise. I am definitely making sure I will feel 100 % this year.
 
I just started drinking coffee this year never had the taste for it but am liking the flavored ones. During the school year I eat a slice of toast with mashed up avocado and lime. I bring lunch everyday something from last nights dinner or make something in the morning. I would love a PB& J but we are a peanut free school. During the summer I only eat lunch about 2 and then dinner @ 7. Don’t know which is better? Weekends breakfast with my husband. We like something quick and easy toast with mash avocado, slice of prosciutto, arugula, fried egg with balsamic drizzle. Delicious!
 
I don't eat breakfast; I just have coffee. I'm not that hungry in the morning and I don't want to have to get up one minute earlier in order to have extra time to eat breakfast.

I've gone through phases where I feel like I want to be healthier and try to cook more/bring leftovers for lunch or bring homemade healthier things. What happens is I start off very strong and end up very quickly losing interest and just wanting something I can grab by midweek. I also hate leftovers. Food is never that good reheated! So then I end up forgetting or having nothing to bring and I have to order in or pick up fast food. Obviously this is way unhealthier than just bringing a frozen dinner in the first place! I've finally figured out over the years that the convenience meals are just what works for me.

I like:
-The evol meals, although they're a little higher calorie than what I usually try to have for lunch
-The Hillshire snacking small plates (my teammates and I call them adult lunchables)
-Some of the lean cuisine meals

Towards the end of the year I got really into bringing the Sargento Balanced Break things with a fruit and vegetable on the side, plus a little mini bag of smartfood delights popcorn (about 70 calories for the bag). I bought a package of like 20 mini bags and it worked out really well!

I have recently discovered Trader Joe's- they've had them in my area for years but I never bothered to go until a friend who lives in another state told me she drives an hour to get to her closest one! It seemed like they had a lot of individual salads and more interesting frozen meals that I'll be able to try this school year.
 
Whether it's the school year OR summer, I don't really eat breakfast, but I still eat it more often in the summer when there's time.

For breakfast, I like granola sprinkled in with yogurt. That's really quick to make. A quick omelette with spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes are nice. I'd throw in onions too, but not on a work day (due to the strong odor on one's breath).

For lunch, a turkey, cheese roll-up with pesto, spicy mustard, &/or some chipotle may is nice wrapped in a sundried tomato tortilla.
 
I was raised a little differently, so my meals are all messed up. Friends who travel with me get frustrated at my body's food urges. I was brought up to eat one large meal, usually lunch, and everything else is small: snack like. That one meal though, is big, and usually isn't served until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. School schedules through a wrench into that.
So for breakfast and lunch I usually 'eat' a meal replacement shake and then do a large meal when I get home from school, around four o'clock. Sometimes if I get hungry in the evening I'll have a small snack.
The summer I go back to my normal schedules: Something small, like a bowl of fruit for breakfast/dinner and then a large, substantial meal for lunch.
 
kellzy said:
I was raised a little differently, so my meals are all messed up. Friends who travel with me get frustrated at my body's food urges. I was brought up to eat one large meal, usually lunch, and everything else is small: snack like. That one meal though, is big, and usually isn't served until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. School schedules through a wrench into that.
So for breakfast and lunch I usually 'eat' a meal replacement shake and then do a large meal when I get home from school, around four o'clock. Sometimes if I get hungry in the evening I'll have a small snack.
The summer I go back to my normal schedules: Something small, like a bowl of fruit for breakfast/dinner and then a large, substantial meal for lunch.
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This is how my mom was raised: she ate one large meal a day and snacked whenever hungry. It wasn’t until she married my dad that she began eating 3 meals/day. She said it was a huge adjustment!
 
A cream cheese bagel & coffee does it for me every school morning. With my secret stash of snacks in my cabinet, I'm pretty much satisfied until my lunch break.
 
bella84 said:
I drink a protein shake before I leave my house, and I make another to bring along with me for a mid-morning snack at school.

For lunch, I either bring leftovers or an EVOL frozen microwaveable lunch. Sometimes I bring fruit along with that.

I also bring a protein bar, meal replacement bar, or granola/snack bar to eat as an afternoon snack. I often don’t eat it, but I bring it just in case, especially for the days that we have after school meetings.
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Bella, I tried an EVOL lunch today and thought of you. I got the chicken enchilada bake. It wasn’t great, but I also put the truffle mac & cheese in my grocery cart, so I’ll give that a try later this week.
 
YoungTeacherGuy said:
Bella, I tried an EVOL lunch today and thought of you. I got the chicken enchilada bake. It wasn’t great, but I also put the truffle mac & cheese in my grocery cart, so I’ll give that a try later this week.
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I’ve actually never had that one. I’m not a big fan of chicken, so I usually avoid the ones that have it. Glad to know that I’m not missing out. I LOVE the mac and cheese though! Be forewarned, though, that every time I microwave the truffle mac at school, one of my coworkers thinks I’m microwaving brussel sprouts. It tastes nothing like them though, lol. The smoked gouda mac is pretty good too. I don’t like the mac with bacon as much, but it’s not bad.
 
I really only eat one meal a day and that's in the evening for dinner. I find if I don't have anything more than coffee in the morning I'm not really hungry during the day. I'll have fruit if I'm hungry but I have to be really starving to even think about eating. We can get free salad at school for lunch if we want to sometimes I'll take a small bowl of it but not every day.
 
I was the same. I could eat only one meal per day and felt well. But since I was diagnosed with diabetes, I had to change my nutrition. Of course, I buy Ozempic online and it works great for me, but I know that I wouldn't have such a result without a proper diet. Now I always have breakfast and lunch.
For breakfast, I’ve been enjoying smoothie bowls with fruit, oats, and some chia seeds for extra energy. For lunch, I love making wraps with whole wheat tortillas, veggies, hummus, and a protein like chicken or tofu.
Any updates and other interesting ideas are appreciated.
 
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Kerrberr said:
I was the same. I could eat only one meal per day and felt well. But since I was diagnosed with diabetes, I had to change my nutrition. Now I always have breakfast and lunch.
For breakfast, I’ve been enjoying smoothie bowls with fruit, oats, and some chia seeds for extra energy. For lunch, I love making wraps with whole wheat tortillas, veggies, hummus, and a protein like chicken or tofu.
Any updates and other interesting ideas are appreciated.
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I started brining a breakfast/lunch to work in case I get hungry. I take some low sugar yogurt and mix it with chia seeds. I like letting it sit overnight. I also sprinkle some ground flax seeds on top. If I don't feel like eating it I just put it in the fridge for the next day since it's fine for at least 2 days.
 
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