I do pretty good I’m just in search of ways to make work lunch prep as brain dead easy as possible. A couple points specific to me: I don’t like to eat the same thing more than a couple days in a row and I very rarely take frozen meals because they’re expensive and don’t have the nutrition that I want.
I can’t help much if you don’t like to eat the same thing, because I’m more of a “eat to live” kind of person lol
I basically get chicken, mixed vegetables, a bean that I’ll change up every now and then, and mushrooms. Toss that in a slow cooker with whatever seasoning matches the bean I chose well and I eat that for lunch every day for the week.
I guess you could break it up into 2 cooks and make a different style for the second batch so you’re not having the same thing, or have it with rice as well/instead.
I just eat sandwiches. Change the filling every day. Voilà.
Cooking on Sunday feeds me on Monday. Maybe even Tuesday
Something simple is done on Tuesday/Wednesday
Or something moderate for 2 days
Same for Thursday/FridaySaturday is usually the one-off day.
We neither have the space nor the want to eat a meal 5x for a week.
My favorite thing to do is to make and freeze large batches of base proteins. I just made a bunch of pulled chicken in the crockpot on Sunday. It keeps for a long time even just frozen in a storage container or ziplock baggie as a single serving. Then when making dinner I just toss seasonings and toppings and have a wrap quickly ready to go. Add a side like a quick slaw or salad or even some chips and it’s good to go.
Today I had some frozen leftover Christmas ham with a bunch or jerk seasoning, pickles, peppers, and some cabbage with a slaw on the side. Think it took 5 minutes to do up and didn’t dirty anything I wasn’t already dirtying while making dinner.
Tonight I’ll probably do something with the chicken from the weekend. Could be flavored with taco seasoning, bbq, Cajun, Greek seasoning with hummus, Buffalo, teriyaki, any random Chinese sauce, some curry flavors, even left plain.
The other option is to make 2 to 3 times what you would for dinner and have leftovers for a couple of days. Not as ideal as you said you don’t like eating the same thing over and over but personally I’m fine with it as long as something changes. Like if making tacos for dinner have a taco salad, taco dip, or make a soup by adding broth.
Soups are a good option too. Either canned or preferably homemade. They freeze really well and as long as you put it in the fridge the night before, thaws and heats up quickly in a microwave.
Pies/turnovers/pasty/calzone/empanada/whatever you want to call them are an option that takes more effort but can be used to have a frozen stash that’s easy to grab after they are made and gives variety. One day of prep work can give lunches for a long time.
Good luck on your lunch adventures, it’s hard to find new ideas that are not just make a wrap or salad or sandwich. And yes I realize that’s basically what I wrote above.
You just gotta find what works for you and stick to it. My advice is to get a crockpot, cause you can make some braindead easy stuff with it that freezes well. Pick different meals and cycle through them for variety. I too, suffer from not being able to eat the same meal over and over.
I mostly work from home, and the schedule is pretty forgiving, plus lunch is the only time I have the house and the kitchen to myself. Today I had lightly dry brined wagyu ribeye/entrecote, and sautéed mushrooms for lunch, paired with a nice beer. Tomorrow it’s going to be Stilton cheese, peach marmalade, and crackers.
When lunch comes around I’ve usually cleared out the inbox sludge for the day, as well as checking up on the stuff for which I am responsible just to make sure everything is working as it should. If it is, then I can take my time to do things properly, as long as I’m available in case someone else’s fan hits my shit.
