Healthy Lunch Recipes

strangeotron

freyasmum wrote: »

Perhaps you could help us help you by letting us know what you think is/isn't healthy?

We're not going to get anywhere if every suggestion is rejected without you telling us what you will eat.

The problem is that relying on cheaper foods like blue stripe pasta isn't healthy. One bowl a week won't hurt. But that's not the point of the question. Same with bread - especiallay the mass processed muck you get for 50p in the supermarkets. Blieve me i'd love bread to be that cheap, as opposed to the more than triple that my local bakery charges, but it's cheap because it's basically just chemical cardboard. Same with things like fruit drinks made from concentrates (ugh) and processed food in general.

Healthy foods, presumabnly, are fruits veg, lean meat, whole grains etc. All the usual stuff.

strangeotron

Kleopatra wrote: »

You obviously have some rather personal views on what is and isn't healthy. Many suggestions have been made and you have rejected them all without showing any gratitude whatsoever. I doubt if many more people will bother to offer suggestions when there is so little point.

Since when have eggs not been healthy? There was a slight cholesterol scare at one time but that has now been proved false.

...by the daily mail!

I'm not saying soup isn't healthy. I'm saying that I can't eat it as a meal. It leaves me hungry.

lostinrates

strangeotron wrote: »

...by the daily mail!

I'm not saying soup isn't healthy. I'm saying that I can't eat it as a meal. It leaves me hungry.

So eat it as part of a meal. With a sandwich, some whole grain toast, a yoghurt, some fruit, or some crudit and a healthy dip.

As i say, i get the unstatisfied bit, but not 'hunger' so can sympathise a little. I prefer my soup thck like potage, i find it infinitely more satisfying than a thin soup. Sometimes however a ministrone, with vegetables to chew etc can do the trick for me.

Bulk making and defrosting some small meatballs to add could make it more satisfying, or looking at the ingredients etc that leave you unsatisfied.

If you are hungrier at lunch time than in the evening you could invert the meals you are having you lighter meal in the evening.

Pink.

strangeotron wrote: »

Is that supposed to be funny?

I haven't seen any advice that's either cheap nor suitable for one person. All the books for cookery i've seen in the library are just expensive or extravagant recipes. Why do I have to get snotty responses from people?

This forum is an absolute nightmare to navigate, trying to find threads hidden in completely obscure forums when there are far far FAR too many forums to begin with is insane.

Perhaps you are getting snotty responses from people because you have rejected every single suggestion that you've been given while slating the MSE forums at the same time.

To me, lunch is a snack to keep me going until dinner in the evening. A quick sandwich, something on toast, a salad...basically whatever I feel like (healthy or unhealthy) as, like you, I'm at home at lunchtime most days. So it can be anything from a banana sandwich to leftover steak and veg.

If you can't find something healthy amongst this lot I'll eat my own hat for lunch!

Packed Lunch for work

What have you made for lunch today?

cold packed lunches

cheap/ healthy snacks

The Cheapest Healthy Meal Ever!

Healthy snacks for kids

simple healthy meals

Healthy-ish meals made with a kettle?

If you don't like MSE then try here for more ideas.

I'll add your thread to the main lunch at home later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

Toxic_Lemon

strangeotron wrote: »

...by the daily mail!

I'm not saying soup isn't healthy. I'm saying that I can't eat it as a meal. It leaves me hungry.

Organic Baked Beans with HM wholemeal toast. Now that's a nice lunch, quick, healthy and cheap. And you can even make your own baked beans! Ha! :j

StudioBeau

May I suggest couscous with various seasonings? Everything from curry powders to stock cubes to flavour the couscous, with vegetables or little chunks of left over meat or butter beans or something like that!

Couscous itself is pretty much one of the healthiest grains you can get, it is very affordable especially if bought in bulk, very easy to prepare and it goes with everything!

Toxic_Lemon

StudioBeau wrote: »

May I suggest couscous with various seasonings? Everything from curry powders to stock cubes to flavour the couscous, with vegetables or little chunks of left over meat or butter beans or something like that!

Couscous itself is pretty much one of the healthiest grains you can get, it is very affordable especially if bought in bulk, very easy to prepare and it goes with everything!

Bulgur wheat, millet or quinoa is far healthier. Couscous is basically white pasta so not healthy. But great ideas you've got there for the additions. Might give that a go myself.

StudioBeau

Toxic_Lemon wrote: »

Bulgur wheat, millet or quinoa is far healthier. Couscous is basically white pasta so not healthy. But great ideas you've got there for the additions. Might give that a go myself.

I don't think you can say couscous is basically pasta - it is far lower in calories, lower in fat, higher in protein, very low calorie to fat ratio, really high in a load of vitamins (vitamin B6, thiamine, etc). I think a lot of people do just go 'oh, it's just pasta' and ignore it, but it is nutritionally far superior to pasta, less processed and lower in calories - all wins in my book!

Sounds like I get paid to advertise couscous!

I buy it in 5 kilo bags from my local Asian supermarket, about £2-3, lasts forever, I mix up the couscous and whatever seasoning I am having and put it in one little tupperware and whatever I am adding to it in another little tupperware, one tupperware goes in the cupboard at work, one goes in the fridge, get to lunch time, mix it all up, job done!

Now I also sound like I advertise tupperware! :rotfl:

Toxic_Lemon

StudioBeau wrote: »

I don't think you can say couscous is basically pasta

"Actually, couscous is a pasta, not a grain. It is made by mixing semolina (coarsely ground durum wheat) and water, and then shaping into the little "grains" of pasta. The pasta is then coated with flour to prevent them from sticking to each other.
Couscous is a grain from the wheat plant; a staple of many North African countries, it tastes a bit like nutty pasta. It's about the size of a large grain of sand.
Originally it is a 'coarsely ground durum wheat', a kind of wheat semolina as it is for example the Rapunzel's cous-cous. Is important to read on the label if it is whole grain - which is rich in nutrients - or shelled grain. Other products can be pasta."

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_cous-cous

:beer:

StudioBeau

Toxic_Lemon wrote: »

"Actually, couscous is a pasta, not a grain. It is made by mixing semolina (coarsely ground durum wheat) and water, and then shaping into the little "grains" of pasta. The pasta is then coated with flour to prevent them from sticking to each other.
Couscous is a grain from the wheat plant; a staple of many North African countries, it tastes a bit like nutty pasta. It's about the size of a large grain of sand.
Originally it is a 'coarsely ground durum wheat', a kind of wheat semolina as it is for example the Rapunzel's cous-cous. Is important to read on the label if it is whole grain - which is rich in nutrients - or shelled grain. Other products can be pasta."

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_cous-cous

:beer:

I meant more like, it doesn't taste of pasta, has very different nutritional values, etc, not that it wasn't made out of the same stuff as pasta.

Your quote doesn't really make much sense though:

couscous is a pasta, not a grain

Couscous is a grain from the wheat plant