I need help coming up with lunch idea for hubby

United States
August 30, 2007 3:23pm CST
Everyday I pack my husbands lunch. And before you say I should just make him pack it etc .. I know but this is just a way for me to Not to have to fight with him about anything else. We fight enough already. Well Each day I pack him two meals and four drinks. Well the first meal is usually leftovers of whatever I cooked for supper the night before. The second meal is the one I need help with... He needs something that does not need to be heated for more that a couple minutes or not at all. I usually send sandwiches I switch them up with different breads, meats and cheeses but he informed me today that he is sick and tired of sandwiches. So do you have any ideas of anything quick and easy preferrably cold or that needs very little heating time that i can send him for lunch????
10 responses
@theprogamer (10534)
• United States
31 Aug 07
Okay Lunch Items that need less than 2 minutes of microwave or none at all Off the top of my head Mini Meatloafers Potato Pancakes Chili Veggie or assorted wraps White or brown rice, maybe fried Calzones Thermos of soup (onion, tomato, chicken noodle, vegetable) Cheese or meat stuffed ravioli Sushi Spring Rolls A handful of (pre-cooked) shrimp and cocktail sauce Stuffed green pepper (stuffed with rice and ground beef) Baked Chips and vegetable salsa Chicken nuggets/strips Bologna or Salami lunchmeat wraps (just use the deli sliced meat to house the fillings) Buffalo Wings BBQ Wings Wasabe or Horseradish Wings Clam Chowder Salads Fruit Salad or Mix Cooked Salmon If I think of anything else I'll let you know here so keep watching.
• United States
31 Aug 07
Thank You i had completely overlooked the shrimp.
@cempires (171)
• United States
30 Aug 07
Your situation some similiar to mine LOL. I recently found this great little meals for my husband. They come in cups, sealed very safely, can stay at room temp until ready to cook in the microwave for 1 minute, and he loves them. I find them in Krogers on the aisle with canned sloppy joe, canned ravioli and spaghetti, etc. They have everything from Mac and Cheese, to Chicken & Dumplings, one of my hubbys favorites.
• United States
30 Aug 07
Sounds cool ty
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
31 Aug 07
I like wraps, which are chicken and spinach rolled up in a tortilla. If I'm sending my husband a lunch, I'll send him with sandwiches or a wrap or leftovers, plus a hardboiled egg, some fruit, some trail mix, and some cookies. Some days I'll send muffins, a hard boiled egg, some fruit and some granola bars. What about a chicken caesar salad? Sorry I don't have any more suggestions, my husband will eat almost anything.
• Canada
31 Aug 07
Hi MzTiffany06! Ah - the dreaded 2nd lunch dilemma. Poor you! I think that many more people have this problem than will readily admit it. Personally, I think that hundreds of thousands of people are sick of their lunches and sick of trying to figure out what to put in their lunches to make them seem like more satisfying, less 'ho-hum' meals. I'm not sure about how you and your husband think about this, but I rarely put 'Submarine Sandwiches' in the same category as 'lunchtime sandwiches.' To me - 'Subs'/Submarine sandwiches are a special treat, and I've seen and tasted a lot of Subs that have surprising and interesting ingredients. There is a kind of creative 'Szechuan' sub that actually has NOODLES in it, and to compensate for all the starch from bread and noodle, it is so loaded with vegetables that it is quite healthy! (Some teriyaki sauce and stir-fry vegetable mix makes this interesting). I know it sounds a little funny - but track one down at an 'ethnic' sub shop and you won't laugh about the idea of noodles inside bread for long! Vietnamese sub shops in my city have the most interesting mix of carrots, sweet-hot peppers (mild), and vegetables, that these are my new favorite subs. I even get bored about what to eat at home (my apartment has limited cooking gear), so I went to the store recently and grabbed all the ingredients that I could figure out from the last sub I bought at the Vietnamese Sub shop and got to work on 'variations.' The bonus to this effort was a nice salad with the 'sub-sandwich-ingredient' leftovers. I worked for years as a line-cook, so I am pretty good at figuring out ingredient mixtures and sauces, but you could look for a recipe online for particular 'marinades' and sauces to use. The sauces make a huge difference in transforming a sub sandwich from 'plain' and 'regular,' to 'interesting.' You may never again spread plain mayonaisse or mustard on a slice of bread if you do a little research. You should be able to get a variety of interesting sub buns from the grocer or bakery, and if that is not possible, head over to your submarine shop and place an order. I did this at the sub shop around the corner from my place and they gave me a great deal, just because they were surprised that I ordered from THEM instead of the in-store bakery at 'Safeway' (I'm in Canada - Safeway is a huge Nation-wide grocery store chain). From my sub shop, I had 7 unique flavours to choose from (Honey-oat, Italian Herb, Cheese and Onion, etc) and couldn't decide, so I ordered something like a 'sample pack' of all flavours. Safeway's bakery had 'onion breads' and 'cheese loafs' and similar types, but they weren't actually 'sub' sizes, and would have required me to pre-order what I was looking for (which I will likely DO in about a week, since I am a student and will need 4 months worth of interesting and HEALTHY lunches, starting next week!). Even more 'standard' submarine sandwiches might seem like a better alternative to 'ho-hum' sandwiches for your husband. Meatball subs, Club subs, Steak subs, 'Reuben Subs' (saurkraut, sausage, onions, cheese), and all kinds of variations are possible. You can easily use some of your night-before supper left-overs to make a really interesting sub sandwich. If there are some ingredients that are questionable, wrap those separately and include them in the lunch kit. They can easily be put into the sub bun when it's time to eat. Tomatoes, for instance, will sometimes make bread soggy, (same with saurkraut) so these can be wrapped in cellophane or put in a small container until it is time for lunch! Try 'prepping' some standard sub ingredients just in case you run out of ideas. These would include - BACON - cook, drain the fat off, cool, and wrap up in cellophane or put in a container in the freezer - to flavour up your sub sandwiches in a pinch. Prep sausages, slice thinly length-wise when they are cool, wrap and freeze. Prep meatloaf and meatballs, too, and any other kind of meats that are agreeable ingredients for subs. Just slice them differently, thinly, so they can easily be spread out on sub buns. Works for ham, roast, meatloaf, sausages, boneless ribs, chicken and turkey, etc. Prep some veggies, too, and if they aren't being used up quickly enough - toss 'em together for a salad while they're still fresh!
@twilight021 (2059)
• United States
30 Aug 07
How about making a calzone? It's super easy and they are really good. My boyfriend loves them. When I make them I get pre-made pizza dough from the supermarket, and cold cut ends. Thinks like ham, cheese, and salami are really good. You can also throw in some veggies. Calzones are a great way to use leftovers too! To make a calzone, form dough into a circle like you would for a small pizza, put filling on one side, then fold over and seal. Bake in a 350 degree oven till brown and cooked. Sometime sif you put too much cheese (which I often do) it might escape a bit, but that's ok. Then I get to eat the escaped cheese! Making pizza on premade pizza crusts, like Boboli, is also easy, fast and just about everyone like pizza! Think about trying out some crock pot chili also. Chili: 1/2 lb. kidney beans 2 (1 lb.) cans tomatoes 2 lbs. ground chuck, browned 2 med. onions, chopped 1 green pepper, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 to 3 tbsp. chili powder 1 1/2 tbsp. salt 1 tsp. pepper Put all ingredients in crock pot in order listed. Stir. Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours or high for 5 to 6 hours. NOTE: When using canned beans use 2 (1 pound) cans and drain the liquid. Good Luck!
• United States
30 Aug 07
Oh the calazone idea sounds good. Thank you
@peanutjar (5198)
• Canada
30 Aug 07
Hi there!I know all this too well.My boyfriend works in the woods.I usually make him a big salad with lots of vegetables,bacon pieces,croutons and chicken meat in it;other things are fajita wraps with chicken strips,mozerrella cheese,lettuce and dressing inside;rib steakettes with mozerrella cheese slice and bbq sauce on it(good cold);steak subs with green peppers,onions,mushrooms,mozerrella cheese and bbq sauce on it;ham salads with cubed ham,macaroni,onions,green peppers,celery and mayonaise;chicken salad sandwhiches(chicken,salad,onions,mayonaise)I know you knew that one!He!He!;The other stuff that i make,you have to heat it up.He has a small little portable stove box bought at the hardware store,which i put lasagna,stir frys,cooked chicken&rice in to heat up in a small aluminum pan.I hope this gave you at least one idea out it.Good luck!...:)
• United States
30 Aug 07
Yea he is all against any kind of sandwich but the rest of the ideas are great thanks.
@Polly1 (12645)
• United States
31 Aug 07
I always packed my husband his lunch. Here is a funny story I did to him. I picked a night when I knew he wasn't in the mood. I acted like I was and wanted to do some hanky panky. He turned me down, he was too tired or didin't feel good. The next day I made him a sandwich. The sandwich consisited of two pieces of bread, inside the bread was a note. The note said "you didn't give me any meat last night, your not getting none today". He loved it, he said he laughed and laughed. I did make him a real sandwich under the other one. Making lunches is tough, sandwiches can be boring. Good luck, I hope you get some good ideas. Does he like salad stuff like that, also you can jazz up the sandwiches and make wraps.
@pilbara (1436)
• Australia
31 Aug 07
I have a simple recipe for a quiche slice which is very nice and can be eaten cold or warmed up. The quantities vary depending on the size of the container you cook with and it is quite economical as you use bread crusts instead of pastry. Grease a pyrex dish Line the bottom with a single layer of bread crusts Even spread a topping on the crusts I have used cheese, ham and tomato; chicken and asparagus, bacon and mushrooms, leftover roast vegies chopped up but you can use whatever you like. Now make a mix of eggs and milk (like for an omelette) and pour it over the topping. You want the egg mix to completely cover the topping. Then sprinkle some cheese on top and bake in a moderate oven until the cheese is golden brown (about 20 minutes in a 10 inch square pan) But really you can make individual ones or big ones just change the quantities.
@BlackBay (584)
• Canada
31 Aug 07
One of our favorite dishes is Wraps or stuffed pitas. I make taco wraps,chicken ceasar wraps, steak and pepper wraps just about anything you want can go into a wrap and it can be warmed a few minutes in a microwave or left cold. Same goes for stuffing pitas, I've put turkey and stuffing leftovers into a pita with a little salad dressing and it was great, a good alternative to regular leftovers. I know it can be hard to come up with ideas for lunches, sometimes I also make a cold plate of lunch meat and veggies with a dip for a change as well.
@maheksaj (117)
31 Aug 07
hi this is an indian recipe hope it helps u out..... ingredients....wheat flour add 2 tsp oil..salt acc to taste...red chilli powder 1 tsp....tumeric powder 1/2 tsp...coriander leaves 2 tsp...and water acc to the thickness of dough...make a tight dough and after some time make small pizza types poori(a circle type) and then shallow fry it on the pan for 5 mins on both the sides and then u can microwave the thapla(thats what this is called in india) and serve with chutneys or sauses.......i hope ur hubby finds it good...