Low carb lunchbox ideas

Diceicle

Hello,

I thought i'd post this here in the hope of getting some inspiration / guideance.
I'm trying to eat low-carb for the next while as I can't get to the gym as much as I would like / used to be able to.

For the most part its fine but I find the mid-week lunchtime (MWL) ideas the most difficult - mainly my fault as there's a number of criteria I'm trying to satisfy.

The MWL food should be:

• Lunchboxable
• Ideally not have to be heated
• Cost-effective
• Be able to me made in batch for the week.

If you can provide any ideas to help me out I would be grateful.

Speedwell

This is a huge challenge. Start with these in a pinch:

Biltong (easy to make in a fan oven with lean round roast, which goes on special for half price a lot where I am)
Apples
Almonds
Homemade low-carb energy bars made with whey or other protein powders
Cheese
Vegetable sticks (with peanut butter dip)
Low-carb sport shakes (I used these a lot while getting dental work lol)

smeal

Lettuce wraps are a good choice. I often have one stuffed with diced chicken pieces marinated in a bit of sesame oil (or soy sauce), onion, avocado, cucumber, tomato.. the chicken and avocado will keep you full. Lots of option to play around with fillings.

Diceicle

Speedwell wrote: »

This is a huge challenge. Start with these in a pinch:

Biltong (easy to make in a fan oven with lean round roast, which goes on special for half price a lot where I am)
Apples
Almonds
Homemade low-carb energy bars made with whey or other protein powders
Cheese
Vegetable sticks

Thanks Speedwell.
The Biltong is a good idea - do you dry it like jerky?
Its really a 'main' lunch idea that I'm after - for example I take quiche or chilli quite a bit and would love to have a few other ideas as part of the mid week lunch arsenal.

Speedwell

Diceicle wrote: »

Thanks Speedwell.
The Biltong is a good idea - do you dry it like jerky?
Its really a 'main' lunch idea that I'm after - for example I take quiche or chilli quite a bit and would love to have a few other ideas as part of the mid week lunch arsenal.

Yes, dry it like jerky. You can keep it a bit soft, in which case store it in the freezer if you're not eating it the same day (it thaws in minutes), or make it a workout in itself to chew (in which case take your sharpest chef knife and slice it across the grain first). I just marinate strips cut with the grain (about an inch square) and hang them using paper-clip hooks from an oven rack set on the very top. Line the bottom with foil. My fan oven set on very low heat (lower than the lowest marking) is a top-class dehydrator. It goes without saying that raw meat that you leave out for hours and eat without cooking is a potential death trap if you don't insist on the kind of cleanliness that is next to godliness. The salt and vinegar help some.

Try using TVP along with paper-thin sliced veg, mushrooms, tomato puree, stock cube, and shirataki "miracle" noodles to make your own "pot noodle". Take it in a largish insulated container and add boiling water to it at lunchtime. Lid and leave about seven minutes. The dry TVP mince reconstitutes quickly. (I would do this but I can't stand shirataki, lol.) Look up "pork sung", which is shredded pork cooked in a savory seasoning until it is like cotton floss. It's used as a condiment by the Chinese and the Koreans. It's not difficult to make at home and can go in a reconstituted soup too.

harr

My go to low carb lunch is a chicken breast roasted in the oven with seasoning into a Lunch box with some nuts and cottage cheese and maybe some raisins...
Or another is home made yuk sung ...that's minced turkey breast fried with curry powder till try...I do ad some very finely chopped veg to this ...onion and carrot mainly ... A low carb lunch is difficult and can be bland enough...some times I just blend a banana with protein and skimmed milk and a handful of almonds....
Another one I just taught of is rice paper wraps just fill with some chicken and salad,salt, pepper and a drizzle of honey...

Do you have a microwave in work?

I just make two meals each night, one goes on the plate, other goes into tupperware for tomorrow's lunch.

Really very easy to do.

Speedwell

I just had a chance to go to the Eastern European shop yesterday and realized they have lots of possibilities, if you like them. Individual pots of pate (pasztet), tins of sardines and herring, dry sausage and salami, in other words meaty things that would be nice at room temperature with a bit of soft cream cheese and a good handful of cucumber slices or celery sticks. A nice juicy pickle in a ziptop bag was nice to find in my lunch bag when I was a schoolgirl, too.

jam_mac_jam

Low carb and batch cook is hard. Low carb is much nicer fresh and made the night before rather then a few days as you will be eating more fresh veg and that is difficult to keep if you can't heat up.


Tuna, egg, lettuce leaves, tomato, olive salad.
Hard boiled eggs, will not last the whole week but a few days.
Chicken breast, with salad or vegetables.
Smoked salmon spread with cream cheese and wrapped around peppers or cucumbers.
Thin cut steak, stir fried and eaten with salad of peppers and courgettes, add hot chili peppers, soy sauce
Ham, Cheese and pickles with veg/ salad.


If you heat up then you are not limited at all and could bring soups and stews and curries just replace rice with salad or veg.