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Healthy Lunch for grad student

post #1 of 17
10/31/10 at 4:15pm
Thread Starter 
I typically try to bring my lunch to school to avoid paying $10 for crappy sandwiches at my school's cafeteria or the greasy pizza that comes with lunch lectures.

Any suggestions on healthy lunch I could make and bring to school aside from sandwiches (my daily go-to). I can store in a communal fridge if need be.
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post #2 of 17
10/31/10 at 4:38pm
Love having the access to fridge - that's going to be really helpful so you don't have to lug a cooler around. So many options - I usually make some type of a meat and a side of veggies/brown rice/etc.. If you really want to go healthy, batch make some lean meats/chicken breasts every few days, and use mainly veggies for sides. Many places from your local grocery stores to Trader Joes to Whole Foods have prefabricated but still healthy meats - still raw but marinated/seasoned/etc. Sometimes I just buy like a marinated pork roast or 4x 1/2 lbs burger patties (seasoned or stuffed or something) and make those sunday night so I have lunch/dinner covered for at least a couple days. Next few days I will primarily be eating bratwurst + buttered cabbage or beef curry which I made over the weekend.
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post #3 of 17
10/31/10 at 6:04pm
I'm a believer in wheat being a health problem for many. Avoiding it has done me good and family at least, and I've read not eating it helping others too. http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/20...me-gluten.html So I'd say keep it simple, ditch the bread, and cook up some spicy meat and vegetable dish. If looking for ideas you might check out: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmd_blog/
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post #4 of 17
10/31/10 at 6:12pm
Just get some good pasta (either good spaghetti or good penne) and some good pesto. Mix those together with some good vegetables (good yellow peppers and good mushrooms are always good). Top it with some good parmigiano reggiano and you're set. Serve it chilled. If you want, buy some good artisan bread on the way to school and eat it with your pasta.
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post #5 of 17
10/31/10 at 6:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cosmonaut View Post
Just get some good pasta (either good spaghetti or good penne) and some good pesto. Mix those together with some good vegetables (good yellow peppers and good mushrooms are always good). Top it with some good parmigiano reggiano and you're set. Serve it chilled. If you want, buy some good artisan bread on the way to school and eat it with your pasta.

this is clearly for good inc.
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post #6 of 17
10/31/10 at 6:34pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunnydale View Post
I'm a believer in wheat being a health problem for many. Avoiding it has done me good and family at least, and I've read not eating it helping others too.



I agree with you. Anybody else have any good simple recipes for meat vegetable dishes I can put in a tupperware container?
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post #7 of 17
10/31/10 at 6:51pm
Quote:
Wheat is mostly carbohydrate. That explains its capacity to cause blood sugar to increase after eating, say, a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread. The rapid release of sugars likely underlies its capacity to create visceral fat, what I call "wheat belly."
From:
http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/20...me-gluten.html

I stopped reading after that. What a load of BS.

Flambeur gave the best advice. Cook lean meats(chicken breast,lean beef, turkey) in bulk, cook brown rice/couscous in bulk, cook some good pasta for 1-2 days. Pack all those in little tupperware for the week. Add some fruits, pieces of whole wheat bread, veggies and some nuts for snacks and there you go, you now have an healthy diet at a low cost.
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post #8 of 17
10/31/10 at 7:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by otc View Post
this is clearly for good inc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cosmonaut View Post
Just get some good pasta (either good spaghetti or good penne) and some good pesto. Mix those together with some good vegetables (good yellow peppers and good mushrooms are always good). Top it with some good parmigiano reggiano and you're set. Serve it chilled. If you want, buy some good artisan bread on the way to school and eat it with your pasta.
Who do you think you are? Ina Garten? Buy yourself a large container of greens (such as spinach, arugula, mizuna, etc.) and some canned salmon or tuna. Keep separate until ready to eat, mix together, add some balsamic vinegar and good olive oil, and consume. This is what I do most days. You can sub in any protein really and add as many vegetables your budding heart desires.
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post #9 of 17
10/31/10 at 7:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mm84321 View Post
Who do you think you are? Ina Garten?

Buy yourself a large container of good greens (such as good spinach, good arugula, good mizuna, good etc.) and some good canned salmon or good tuna. Keep separate until ready to eat, mix together, add some good balsamic vinegar and good olive oil, and consume. This is what I do most days. You can sub in any good protein really and add as many good vegetables your budding heart desires.

This is a good suggestion also.
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post #10 of 17
11/4/10 at 1:32am
When I was in law school, my wife made me a lunch with a peanut butter and honey sandwich, a bag of baby carrots, a couple of Diet Mt. Dews, and usually a Hostess cupcake or some Oreos. I had a soft-sided insulated lunch tote that I would carry to school. I ate this same lunch menu, or some very minor variation of it, every single day for three years of law school.

I can't imagine how many hundreds of PBH sandwiches I must have eaten. I still love them to this day, though. It also probably helped that I was running 30-40 miles a week at the time. I probably could have eaten Snickers bars and milkshakes and still kept relatively fit.
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post #11 of 17
11/4/10 at 12:15pm
Example of what I've made at home to take with me the last week or so: -Italian Sausage (bought raw organic) -Meatloaf (home made from grass-fed beef) -Cubed pork (pan fried) -Lamb burgers (raw patties from whole foods) My sides are usually in-season fruits and veggies, etc. I think the optimal mix for me is cooking 2-4 times a week, storing stuff in the fridge, and occasionally using canned tuna or other stuff like that.
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post #12 of 17
11/4/10 at 12:26pm
I think I respond to every meal question with this answer, but get some pitas (make them from scratch if you're poor but skilled - they freeze well, and you can get tons of bread out of like $1.50 in ingredients).. get dried chickpeas and tahini from an ethnic/mediterranean market and make some hummus (use fresh garlic, but not too much, it gets intense after the hummus spends a few days in the fridge)... make a simple salad of iceberg, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, olive, and parsley dressed in lemon juice and olive oil and s+p... I'd be happy to eat that most days and it's cheap and good for several days of eating. Optional: hot sauce, tzatziki-like sauce. If you need more protein, marinate some chicken breasts in some kebab spices, grill/pan-sear, cool and chop, and bring along and re-heat as necessary.
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post #13 of 17
11/4/10 at 12:52pm
Get a thermos, and make a big pot a soup for the week, tones of recipes online.
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post #14 of 17
11/4/10 at 12:59pm
Learn to cook with dried beans ... buy them bulk ... will save you a lot of money and produce healthy nutritious meals.

E.g. get 1 pound dried red kidney beans. Soak overnight. Rinse, return to pot, add water, bring to vigorous boil, skim off scummy bubbles on top, discard, simmer. Add whatever you like. Call it stew, chili, red beans, whatever.
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post #15 of 17
11/4/10 at 1:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by impolyt_one View Post
I think I respond to every meal question with this answer, but get some pitas (make them from scratch if you're poor but skilled - they freeze well, and you can get tons of bread out of like $1.50 in ingredients).. get dried chickpeas and tahini from an ethnic/mediterranean market and make some hummus (use fresh garlic, but not too much, it gets intense after the hummus spends a few days in the fridge)... make a simple salad of iceberg, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, olive, and parsley dressed in lemon juice and olive oil and s+p... I'd be happy to eat that most days and it's cheap and good for several days of eating. Optional: hot sauce, tzatziki-like sauce.
If you need more protein, marinate some chicken breasts in some kebab spices, grill/pan-sear, cool and chop, and bring along and re-heat as necessary.

If I make hummus, how long will it keep? Can I freeze it?
How long does tahini keep? I bought some tahini and dried chickpies but have not yet made hummus and the tahini (from wholefoods in a plastic container) has just been sitting in the fridge
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