I don't like lunch, but I need to eat a lunch!!

November 27, 2015 8:11 PM

Lunch has become my most hated meal and I've started to avoid it. How can I enjoy lunch? How can I make a decent lunch for myself? As a kid I got out of packing a lunch by going home for lunch. As an adult I used to go out for lunch, when I worked close to restaurants. However, now I work too far from decent restaurants, so I really need to start bringing my own lunch at work.

I know this is going to sound crazy, but ever since I was a child I've always hated taking lunch to school (and now work). I think the idea of food just sitting around for hours (okay, about 3 or 4) disgusts me. I don't know how to explain it, but it's sort of repulsive to me. At least I now I can keep it in the work fridge, but it still bugs me. I realize how irrational this probably sounds.

I haven't been eating lunch at work lately for the past month or two. Occasionally I'll bring leftovers to reheat, which I don't mind, but I don't always have leftovers. Sometimes I'll make little meat/cheese/fruit/veggie snack trays to bring in to eat. But by and large I just don't eat lunch, and I really need to figure out how to enjoy it.

I don't consider myself a picky eater, but I probably am.

For example, I like eating sandwiches if they're freshly made... but I hate eating them after they've been sitting around (even if they're refrigerated). I don't love salads. I'll eat them as a side, but I don't like them enough to be a "main" dish. I feel like I don't really KNOW what else I can bring for lunch that would be tasty??That isn't a lot of effort? That I wouldn't hate? I'm pretty open to flavours and other types of foods, so I'm not picky in that regard.

posted by modesty.blaise to Food & Drink (26 answers total)

I totally understand. For me, the solution eventually became making lunch the one meal I eat out for almost 100% of my work week. I committed myself to always eating breakfast and dinner at home. Maybe that would work with your budget, too?
posted by Hermione Granger at 8:14 PM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you like freshly made sandwiches, could you bring meat and cheese and whatever else you like on your sandwiches at the beginning of the week and make a sandwich fresh at lunch time every day?
posted by anne_severson at 8:19 PM on November 27, 2015 [13 favorites]

Can you keep lunchmeat and a loaf of bread at work, with whatever condiments you enjoy? And maybe bring fruit or chips or cheese as a side. But I feel your pain with lunch stuff.


Till you figure it out why not bring an energy bar or something of that nature to work? Skipping a meal isn't ideal.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 8:20 PM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

I like eating sandwiches if they're freshly made... but I hate eating them after they've been sitting around

One way to get around this would be to bring the sandwich makings with you to work and make it on the spot. If you bring in enough at the beginning of the week to make a few things by combining different ingredients, it might be more appealing.

Alternately: find frozen meals you don't hate and look for discounts. I figure if I'm spending less on them than I would on, say, fast food, it's not so bad, especially if I'm eating the ones with identifiable vegetables in them.
posted by asperity at 8:20 PM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

You could just bring a can of soup, stew, or chili and a microwave-safe bowl. Not fancy, but it's hot food and you'd be "making" it right there instead of letting it sit prepared all morning.
posted by ctmf at 8:26 PM on November 27, 2015 [3 favorites]

Ha, this is me and boyfriend. He brings sandwich fixings to work; I think that's way too much work and organization and don't like sandwiches enough to go through with it. I would rather buy an overpriced sandwich from the office cafe than care about anyyyy of that.

My solution has been Trader Joe's frozen lunches. I'm not gonna say they're like the healthiest thing in the world, but a frozen bibimbap, or a can of lentil soup, or some quinoa I made the night before with a frozen eggplant parmesan hits the spot. It's tasty enough that I'm not tempted to buy incredibly dumb, overpriced food, but it's not too fussy and it's easy to doctor a bit if you want something fresher.

Alternatively I would try maybe making a huge batch of soup and freezing it for the whole week, or put quinoa/rice/whatever in a rice cooker in the morning with some veg thrown in and bring it to work with soy sauce or sesame oil or kim chi or whatever. Or if that's too gross, I'd try eating a really hearty and nutritious breakfast, eating a couple snacks throughout the day (coffee, fruit, granola, yogurt), and then going home and eating dinner. I do this just as often because I drop the ball often enough.
posted by easter queen at 8:30 PM on November 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Occasionally I'll bring leftovers to reheat, which I don't mind, but I don't always have leftovers.

Start planning your meals to include leftovers.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:33 PM on November 27, 2015 [21 favorites]

Maybe if you stock your work fridge with fresh garnish, you'll be able to elevate your leftovers. For example, say you pack a lentil curry soup one day. After heating it up, add chopped cilantro, fresh lime and chopped peanuts. Garnish will add the flavor and texture you need to fool yourself into thinking the meal was made to order. Similar concept with chili. Just add some cheese and something crispy like corn chips, and it will be a much better experience.
posted by oxisos at 8:36 PM on November 27, 2015 [4 favorites]

There are also options you do not need to refrigerate, like tuna and cracker packs, cup o'soup/ramen, little heat-and-eat bowls of Dinty Moore and Chef Boyardee (you might need to eat 2-3 of these if you have an appetitle like mine, though)
posted by mreleganza at 8:42 PM on November 27, 2015

Maybe try a different tack and bring something like Soylent to work? It's a meal replacement shake that has a shelf life of a year before opening and is supposed to have all the vitamins and minerals and fiber and whatnot that you need. I've had it and it's okay tasting to me (not great), but it's extremely simple and convenient.

The reason I suggest it is because for some reason it triggers a different circuit in my brain. It feels different to me than leftovers or real food that's kind of gotten soggy or wilted. Even if that real food tastes better than Soylent, it still is kind of gross since it tastes worse than how it would taste fresh. Whereas Soylent just is. It's meh, but it doesn't get worse over time and it's not even really supposed to be delicious, so I don't feel bad about just mindlessly drinking it and then going about my business.

In other words, I don't think you would enjoy lunch, but it could keep you from hating it.
posted by losvedir at 8:46 PM on November 27, 2015

Oops, I missed the part where you said you're too far away from restaurants these days. Trader Joe's frozen lunches (mentioned above) are really excellent, as are Amy's frozen dinners, if you like that sort of thing. Easy to grab and go each morning with a little insulated bag.
posted by Hermione Granger at 9:21 PM on November 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

This article about having a better lunch at work gave me some good ideas.
posted by gursky at 9:23 PM on November 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

I often eat things like trail mix, crackers, or a fresh sliced apple with peanut butter at work (surely you wouldn't mind leaving a jar of PB in your desk?). Or, I'll cook some ground turkey on Sunday night and throw together a "taco bowl" (using the turkey as the protein base) in the morning and heat that for lunch. You could call it leftovers but I don't eat it at home, I just use it for lunches. You might do well if you decide not to do traditional lunch foods.
posted by vignettist at 9:31 PM on November 27, 2015

I had a rice cooker at one job and would buy frozen chicken and veggies to keep in the breakroom freezer and kept rice and seasoning at my desk. About half an hour before I wanted to eat I'd get the rice and steamer tray set up with lunch ready to eat hot and delicious a bit later. It was weird and attracted attention but I never ate better at work.
posted by toomanycurls at 9:53 PM on November 27, 2015

I get you. Who wants to eat an old sandwich, where the bread has gotten gummy from moisture absorbed from the other ingredients?

For me, it's either lunch out or soup. I'm actually pretty happy eating the same thing every day for a week if I like it well enough, so I just ended up working up a stable of soups that I can make pretty easily on the weekend and that taste good and hit my nutritional goals. Then packing lunch is easy, just ladle some soup into a container, and grab a piece of fruit if I'm ambitious, and I'm ready to go. A pot of soup keeps fine in the fridge for a week without getting gross and doesn't add to my weeknight/morning burden. There are a million recipes for soup out there, so it's not hard to find more when I get bored with the ones I've got.
posted by mister pointy at 12:06 AM on November 28, 2015

Anything that needs to cook long and slow or sit chilled to mingle flavors will make great lunches, like stews, soups, grain and bean salads, or dips and spreads. When you're cooking for meals at home, you can cook enough for leftovers, but nobody says you can't cook things specifically for lunch, too. If you portion it as soon as it's cooked and pay attention to how you package it to freeze well you can have lots of lunches that will thaw the night before in your fridge and reheat great at work.

Soup ideas: mushroom and barley, white beans and kale with panchetta, split pea, ginger carrot, potato leek, hundreds more! Then buy fresh rolls, which will stay fresh longer than sliced bread and toast up well if they are a little stale, assuming your work has a toaster oven. Fruit that doesn't need prep like apples, tangerines, bananas for extra nutrition and a little sweet.

Stew/braised meats: Beef stew with root vegetables and tomato, pulled pork with onions and Cuban spices, pot roast, chili with extra veg, practically any Indian curry. Make some simple grains like brown rice or couscous which will stay good in your fridge all week, or you can buy tortillas or pitas. Crunchy raw vegetables like bell peppers, broccoli, green beans, carrots, cut up a bunch every few days and store them in separate containers so you don't feel like they're intermingling or whatever your idiosyncrasy is.

Grain and bean salads: tabbouleh with chickpeas, marinated 3-bean salad (don't buy a mix, use fresh green beans, kidney beans and cannelinis and mix them up with your favorite vinaigrette and extra garlic), lentils with roasted Mediterranean vegetables, black beans and corn with peppers and cilantro with lime. All of these get better from sitting in the fridge and mingling for at least a night and get better for the next few days. Think about bringing one of these with soup to have a hot and a cold, which will make it all more compelling to eat and thus worth the effort.

Dips and spreads: hummus with flavor add-ins, cream cheese with herbs and minced vegetables, nut and seed butters, tapenade, pesto. Buy pre made or make your own, they'll all last at least a week. Bring your crunchy vegetables, rolls or flatbread, any kind of protein that you like, try cheese if you are a cheese person.

If putting in all this effort seems awful to you, start small with a batch of soup, which you can bring in as a whole meal or in smaller amounts to add to whatever else you might have that day. You can also bake a potato the night before, cut it in half and reheat it in the microwave. Top it with anything, like your soup or some bean salad or a little cream cheese or grilled chicken.
posted by Mizu at 1:46 AM on November 28, 2015 [3 favorites]

Occasionally I'll bring leftovers to reheat, which I don't mind, but I don't always have leftovers.

Batch cook stuff like chilli or stew at the weekends, portion out into 1-serving containers, and freeze. Then each evening, take one container out of the freezer, put it in the fridge, and take it to work the next day. Then you get a hot meal for lunch every day.

Start planning your meals to include leftovers.

Also that! Just make too much food for dinner.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 2:13 AM on November 28, 2015 [6 favorites]

I have this problem to. I only like really tasty, freshly made sandwiches, which has always made packed lunches an issue.

For me, the solution was to bring multiple healthy snacks that I was okay eating whether or not I absolutely loved them. For example, I might bring some combination of: Greek yogurt (maybe with granola), kind bar (or other granola bar), various fresh fruits, celery with almond butter, trail mix, wheat thins, etc. Sometimes I throw in some lunch meat (usually turkey), because for some reason I find it easier to eat the turkey slices on their own as opposed to making a bland, cold sandwich out of them.

I usually try to mix and match to roughly cover the food groups, making sure that I have something with good protein (like the yogurt or almond butter), some fruit or veggie for fiber, and so on. If you have access to a microwave, oatmeal is another good option. I also typically have dinner as soon as I get home from work, and it's basically my one big meal of the day.

While I don't actively enjoy eating these foods, being able to graze on them throughout the day keeps my energy up. If you start the day with a good breakfast, that's useful too. The other advantage to this is that it's really easy to pack as a lunch, and since it sounds like you have access to a fridge, you could possibly stock up on things like yogurt so you don't have to bring it with you each day.
posted by litera scripta manet at 2:32 AM on November 28, 2015

Batch cook and freeze would be my suggestion. I love stews and chili for this, but burritos are my definite go-to.

Also, make more dinner so you have leftovers for lunch.
posted by backwards guitar at 4:37 AM on November 28, 2015

When I got my Mr. Bento lunch set I found myself looking forward to lunch more. There are lots of bento meal ideas out there and I was always curious to see how the day's meal would be, and packing lunch became an interesting challenge.

I also plan my weekly meals to include leftovers I can bring to work. Between the bento set and the leftovers I always look forward to lunch.
posted by christinetheslp at 5:42 AM on November 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Every Christmas I make a huge batch of tamales and freeze them. It's a weekend of work that results in a few months worth of yummy easy lunchs.I started out using the recipe in The Tamale Queen website but have graduated to using fresh masa etc. It's more fun if you can find a friend to help and split the proceeds.
posted by morchella at 6:49 AM on November 28, 2015

I agree with everyone who says assemble your lunches at work. The ones that have been most successful for me are bagel + cream cheese and hummus + crackers.
posted by capricorn at 7:07 AM on November 28, 2015

I often stop by Trader Joes on the way to work and get one of their tuna wraps (sort of a sandwich) or some other thing from their "fresh made" refridgerated section. Or, salad fixings. Their frozen Indian food is fantastic too, especially if you have access to a toaster to make the naan.
posted by bluesky78987 at 9:14 AM on November 28, 2015

I usually prepare lunches the night before so once I'd made say a bagel sandwich or something and it'd been sitting overnight and the next morning, I had kind of fallen out of love with it. I found the easiest way to get into the groove of eating work lunch at all was to buy a bunch of tiny little tupperware containers and just pack a bunch of snack type things - baby carrots and hummus, some shaved chicken, crackers and cheese, granola bars, an apple, pot of yogurt etc. - you have lots of choice and don't have to eat anything if you aren't feeling it.

I mostly do leftovers now because it's somehow different if you can microwave leftover pasta or whatever. Still good to bring along some snack type things in case you aren't feeling the leftovers the next day.
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 10:36 AM on November 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

I feel the same way about sandwiches, so you're not alone.

What are your favorite leftovers to bring for lunch? If it's something that freezes well, you could prepare a few frozen meals as a go to when you don't have fresh leftovers from the night before. Keeping a few of the frozen Trader Joes / Amy's / etc. meals others have suggested on hand is another option.

You could also try having two smaller snacks spaced out through the day, instead of lunch. Something like this chicken salad & crackers kit, or this hummus and pretzel pack, would be nutritious and easy to pack. In general, I think it's easier to pack a few good, satisfying snacks than one large lunch.
posted by photoelectric at 1:42 PM on November 28, 2015

I don't know where you are located, but a place like Jimmy Johns will deliver fresh-made sandwiches almost anywhere.
posted by chainsofreedom at 10:54 AM on November 29, 2015