The Art of the Emergency Desk Lunch
When I first started working full-time, I often found myself scrambling to put together a lunch in the morning before leaving for work. This meant that I would give up on bringing something from home a couple of times each week and resort to buying something at lunchtime. Needing to buy lunch is particularly a problem for me because I work in a downtown area in an expensive city with few carry-out lunch options. It is difficult to find a meal in that area for less than $10, let alone something with reasonable portion sizes. This led to my credit card and my waistline feeling a little too plump by the end of each month. Meal prepping on weekends helped me to cut down eating out for lunch, but I still occasionally found myself without a lunch and with no plan. I started to keep snack and meal items at my desk, and that finally helped me to kick the restaurant lunch habit.
I often troll the reduced section of my local grocery store to find shelf-stable items to stock my desk at work. Many of the items that end up being reduced are actually from the health food section, which is normally quite expensive. Once the items are marked down, I get to try them out for at least 50% less than their normal price. In my experience, coupons are also accepted on these items, so I am occasionally paid to buy them! Here is my haul from a recent grocery trip, for a total of $5.61:
A package of six fig bars ($2.49)
A protein cookie ($1.39)
A Perfect Bar ($0.74)
A nut-butter-filled Clif Bar ($0.99)
In addition to useful clearance food finds, I stock up on a few lunch staples to keep in my desk. I keep on hand a supply of tuna packets, which come in a variety of flavors such as lemon pepper (my favorite), sweet and spice, and tomato basil. Add a box of crackers and you can have yourself dozens of desk lunches for the price of a single lunch out! Those crackers would also go great with a jar of peanut butter, another high-protein option that you can keep at your desk since the jar does not require refrigeration.
While high in sodium, ramen noodles can make a great emergency desk lunch in a pinch. I try to do this just a few times a year, especially since I ate so many of these in graduate school. If you have eggs at home, I recommend bringing one to work in a bag or container to add to your ramen for more protein. If you have the square blocks of ramen and not the cup noodles, those can be cooked in the work microwave if you bring your own container from home. Just break up the noodles by manhandling the bag, then add to a glass lunch container along with the included seasoning packet. You can add water and your egg, then microwave.
Additional Ideas
Some of these ideas also work for meals while traveling. Before a trip, I stock my bag with a few protein bars or fruit leather so that I can have a filling snack or meal in the airport, on a plane, or on a train without having to shell out for a marked-up meal. This way, you can also control what you are consuming (perfect for folks who have to monitor their sugar intake, calories, etc).
I often troll the reduced section of my local grocery store to find shelf-stable items to stock my desk at work. Many of the items that end up being reduced are actually from the health food section, which is normally quite expensive. Once the items are marked down, I get to try them out for at least 50% less than their normal price. In my experience, coupons are also accepted on these items, so I am occasionally paid to buy them! Here is my haul from a recent grocery trip, for a total of $5.61:
A package of six fig bars ($2.49)
A protein cookie ($1.39)
A Perfect Bar ($0.74)
A nut-butter-filled Clif Bar ($0.99)
Several of these will be a full meal replacement for me, such as
the protein cookie (which has 18g of protein and 350 calories).
the protein cookie (which has 18g of protein and 350 calories).
In addition to useful clearance food finds, I stock up on a few lunch staples to keep in my desk. I keep on hand a supply of tuna packets, which come in a variety of flavors such as lemon pepper (my favorite), sweet and spice, and tomato basil. Add a box of crackers and you can have yourself dozens of desk lunches for the price of a single lunch out! Those crackers would also go great with a jar of peanut butter, another high-protein option that you can keep at your desk since the jar does not require refrigeration.
While high in sodium, ramen noodles can make a great emergency desk lunch in a pinch. I try to do this just a few times a year, especially since I ate so many of these in graduate school. If you have eggs at home, I recommend bringing one to work in a bag or container to add to your ramen for more protein. If you have the square blocks of ramen and not the cup noodles, those can be cooked in the work microwave if you bring your own container from home. Just break up the noodles by manhandling the bag, then add to a glass lunch container along with the included seasoning packet. You can add water and your egg, then microwave.
Additional Ideas
Some of these ideas also work for meals while traveling. Before a trip, I stock my bag with a few protein bars or fruit leather so that I can have a filling snack or meal in the airport, on a plane, or on a train without having to shell out for a marked-up meal. This way, you can also control what you are consuming (perfect for folks who have to monitor their sugar intake, calories, etc).
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