What's for *lunch* today?

[happysmileylady 29,128]

I hate dealing with lunches.  My kids could eat chicken nuggets for lunch every single day.  DH and I, not so much.  And I don't want to resort to junk food all the time.

What are you having for lunch today?

[Selkie 23,346]

An orange hibiscus smoothie and a coconut curry rice bowl.

[mmasc 3,145]

1 minute ago, Selkie said:

An orange hibiscus smoothie and a coconut curry rice bowl.

Tell me more about your rice bowl. 😊

[mmasc 3,145]

I had a slice of Ezekiel flax bread with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese. I’ll have something else too, but not sure what right now. My kids had breakfast foods bc they ate late. 

[SusanC 7,627]

Nachos. Cheese melted in corn chips served with salsa as a fig leaf of vegetable cover.

[barnwife 2,525]

1 minute ago, Selkie said:

An orange hibiscus smoothie and a coconut curry rice bowl.

Well, that sounds delicious!

We had deviled eggs, egg salad sandwiches, and grapes. FWIW, meal planning is something that I really don't like. So my compromise is that we generally eat the same thing for our breakfasts and lunches. (Breakfast is toast, eggs, or granola. Lunches tend to sandwiches with fruit. Then I only have to meal plan for dinner. 

DH would definitely prefer to have dinner leftovers for lunch, and sometimes we do. But because I don't really enjoy meal planning and cooking, I tend to make double what we need and eat it for two nights. Can you tell that I really want to avoid cooking and meal planning?

[regentrude 84,663]

Pasta with salmon and asparagus in a white wine cream sauce

[Joker 13,771]

We tend to do brunch here instead of a separate breakfast and lunch. No one in this house is usually that hungry first thing in the morning and coffee/juice is enough.

Today, brunch was a bowl with black beans, rice, over easy egg, avocado, and red bell peppers. 

I have no idea what I'm making for dinner tonight though.

[marbel 25,376]

I'm having some lentil soup which I made so there would be something healthful around to eat. Most likely I will be the only one to eat it.  Most days breakfast and lunch are fend-for-yourself.  Unless breakfast is exceptionally early, lunch is often just a snack of whatever people can find - a piece of toast, a quesadilla, some hummus and pita chips....

[BarbecueMom 6,611]

3/5 of us:  BBQ Lentils (homemade baked beans recipe, except with lentils), baked potatoes, sautéed spinach, and leftover cornbread from Thursday’s dinner (DS11 ate some grape tomatoes, too)

2/5 of us:  Turkey slices OR their unfinished half-PB&J from yesterday, leftover cornbread, cucumber slices, and honeycrisp apples/mandarin oranges.

Usually it’s just leftovers, but I haven’t been to the store in two weeks, and the spinach needed to be cooked.  I’m also having appetite issues and needed to force myself to eat an actual meal.

Edited April 19, 2020 by BarbecueMom

[alisoncooks 11,528]

Leftovers. 

Last night we took chili-rubbed pulled pork + a bag of potatoes + frozen chopped onions = made a fried hash dish on the outdoor flattop grill. Served with a fried egg -- felt like we were at a diner! 😄 It was really good for a thrown together hodge podge. 

We've been eating more leftovers lately -- cooking bigger meals so there's food leftover. If not that, we've been eating fried bologna sandwiches and chips (😳) ...or...pepperoni + frozen garlic knots...or whatever I can find. 

[IvyInFlorida 3,761]

Today I made hamburgers and fruit salad.  I had my burger on a salad instead of a bun and forced myself to eat it despite pregnancy nausea.  Tomorrow I'm making sloppy joe meat and baking it with cornbread batter on top.  Served with salad / fruit salad probably. 

[Loowit 3,217]

We are doing hot dogs and chips.  Not very healthy, but quick and easy to make while working on house projects.

[TrixieB 1,553]

Mexican takeout from one of our favorite places.  They are really struggling. 

[Dreamergal 6,966]

We had brunch. Choice of Pancakes or waffles, eggs and hash brown. 

[PeachyDoodle 5,274]

Wraps using some leftover chicken dh fried the other night. It was supposed to be last night's dinner but we got take-out from a local joint instead because dd was jonesing for chicken pie.

[happysmileylady 29,128]

40 minutes ago, barnwife said:

Well, that sounds delicious!

We had deviled eggs, egg salad sandwiches, and grapes. FWIW, meal planning is something that I really don't like. So my compromise is that we generally eat the same thing for our breakfasts and lunches. (Breakfast is toast, eggs, or granola. Lunches tend to sandwiches with fruit. Then I only have to meal plan for dinner. 

DH would definitely prefer to have dinner leftovers for lunch, and sometimes we do. But because I don't really enjoy meal planning and cooking, I tend to make double what we need and eat it for two nights. Can you tell that I really want to avoid cooking and meal planning?

For the win!  The two younger kids had nuggets, cheese and fruit.  DD11 will have bunch of stuff on a plate when she gets out of the tub.  

And DH and I had deviled eggs!  We didnt' color our eggs til Wednesday, because I kept forgetting to boil them lol.  So in an effort to use up the eggs, I made deviled eggs for lunch lol.  I also had some of the canteloupe I sliced for DS7 and DH had some cukes.  

[medawyn 2,412]

Feeding DH lunch has been a challenge.  His habit was to get lunch in the cafeteria at work, so suddenly he thinks he's going to get hot homemade lunches at home.  Well.... And of course my kids are suddenly eating more, so the amounts that used to be guaranteed to produce leftovers is sometimes just enough for dinner. Aargh.

Here's what I've been doing:

rice bowls - rice in the rice cooker, and I have bags of shredded, spiced meat (chicken, pork, and beef) from previous meals in the freezer.  I top them depending on what meat I've defrosted. I will throw in leftover veggies or turn it into a salad for me (dh is a meat/cheese/carbs kind of eater).  In my deep freeze I have this salsa verde chicken, this chicken tikka masala, this kalua pork, and this awesome spiced pork that I can post later if anyone is interested. This is at least two lunches a week.

tacos or individual enchiladas, if the shredded meat holds out

a cheese/cracker/fruit/veg/salami plate

everyone gets grilled cheese and homemade soup once a week, which is how I mop up leftover veggie odds and ends

and usually the leftovers hold out for one or two lunches

Salads for me most days.

 

[Laura Corin 41,876]

Steamed broad beans with olive oil and parmesan; a poached egg; two savoury oat crackers with marmite and pumpkin seed butter; an apple.

[ThisIsTheDay 4,876]

Scrambled eggs with cream cheese and leftover deli Black Forest ham; and an avocado.

[happysmileylady 29,128]

Oh my goodness!  

[Monica_in_Switzerland 12,043]

Falafels!!!  We're in a falafel frenzy around here right now.  Pita with falafel balls, lettuce, red onion, bell pepper, cucumbers, spicy hummus, sriracha for the brave, plain yogurt. 

[Jean in Newcastle 175,347]

Every single day I have a salad with protein (usually chicken but sometimes tuna, or steak or beans).  And a square of dark chocolate for dessert. 

[Zoo Keeper 3,450]

Today we had homemade minestrone soup and crackers and then blueberry and cranberry muffins. 

[CAJinBE 795]

Dh made a risotto with broccoli and diced bacon. It was very late though like 2:30 so now at almost 9pm we are thinking about dinner which looks like it's going to be roasted potatoes basically because no one wanted meat so late. Our schedules are so messed up.

 

[J-rap 17,057]

1 hour ago, mmasc said:

Tell me more about your rice bowl. 😊

I was interested in the hibiscus in the smoothie!  🙂 

[J-rap 17,057]

43 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

Every single day I have a salad with protein (usually chicken but sometimes tuna, or steak or beans).  And a square of dark chocolate for dessert. 

It continues to amaze me how just one square of good dark chocolate can satisfy that craving.  🙂 

[J-rap 17,057]

We had a smoothie to use up a bag of lettuce and almost over-ripe bananas, and bread from a local bakery with cream cheese and olives.  We're on a weekly bread subscription with a local bakery that we share with our dd and her dh.  The bread is amazingly good -- very simple and wholesome.  

[Jean in Newcastle 175,347]

2 minutes ago, J-rap said:

It continues to amaze me how just one square of good dark chocolate can satisfy that craving.  🙂 

Sometimes I binge on two squares.  🙂  LOL

[slackermom 3,590]

I just had the last bowl of chili from my first batch of quarantine chili. I still have at least 2 quarts from batch 2 in the freezer, which has more veggies than batch 1 did. I am the only one eating it, and it will be either lunch or dinner probably every day. 

Kiddo has been having a serving of either frozen chicken nuggets, chicken strips, or chicken patties. Today I served the second to last "fresh" apple, which was starting to get a bit soft.

eta: just after i typed this, I got a phone call that the kid would love some pasta too. That gets served with a bit of tomato basil soup. 

Edited April 19, 2020 by slackermom
edited 2 add

[mathnerd 6,034]

Israeli Falafel ( recipe from: https://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/falafel/ ) with tahini served on spring mix salad, cucumber, onions, bell peppers, pumpkin seeds with iranian saffron basmati rice (from Chef John, FoodWishes on youtube: https://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2014/12/persian-rice-sorry-measuring-cups.html ) as a side.

Edited April 19, 2020 by mathnerd

[Selkie 23,346]

3 hours ago, mmasc said:

Tell me more about your rice bowl. 😊

I ordered it from Splendid Spoon.  https://splendidspoon.com

It's basically brown rice with coconut milk, ginger, garlic, turmeric, curry powder, and red chili pepper - topped with chickpeas, cashews, and kale. Very delicious!

[math teacher 1,591]

Dh had a large salad with fajita chicken strips. I had leftover baked beans with hamburger and yogurt.

[Soror 24,198]

Leftover Minestrone soup for me. Pasta bake for the rest of the family.

[SusanC 7,627]

Some of your are having lunch - and it all sounds so good! I posted because I thought the topic was "lunch". 😂

[gardenmom5 35,521]

I had been looking forward to lobster ravioli - but my adult kids (they've been very good at self-isolating) came over so we're BBQing hamburgers.

[athena1277 894]

We have been having Sunday worship via livestream and I’ve been trying to cook a nice lunch for some normalcy.  Today I made pork chops (the fully cooked kind that you just need to heat), mashed potatoes, green beans and crescent rolls.  Not super complicated, but good.  Dinner tonight will be typical Sunday, too.  I call it “whatever you can find.” 😋

[appyonthebeach 192]

I made homemade naan, hummus and roasted veggies.  Dh went out to get gas in his car and came home with a Burger King bacon burger for him and nuggets for ds.  Oy!  He did eat 2 pieces of naan in addition to his burger and said they were delicious.

[EmseB 16,631]

I feel very slacker-ish. I don't make lunch or plan for it ever except to have bread, deli meat and pb&j on hand. My kids scrounge or make sandwiches or wraps every day except Sunday. On Sunday we have big Sunday dinner which is earlier than weeknight dinner but later than lunch. 

[Kassia 6,453]

50 minutes ago, EmseB said:

I feel very slacker-ish. I don't make lunch or plan for it ever except to have bread, deli meat and pb&j on hand. My kids scrounge or make sandwiches or wraps every day except Sunday. On Sunday we have big Sunday dinner which is earlier than weeknight dinner but later than lunch. 

 

I never plan lunch for my family.  I have stuff for lunch here - yogurt/leftovers/fruit/veggies/cheeses/lunch meat/pizza/bagels/tortillas/crackers/nuts/ bread/peanut butter - and they figure it out.  I must have planned when the kids were little but it was always simple stuff from the above list.

[theelfqueen 5,420]

We had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with grapes. Then for dinner we had meatball subs and pasta salad. Not fancy. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland 12,043]

11 hours ago, Arctic Mama said:

Do you have a good falafel recipe to share? Inquiring minds ☺️

 

This is the one I've been using, but I start from dry chickpeas.  

https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-vegan-falafel/

 

[Harpymom 529]

I'm not really sure why I like to read the food threads so much - yes for ideas but it's more like brain comfort food.

[KungFuPanda 33,066]

Having DH and DS home for most meals is normal for us. DH has worked at home for years and DS has always homeschooled. I make our big, main meal at “lunch time.” For us that’s around 2 p.m.  It’s just easier to get the biggest mess and effort cleared earlier. When we get hungry in the evening we do leftovers or easy stuff. 

[Elizabeth86 2,791]

Today D's 1 and I had leftover tacos and the little 3 had spaghetti o's.  We all had yellow peppers, cucumbers and petite carrots with ranch.  I had leftover cool whip from a dessert I made so we also had cool whip with strawberries.  

[SKL 58,744]

Usually I graze most of the day.  I will go downstairs around midday or later (on one of my coffee trips) and eat some nuts (and maybe some fruit) while walking around.  If I have an appetite, I will add a couple pieces of toast or some really easy leftovers or maybe an unhealthy snack if it's sitting there looking at me.

My kids are on their own for most "meals" these days.  The kitchen is well stocked and they know how to use it.