dmorris514
My husband is super picky, works outside, and has no access to a microwave. He is sick and tired of sandwiches and doesn't like pasta. He wants something different and I can understand, however, I'm lost. He eats sooooo much! Not really a "rabbit food" type of guy. Lol. He works about 50-60 hours a week outside and right now the weather is a bit chilly. Does anyone have any creative lunch ideas that will fill him up?
He's not crazy over soups either. This is why I'm lost. I have no idea what to feed him because he is so picky though. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Answer
A picky eater man. A rare breed, indeed. LOL, call his mother and complain, and make her come up with lunch ideas, she did this to him. Is he a meat and potatoes guy?
The wide mouthed insulated thermos jar is the answer, and you can put in anything that will fit into it. Buy two, one for the potatoes, one for the meat.
Or buy him an insulated lunch sack or a heavy metal lunch box that you can strap a thermos into, great for hot chocolate, tea, coffee, warm punch, eggnog, [no booze of course]and buy a cold food keeper, freeze it, toss it in. My Dad took one off those metal rectangular boxes with the rounded lid, he carried mail, and it had to go into his swing box until lunch. No refrigerator there, thankfully, his was in some trees and he avoided the hot sun.{for those that are too young, in the days before mail carriers all had their own mail truck, those were greenish painted mailboxes, a mail carrier had one on his route, opened it with his own key, and could store things in it like umbrellas, dry gloves, and, lunch.On rainy days, Dad would sit in it, keeping his head dry, his long legs stuck out of it aways, he was 6'5".]
go to the plastic storage section at Walmart, they have lots of cool correctly shaped for the food storage ideas.
A hearty man salad, like chicken fruited salad. Apples, grapes, raisins, chunks of chicken, pecans or almonds, toasted and put in a baggie to add before eating it. Just put some Mayo or Miracle Whip in a little jar, dribble in some orange juice, and shake. Keep dribbling until the mix is pourable, pour and stir. Put in a man muffin, like cranberry orange, or zucchini.
I like to make a baked cheesecake, I cut it into servings, and wrap it in foil, and freeze it. Then I just grab a slice, toss it in the lunch bag, and it is thawed by lunch time.
Love magic cookie bars, they are filling, and would be sturdy enough to handle some rough handling. Bar cookies are not so delicate, and do well in a lunch bag.
I would make like some roast beef and gravy, cut the beef into easy to bite pieces, and put some mashed potatoes and some butter into another container.
I make a recipe with round steak, just cut the beef into nice chunks, roll it in flour, sear it both sides, and make a sauce of a can of cream of mushroom soup, a envelope of Lipton's onion soup mix, and a half cup of water. Slow simmer it for a couple hours, it comes out so oniony and tender. Could serve it with boiled or mashed potatoes, or rice.
Shepard's pie is great. Chicken and dumplings would work well.
Chili is a good meal. Beany wienie, beef stew, breakfast casserole with tater tots and cheese and eggs, apple bread pudding with a caramel sauce.
Anything that he will eat, make a double batch for supper, and put the leftovers in both your lunch sacks for the next day. If he is anti leftovers, choose things that will freeze well, wait a week or two, defrost and heat it up and dump it into the thermos. Meat loaf freezes well. Roast pork would work.
Anything BBQ would work, pulled pork, pulled chicken, beef.
Toast up some bagels, and put a cream cheese based spread and a knife in his lunch. I cut parmesan and a little garlic powder into cream cheese for a spread, served on onion bagels. I mix honey and cinnamon and sour cream and cream cheese, then dump a can of cranberry sauce [the kind with whole berries] on it and refirgerate. Just spread it on. Yum.
A picky eater man. A rare breed, indeed. LOL, call his mother and complain, and make her come up with lunch ideas, she did this to him. Is he a meat and potatoes guy?
The wide mouthed insulated thermos jar is the answer, and you can put in anything that will fit into it. Buy two, one for the potatoes, one for the meat.
Or buy him an insulated lunch sack or a heavy metal lunch box that you can strap a thermos into, great for hot chocolate, tea, coffee, warm punch, eggnog, [no booze of course]and buy a cold food keeper, freeze it, toss it in. My Dad took one off those metal rectangular boxes with the rounded lid, he carried mail, and it had to go into his swing box until lunch. No refrigerator there, thankfully, his was in some trees and he avoided the hot sun.{for those that are too young, in the days before mail carriers all had their own mail truck, those were greenish painted mailboxes, a mail carrier had one on his route, opened it with his own key, and could store things in it like umbrellas, dry gloves, and, lunch.On rainy days, Dad would sit in it, keeping his head dry, his long legs stuck out of it aways, he was 6'5".]
go to the plastic storage section at Walmart, they have lots of cool correctly shaped for the food storage ideas.
A hearty man salad, like chicken fruited salad. Apples, grapes, raisins, chunks of chicken, pecans or almonds, toasted and put in a baggie to add before eating it. Just put some Mayo or Miracle Whip in a little jar, dribble in some orange juice, and shake. Keep dribbling until the mix is pourable, pour and stir. Put in a man muffin, like cranberry orange, or zucchini.
I like to make a baked cheesecake, I cut it into servings, and wrap it in foil, and freeze it. Then I just grab a slice, toss it in the lunch bag, and it is thawed by lunch time.
Love magic cookie bars, they are filling, and would be sturdy enough to handle some rough handling. Bar cookies are not so delicate, and do well in a lunch bag.
I would make like some roast beef and gravy, cut the beef into easy to bite pieces, and put some mashed potatoes and some butter into another container.
I make a recipe with round steak, just cut the beef into nice chunks, roll it in flour, sear it both sides, and make a sauce of a can of cream of mushroom soup, a envelope of Lipton's onion soup mix, and a half cup of water. Slow simmer it for a couple hours, it comes out so oniony and tender. Could serve it with boiled or mashed potatoes, or rice.
Shepard's pie is great. Chicken and dumplings would work well.
Chili is a good meal. Beany wienie, beef stew, breakfast casserole with tater tots and cheese and eggs, apple bread pudding with a caramel sauce.
Anything that he will eat, make a double batch for supper, and put the leftovers in both your lunch sacks for the next day. If he is anti leftovers, choose things that will freeze well, wait a week or two, defrost and heat it up and dump it into the thermos. Meat loaf freezes well. Roast pork would work.
Anything BBQ would work, pulled pork, pulled chicken, beef.
Toast up some bagels, and put a cream cheese based spread and a knife in his lunch. I cut parmesan and a little garlic powder into cream cheese for a spread, served on onion bagels. I mix honey and cinnamon and sour cream and cream cheese, then dump a can of cranberry sauce [the kind with whole berries] on it and refirgerate. Just spread it on. Yum.
what is a cheap &easy lunch for my husband to take to work? besides a sandwich?
Kim
my husband spends about $100/week on just lunch! he refuses to make a sandwich for himself to take to work like normal people. he's a big baby and very picky. i can't even make a sandwich for him bc he complains the bread gets soggy or something. so he buys lunch everyday, and snacks at convenience stores, everyday. i was thinking about freezing chili or something, but he said he couldnt eat that 2 days in a row. he's always in a hurry in the morning so he can't make anything in the morning before work. pleeease, what are some other lunch ideas that are quick and easy and don't turn gross from being in the refrigerator? he likes all 'ethnicities' of food (indian, korean, american, mexican, etc). thank you!
he is supposedly traumatized from getting food poisoning one time. so he doesnt like re-heated leftovers from the night before for lunch. and he wont eat food thats more than a couple days old bc he is convinced he will get food poisoning. please help me :( lol
Answer
Y'all clearly have more problems than just his spending $20 a day on lunch. I'll do my best, but don't expect miracles.
If he has access to a microwave, you can send him with frozen meals. They will keep fine in an insulated carrier for 6 hours. I took an Amy's Organics frozen meal to work for lunch every day, tossed the frozen package on a shelf in my office at 7:45 every morning, and nuked it between 12 and 1. It was never thawed, even not being in an insulated bag. I thought the $5 for the Amy's Organics was a lot, but even buying high-end frozen dinners is cheaper than buying lunch out!
To save more than that, you can make meals from leftovers in microwavable, sealable containers. You can make extras from dinners you are cooking anyway and freeze them into meal-sized portions. Select a meal from last week or the week before to keep the variety interesting.
You can also send salads in air-tight containers with a separate container for the dressing. The frozen meal will keep it cold in that insulated bag. In addition to green salads, you could think about chicken salad, tuna salad, pasta salad, rice salad, tabbouleh, quinoa salad, bean salad, and so on.
If you're using whole-wheat bread and he's complaining about it getting soggy, you could try putting the bread in a bag and the filling in another container or bag and let him assemble them at eating time. I don't have a suggestion for white bread--I never use it BECAUSE it turns into a soggy mess.
Can you give him a huge menu of possibilities and let him choose and plan so he has buy-in to the idea? Persuading him to give up his $20 lunches and trips to the convenience store might not be as easy as just handing him a lunch pail. I might be tempted to re-think the whole plan from a completely different angle. For example, if he's eating a huge meal at lunch time, why does he need another huge meal at supper time? You could save yourself a lot of trouble and work if you just fix the sandwiches for supper and forget about changing his lunch habits.
Edited to add:
If he got food poisoning only once, he is a fortunate man. Most people who frequently eat in restaurants average 3 to 4 episodes of foodborne illness in a year (the "stomach flu"). It's actually less risky to eat food that was prepared at home using normal preventive measures (such as washing cutting boards every time they are used and washing hands before handling food).
At any rate, FREEZING the leftovers will pretty much eliminate any possibility of their incubating viruses or bacterial infestations. Microwaving them appropriately will both thaw and re-cook the leftovers.
Edited again to add:
Thinking it over, I would not want to fix food for a person who is likely to blame me if he picks up a digestive ailment. His fear of food poisoning seems irrational.
Y'all clearly have more problems than just his spending $20 a day on lunch. I'll do my best, but don't expect miracles.
If he has access to a microwave, you can send him with frozen meals. They will keep fine in an insulated carrier for 6 hours. I took an Amy's Organics frozen meal to work for lunch every day, tossed the frozen package on a shelf in my office at 7:45 every morning, and nuked it between 12 and 1. It was never thawed, even not being in an insulated bag. I thought the $5 for the Amy's Organics was a lot, but even buying high-end frozen dinners is cheaper than buying lunch out!
To save more than that, you can make meals from leftovers in microwavable, sealable containers. You can make extras from dinners you are cooking anyway and freeze them into meal-sized portions. Select a meal from last week or the week before to keep the variety interesting.
You can also send salads in air-tight containers with a separate container for the dressing. The frozen meal will keep it cold in that insulated bag. In addition to green salads, you could think about chicken salad, tuna salad, pasta salad, rice salad, tabbouleh, quinoa salad, bean salad, and so on.
If you're using whole-wheat bread and he's complaining about it getting soggy, you could try putting the bread in a bag and the filling in another container or bag and let him assemble them at eating time. I don't have a suggestion for white bread--I never use it BECAUSE it turns into a soggy mess.
Can you give him a huge menu of possibilities and let him choose and plan so he has buy-in to the idea? Persuading him to give up his $20 lunches and trips to the convenience store might not be as easy as just handing him a lunch pail. I might be tempted to re-think the whole plan from a completely different angle. For example, if he's eating a huge meal at lunch time, why does he need another huge meal at supper time? You could save yourself a lot of trouble and work if you just fix the sandwiches for supper and forget about changing his lunch habits.
Edited to add:
If he got food poisoning only once, he is a fortunate man. Most people who frequently eat in restaurants average 3 to 4 episodes of foodborne illness in a year (the "stomach flu"). It's actually less risky to eat food that was prepared at home using normal preventive measures (such as washing cutting boards every time they are used and washing hands before handling food).
At any rate, FREEZING the leftovers will pretty much eliminate any possibility of their incubating viruses or bacterial infestations. Microwaving them appropriately will both thaw and re-cook the leftovers.
Edited again to add:
Thinking it over, I would not want to fix food for a person who is likely to blame me if he picks up a digestive ailment. His fear of food poisoning seems irrational.
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