Hello Lily On the Lam Readers:
Every now and again, I receive requests for future blog posts. Usually these requests are along the lines of "Could you write a blog post about why you are so wonderful?" or "Could you write a blog post about why you're so terrific?" And the endless request for "Could you write a blog post about why you are super-duper awesome?" You know, the usual stuff ...
But the other day, I received a request to write a blog post recommending lunch suggestions that could be heated up at work. Hot lunches always feel more filling, don't they? This was an interesting question for me, since for the past 7 years I have worked from home or at client sites out of state. I haven't brown-bagged my lunch in a very long time. And even when I did work in an office close to my home, I preferred to go out for lunch.
However, I do like to cook. I do like to menu plan. And I do like to give product reviews ... so I was intrigued by this blog post request. However, then the reader suggested I could give reviews of the various frozen entrees on the market. Ugh - I find most frozen meals to be inedible and the thought of spending the next couple of weeks sampling all the varieties of frozen entrees made me start to dry-heave. There's a lot I will do for my blog, but eating large amounts of scary looking processed food, sodium and chemicals is just too much! (Side Note: If you like eating a lot of frozen entrees- check out this diet, check out this article from LiveStrong.com.)
I thought about how I could meet the reader's request for ideas for lunches to bring to the workplace that would not require me to eat every Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, Weight Watchers, Stouffer's, Michelina's, Marie Callender's and Amy's Kitchen frozen entree on the market. I decided that I would launch a new series on Lily On The Lam: "Friday Fifteen."
On Fridays for the next couple weeks, I will give my recommendations for the "Friday Fifteen" -
(A) Five recommendations for make ahead and freeze meals
(B) Five recommendations for quick to assemble meals
(C) Five pre-packaged frozen entrees recommendations
(Either from my own personal experience or links to other review articles. I seriously can't do a taste test of all the frozen entrees out there! My stomach will kill me!)
I've chosen to post on Fridays so that if you're looking to do some grocery shopping over the weekend for the work week ahead, you'll have 15 recommendations for take to work/heat and eat meals. (Smart, eh?)
And just for Lily On The Lam Readers, I'll throw in TEN more recommendations for this blog post only! Check out WebMD.com's article "Cheap and Healthy Brown Bag Lunch Ideas (For Grown-Ups)."
Before I begin the first "Friday Fifteen," I wanted to suggest another way to have a wide variety of "take to work lunches." I like to cook and many times, I freeze part of my cooking for future meals. However if I make a large batch of say vegetarian chili, I get bored of the food after the 2nd or 3rd time of having it within a week or so. If I made several weeks worth of meals to freeze and take to work, I know I would get sick of having the same choices over and over again.
If I were bringing my lunch to work, I would see if any of my foodie friends wanted to do a "Freezer Food Friends Club." The preferred group size would be to have five people who each made two recipes (five servings for each recipe). I would recommend that everyone uses the same types of plastic containers so that you don't have to worry about returning specific plastic tubs to a particular person. Then each person would meet up and exchange meals. After the exchange, each person would leave with 8 meals (in addition to the servings of your own two recipes that you have made.) It's a great way to have 10 different meals for two weeks of take to work lunches. Or have each of the five people make double batches of two recipes, so each person in the club has 16 meals to take home. Four business weeks of lunches, all set! (Make sure you have enough space in your freezer!)
You'll want to make sure to exchange information before you start a Freezer Food Friends Club, such as: food allergies, food dislikes and any limitations like vegetarian/vegan, lactose issues, gluten issues, calorie limits, low carb, etc. You'll also want the club to decide whether you decide on who is making what recipe or if you just want to let it be a surprise. I, personally, like the surprise aspect! Hopefully you choose good cooks to be part of your club!
And on that note, please welcome the first blog post in the "Friday Fifteen" series ...
(B) Five recommendations for quick to assemble meals
Every now and again, I receive requests for future blog posts. Usually these requests are along the lines of "Could you write a blog post about why you are so wonderful?" or "Could you write a blog post about why you're so terrific?" And the endless request for "Could you write a blog post about why you are super-duper awesome?" You know, the usual stuff ...
But the other day, I received a request to write a blog post recommending lunch suggestions that could be heated up at work. Hot lunches always feel more filling, don't they? This was an interesting question for me, since for the past 7 years I have worked from home or at client sites out of state. I haven't brown-bagged my lunch in a very long time. And even when I did work in an office close to my home, I preferred to go out for lunch.
However, I do like to cook. I do like to menu plan. And I do like to give product reviews ... so I was intrigued by this blog post request. However, then the reader suggested I could give reviews of the various frozen entrees on the market. Ugh - I find most frozen meals to be inedible and the thought of spending the next couple of weeks sampling all the varieties of frozen entrees made me start to dry-heave. There's a lot I will do for my blog, but eating large amounts of scary looking processed food, sodium and chemicals is just too much! (Side Note: If you like eating a lot of frozen entrees- check out this diet, check out this article from LiveStrong.com.)
I thought about how I could meet the reader's request for ideas for lunches to bring to the workplace that would not require me to eat every Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, Weight Watchers, Stouffer's, Michelina's, Marie Callender's and Amy's Kitchen frozen entree on the market. I decided that I would launch a new series on Lily On The Lam: "Friday Fifteen."
On Fridays for the next couple weeks, I will give my recommendations for the "Friday Fifteen" -
(A) Five recommendations for make ahead and freeze meals
(B) Five recommendations for quick to assemble meals
(C) Five pre-packaged frozen entrees recommendations
(Either from my own personal experience or links to other review articles. I seriously can't do a taste test of all the frozen entrees out there! My stomach will kill me!)
I've chosen to post on Fridays so that if you're looking to do some grocery shopping over the weekend for the work week ahead, you'll have 15 recommendations for take to work/heat and eat meals. (Smart, eh?)
And just for Lily On The Lam Readers, I'll throw in TEN more recommendations for this blog post only! Check out WebMD.com's article "Cheap and Healthy Brown Bag Lunch Ideas (For Grown-Ups)."
Before I begin the first "Friday Fifteen," I wanted to suggest another way to have a wide variety of "take to work lunches." I like to cook and many times, I freeze part of my cooking for future meals. However if I make a large batch of say vegetarian chili, I get bored of the food after the 2nd or 3rd time of having it within a week or so. If I made several weeks worth of meals to freeze and take to work, I know I would get sick of having the same choices over and over again.
If I were bringing my lunch to work, I would see if any of my foodie friends wanted to do a "Freezer Food Friends Club." The preferred group size would be to have five people who each made two recipes (five servings for each recipe). I would recommend that everyone uses the same types of plastic containers so that you don't have to worry about returning specific plastic tubs to a particular person. Then each person would meet up and exchange meals. After the exchange, each person would leave with 8 meals (in addition to the servings of your own two recipes that you have made.) It's a great way to have 10 different meals for two weeks of take to work lunches. Or have each of the five people make double batches of two recipes, so each person in the club has 16 meals to take home. Four business weeks of lunches, all set! (Make sure you have enough space in your freezer!)
You'll want to make sure to exchange information before you start a Freezer Food Friends Club, such as: food allergies, food dislikes and any limitations like vegetarian/vegan, lactose issues, gluten issues, calorie limits, low carb, etc. You'll also want the club to decide whether you decide on who is making what recipe or if you just want to let it be a surprise. I, personally, like the surprise aspect! Hopefully you choose good cooks to be part of your club!
And on that note, please welcome the first blog post in the "Friday Fifteen" series ...
(A) Five recommendations for make ahead and freeze meals
(Recipes listed at the bottom of this blog post.)
(1) Turkey Meatball Confetti Soup - An Original Lily Recipe
(2) Lasagna "Cupcakes" - beef or vegetable
(3) Crustless Egg "Muffins" - low carb
(4) Chicken Enchiladas
(5) Stuffed Pasta Shells - vegetarian or chicken-broccoli
(If you're vegan and/or gluten-free, check out these 5 great make ahead lunch recipes from OhSheGlows.com.)
(If you're vegan and/or gluten-free, check out these 5 great make ahead lunch recipes from OhSheGlows.com.)
(B) Five recommendations for quick to assemble meals
Don't have the time or the desire to make a recipe and freeze in advance? Try these quicker options. (Recipes at the bottom of this post)
(1) Crab Melt on a Portobello Mushroom Cap
(2) Lentil couscous
(3) Bacon Cinnamon Roll and Fruit Salad
(4) Baked Potato with Cauliflower and Cheese Sauce
(5) Tuna Fettucini Alfredo
(C) Five pre-packaged frozen entrees recommendations
While I find most frozen entrees inedible, here are five pre-packaged frozen entrees that I do enjoy from time to time.
(1) Lean Cuisine Santa Fe-Style Rice and Beans - creamy and filling
(2) Tandoor Chef Channa Masala - vegetarian, chick peas in a spicy sauce. Tastes pretty close to your average Indian buffet lunch. I eat it plain as it is, but it's also good over rice, couscous or with naan.
(3) Lean Cuisine Lasagna with Meat Sauce - I sprinkle some additional Parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper and oregano over the top of the lasagna before eating. It's not the world's best, but it is great for when you have a pasta craving but don't want to load up on calories.
(4) Amy's Kitchen Garden Vegetable Lasagna (gluten free) - This lasagna is made with rice pasta. It is pretty flavorful for a freezer entree.
(5) Jimmy Dean Delights Turkey Sausage Croissant - I love breakfast for lunch. My friend JB introduced me to this frozen meal before we took part in a half-marathon. I've had work days that have felt like half-marathons, so this croissant sandwich would hit the spot during that type of work day. If you follow the microwave directions exactly, you'll have a decent croissant sandwich. If you just throw it in on high for a couple minutes, you will have an inedible rock. It's not as good as a fast food breakfast sandwich but it has less fat and calories than one. So there's the trade off!
RECIPES:
(Always remember to cool food completely before putting in plastic ware and placing in freezer. Unless it is soup, I prefer to reheat on a paper plate covered with a paper towel in the microwave - stay close by in case the plate or paper towel burns!)
(A1) Turkey Meatball Confetti Soup - An Original Lily Recipe
My first recommendation for a make ahead and freeze meal is something I made today for my own lunch. It is very easy to make and freezes wonderfully.
 |
| Turkey Meatball Confetti Soup |
Forgive me for not having more defined measurements for this recipe. I'm a "pinch of this" and a "pinch of that" type of cook.
In a large pot over medium-high heat, I heated one tablespoon of basil-infused olive oil. I diced one large yellow onion, reserving about 1/3 of the onion pieces. The remaining 2/3, I placed in the large pot. Dice 4 stalks of celery and also add to the pot. Dice 1 bell pepper, also add to the pot. Stir as needed for about 5-10 minutes or until the onions are translucent. While the onion mixture is cooking, I added a pinch of jalapeño flakes, a large pinch of crushed red pepper and 1/4 cup of dried parsley.
After the onions are translucent, I added in one onion soup mix package and stirred well to incorporate. I then added 1 can of Rotel tomatoes with green chiles and 1 can of garbanzo beans. I stirred well, then added one carton of low-sodium chicken broth, one carton of vegetable broth and four cups of water.
Bring the soup to a low boil and then reduce heat to barely a simmer.
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl combine one pound of ground turkey breast, 1/3 - 1/2 c. of grated Parmesan cheese (or more if desired), basil, oregano, cumin, chipotle pepper powder (I bought mine from Target) and mix in one egg. After well combined, take a large spoonful of the turkey mixture and roll it into meatballs. The meatballs should be smaller than a golf ball. Once you have rolled all the turkey mixture into meatballs, gently lower the meatballs into the hot broth that is at barely a simmer. Be careful not to splash yourself. Cook the meatballs in the soup for 20-25 minutes.
Cool completely before placing in plastic containers for freezing. When serving the soup, feel free to drizzle basil olive oil and sprinkle parmesan cheese immediately before serving.
(A2) Lasagna "Cupcakes"
These are make ahead mini lasagnas. They are made in cupcake pans, so you have easy portioned food for future heat and eat work lunches. Check out these recipes from some fine food bloggers:
Beef Lasagna Cupcakes Recipe from Girl Who Ate Everything
(A3) Crustless Egg "Muffins"
If you like breakfast for lunch like I do, check out these recipes that are like mini crustless quiches. I like to serve them with chopped mixed fruit, but if you're low-carbing it; try a green salad instead.
(A4) Chicken Enchiladas
Make a pan to freeze for your family and freeze portions individually for take to work lunches.
Freezer-friendly Chicken Enchiladas Recipe from Freezer Chicks
(A5) Stuffed Pasta Shells
When I graduated from college, my roommate JD and I both took a year "off" to work and save money for graduate school. Saving money meant brown-bagging our lunch every day. Turkey on wheat bread became boring very quickly. So we started researching recipes. One of our go-to recipes was spinach stuffed pasta shells. We would make a large batch and after they cooled completely, we would package them in individual portions for our lunches. I like them with a white sauce sprinkled with nutmeg, but a red sauce is good as well.
Spinach Stuffed Pasta Shells with tomato sauce recipe from My Kitchen Addiction
Stuffed Shells Recipe from Wives Unscripted
Stuffed Shells Recipe from Wives Unscripted
Chicken and Broccoli Stuffed Shells with Alfredo sauce recipe from Eat At Home Cooks
(B1) Crab Melt on a Portobello Mushroom Cap
(best if your workplace has a toaster oven, but a microwave works too)
(best if your workplace has a toaster oven, but a microwave works too)
Take a large portobello mushroom cap and use a spoon to scrape out the black "gills." Rinse and pat dry with a paper towel. Fill the inside of the mushroom cap with crab salad. (Recipe below) Cover the mushroom cap with a slice of reduced fat swiss cheese or Havarti cheese. Bake (or microwave) until cheese is melted.
Tip: If your workplace kitchenette does not have a toaster oven, you may want to pre-bake the mushroom cap itself at home (or try a panini press) and then assemble the remaining ingredients to microwave at your work place.
Another Tip: For added deliciousness, layer thin slices of avocado over the baked crab melt mushroom cap before eating.
Tip: If your workplace kitchenette does not have a toaster oven, you may want to pre-bake the mushroom cap itself at home (or try a panini press) and then assemble the remaining ingredients to microwave at your work place.
Another Tip: For added deliciousness, layer thin slices of avocado over the baked crab melt mushroom cap before eating.
Easy crab salad recipe: Take the contents of one can of lump crab meat, mix in 1 Tb of mayonnaise, dash of Old Bay Seasoning, 1 Tb of finely diced red onion and 1/8 - 1/4 c. of diced celery and a squeeze of lemon juice. Combine well. (Alternate method: I have used Hellman's Dijonnaise instead of mayonnaise.)
(B2) Lentil couscous
This was my grad school "go to" recipe. It is fast, easy and filling. Make ahead a package of instant couscous. (I prefer Near East Parmesan Couscous.) Bring a container of couscous and a can of Progresso Lentil Soup. Heat the soup until very hot, then pour over the couscous. (The heat of the soup will warm up the couscous but you can also heat it up together.) It makes a hearty, filling lunch.
(B3) Bacon Cinnamon Roll and Fruit Salad
I saw this recipe from RainyDayGal.com on one of my friend's Facebook posts. It took all my strength not to run out and buy the ingredients - just bacon and refrigerator cinnamon rolls. These can be assembled and baked quickly. Bring along a small container of chopped fresh fruit as a nice side dish. If you're looking for a heartier lunch, bring along a container of hash brown casserole as well. I've included a link to a copy cat version of Cracker Barrel Restaurant's famous hash brown casserole below. This is a nice "breakfast for lunch" option.
Bacon Cinnamon Roll Recipe from RainyDayGal.com
Copy Cat Recipe of Cracker Barrel Restaurant's Hash Brown Casserole from Food.com
Copy Cat Recipe of Cracker Barrel Restaurant's Hash Brown Casserole from Food.com
(B4) Baked Potato with Cauliflower and Cheese Sauce
I was raised with an appreciation for nuclear orange faux cheese sauce mix. That must be why I always have Green Giant Cauliflower in Cheese Sauce (50 calories per serving) in my freezer. Bring a raw baking potato and a frozen box of cauliflower in cheese sauce with you to work. Cook the potato in the microwave (usually 6-10 minutes depending on size.) Cook the cauliflower per the package direction. Cut your baked potato in half and cover the cauliflower and cheese sauce. A filling lunch that tastes more caloric than it is. For added oomph and a savory bite, sprinkle bacon bits or chopped roasted smokehouse almonds on top.
(B5) Tuna Fettucini Alfredo
When I was a student, my recipes all seemed to be "and a can of tuna." This is one of those dishes I make when there's no food in the house and no one can see me, so be appreciative that I am sharing my secret shame with you. Take one box of Lean Cuisine Fettucini Alfredo, microwave per package directions and mix in 1/2 a can of water-packed tuna. Sprinkle with cayenne pepper. And eat. It's not gourmet. But it's hearty, edible and a quick fix for lunch.
Happy Lunching at Work! Please leave comments with your favorite "heat and eat at work" lunch ideas or what you thought about these Friday Fifteen lunch ideas! Thank you!
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Disclaimer: To increase revenue for Lily On The Lam, I am adding Google Affiliate Ads. However, I am able to select the ad featured for this section. I either pick items I already own and can recommend or items that I would be personally interested in and/or that correspond with the theme of my blog post.
I love bento boxes when I eat at Japanese restaurant. This Google Affiliate Ad has an insulated bento-style lunch kit. Very cute!
When is lily planning the food exchange/pool/mumu party? Great ideas Lily, lll inform the chef.
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to see who all is interested!
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