Lunch Ideas for Work or School

I've been making Alex lunch for school every day since we got married. It's something that I really love doing for him....sending him off to school with a little care package of fruit snacks, granola bars and other survival essentials for the day. I have always made him two turkey/cheese/tomato sandwiches - until recently. 

Alex expressed to me that although very grateful, he just can't stomach another sandwich for a long time! I don't blame him at all. After 5 years of it, I'd be sick of it too.

That comment has sent me on a little hunt for ideas of what I could make for him in the mornings that won't take me long to make. And I must say, I've had a ton of fun doing it! Alex loves food and it makes me happy to see and hear his reactions to the different things I've packed for him. And what's great about making him a delicious lunch in the morning is that by the afternoon I don't need to figure out what I'm going eat for lunch! It's already done!

Before I list the few lunch ideas, I must mention these great Rubbermaid LunchBlox containers!

I have both the Sandwich kit and the Salad kit. These little containers are the perfect serving size and it's fun to figure out what you could put in each container. They stack perfectly and are made to fit in a lunch bag. They also come with an ice pack, so if you or the person you're making the lunch for doesn't have access to a fridge, the ice pack will keep everything cool until it's time to eat! I'm telling you...great investment! My grocery store had a buy one pack get one free... I couldn't pass it up!

#1 Seven Layer Bean Dip

(side note: I don't measure anything, so you'll have to estimate how much of the ingredient to use) :)

It's actually a six layer bean dip over here...we omit the olives. 

All you need is:

Re-fried beans

Sour cream

Avocado

Tomato 

Cheese

Green onions 

Super easy! Takes a second to cut things up and you layer the ingredients in the order they are listed. Pair with a bag of chips (of course!) and you're good to go!

#2 Chicken Salad Sandwich

There are tons of different ways and combinations to make a chicken salad sandwich, but this is our favorite!

Ingredients:

1 can of chicken

Mayo

1 pickle diced (we like the Zesty flavor! Amazing!)

1 green onion diced

1/2 cupish Craisins 

handful of sliced almonds

Garlic salt

Onion Powder

Paprika

Salt/Pepper

Mustard

Mix it all together. Assemble on sandwich and drizzle with mustard. The salad definitely tastes better if it's been refrigerated for a couple of hours. 

#3 Strawberry Spinach Salad

This is probably the fastest and easiest meal to make. 

All you need is:

Packaged baby spinach (ready to use)

4-5 Strawberries

Feta cheese

Sliced almonds.

Dice the strawberries then layer the salad. Pair with either poppyseed dressing or a raspberry balsamic vinaigrette and it's delicious! 

#4 Pita

One of the most frequented restaurants in Provo for us was The Pita Pit. We LOVED that place! A pita is a great change up from a sandwich. You could make any type of pita you wanted!

In this pita, I put a lot of different things:

Turkey

Salami

Feta Cheese

Lettuce 

Tomato

Red Onion

Pepperoncini's

Chipotle Mayo

Mustard

Sub Dressing (oil/vinegar)

Salt/Pepper

Sides/Snacks

Here are some ideas to pair your main dish with:

*Fruits - grapes, oranges, apples, plums, strawberries

*Hard boiled eggs

*Hummus and pita chips

*Beef Jerkey

*Raisins or Craisins

*Celery with peanut butter and raisins

*Carrots

*Chips and salsa or guacamole

Happy Lunch Making!!