Forum

As I've never been a particularly organized person, I don't have much experience meal prepping frozen lunches to take to work. I would like to start this, maybe making 3 different menus, 5 meals each, so I can switch up my meals a bit. I'm looking for any advice on where to start and how to be successful. My main requirements are that they are healthyish, fairly balanced in nutrition, and not requiring too many complex recipes due to lack of time. Thanks for any advice or suggestions you can provide.

Note I have absolutely no experience but my daughter-in-law does. Through friends she found a cooking instructor who had a group of five women who met once a month. They worked together on a Saturday morning to make enough lunches to last them for an entire month. They made suggestions but the cooking instructor chose the actual recipes. A fun time was had by all and all of the food withstood freezing, reheating well.

I freeze single serve sizes of casseroles, risottos, quiches... all just get taken to work frozen, and reheated for a couple of minutes in the microwave. All come out perfectly! Agree with the soup reply too.. always soups in the freezer.

I don't have the "work lunch" dilemma -- I work from home and usually have a nice choice of leftovers -- but I, too, have a freezer full of soups. In fact, we're thawing a container of turkey farro soup for supper right now! 

I try and do : soup indeed in single size containers in the freezer, savoury quiches/tart/cakes, single size of veggies or casserole to re-heat. I usually pair something like (cake or tart slice or rice or pasta based casserole type dish) + (soup or salad or veggies).

I also freeze or refrigerate crepes/small breads/pita so I can replace the quiche with a small sandwich.

I find the tarts/cakes/sandwich idea quite practical, because they are easily transportable and do not need cutlery, and with the salad or soup, it makes it quite a balanced meal. Also you can put anything you like in them to keep things varied and interesting.

Today I am having for example crepe filled with cream cheese and ham, and a small salad of radicchio, pecorino, apple and onion. I keep a small bottle of oil and vinegar by my desk, so everything is right there. I take single extra servings of salt/pepper/sugar/sauce from the coffee shop when I buy coffee and also use them as needed to add into soup or salad or yogurt etc.

Ah yes, for the salad, I cut the ingredients directly at work to keep them fresher, so I can use them over several servings (we have a fridge) but I am guessing it is also all right to pre-cut at home without the seasoning.

Thank you for all the replies. I just realized I wasn't getting notifications, so I'm just seeing these now. I made it through the weekend making 3 weeks of meals (15 total) as follows:

farro, boneless skinless chicken thighs, broccoli

swiss chard, bbq ribs, corn & red pepper

spaghetti w/ meat & mushroom sauce, sauteed zucchini

I'm going to try to make one new meal each week, and will get more creative as time allows. I like the idea of soups, but right now my containers are shallow, rectangular containers. I'll probably buy some soup containers in time. Casseroles are another great idea. I love casseroles but sometimes avoid them because of how much they make. Problem solved.

When I retired in 2014, one of the things I missed was the adventure of packing a lunch. I was fortunate in that our staff lounge had a microwave oven but there was seldom a long wait for it.

I agree with all the suggestions in this thread, except that I transported soup in a Thermos-type insulated container for soups and stews. In the morning I would rinse the container with boiling water, then pour in boiling soup, screw the container shut, and put it in a gallon-size zip-top bag. Soups and salads of many different kinds along with an array of raw veggies, crunchies,  fruits, cheeses, flatbreads and spreads,  condiments, small desserts, all in a capacious lunch box with an outside mesh pouch that I used for small tomatoes.

One item I often packed that I haven't seen mentioned was a baked chicken piece. I liked thighs, and I preferred them dry-baked to cut down on mess.

I also invite you to take a look at Mark Bittman's 2013 piece "Take Your Lunch to Work" in the New York Times (do a search), including the comment thread. It was from the comment thread that I learned that Thou Shalt Not Heat Fish in the Office Microwave.

As Bittman said, "you'll be overwhelmed not by the challenges of putting together a decent lunch before you leave the house but by the possibilities."

This is a good topic and some very interesting posts so far. My favourite thing to take to work is homemade minestrone soup.  The pasta and beans keep gradually swelling up and sometimes it is more like a saucy pasta than a soup.  I always feel that I have eaten a well balanced meal when I take this.  It reheats well in a microwave. I also like the Make Ahead Broccoli Quinoa salad from Bon Appetit (so delicious and keeps very well).