The Lunch Problem

[adrober]

It seems to me that dinner is a time for careful, thoughtful food consumption and that lunch is a time for shovelling food in your mouth between activities. I, for example, survive on a lunch diet of bagels and sandwiches with the occassional omelet thrown in.

I'm curious, though: what do you guys eat for lunch?

Obviously, we've all done special occassion lunches--dining out at nice places, mall food courts, etc. Yet, dining out lunches, I'm sure, are the exception for most people. What's the rule for you fancy eaters?

Sincerely,

Lunchless in Atlanta

[Jake]

If I'm cooking or prepping -- coffee, cigarettes maybe a Gatorade.

If I'm in the office as above if time is an issue, otherwise a take away soup, pho, sushi, something quick and easy I can eat while i'm working. Bad, bad eating habits!

[Arey]

On the advice of my attorney, I must decline to answer this question, and take the 5th Admendment

[Pickles]

I get up late so I usually eat breakfast for lunch. But that almost always includes a salad, which I can eat at 10 am with no problems. Usually a piece of grilled chicken with that or some eggs. But it varies. If I am at a client's I will be tasting the food I am preparing (I am a personal chef) and have no need for a meal proper until I get home and have a late lunch...also known as "dinner." Are we confused yet? I was once engaged to man who couldn't eat ANYTHING non-breakfast item until exactly the stroke of noon. If it was 11:45, he HAD to have eggs or cereal. Never a burger. (Note I said I "was once engaged..." )

Edited January 29, 2004 by Pickles (log)

[Verjuice]

A cup of soup, I tell myself. Most days, though, it's almonds out of the glove compartment, dried apricots, an apple, a latte.

I suppose I could eat real food if I didn't mind scarfing down my food, or if I was inclined to eat while driving, or if I wasn't fazed by Tupperware or microwaves, but these things bother me enough that I prefer to stave off my hunger with a quiet snack and wait to have a great supper.

[therdogg]

Leftovers gleaned from my children's plates (stay at home mom).

[hillvalley]

Lunch is the bane of my existence.

It is now and has always been my least favorite meal.

Lunch is usually leftovers or microwave rice and furikake or some sort of instant soup. Blech.

I eat better at dinner to make up for it. Someday I want a job with expense account lunches.

[Random Alias]

The problem I had with lunch at my last job was that given a large enough group of 20 somethings, you inevitably end up eating a lot of crap for lunch - or eating lunch by yourself.

For the most part, people don't want to spend the extra time or the extra dollar for something better. When I could convince others on something different, Thai, or Indian were the usual choices, but that had as much to do with what was near by as my personal tastes. There was also a excellent (and cheap) burger place, a few decent Mexian restaurants, and even a good fish and chips place, but still a certain percentage would prefer someplace like Wendy's or Taco Bell. Actually, given the choice some of those guys would have eaten at those places for every meal as far as I could tell.

The worst part about eating lunch with people from work though? Those certain co-workers who want to spend the entire meal talking about work. I guess the other 8-10 hours of the day spent on that subject just weren't enough.

[hillvalley]

The problem I had with lunch at my last job was that given a large enough group of 20 somethings, you inevitably end up eating a lot of crap for lunch - or eating lunch by yourself.

not all of us eat crap

Edited January 29, 2004 by hillvalley (log)

[Pickles]

One can avoid "office lunches" by brown bagging and making that interesting. I used to bring a large Idaho baker and some butter and low fat cheese and micro it and have a decent filling meal with a salad (dressing on the bottom of the container, salad on top...ready to shake with a minimum of sogginess). I think if one has bad lunches at the office it's from laziness. Or perhaps lack of kitchen equipment...that's another scenario..

[Jake]

One can avoid "office lunches" by brown bagging and making that interesting. I used to bring a large Idaho baker and some butter and low fat cheese and micro it and have a decent filling meal with a salad (dressing on the bottom of the container, salad on top...ready to shake with a minimum of sogginess). I think if one has bad lunches at the office it's from laziness. Or perhaps lack of kitchen equipment...that's another scenario..

Not always laziness....sometimes there's nothing in the fridge to brown bag.

[MsMelkor]

Since both Melkor and I work from home, we have a lot of choices. I like to have leftovers whenever possible, although if Melkor has time he will make something more elaborate (I rarely have time to make anything other than leftovers). When we both have too much work and no leftovers in the house we tend to just snack all day....

[tsquare]

I eat out almost every work day - not too fancy, walking distance to plenty of variety. Such as:

a panini sandwich (such as porchetta and provolone with argula and lemon),

grilled salmon/halibut/or shrimp on a mixed green salad/rice/or bread,

rice with stir fry type dishes (swimming angel, thai basil prawns),

fruit (from the farmer's market 3 blocks away) and yogurt,

mexican deli tamale with rice and beans,

hot fresh turkey sandwich and salad,

steamed buns and potstickers,

catfish po'boy and salad,

grilled cheese and soup,

pizza slice or two, or

quick sushi.

That's pretty representative. I bus commute - don't pay for parking. Don't smoke, drink infrequently. Don't eat dinner out too frequently (by my standards). My justification for the $ spent at lunch (generally $5-$12, sometimes less, sometimes more). Oh, and I have the flexibility to eat when I want and to take as long as I need. The biggest luxury.

[Marlene]

People are supposed to eat lunch

[snowangel]

Larb makes a great lunch!

[mongo_jones]

since i have a refrigerator and microwave in my office i usually take dinner leftovers with me and torment everyone on my floor (i teach at a university) with the aromas of home-cooked indian food while they eat their stale bagels and suchlike crap.

[beans]

I'm curious, though: what do you guys eat for lunch?

...ahem...

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=29870&hl=lunch

[JennyUptown]

Finding an interesting lunch often gives me so much agita that I eat really boring stuff like granola and yogurt.

Go fish

The short answer is soup from High Noon (vegetarian corn chowder and chicken with white bean are my two favorites) or leftovers. But a girl gets bored. And this girl doesn't eat salad.

[adrober]

I'm curious, though: what do you guys eat for lunch?

...ahem...

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=29870&hl=lunch

Oops. Sorry everyone. I'll never eat lunch again :(

[Random Alias]

The problem I had with lunch at my last job was that given a large enough group of 20 somethings, you inevitably end up eating a lot of crap for lunch - or eating lunch by yourself.

not all of us eat crap

I was 20 something at the time too, so I didn't mean it as a slam against the entire age group or anything. I'm not even saying that I don't like fast food....just not everyday as a lot of my friends did back then.

[Katherine]

I never know where I'm working, or whether I'll have access to either refrigeration or a microwave now. But I know I'm never going to have more than 20 minutes to eat. So I eat a good breakfast, then slap together some homemade yogurt (extra butterfat to be more filling), nuts, a few dried cherries, splenda, and flavor. By the time I get home, mid-afternoon, I'm ravenous. Carb-free cheesecake time. Then off to my night job with a plate of meat and vegetables.

[JPW]

Gave up fast food, and man do I miss it. HateHateHate the taste of microwaved food (except popcorn). Spoil myself with an occasional trip to the local pizza joint.

BUT, I'm lucky enough to have a kick ass Safeway nearby. They make darn good sandwiches on what by supermarket standards is excellent bread. Nice soup/salad bar, good prepared food section (wings, casserole-style dishes, etc) and a great produce section to grab a piece of fruit.

[bilrus]

I picked up a habit a long time ago that I absolutely have to get out of the office for a little while and have a real lunch and read the Newspaper. My choices are normally:

Big salad of some sort from the chain restaurant Champps (The salads are actually pretty darn good)

Kabobs

Pho

A few small servings of different soups from the carry out at the nearby "Gourmet" place

Sandwiches from the same Gourmet place

Occasionally - Spicy Chicken Strips and Mashed Potatoes from Popeye's

For me luch is all about getting out and ignoring work for a while and not having to talk to anyone after placing my order. It snaps me when someone asks "where are you going for lunch?" because that means that I end up having to talk with someone for 45 minutes instead of being quiet.

[Cusina]

I agree, lunch is very underrated. I wish we could do the big european style mid-day meal and a smaller dinner, but we just aren't able to arrange our lives that way.

I'm at home so I often eat leftovers from the night before, or kid food (my son is in a serious grilled cheese phase). Sometimes I'll get ambitious and do a little stir fry or make a veggie burger or some egg salad. Though lately, I've been having cold pressed salmon and cream cheese on water crackers. Not sure why that is hitting the spot, but it is.

And every once in a while I'll get really gourmet and have diet coke and cold cereal.

[josephreese]

Leftovers, almost always, but I tend to graze through it over the course of the workday rather than eat it all at lunch time.