Here's a challenge for you...................?!
Answers: My husband takes his lunch to work as a money saving tactic. I am in a rut as far as what to send with him! He has no way to heat or reheat his food so it has to be things he can eat cold out of a cooler. I pack him egg salad, tuna salad, and lunch meat sandwiches. I've packed him pasta salads too. Do you have any new ideas for me for a main dish item that would be filling, nutritious and not too far fetched (he doesn't like anything too creative!) that does not need to be heated? Thank you for any help, I need it!
My boyfriend likes chef salad's. I put the dressing in a seperate container. I include some crackers and a cute note in his lunch bag too.
I have also started fixing him wraps instead of just sandwiches. He likes those too.
You can always make sides with cottage cheese and fruit or some pudding. Homemade cookies. String cheese is also quick and doesn't need to be heated.
I personally like cold pizza so I sometimes take leftover pizza. If he doesn't mind eating cold pizza that would be a special treat for him.
And don't forget the old standby of lunches...PB&J. I think the biggest thing is to keep it mixed up so it doesn't get boring. Maybe you could figure out 10 different meals and do a two week rotation.
Kidney.
beanie weinies, vienna sausages and crackers,
summer sausage, deviled ham, and pickles
Instead of using mayo for the egg and tuna salad try ranch dressing or any kind of salad dressing for a change.
Chopped apple or carrot adds crunch to tuna or egg salad.
Use different kinds of bread, like rye or pita or whole grain.
Use different veggies in the sandwiches, like thinly sliced cucumber or sprouts or mushrooms or bell peppers.
Try shrimp salad or crab salad sandwiches for a change (good with olives, tomato, green onion and thousand island dressing)
Deviled eggs
Veggies and dip
Nuts
Cheese cubes
Dried fruit
Cookies
Pudding
Applesauce
Baked beans are good cold
Potato salad
Cole slaw (also good on sandwiches)
Crackers/cheese/sausage with mustard packets
Grapes
Get a wide mouthed Thermos Flask, and give him soups, stews and casseroles.
How about various forms of Quiche - very nutritious, very tasty and lots of different kinds.
Cold left-overs from a Chinese meal especially ones with noodles are very edible.
Spanish choritzo or any other kind of garlicy sausage like Italian Salami or German pepper salami are quite tasty in pitta bread, possibly with lettuce or tomato, but fine on their own.
Cold chicken leg or wing is nice and you can put in a tomato etc.
Sliced tomatoe and onions with a bit of lemon juice and chili make a lovely very easy salad to have with cheese, maybe continental cheeses as a change to what you would normally eat.
Greek Taramasalata and houmous with pitta bread are nourishing an you can buy these dips and others anywhere, or easily make them yourself - you can get the recipes from the internet and I assure you they are quick and easy, and you can put some aside for the family.
Jewish chopped liver (chicken liver pate) is very easy to make and delicious with ryvita or any crisp bread.