Things I packed for lunch today:
Container of 2% fat Fage Greek yogurt -
150 cal
2 hardboiled eggs - 180 cal
Cup of cut up radishes - 50 cal (?)
Cup of Rainier cherries - 100 cal
Added some tea, and it made a nice lunch with just about 500 calories or so.
Went to the weekly farmers market today. Got beets :). I don’t know if they were organic or not but the farmer was manning the booth. Roasted them and they were yummy! Had my lentil and beet salad.
I also bought locally grown blueberries, raspberries ($4/pint) and cherries. I feel like a hit the mother lode today.
Deb022-My lentils and beets salad was delicious. I didn’t have a recipe so just winged it. Green lentils that I cooked with rosemary, onion, garlic.discarded all the herbs and onions after cooking. Roasted the beets. Used a basic vinaigrette. Cut up beets added fresh rosemary. I wanted to add goat cheese but I didn’t have any. Used a bit of feta instead. Served it with a sprinkle of candied walnuts on top. H even commented on how much he like it.
I have a potluck on Sunday. I won’t bring the beet/ lentil salad since I don’t think it will go over well with the crowd. Considering a kale salad but I’m not sure if that will go over any better.
I was planning to post this anyway, but I frequently make this healthy dish for potlucks. It always seems to go over well.
Marinated Bean Saled
1 can each : black beans, Great Northern Beans and Kidney beans
1 can corn
1 small jar of chopped pimento
1 carrot
Drain and rinse beans, corn and pimento. Grate carrot and mix together.
Mix together:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp chile powder
Pour over bean mix and marinate overnight.
Yum mom60, I’m going to take those tips when I make that dish again. When I had this at a restaurant, they had feta on it. I had goat cheese so that’s what I used.
Ooh. When I stated cutting out sweets, dessert became so frustrating. I craved something sweet after dinner and it turned out yogurt parfaits were really satisfying. I layer plain unsweetened Greek yogurt + a drizzle of honey + honey granola (usually Honey Bunches) + a cup of frozen assorted fruits (berries, peaches, mango), microwaved for a minute, resulting in an easy compote-like topping.
I know this is lame but I have packages of those Listerine breath strips in my office…when I “need” something sweet after lunch, one or two generally work (it’s sort of like brushing your teeth immediately after a meal.)
I do not think that is lame at all! I think brushing or “refreshing” right after eating is an excellent way to signal your body that eating is over.
One thing I’ve found with salads - adding small amounts of quinoa or wild rice definitely makes them more satisfying. Greens, wild rice, pecans, goat cheese, a very few dried cranberries and vinaigrette is delicious.
I got a package if That’s it. bars (yup, there is a period!) at Costco. 100 calories each and only 2 ingredients: dried apples and blueberries. That’s it! Great for packing light for hikes. Not cheap, but are blueberries cheap?
http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Fruit-Apple-Blueberry-Ounce/dp/B00EWFEWBW
I hope they have That’s In in the sample aisle sometime BB!!!
Speaking of Costco, last night I picked up a new salad in the prepared food (by the rotisserie chicken, etc.) that I just had for lunch and was DELICIOUS! Would also be a good snack. I can’t remember the exact name - something using the words “chili, lime, wheat, quinoa, tabbouli” type salad. It has (I think) bulgar wheat, chickpeas, cashews, lots of parsley, maybe kale, dried cranberries, etc. - really yummy!
I have a shopping trip planned for this weekend. I’ll be going back through this thread to make my list.
abasket, what was the salt content like? I frequently find the Costco prepared items to be too salty for my taste.
It didn’t TASTE too salty - I’ll check the ingredients closer when I’m home. Believe it or not, I didn’t bring the original COSTCO sized container for lunch!!! 
It seemed “fresher” than some of their other prepared salads (i.e. the tortellini, greek pasta, etc.)
Just out of curiousity, how much are It’s It. at Costco? The sample pack on the maker’s website lists 9 bars for $12.95, delivered. Thanks.
Ok, I just discovered that mine is a variety pack with 5 of each: apple-pineapple, apple blueberry, and apple-banana. It was about $1 for a bar. Eating whole fruit is cheaper, but a bar version is easier to carry on a hiking trip!
I found the dry beet chips from sprouts pretty tasty. Almost tastes like potato chip but thicker.
Wow, $1 apiece is cheaper than the maker’s website sampler pack @ $1.39 apiece.
abasket:
That salad sounds good. Was it spicy? I don’t really like spicy foods and with the ingredient of chili I would tend to pass on it, unless it was so well hidden that you can’t taste it and it was added more for flavor than for spice…
Made NM’s quinoa/spinach/parm salad and will be taking some in for lunch along with a small piece of left over salmon from last nights dinner. The salad is delicious! I have copied the other recipes from this thread for future lunches.
Yesterday at Costco I purchased a kale salad kit. It included craisins and pumkin seeds, and poppyseed dressing. I took a big bowl of that for lunch today. It had multiple kids of veggies in in, including shredded brussel sprouts. It was quite tasty, and really easy. I just waited til lunch time to pour dressing on.