To Go Recipes Needed!

Updated on June 26, 2015
J.P. asks from North Anson, ME
8 answers

I finally got some motivation to lose weight and eat right!!! I have been in the habit of making breakfasts and lunches at night but I am growing tired of the refrigerator oatmeal every morning and wraps (avocado, greens, tomatoes, and low fat feta- DELISH and missing roasted red peppers usually). Do any of you have easy to go recipes that are healthy for me and my wallet? Running low on cash these days after some Jeep repair :/ Also, I'm not a morning person and now I have an hour ride to get to work (the downside of summer vacation for my daughter) so I'm looking for no prep in the morning, just grab and go. Thank you!

BTW I have been eating well for 2 weeks, and noticed this morning that my pants are a little more loose! SO VERY EXCITED.

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H.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

What about rice bowls. you can do beans, lettuce, tomato , olive, salsa for a Mexican version. Or do lentils, cucumbers, feta, tomato, and lemon dressing for a Mediterranean version. Basically toppings over rice. I love to make up a batch of 10 cups brown rice that I both freeze and refrigerate to use when i need it. You could do an asian version as well and top it with stir fry or an asian style cabbage salad.

Sorry, I'm not a recipe person. I cook by intuition.

1 mom found this helpful

More Answers

D.B.

answers from Boston on

Have you tried making eggs in a muffin tin? There are plenty of recipes on line, here's just one link:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/menus-holidays-parties/mhplib...

The eggs give you protein (and they are very inexpensive), plus you can add in any veggies you have left over, also leftover meats. It's a good way to use up green/red peppers or onions that are just a little past their prime for salads but still good in other things when they are soft.

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray, then put in any of the following (and you can mix them up so they have different flavors):
- Meats: leftover cooked chicken or turkey, leftover hamburger meat or meatloaf, a little pepperoni or sausage; bacon
- salad or omelette veggies - peppers, onions, tomatoes, spinach, broccoli
- cheese - small cubes or shreds of cheddar, jack, Swiss, taco-style, mozzarella.
-herbs - parsley, Italian seasoning, etc.

Mix up some eggs and a little milk, beat until mixed, add salt & pepper if desired, pour on top of the other items until each muffin cup is about 3/4 full. Bake at 350 about 20 minutes until eggs are set and slightly browning.

You can microwave one in the morning and put it on an English muffin. You can heat a few a lunch like mini quiches without the crust. In the mood for pizza? Make one with spinach, mozzarella, tomatoes, pepperoni. In the mood for quiche? Use swiss, bacon. Tempted to get a burger? Use leftover ground beef, cheddar, some onion and tomato. Want a Cobb salad? Use ham, green onion, tomato, cheese.

I think they keep well in the fridge for 4 days, so mix up a big batch at night (and have your daughter help to make some for herself), and then put them in labeled refrigerator containers according to the flavor.

Other things you can do are to
- mix up some tuna (large can), some mayo or vegan-aise, lots of chopped celery for crunch, and some paprika. Put in individual serving size containers, then grab one with a half a whole wheat pita, and assemble at lunch or just eat separately.
- make a regular quiche of any sort, cut in wedges, and take for lunch.
- make an upside down salad - dressing on bottom, cheese cubes if desired, various veggies (carrots, celery, peppers etc.), any meat additions like turkey, then lettuce on top, in a mason jar (that's usually how I see them on TV but you can use anything if it's tall and relatively narrow). To eat, invert on a plate, and the dressing winds up on top without making everything soggy as it would have been if you premixed a dressed salad the night before.

Keep up the good work!!

3 moms found this helpful

C.T.

answers from Santa Fe on

I like greek yogurt, eggs, and fresh fruit for breakfast. For lunch I like to cut up leftover chicken/salmon/steak and put it on a salad with interesting veggies, nuts, avocado, some feta or other cheese, lots of cannolini beans and homemade dressing. Just put this in a tupperware to grab in the morning. Or a quinoa salad...make quinoa the night before and add whatever looks good (like cucumber, tomato, parsley, feta and garbanzo beans along with some olive oil and basalmic vingar). Again stick it in a tupperware to grab and go. Or make a pot of split pea soup and bring a tupperware of this...it is very filling. Or make chilli in the crockpot and take leftovers for lunch...also healthy. My friend likes to make a green salad...then on top she puts on white beans and tuna fish. She makes a lemon juice dressing. It's a little different, but healthy!

2 moms found this helpful

O.H.

answers from Phoenix on

We always have grab and go breakfasts or no cook. We are all on different schedules. We have cereal (the kids eat it dry in a baggie), granola bars, cheese sticks, fruit cups, greek yogurt, hardboiled eggs, fresh fruits and flavored oatmeal packs. I also have frozen burritos that can be heated in the micro in a quick minute. I have made a breakfast casserole and left it in the fridge for anyone to get a scoop and heat up. Everyone just grabs whatever they want.

As far as lunch goes, switch up the wraps. I found a list of like 80 different ones online. Same thing for salads. The dollar store has the little containers you can use for dressing. Try a bunch of different proteins and toppings. Also if you are on Pinterest, search "meal planning" and "meal prepping". It shows you how to prep for the whole week so you just grab and go.

Make sure you get in healthy snacks so you have something every 2-3 hours. Good luck.

2 moms found this helpful
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J.L.

answers from Chicago on

Any kind of breakfast casserole would be great. There are tons of recipes out there if you search--ones with bread, potatoes, or just all eggs and veg. As long as you get the proportions of eggs to other liquids right, you almost can't mess those up, and you can include any meats or veg you like! Bake on Sunday, cut into portions, and eat it all week, or freeze the portions. We even eat egg casseroles for dinner sometimes. Soup is another great option for making on the weekend. Pretty much any soup will freeze well. Put into individual portions right away and pop in the freezer. Then either defrost in the microwave or take them out to defrost the day before you need it. Most soups tend to be really cheap to make, but bean soups are probably the cheapest and most filling! Find one or two simple recipes you enjoy (Rachael Ray has a lot of quick soups if you're looking for something speedy), and then make up a double batch every few weeks to restock your freezer.

1 mom found this helpful
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E.B.

answers from Austin on

Fill a few mason jars or the Ziploc screw-top plastic containers with plain non-fat organic Greek yogurt, and then your choice of: fresh berries, chopped apples or pears, dried cranberries, chopped almonds, pumpkin seeds, good quality unprocessed low fat granola, something like Kashi cereal, a little raw unfiltered local honey, a good jam that's mostly fruit and pectin and very little or no sugar and no artificial stuff, different kinds of nuts like walnuts, whatever is in season or on sale... You can layer them like a pretty parfait or keep the yogurt on the bottom and the toppings on top and stir them in just before eating. Vary the jars. Put blueberries and almonds in one, dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds in another, etc. Prepare several and keep them in the fridge and take a new one each morning. If you prefer, wait until you go to add the crunchy parts so they'll stay crunchier. Just put the crunchy things in a small ziplock bag so they're ready to grab and dump on top of the yogurt.

1 mom found this helpful
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F.B.

answers from New York on

for breakfast-
consider having a banana burrito. take a banana, wrap in a tortilla, add some crushed nuts/ sunflower seeds/ chia, and a smidge of honey if this isn't sweet enough for you.

for lunch-
consider having frozen veg which you can microwave/ steam. top with hot sauce and chopped hard boiled egg, or protein of your choice. bulk out with rice or beans if you need to.

Best,
F. B.

1 mom found this helpful
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❤.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

Good for you!

For morning grab & go:
-protein shake
-protein bar
-Jimmy Dean Sausage, Cheese & Egg muffin. Quick to micro 3 mins
wrapped in paper towel. Cook & take w/you.
-egg burrito (not really grab & go put quick to make then wrap in foil to eat
in car
-take dry cereal in tupperware & milk in another separate tupperware. Eat
at work at desk.
-peanut butter on toast
-hard boiled eggs you've pre-cooked so you can grab & go

Lunches:
-chicken breast burrito
-chicken breast sandwich on a good roll
-get a $5 rotisserie chicken for quick dinners or pull off meat to add to pasta
or salads for lunch
-chicken breast & a little bit of pasta
-chicken breast sliced over spinach leaves, red onion slivers & cherry or
grape mini tomatoes. Tiny bit of your favorite dressing.
-sliced turkey deli meat in a pita pocket. Add shredded carrots, shredded
lettuce, little sprinkle of shredded cheese, a tad of Ranch dressing
-make tacos w/ground turkey (leanest meat) to take to work w/the fixings
-if you like sushi, pick up salmon or some kind of fish over rice.
-make stirfry veggies w/white steamed rice night before.
-for a snack: carrots, celery sticks, cherry tomatoes w/Ranch
Edit: take several pieces of your favorite fruit to snack on: apples, banans,
grapes, cut up cantelope or watermelon etc.

Make things ahead of time (night before or better yet grill chicken on the
weekend for the week).

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