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What Do You Eat For Lunch?

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kittycat73

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I'm on a diet and had been having salad (Iceberg Lettuce, cucumber, radishes, baby plumb tomatoes, bit of Salad Cream Light.) in a wrap. Had enough of that so this week am trying a low cal yogurt, green apple, and protein bar. I have about 300 calories for lunch, but I'm looking for some more ideas. Here's where I reveal what a PITA I am, lol. I'm vegetarian, don't eat fish/seafood or cows' milk, but do eat eggs, butter and soya milk. I can't do anything too spicy, my tongue is a wuss! I can manage chip shop curry sauce, that's about my level. Looking for about 3-400 cal ideas, and low carb if possible. Can't spend ages cooking and finally, any food needs to be able to be bought online as I'm housebound with agoraphobia.
Thank you very much for reading and any suggestions you may have.
 
Hi.
I'm a big fan of omelettes as they are low carb and filling and you can make them with a variety of fillings. I usually have a combination of mushrooms, onion, courgette, peppers, aubergine, spinach and cheese. I always have mine with a large salad of lettuce, cucumber, a couple of cherry tomatoes, avocado, pepper and served with a good dollop of creamy coleslaw or more often cheese coleslaw.
I think the mistake many people make is to choose low fat or "light" options for dressings and yoghurts etc when the full fat versions have less carbs and the fat will help to keep you feeling fuller for longer, so it makes sticking to your diet easier over the long term and lets face it diabetes is for life, so you need to find a way of eating which is sustaining, enjoyable and sustainable long term.
Another food you might find helpful is Konjac noodles... sold in supermarkets under the brand name "Bare Naked Noodles", they are pretty well carb free and work great with bolognaise sauce or whatever vegetarian options there are for sauces. I think they may also come in other forms like rice and pasta, but it is the "Bare Naked" range to look for. They don't take any cooking, just open the bag, drain and heat through, if I remember rightly.

Afraid I am not vegetarian so can't think of anything else off the top of my head, but I am sure others will have some suggestions..
 
Hello @kittycat73
Although not always so suitable in very hot weather, my 'fall back go-to' for lunch is soup.
I make it in very large batches, then divide up into portions and freeze them, and even if I forget to take one out the freezer, they will de-frost quite quickly in the microwave.

I use whatever vegetables are around in the fridge and veggie rack e,g leeks, celery, spinach, celeriac, cauliflower, broccoli. onions, lettuce, fennel, asparagus. tomatoes. parsley etc etc. It's good to vary the mix and create different flavours. ( For greater speed and convenience you could buy pre-chopped veggies that can store in the freezer),
For extra flavour I sometimes add chopped ginger and chilli, and other herbs and spices e.g Turmeric, coriander, or a touch of curry powder - but your tongue may object to these!
I like chunky soup so just partially blitz it when cooked with a hand blender.

The soup portions are always there for me in the freezer, and the exact flavour is always a mild surprise. I sometimes add a blob of Greek yoghurt when I serve it to give a more creamy consistency.

There are more recipes and in this food-carb-queries-recipes section, and 'what-did-you-eat-yesterday' is a very long running thread with lots of insight into lunch ideas.
 
I also make several soups at this time of year and freeze it in suitable portions. Great to take it out of the freezer on a cold autumn or winters morning and heat it up for lunch. I grow my own veg, but popping to a decent greengrocers would be just as good (perhaps once a month and stocking up rather than every week, or finding one that delivers due to your agoraphobia?) Currently making courgette soup due to the glut of fruits on the plants over the past few weeks - it is really simple (250g of potatoes roughly cut up with skin on, enough water to cover, bring to the boil, add two stock cubes and cook for 5 minutes, add 500g of courgettes and cook for 5 more minutes, chop a bunch of spring onion, add and cook for 5 more minutes, turn off the heat and add grated nutmeg, 100g of mature cheddar cheese and season to taste, blitz it, portion it up and it's ready). I have recipes for tomato soup and roasted pepper soup that are just as simple and tasty.
 
Thank you all so much for your replies. 🙂 Matt J, that soup sounds delicious! Thank you all, have lots to go on now.
 
I have (chunky) soup and a sandwich a lot.
 
I alternate depending on whether i am having salad for evening meal or a cooked meal. If it is a salad evening at lunchtime i go for an egg with red onion, mushrooms, spinach, aubergine and courgette or a piece of oily fish with the veg. If I am having a cooked meal in the evening I will go for salad at lunchtime with an egg or oily fish or chicken. I am greedy so mine consists of green salad, tomatoes, radishes, cucumber, onion, celery, avocado, a small amount of red, yellow or orange pepper, cottage cheese, olives, and aforementioned poultry or fish. I also have a small piece of flaxseed bread or almond flour bread that I make myself from a dietdoctor.com recipe (flaxseed bread I got from here) and then some natural yoghurt and nuts.
 
Nothing - I eat morning and evening.
The suggestions all seem fairly high carb - so would not fit into my way of eating.
 
I'm like @Drummer. I have a good breakfast and dinner and don't feel the need for lunch.... maybe a chunk of cheese or a square of dark chocolate with a spoon of peanut butter.
 
kittycat73 said:
That salad sound delicious Maz2.
Seems soup is quite popular. 🙂
Click to expand...
Soup can be very filling, but take care as a T2 that you don't include much starchy veg. @Matt J 's courgette soup sounds delicious, but might be too heavy on the potatoes for T2s - he is T1 so not a problem for him.
 
I like a few dollops of cottage cheese mixed up with chopped cucumber and chopped fresh tomato, all mixed in with a good grind of black pepper. If I’m feeling naughty I will also have some fresh avocado too. Fills me up well for the afternoon session.
In the days when I used to have to go into the office I would mix this up the night before and take in with me. Just nice room temperature by lunchtime.
You can choose different additives,such as chopped prawns or cooked meat if you are that way inclined, but i don’t feel the need myself to add any variety.
If I needed any carbs I would take a single Crispbake or perhaps a couple of pieces of melba toast, but I rarely feel that need
 
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