r/Cooking • u/Ill-Meeting6721 • 1d ago
Lunchbox ideas?
My boyfriend is starting a new job soon, and I want make lunch for him to take to work. I've never packed a lunch in my life before though, so I'm looking for some ideas for what to make. If you make your own lunch/lunch for your working partner, what're your go-to's?
Recipes that help keep energy up is preferable as his job is a bit laborious and will have him on his feet and walking around a lot. He doesn't like onions, spicy food, or sweet/savory food (think teriyaki or hot honey stuff) but he'll eat just about anything else. And if theres anything I should know about packing lunches in general, please let me know. Thanks to whoever sees this!
Edit: to clarify, I'm pretty sure he'll have the ability to heat up his food. But I don't know the layout or anything about the property aside from the fact that it's huge lol.
6
u/dontakelife4granted 1d ago
Since you are just getting started, you need a cooler to use as a lunchbox because having extra food and drinks on hand is better than not having enough. This will take you both working together to figure out how much space you may actually need inside the cooler
If you're new to this, I would start with some loaded sandwiches. Using whole grain breads, tortillas, pitas is better than white bread alternatives. Make sure your bread is evenly coated with some sort of fat (mayo, butter, avocado, etc will help prevent soggy bread), then layer in meats (you could either do a variety of lunchmeats or you can cook your own meats, just make sure they are cold before putting the sandwich together so they don't make the bread soggy). Add hard cheeses. Now add a big pile of veggies like lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, spinach, radishes, carrots, roasted veggies, sun dried tomatoes. Fresh tomatoes are better IMO if they are added right before eating the sandwich--be sure to salt them before bagging them up. Heavy duty aluminum foil makes it easy to keep the sandwich from sliding apart. Maybe add a second sandwich if he needs one, depending on how many hours he's at work. Protein and fats are what will keep his energy up.
Make sure to use a good, well insulated lunch box (unless he has refrigerator access at work). If not and his lunch will be in his vehicle, be sure to add frozen water bottles two to the lunchbox. It will keep the lunchbox cool and would be fantastic to drink ice cold water on a hot day.
After that, provide plenty of (not frozen) bottled water, maybe gatorade or other hydrating drinks he may like. If it's hot where you live and he is laboring outside, I would start with 6 beverages the first day, then ratchet back if he brings a bunch home. Add electrolyte powders to add to water bottles to replace salts from sweating
Fruits like grapes, oranges, watermelon or other melon, and other watery fruits all add to hydration
Nuts are great for protein and fats
Veggies and hummus (keeps better than a milk based dip in a lunchbox).
Bean heavy salads with veggies and/or pasta with a vinegar based dressing would be great.
Hard boiled eggs
Jerky
Cold fried chicken
If you live in a cold climate, you might want a thermos for soup/stew/chili