Thank you so much to everyone that commented and emailed to share your own struggles and/or ideas for Adult Brown Bag Lunch Ideas. I’ve loved looking through the new ideas and plan to implement some in our at-home lunch routine. I also found a few ideas that would work for my husband when he needs to take dinner with him to work to avoid eating his dinner at 2 am.
This whole premise has been so intriguing to me that I’ve continued researching it and looking for even more great ideas to share. And I have so much respect for those of you that strive to bring your lunch from home every day, or to pack a nice lunch for your spouse. It is a great way to save money, but I know I’d give in to temptation a LOT.
First, here are some great ideas and links that were shared in the comments of the original Adult Brown Bag Lunch Ideas post.
- Barb at My Daily Round said: “My husband likes to take fruit salad – apples, oranges, blueberries and walnuts with honey drizzled over top. During the winter he’ll grab a can of soup, usually Beef and Barley or Italian wedding soup. When we’ve gone through our current stash of Progresso, his favorite, I’ll start making homemade soup for him.” (How delicious does that fruit salad sound? YUM!)
- Rebecca suggested bento lunches and provided these great links with lots of background information. Just Bento – Bento Basics, Lunch in a Box – Bento FAQ, and Lunch in a Box – Need for speed: A Mommy’s lunch manifesto. Before clicking any of those links, be forewarned that you may lose an hour or two of your day just clicking through all the great recipes and ideas.
- I love Elizabeth’s idea for lunch time fried rice. “I would make fried rice for dinner with brown rice, scrambled eggs, chopped carrots, onion, cabbage, ginger, and soy sauce. The leftovers were great to take to work the next day.”
- Heather is smart and plans leftovers in advance just for those brown bag lunches. Here are some recipes that she likes to have extras of – Pepperoni Pizza Puffs, Mexican Couscous Dinner, Aloha Chicken Fingers, Margarita Chicken Salad, and Beef Empanadas.
- Brenda’s husband frequently enjoys a homemade taco salad. I’d eat this up for lunch too. Taco salad is a huge favorite of mine! She says, “I put lettuce in a large gladware & then in separate baggies pack shredded cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, taco meat, salsa or catalina salad dressing & sometimes tomatoes. He adds on the toppings when he’s ready to eat.”
- I love the recipes Natalie shares on The Sweets Life. Here are just a few of the recipes she recommends for a brown bag lunch – Tuna and White Bean Salad, Chinese Chicken Salad and Lemon Bulgur Salad with Asparagus, Walnuts, and Goat Cheese.
- Gretchen shared this wonderful link about what Tammy packs in her husband’s lunches, from Tammy’s Recipes.
- Poor Taste Magazine included a link to my Ham & Cheese Pockets in their own post on adult lunchbox ideas. You can definitely find lots more inspiration there.
Here are some other links I’ve come across that are just too good not to share.
- Serious Eats has a category dedicated to the Sack Lunch and seriously all of the recipes sound great!
- The LA Times has a great story on 10 Back-to-school lunchbox ideas (for kids and adults).
- The mint.com blog has some great ideas for turning last night’s dinner into today’s lunch.
I’ll stop there for now. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with all the inspiration! Hopefully you’re feeling inspired too and have found some great new-to-you options to spice up those brown bag lunches. If you have more to share, feel free to keep sharing in the comments.