My husband makes a sandwich for lunch almost every day. He’s been doing this for as long as we’ve lived together, which is going on NINE YEARS. The sandwich is either PB&J or turkey with mayo. Once in a great while, he’ll switch things up and eat roast beef or ham instead of turkey. Sometimes he will use a wrap or “sandwich thins” instead of bread. I know – he’s a wild man.
But recently he came home and told me, rather forlornly, that he has lost the will to sandwich.
This poses quite the problem, Internet. Because he needs to eat SOMETHING. And before you recommend the cafeteria, let me say: taking a lunch is both healthier and quicker – not to mention VASTLY more palatable – than eating in the cafeteria. Sometimes, on long shifts, he ends up eating two meals at the hospital. That means he DOES have to use the cafeteria. So he prefers that at least one meal includes something not packed with sodium. Plus, the cafeteria closes at some point during the evening, which is weird to me. Because so many people work overnight. And THEY NEED TO EAT TOO.
So. He needs a lunch that he can bring to work. And yet the sandwich – which is clearly FAILING HIM – seems to be the only food in the universe that fits all his criteria.
What criteria, you ask? Well, let me tell you.
He needs something that he can eat while sitting at a chair or while standing. (This fact makes me sad.)
He needs something that doesn’t require fussing. (Even adding salad dressing to a salad was rejected as too complicated for someone who is forced to scarf down lunch while standing in the back of a crowded conference room. Don’t even get me started on NEEDING A FORK.)
He needs something that goes well with pretzels/chips and Diet Coke – his sandwich pairings of choice.
He needs something that we can buy/make once a week, that will stay fresh (“fresh”) all week the way cold cuts do.
He is pretty conscious of his health, so he needs something low in sodium, not too crazy fat-wise, and low in sugar.
He (and I, thank you) would prefer that it not be crazy expensive. I mean, caviar is out already because of the No Flatware stipulation. But still.
And it would be awesome if the Savior Lunch Option didn’t require a lot of heavy-duty preparation. We’re talking about something that can be prepared once a week or so and frozen, or assembled hastily before dashing out the door.
See? Criteria up the ying yang.
I know some people have been doing those Bento box-style lunches for their kids. But is there a Man Friendly version that a) isn’t twee and b) can satisfy a Man Size appetite? All I can think of are cheese and meat cubes accompanied by some sort of nut… but that sounds suspiciously like a denuded sandwich.
Is there such a thing as a cold burrito? I don’t mean a burrito that is cold, but a burrito that is SUPPOSED TO be cold. But not a wrap.
Is there some kind of pulled-pork/chicken option that wouldn’t be too time-consuming or sloppy?
Am I overlooking some sort of non-bread food-delivery apparatus?
I am a person who takes eating Very Seriously (you no doubt sense my level of seriousness by the emphatic capitalization), and I cannot imagine forcing myself to choke down a sandwich I didn’t care for day after day. So I really want to find my husband a workable and tasty solution.
This is what Pinterest was made for, I’m guessing.
I will certainly keep you posted. But in the meantime… Do you have any ideas?
How about something like empanadas and/or some type of soup? He can eat the empanadas like a sandwich and drink the soup. Plus soup can be hot or cold depending on the weather.
No. He needs to rediscover his sandwich contentment. Perhaps with a new FLAVOR of sandwich. But if salad dressing is too fussy, and a fork is too fussy, then a sandwich is what the Earl allegedly ordered.
Let’s think about that cold burrito idea. What, that he would be interested in, and would be good cold, could be wrapped up burrito style? Shredded chicken or some such maybe?
Various “finger foods” could be put in Ziplocs, veggie, fruit, cheese, boiled egg, etc.
Is there something, besides regular bread, might make a sandwich style thing more palitable? Crackers with stuff on them? Quesadillas? Lettuce wraps?
A few more ideas:
http://www.thekitchn.com/snack-on-the-go-veggies-stored-93247
Also, what about something like chicken/tuna/etc. salad, using a few celery sticks as edible spoons?
Chicken drumsticks?
Do you live near a Trader Joe’s? They have lots of great prepared lunch options: I used to go once a week and stock up. If not, some suggestions:
–sushi (raw fish might not keep, but cucumber/egg/california roll would for a few days);
–lavash wraps, like with cheese and veggies (which is basically a sandwich, but with a different flavor)
–calzone (a small hand-sized one): you might need to make these at home though. They are pretty good cold.
–Chinese buns (like those BBQ pork ones). You eat the baked ones cold (I used to eat a selection of different types every day for lunch). You can get them at Chinese bakeries.
–pierogis or similar dumplings/turnovers. (easier to buy if you live in the Eastern half of the US I think).
Good luck!
Oh, I have had a similar conundrum. It Sucks.
Wraps are good, and to keep it from being a boring salad wrap I did a curried rice with chickpeas and tomatoes. (Recipe was in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian) It worked cold and hot, I could make one big pot of it and then just separate it into wrap portions. You could probably add chicken pretty easily.
I’ve also done things like pasta salad. (My favorite is Barefoot Contessa Pasta Pesto & Peas)
Right now E is trying to be healthy at work and is doing salads he makes at the beginning of the week with spinach, chicken, strawberries. Each morning before work he puts some dressing on it so it doesn’t get too mushy.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest he get a Thermos. In his Thermos he could either put hot soup (Thermos should keep it pretty hot until he eats) and if he went with simple soups he can DRINK them from the Thermos, no spoon required. (I’m thinking tomato soup, potato soup, etc.). The other thing a Thermos is great for is boiled, hot pasta & hot pasta sauce- it stays warm and with things like ravioli or shells you can eat it easily in a flash with a fork.
My husband LOVES his Thermos!! Keeps anything I put in it plenty warm for 6+ hours!
When I was in high school and on a craaazy schedule, my mom would make breakfast tacos for me to eat on the go every morning. We’d make 10 or so on the weekend, wrap them individually in foil, and then I could just grab one out of the fridge and eat on the go, or throw it in my bag. If I had time I could unwrap it and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds, if I didn’t I could eat it cold. They usually contained: eggs, potato, cheese, and either bacon or sausage for some protein. Might something like that work for him?
Oh Rob is the same way, though fortunately he’ll go back to sandwiches after a week or two of a break! I make a batch of orzo pasta salad and he takes that (I just always add a plastic fork or spoon so he doesn’t have to worry about bringing it home) – it can be eaten cold. We make weird burrito/wraps with bacon, avocado, hummus, veggies, salsa, etc (depending on what we have). When I do crockpot bbq chicken or pork, he’ll take that leftover with crackers on the side. And he always takes a cliff protein bar with sides if all else fails. Good luck! It’s no fun trying to feed these doctors – you would think they would be given time to take care of themselves during the day!
My first thought was pizza. Cold, you know, it works. But that violates the healthy issue. So in other words, I got nothing.
How about egg muffins? Something like this: http://pinterest.com/pin/279434351849208151/ I haven’t tried this particular recipe yet, but I think I’d like them better cold than hot.
I make a ham and cheese egg/biscuit muffin thing that’s really good, if he prefers some carbs in there instead of just egg (it’s still all mixed together in one muffin cup). I make a batch, then bring them for breakfast all week, so I know they’re good for a week or so. They’re better cold, as the biscuit part gets a little rubbery if you microwave. I can send you the recipe (or see if I have the link at home – it was from somewhere online, but 3 years ago and I don’t remember where).
I also found these: http://www.iowapork.org/ViewRecipe/tabid/726/Default.aspx?id=2166 for another take on the baking-in-a-muffin-cup genre. If he wants to reduce the salt, he could probably sub a different meat for pepperoni.
I used to make my husband sandwiches every day, for years. He finally admitted one day he hated sandwiches. After that he got cold soup or left overs, but that is what he likes.
Honestly with those restrictions it is difficult. Soups he can drink, you can make a homemade pizza with healthier ingredients, if a fork were an option you can make homemade salad shakers which keep for a week and you just have to shake them up when lunchtime happens.
Otherwise I think Swistles idea is good. Find something new to love about sandwiches; new bread, new ingredients, new concepts. Find something to love about what he is eating.
Switch up his bread! Use a croissant or a wrap. Can be the same thing but give variation and different taste…still meets all simple criteria
Tuna with crackers (or a fork). Pizza (homemade so you can control the toppings, etc.). Hummus and chips.
I don’t think this is an answer for every day, but there are some things that can be cooked in muffin tins to make them more portable and could be eaten as finger foods. For example, I’ve seen chicken pot pie, lasagna, pizza, tacos, quiche – all adapted to be cooked in a muffin tin. While these aren’t traditionally healthy foods, you could make them semi-healthy with substitutions. (Add veggies, light cheese, turkey instead of ground beef, etc.) You could cook something like this on Sunday and keep it in tupperware in the fridge, then package up a couple each day for lunch. They’re shaped just like a muffin so they could be eaten without utensils if necessary. I’ve seen lots of recipes like this on Pinterest.
Would he eat a frittata at room temp? Can be eaten out of hand, and you can put whatever you like in it. A tortilla espanola is my fave, though it would never last a week in my house.
Hard boiled egg, he just has to peel and eat, fruit like an apple or banana, yogurt…celery sticks with peanut butter or cream cheese.
Sorry. Hospital cafeterias have a lot to learn in the way of customer satisfaction, don’t they! Mayo Clinic and that Wright State in Ohio have it going well for them because they serve real food! Maybe you, with other residents and staff, can petition the hospital? In the meantime of course he needs to eat. And all I could recommend that fits within his criteria is either mixing up the sandwich – like a week’s worth of chicken salad he could throw in bread everyday, or something like a handful of nutrigrain/energy bars and string cheese. My husband lived off those for a while!
Bake different meat, veggies or cheese into a cornbread muffin. Make a big batch, pop them in freezer. Take out what you are eating that day and they will thaw by lunch time.
This is a great idea!
He LOVES cornbread! This sounds very interesting.
Definitely muffin sized egg bake or something like it. Those are easy, last a while and can be quite healthy.
As for being done with sandwiching, there are a billion types of sandwiches (fact!), is he really rejecting ALL of them? seems a little harsh to sandwich genre. I agree with others that switching up the ingredients could be a do-able, easy, simple fix. One could use different themes, like middle eastern, and use some chicken or falafel (mmm), hummus, maybe tzaziki sauce, some peppers and put it in a pita. or maybe just some roasted vegetables with hummus in a pita. or more italian you could saute some turkey sausage (I like to mix hot and sweet) with some peppers and onions, toss it on a roll and easy and delicious eating. you can prep the sausage peppers and onions on the weekend and it’ll last at least 4 days. you could go more american and make turkey burgers (but put some apple, poultry seasoning, and some celery in them), top with a little cranberry sauce and voila! I like mine on an english muffin.
as for complete sandwich alternatives, soup is good. I really like butternut squash soup. drinkable and easily freezable. and cheap. homemade pizza would be excellent. you could only use a little cheese and load up on veggies, or use a pesto with fresh tomatoes. i’ve heard you can make those on a whole wheat tortilla.
I think you and the rest of the “sandwich alternative” group are onto something. I bet we just need to find something that renews the sandwich appeal.
This made me laugh out loud. I am not a huge sandwich person, so I struggle too, although I’ve never been in a position where I wasn’t able to deal with some preparation or cooking at work. Good luck – I’ve got no ideas.
Yeah, I am not a sandwich person. No way could I choke down his normal sandwich once, let alone for 7 years.
My family loves this:
On Sunday, roast a pork tenderloin. Give it a good rub with cumin, garlic salt, paprika, and pepper. Don’t be shy. Put it in a baking dish with sliced onions and poor half a bottle of beer over it.
We slice it up during the week and use it for sandwiches. I particularly like it with sourdough bread or a croissant. Bread, a little mayo, pork, the cooked sliced onions a little cheese, tomato, lettuce. Yummy!
YUM.
I wonder if there are healthy egg roll options that provide enough meat/protein? I second the calzone, empanada and quesadilla ideas, and also think you might could find recipes online for thinks like “chicken bakes” (have you seen the ones they sell at Costco? I’m thinking a fresher, healthier version of those), maybe quiche? I think you could also probably stuff pita with chopped chicken, chicken salad, virtually anything for a ‘southwest style,’ ‘Asian style,’ ‘cesar salad’ style, etc. Lunches are tough even without his special needs, but right now leftovers are working really well for us (my husband has lost 25 pounds since he stopped eating sandwiches and chips every day for lunch!)
Hmmm – making some chicken and throwing it into a pita with different flavoring sounds like a very doable idea!
Gluten free bread is the worst, so my hubby doesn’t do sandwiches, either. Sometimes I send him with a cheese stick and meat stick (ha ha! for realz…it’s kind of high in sodium, but that’s what we do). He could do lunch meat without bread, too (put some avocado in there and call it a day). We also do crackers and something else – cheese, tuna, or hummus – although my husband does dislike hummus at this point. He sometimes takes egg things – the above mentioned frittata or hard-boiled eggs – but he’s not super excited about it unless he can heat up the frittata. Or I just send him with a Larabar and an apple and throw my hands up in gluten-free eating is hard dismay.
Oh man – your plight is MUCH worse.
(Do you read Healthy Mama Rama, by the way? Her husband and daughter are gluten free, but she manages to come up with some of the yummiest sounding meals.)
ok … a foreign approach with a Sausage Plait.
Buy frozen sheets of puff pastry, tube of pork/turkey sausage, ketchup or tomatoe paste and salt and pepper.
Take square pastry sheet and lay flat.
Mix sausage meat, with tomatoe ketchup or paste and spices.
Place the meat down the middle of the pastry.
Take a knife and cut the sides into one inch strips.
Now bring the strips and criss cross them from side to side across the meat.
Parcel up the ends to complete your package.
Brush a little egg on the top and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.
Serve hot or cold.
Keeps in the fridge and slices well.
Hope this made sense – but its everyone’s fav over here
Oooh! It sounds pretty… and definitely like something my husband might enjoy!
Pulled pork or chicken could be done in bulk in the crock pot and frozen ahead of time. It would make a nice wrap too. Soup? Heated at home and put in a thermos? Yogurt tubes? Trail mix?
Crap. I need to get a crock pot.
I second the pita idea. It’s convenient like a sandwich, but different enough that it should help overcome the boredom. Fillings my husband and I like are falafel (pain in the ass to fry though), kefta, or a veggie version with hummus, cucumber, tomato, lettuce, bell pepper, etc.
Also, I don’t know if your husband will go for this, but I love a cold burrito. More and more we’ve been using TVP instead of ground beef in Mexican type dishes and it would work great in this application because it would be fine without refrigeration. Simply rehydrate the TVP and season it like you would taco meat, it tastes the same once the spices are on it. Burrito with cheese, beans, taco TVP. Carrot and celery sticks on the side. You/he could make it all on the weekend and he could just pull it out of the fridge through the week.
My husband also went through a similar period a year or two ago of needing a sandwich break (thankfully it only lasted a couple of weeks) and he brought hot dogs to work. Not particularly healthy, but if you did whole wheat buns, and some kind of low sodium chicken sausage with grilled peppers and onions, it could be a compromise food for a short while.
I don’t know what TVP is, but I will look it up!
The sausage, peppers, and onions idea sounds good. Well, to ME. I wonder if it would be good cold though? Hmm. So much to ponder!
Ok, clearly you have a zillion suggestions already, but mine are: burritos of some sort, a different kind of sandwich (egg? smoked salmon?), a BAGEL sandwich (details are everything, right?), or veggie sushi of some kind (but not that I can make that at home, but perhaps you’re more talented than me?).
Nope. I am not more talented than you.
I agree that different flavors of sandwich are probably the best answer, if using a fork is not acceptable. Mozzarella, prosciutto and tomato, different meats and veggies, etc.
Another occasional option: you could make pasta di frittata. Italians eat them from street vendors–its kind of like a spaghetti quiche sandwich. Sounds weird, I know. But its delicious and I make it frequently, and it takes well to adding extras like ham or peas or whatever leftovers you might have in the fridge. If you get it on the street in Italy they slice it up like a slice of pizza and you eat it with your hands. We take them to the beach for lunch when we visit my husband’s family, so they are ok sitting around for a few hours. (They are best with really good expensive parmesan cheese, not that Kraft crap.)
Here’s a good post on making one, its really easy:
http://www.napoliunplugged.com/cooking-with-giuseppe-frittata-di-maccheroni-alla-napoletana.html
I have never heard of pasta di frittata, but it sounds very promising! I’ll definitely look into it!
Is he just tired of boring sandwiches? I am wondering if REALLY good sandwiches, like fancy cold cuts on sub buns with veggies and delicious cheese and oil and vinegar and lots of veggies and crunchy lettuce might be better? Like a SUB instead of a sad sandwich? Perhaps he is already eating the MOST FABULOUS sandwiches in the world, I don’t mean to cast aspersions on your sandwiches, but I am thinking “very delicious fancy sub” might help cure his sandwich problems. Otherwise I suggest cold pizza.
Nope, no fabulous sandwiches around here. The guy eats low sodium turkey on super healthy bread with a slice of cheese and some mayo.
I would… prefer to eat nothing.
I think I am going to have sneak some delicious-if-less-”healthy” sandwiches into his lunch bag.
I struggle with this daily b/c I hate sandwiches and have much of the same portable food criteria as your husband…some of my go-to’s include, boiled eggs, whole fruit, sometimes dipped in peanut butter for protein, fruit/grain bars, protein bars, soy nuts, edamame, string cheese, etc. Good luck!
Ham buns. They’re a bit time intensive to make at the outset, but great quick meals. Basically they are kind of like small calzones, except filled with ham/bacon/cheese — or whatever you want really. They come out about the size of your fist when cooked.
We used to make them after christmas with all of the leftover ham and then freeze many of them. They’re best warm, but if you kept some in the fridge they would still taste good.
What about making some fun crock pot recipes? I’m sure there are all sorts of healthy, low-sodium, options online. That way you can make a big batch all at once, and freeze them into individual containers that he can grab and take to work.
This is what I usually do for the week, and I pair it with some fresh fruit (Wholefoods does a GREAT fruit bowl – little pricey, but it lasts all week, and it tastes delicious) and some other small items like carrot sticks or granola bars or fresh homemade bread….ok, now I’m making myself hungry…..
We make our own “hot pockets” at my house. We:
*mix up one loaf’s worth of bread (so it’s whole grain! because I use wheat flour and oat flour that I have made!)
*divide it into 16 or so pieces, depending on how big you want the finished pocket to be
*roll each piece into a circle
*fill half the circle with cooked sausage+cheese (I think the original recipe included some sort of tomato sauce too), or cooked meat+cheese+black olives, or eggs scrambled with ham and cheese, etc.
*fold the empty half of the dough over the filled half and pinch the edges closed
*brush with egg and/or sprinkle with garlic salt or parmesan cheese
*bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes
These are DELICIOUS and they freeze REALLY well! I’m always surprised at how quickly they warm up in the microwave straight from the freezer!
Wraps are the best I can come up with. But I also eat Cheez-Its for lunch most days, so I’m probably not a great source of help. Also? In college I worked in a hospital and the cafeteria closing at night was my biggest pet peeve – it’s a freaking hospital, there are always people there who need to be fed!
Oh. My husband and I have the same conversation once every few months. I can’t figure anything out either. Sometimes he’ll do leftovers but that does require a fork. I have found some really good sandwiches, Oscar Mayer Deli Creations, in the sandwich and lunchable stuff at the store. They did wonders for my husband. It was still a sandwich but it wasn’t a cold sandwich. Good luck!
I hate cooking any kind of food for my family (hello! Mother-of-the-Year!), so I’m no help at all. I WISH my kids especially would eat sandwiches. I am sorry for him, because that is a long time to eat sandwiches every day for lunch. I like the ideas about switching up the bread/filling.
Another non-sandwich sandwich: We do a quick roll up thing for dinner occasionally and the leftovers are good cold. Lay out crescent roll triangles and fill with a slice of lunch meat, cheese, and broccoli; roll up and bake per package instructions.