Vegan lunch ideas, please [with very specific "requirements"] [adult advice needed]
Vegan lunch ideas, please [with very specific "requirements"] [adult advice needed]
Hi, long time vegan, but rather new to cycling. I used to be OMAD (please don't question the health/fitness, I'm just poor, not ideological), but due to cycling I need to eat 2 meals to have the strength to get back home (riding uphill). I tried eating breakfast, but by the time I get to work and get through the shift, I think anything from breakfast is gone and useless, because I struggle with going uphill. I don't struggle, however, if I eat lunch. But premade lunches are too expensive.
- I live completely alone.
- Buying entire lettuce and even just half a bread is too much for me and a part of it will go bad, making me feel awful (even environmental reasons aside, again, I'm poor, so it hurts more to spend money I don't have much of on things in the end going to waste). No, I don't want to seek ways to eat the exact same thing every single time, it's making me depressed.
- I'm not interested in long preparation time nor cooking for the week. I don't even own stuff I could pack food into, but I of course can buy one container suitable for whatever meal for work you may help me come up with.
- I enjoy the simplicity of putting cereals together via just putting them in a bowl and submerging them in m!lk, to give context for the simplicity I yearn for.
I will deeply appreciate no poor-shaming and being helpful over trying to impose a semblance of moral superiority over having different life ways than myself.
I'm from a poor family, so I don't have experience with breakfasts/lunches at all. I spent my life eating dinner only.
I was thinking of oatmeal with fruit, but I have no idea if it's a good idea...? I've never done oatmeal before. From what I've read, it's done in minutes. But I also fear it will spill. Do lunch containers keep in soup-like food like oatmeal well? What cheap fruit goes well with it? Berries are mad expensive, I was thinking of buying pears, maybe apples, and cinnamon.
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You could do overnight oats. They can be prepared the evening before, then the next morning you just take it out of the fridge and eat it or take it to work. Put 50g of oats in your container, pour 150ml plant milk of your choice, add cinnamon if you like, close the container and into the fridge it goes. Then in the morning you can cut an apple and mix it in. Easy and delicious and my go to breakfast for work at the moment. You can also add flax seeds or chia seeds if you like, or some nut butter; all of which are foods which last a long time without going bad.
So you don't cook them, if I understood it correctly? How do flax seeds taste? I don't think I've ever had them, and they appear to be better nutrient wise than chia. I wonder if I could get my hands on pumpkin seeds, because they're really nice when roasted.
Ground flax has little to no flavor and has really helped my diet when added to my overnight oats
Thank you! I'll make a list and add them. :)
Pumpkin seeds as you suggested are delicious and have great nutrients though, they're a smart add
Exactly, no need to cook anything here! Just submerge the oats in plant milk and wait :) flax seeds don't really have a taste, they just add some nutrients and maybe a biiit of texture. As for pumpkin seeds, I would add them just before eating so they don't get soggy. Enjoy!
For pumpkin seeds, which are great on just about anything, check the Hispanic section of your grocery store for pepitas, it’s often the easiest/cheapest way to get them.
Also big fan of overnight oats. I rotate what I put in mine but it usually includes a seed (sunflower, flax, chia, pumpkin), dried berries (cherries, blueberries) and a sweetener (maple syrup, pomegranate molasses). Cooked oatmeal feels like eating glue to me now, I’ve never looked back.
+1 for overnight oats. Such a time saver!!
Flax can be pricey. Bulk barn often isn't cheaper. But if you buy whole flax seeds, then you can grind them yourself in a blender and they're cheaper than store-bought. Only eat flax if it's ground since the whole seeds have a layer of insoluble fiber which protects it from being digested and you don't get any nutrients.
I don't have a blender, but I'll take this into account and look for grounder seeds. Thank you!