Lunch Ideas for Husky Hubby

[Aurelie48]

:rolleyes: My husband and I are relatively new to the raw food life, but already, I have lost about 10 pounds and feeling great. We've been vegetarians for 20+ years, so this is an easy upgrade for us. My husband is amenable and willing to try this,(although he likes some cooked food) but I definitely need to know what to give him for lunches. He is a husky, burly man and giving him apples and fruits/vegs just isn't enough for him as he works hard (oftentimes outside) and eats mostly in his van at lunchtime. I have been giving him a quart of a green smoothie to take with him and he likes that. Also, salads don't work because it wilts by lunchtime. I don't mind the extra prep work I'd have to do. I just would like to give him something a little more substantial. Unfortunately, I am not that creative in that area yet....still thinking inside the box. Any suggestions? Thank you all

[Rawkinlocs]

When you send him with the salads, are you putting the dressing on ahead of time? My husband gets sent to work with a salad everyday and they don't wilt but I can see that happening if the dressing is put on when you make it. What I do is put the dressing in a separate container (usually I save empty agave nectar bottles and use those).

So, he usually goes to work with a salad (and I put like crumbled up crackers that I've made or either nuts and/or seeds to make it more "substantial"), a container of cut up fruit like melon or maybe a fruit salad and another container of grapes (he likes grapes a lot). You can also make the innards for the collard wrap and put that in a container and then a leaf or two of collard greens so he can stuff the leaves and wrap them to eat. Or, make a nut pate' and he can have that either on crackers, stuffed in tomatoes or on lettuce leaves. And don't forget you can spiralize zucchini and make sauce and put them in separate containers so it's not too mushy by the time he's ready to eat it.

There are a LOT of possibilities...anything goes! Date-nut bars or balls rolled in coconut can also accompany whatever fruit and vegetable items you put in his lunch.

[Veganforlife]

Hey welcome! Do you have Alissa's book and DVD? Powerful tools to help one on their raw journey.
Any of the "pasta" dishes with the "cheeze" are heavier foods and won't spoil - could keep in a cooler, etc.
Burgers - Alissa's carrot/pecan burger is yummy, as is Maraw's Happy Cow Burger.
Veggies and dips (the raw deviled egg-less egg spread is a good one), so is Alissa's spinach dip and her onion dip. These with the onion bread are good!!!

[Aurelie48]

Thank you both for the ideas. I still have that vegetarian cooking mentality with the cooked grain, beans and vegetables, so these suggestion are very helpful to me. Very much appreciated.

[3kidsmommy]

Make some raw corn tortilla. Anything goes. Salad mixings with guac. or just some raw marinated veggies. It folds up like a sandwich.

[ChaiLife]

My husband is a big man as well and needs a LOT of food throughout the day.

Here are a few of the different things that I have sent to work with him:

Tabouli! A whole recipe.
Storm's Raw Tabouli! (Our special staple "green stuff" recipe):

* one bunch cilantro
* one bunch parsley
* one bunch green onions
* two tomatoes
* one avocado
* half a cup of raw almonds
* cold-pressed olive oil
* unrefined sea salt
* raw honey
* half a lemon

Chop up cilantro, parsley, green onions, avocados and tomatoes in a bowl. Blend almonds to a fine flour in blender and add to bowl. Add the juice of half a lemon, a tablespoon of olive oil, a tablespoon of honey, and a teaspoon of salt. Change it up each time by adding a different vegetable/herb like corn, broccoli, or fresh basil, or a different spice like Italian or Mexican seasonings. Serves 3.

Raw fajitas (marinate shrooms, peppers, onions, etc in nama shoyu, olive oil, taco seasoning and a lot of cumin and serve in collard leaves)

Alissa's meatloaf recipe made into burgers served with raw cheese. Crumble burger on salad greens and add cheese for a cheeseburger salad.

I have also told him to go to Kroger's salad bar and make his own salad.

I also always send a ton of fruit ranging from cut melons, oranges, apples, peaches etc.

When making the zucchini pasta, store the "pasta" in a bowl lined with paper towels to absorb the moisture. Keep the sauce in a separate bowl to be mixed right before eating.

My husband carries a small collapsible cooler with him to carry his food. We have ice packs in the freezer to help keep them cool.

[ChaiLife]

And how about some raw soups like corn chowder, tomato soup, etc?

[Aurelie48]

Oh, this is so nice. All of your great suggestions definitely helped to convince me that pretty much anything goes. I feel so much more relaxed about this now. Just going to take it one step at a time. A big thank you all!

[exurb]

I would also add that make sure it is known that it is OK to eat a large amount of some things.

So say you have cut out whoppers with cheese (I don't know how many cals that is but on weight watchers that is more than you are supposed to eat in an entire day)... over a thousand calories, then you are brainwashed to think we should not eat more than one apple at a time, etc... A couple slices of pizza at our local pizzaria is over 1800 calories:eek: , if you're cutting that out then thinking one piece of fruit is the proper serving due to past conditioning, you're going to be hungry.

So when you start eating clean, raw, unprocessed food, you have removed a lot of calories, and it would not be abnormal to eat say 4 apples at 320 cals, or the whole canteloupe, etc. A cup of most nuts or seeds runs around 600 - 800 calories, so I would think for an athletic guy like that he might want to eat about a cup of nuts/seeds a day, some grains, then fruits and veggies, and a little good quality fats like avocado, olive oil, etc. I think guys can tend to undereat on raw for their calorie needs then turn away from it because they didn't like the weight loss.

[exurb]

oh yeah, and round here, hubby's "individual serving" salad bowl, is the big bowl that came with the set that you're supposed to serve 8 with.

[ChaiLife]

oh yeah, and round here, hubby's "individual serving" salad bowl, is the big bowl that came with the set that you're supposed to serve 8 with.

OH my gosh, that's too funny. I think my hubby has the same bowl. :) He eats HUGE salads. I think the rainforest would be in serious trouble if he were there. (just kidding of course)

[exurb]

I think the rainforest would be in serious trouble if he were there. (just kidding of course)

Oh, that's him that's mowing it down! (chomp chomp chomp). I thought it was my friends with all their rainforest hardwood floors and furniture in their houses!

[SharonC]

I so relate to this! My husband is also a big guy and uses a huge serving bowl - thank goodness he loves healthy food.

Thanks for all the great suggestions everyone!

I have made the marinated fajitas and corn tortillas with guacamole and hot sauce, and the taco salad with spicy walnut 'meat' with raw cheese and hot sauce - he loves anything hot.

He also LOVES the granola I made from a recipe I found here - so much that he wanted to take it all to work with him to snack on during the day, but I needed some for the peach cobbler that I made last night - sprinkled the granola on top - THANKS RAWKINLOCS.

I am very excited about making the tabouli recipe along with Alissa's falafel and cucumber sauce - hoping it will replace his favorite restaurant takeout food that is similar. Also, planning to make the great chili recipe that so many have commented about how filling it is. He does tend to like the heavier foods most evenings.

He drinks a GREEN SMOOTHIE for breakfast most days (the other days fruit), and half the time another one when he gets home from work. Lunch is so hard because the owner of his company always wants him to go to a fancy restaurant and considers it a business lunch. He promises that he eats healthy (lots of salad), but it is still a restaurant!

[ChaiLife]

Sounds like he is doing GREAT!:D My hubby LOVES the tabouli recipe. He eats the entire thing for lunch! :eek: He also like the guacamole with marinated veggies rolled up in collard leaves. And the "hamburger" patties crumbled up on salad.

That is so good that he is getting a lot of green smoothies. Keep it up!

[exurb]

He also LOVES the granola I made from a recipe I found here - so much that he wanted to take it all to work with him to snack on during the day,

Yeah, a bag of granola is great for that!! I make one similar to the one in Raw Food Real World with the dehydrated buckwheaties, and the base is apricots, raw cacao, etc... for a chocolate grawnola, nuts or no nuts.

Having snack foods easily available is also a good idea for you Aurelie as your man adjusts so if he feels hungry he's got something raw at hand. My hubby was finding himself at the candy bar machine in the late afternoon at work so the chocolate grawnola fixed that.

[purelyorganicproducts]

While I am not a burly, husky man (quite the contrary), I eat like one! For me, it is key that I have nuts in the late morning -- I simply cannot seem to feel satisfied (hunger-wise) without them, no matter how many fruits and veggies I eat!

I like a lot of cold soups for lunch (you can leave them chunky for more substance). Alissa's tortilla recipe is great cut up into "crackers" and goes nicely with the soup.

Best,

Kathy

[exurb]

I just saw a recipe that looks amazing in Raw, by Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein that I will make for my hubby.

It's for stuffed chiles, with mole. Yum, the chiles are stuffed with a paste of walnuts, pine nuts, cashews, barley miso, cilantro, green onion, fresh corn kernels, tomato, cumin, jalapeno, garlic, etc. etc... and covered with a mole sauce. That and some tacos, this will be tomorrow night's dinner, guaranteed to fill up hubby's hollow leg.

[ChaiLife]

oh drool! That souns like something we would like. Love the spicy foods. :)

I joke that my hubby has a tape worm. We named him Frank.:p

[EZ rider]

I just made a husky guy lunch that satisfied me. Its a veggie cold soup. It filled a one quart Pyrex measuring bowl. This is one serving. Here's what I put in it:

+) 1 large deep red bell pepper chunked up in big chunks and place in bowl.
+) Several white mushrooms chunked up into smaller sized chunks and place in bowl.
+) 3 or 4 slices of cucumber chunked into medium chunks and place in bowl.
+) 1 slice of onion cut into small bits and place in bowl
+) in blender put a SMALL amount of water and 2 tomatoes and blend then pour into the bowl.
+) 1 large avocado scouped out and mashed into the bowl mixing the veggies and tomato base with it.

This is a VERY thick soup. Its a rib sticker that satisfies me. I make it and eat it immediately as everything in it is fresh and perishable.