I bring my lunch to work, and I don't want to go through the hassle of going down to the microwave to heat something up (and bothering everyone else with my smells). As someone trying to lean towards vegetarianism, I usually bring a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and be done with it.

But after seeing Traineo's article The BEST Foods to Eat, and the fact that they say peanuts are bad, what are my alternatives?

Any ideas on a good quick vegetarian lunch (high in protein and calories, I'm trying to gain weight here!)?

avocado, sun-dried tomato, and sprouts on a pita. delicious!
slap some tofu on for a little more protein.

My guess is that they say peanuts are bad because they are relatively high in calories, which for the large number of overweight / obese people is bad. Peanuts have lots of protein and nutrients, though.

I'm not a dietitian, but I'd say that there's nothing wrong with your peanut butter sandwiches You might try other nut butters for variety, like almond butter, as well.

tuna. solid white albacore in water. it costs more than "light" or "chunky," but you get what you pay for. 1 little can is 40g of protein. it's going to become a staple in my diet.

which brings me to a question. is mercury really a concern with tuna? should i be limiting my tuna intake to avoid possible problems with mercury?

"there is no evidence that moderate consumption of fish in the U.S. poses a significant health hazard." - wikipedia

i don't want to base my decision on wikipedia. it's very informative, but i'd like to have an opinion from another source as well.

URL

This is the best resource for what fish to eat or not eat. I keep their handy little chart in my wallet.

Joel B,

I almost never eat fish any longer due to mercury concerns. I get my info from Mercola.com...some people think he's a quack, let me just warn you, but I find a lot of valuable information there.

Joel P,
I love avocado and cottage cheese sandwiches. Also just cheese with mustard. You don't say whether you're ovolacto or vegan or whatever. If you're vegan, you're going to have to stick with things like nuts to get those calories, I think...

Ooh, I just had an idea! How about felafel sandwiches? Although, you might want to heat them up in advance and bring them in some kind of thermal container...

Lisa

P.S.

This list of foods on Traineo seems very odd. What are they basing these categorizations on? I'd like to know whose agenda is being promulgated here.

By the way, you can find a source that states just about any opinion you can think of if you try. For example, I've seen books saying that high-fiber diets are harmful to the colon and weaken the muscles. I've seen diet books that tell you to keep chocolate cake with chocolate frosting around the house. I've seen books that say you should mostly eat animal fat. It doesn't work for me to just accept one source as gospel because so many things make sense, at least partially.

I've now adopted the "hedge your bets" philosophy. I try to eat a variety of foods. That way, no matter who is right, I am getting some of whatever is "really" good for you and not getting too much of whatever is "really" bad for you.

I am also somewhat following my gut instinct on this (if you will). That is, the "eat mostly fat" idea is kind of repugnant, and I don't care if the author of that book cites a lot of studies. If it's true, well, too bad. Etc.

I've seen that peanuts can be bad because they often have aflatoxin, a mold poisoning. Aside from that, I personally have only seen info indicating that they're OK (if you're not allergic). To avoid the aflatoxin, try getting peanut butter made from peanuts grown in very hot, dry places. This climate minimizes the mold growth. An example is Arrowhead Mills organic peanut butter, from peanuts grown in Arizona.

Try other nut butters. Almond is very good.

I like peanut butter and banana on whole wheat bread.

Trader Joes(if you have one in your neighborhood) carries alot of interesting sandwich/pita ingredients.

Check out the variety of hummus. I also love the olive tapenade. Now that summer is here,try a slice of ripe tomato on a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and some olive tapenade.

Or whip up a wrap with a tortilla. There are all kind of those now;spinach, sundried tomato etc.

Now I am getting hungry ;).

Vegan or Lacto-ovo variety?

If lacto, then add some reduced fat cheese and some reduced fat peanut butter. I use PB2, from Bell Plantation. It comes as a power you reconstitute but despite that unpleasant description, it is really very tasty. I reconstitute it with some skim milk. A serving is 54 Calories, 25 from fat, and 4g protein. My wife doesn't like them, but a cheese/peanut butter sandwich on wheat, apple, and a yogurt is one of the best cold lunches I take to work.

If going for true vegan I don't know how to get high protein without the microwave because I get stuck on the soy burgers which need to be heated to be edibible to me. I never tried Vegan, I did go Lacto-Ovo for about 6 months as a diet (I love animals, including their taste). I did a lot of things with soy and pinto beans fr protein along with a lot of reduced fat dairy products and egg whites.

Thanks for all the great ideas! My wife is ovo-lacto, but I'm a pretty big carnivore. Going o-l for me would be easier on the both of us, I'm sure.

Since that Traineo chart doesn't reference any sources, I'll just go ahead and stick with my PB&J. It's got a lot of calories (good for me) and a lot of protein, and I don't need to keep it cold or hot during the day.

Works for me!