Have been working from home with my child underfoot as well for the past two years. Unfortunately, most of our favorites include dairy - quesadillas (with leftover meat), grilled sandwiches, and if I get desperate - mac n cheese. A recent favorite has been chicken salad sandwiches (or chicken salad on whole wheat crackers for my child). I make it with different fruits and other ingredients, depending on what I have on hand, so it is a little different each time.

Not sure if your hate for leftovers means you are looking for fresh recipes only, but I often make lentils (Indian dal style) and then have it with rice and a dollop of yogurt. It stays good for a few days, and better yet - my now 20-month old eats them too!

Another quick idea is to have all of the ingredients for salad on hand, chop everything up the night before and then saute some inch long pieces of tofu with tamari sauce and top off the salad - filling, quick and healthy.

@cherylp - I just *soft* launched a new site for kids recipes. Would love if you added your Chicken Salad Sandwich recipe to our Favorite Sandwiches contest. Half Pint Gourmet

Grain and bean salads are my go to--I work from home with little time to prepare food during the day, but no kid ;) I often do:
-black bean or black eyed pea salad (you can do canned if you don't have time to cook beans) with frozen corn tossed in (it will thaw in the room temp beans very quickly), cilantro, bell pepper, lime juice, olive oil, dash of cumin, and either diced jalapeno or hot sauce.
-couscous cooked with curry powder and tossed with a can of chickpeas, green onion, herbs, frozen peas, diced bell pepper.
-quinoa tossed with chickpeas or other white beans, green onion, herbs, carrots, bell pepper, tomatoes, and tossed with tahini, lemon juice, and olive oil.
-arugula salad with Trader Joe's smoked trout, handful of walnuts, diced cucumber, and tomato. tiny bit of olive oil and vinegar.

Like others have said, if you have veg chopped up in batches at the beginning of the week, all you have to do is spend 5 minutes boiling water for couscous or opening and rinsing a can of beans to have lunch made! Also, I put olive oil and vinegar or citrus juice in a jar and simply leave it out on the counter--shake when needed and then add as much as you need to your salad--voila, no measuring or individual batches of dressing to make.

I like to make myself a "salad bar" by chopping up all the veggies at the beginning of the week and storing them in airtight containers. (I usually also make a batch of beans, and have some good bread to balance out the meal). Then, each day, I can throw a fresh salad together without much trouble.

I make a big tupperware of chicken salad with veggies and grapes and pecans in it. Grab a 6 pack of croissants or your bread of choice and it's a quick and yummier alternative to the plain turkey sandwich

I am big on sandwiches, but find it's MUCH easier to make them if they just require one basic ingredient. For example, chicken salad doesn't need anything added to it to make a good sandwich, just some bread.

Smoked fish flakes, tuna, salmon, and ham could also be made into "salads". And you could theoretically bind with a vinaigrette or sour cream instead of mayo. And don't forget the veggies! My favorite chicken salad is composed of half or more vegetables like radishes, carrots, celery, pickles, scallions, onion, zucchini, cucumber, etc.

My first thought was beans. Great for protein and easy to enjoy with a full serving of veggies! You could buy already prepared vegetables or spend some free time chopping. Hard boiled eggs are another good, quick option. Or yogurt (greek?) with fruit and cereal or granola.

I would try a sort of meze/antipasto approach, because it makes use of the catch-as-catch-can aspect of your day. Some good hummus, olives, prepped veggies, good crackers, prepped cheese (cubed, maybe, or a slab with one of those nifty slicers)--little bites you can pre-prep and even pre-plate in the fridge might be very nice. Tasty, aesthetically pleasing, and healthy. Plus yogurt. Always have some yogurt and fruit to grab--commercial or pre-prepped little jars.

I like to make a huge batch of hummus or other varieties each week, so when I need grab a quick bite, grab some crackers, cut up some veggie sticks and viola! simple and healthy lunch!

I'm at home on maternity leave, so this whole being fatter than the house really makes it hard to do a lot. My part of the food chores is to make my husband and myself our lunches, and he makes the dinner when he gets home from work (preeeeetty sure I've got the better end of that deal). This is what I've been doing:

We get one or two giant French loaves a week, if make an entire one into a sandwich, cutting off sandwiches as needed. In addition to that, I make a concentrate of tea (which you could use a low-sugar, frozen concentrated juice for kids) in a pitcher, and pour that out into a 20-oz bottle already half-filled with cold water.

Add a fruit, and that serves as a head-start for pre-made lunches. Making a quick side ends up being the most tedious thing on my food chore list.

Two of my favorite go-to quick at home lunches: A satisfying arugula taco/wrap/salad creation- http://eat-drink-garden.com/2010/03/crunchy-arugula-fold-over/ and a simple, quick tomato salad (usually pair it with a soft roll smeared with butter and a sprinkle of sea salt)-http://eat-drink-garden.com/2011/08/simple-summer-tomato-salad/

I like hummus with pita chips and/or veggies (cucumber, carrots, and celery are my favs).

Another easy one is baked potatoes. Cooked in the microwave and topped with whatever (I like using canned chili or pre-made shredded chicken and bbq sauce).

Make a giant batch of baked chicken at the beginning of the week and it will stretch into many delicious meals. Chicken sandwich. Have it on its own. Chicken tacos. Chicken on top of pasta w pesto. For sides, make big batches of dinner rolls, beans, rice, or pasta. Also get fruit / veg like tangerines, bananas, apples, baby carrots, snap peas, etc, that are easy to grab and eat with little prep other than peeling the orange / banana. Hard boiled eggs can also be made in batches and will keep for a long time.

This was my question, so thank you everyone for the great ideas! Keep them coming!!

I usually cook a large pot of beans and greens (separately) on Sunday evening and eat it all week for lunch, sometimes with rice. It's healthy, filling, cheap and takes one minute to heat the whole thing up. If you're really organized, you can even apportion it into individual containers to save precious minutes during the week.
White beans with lemon and rosemary, black beans with garlic and shallots, brown beans with shallots and andouille, flagolet with butter and basil, lentils with tomato and roast chicken...sometimes livened up with Siracha,, balsamic vinegar or a sprinkle of fried shallot,
with a briefly sauteed chiffonade of either kale, kai lan, collard greens, spinach or chard.

how about lettuce wraps with beans and salsa or hummus and vegs?

not sure if you can eat eggs, but topping a salad or a grain dish with a fried egg is pretty easy and adds protein. you could also do egg sandwiches or scrambled eggs with veggies.

carrie
plums in the icebox

I work from home with a little one, so I totally know what you mean. Even boiling water can take too much time. You need a meal that's ready to eat straight from the fridge.

I second the suggestions for a quinoa salad. Lots of protein and veggies - a nice balanced and filling meal in one bowl. I love this one from Canadian Living:
http://www.canadianliving.com/food/gluten_free_quinoa_salad_with_creamy_tahini_dressing.php

I often make a batch (which makes at least 6 generous servings) of this salad at night, and we eat it throughout the week at lunch. The nice thing is that it tastes better when you make it ahead of time, so that the flavours meld. You could definitely add nuts or switch around the veggies as you please, but the recipe is great as is.

Being a work at home mom is a really good idea while you have kids in school and such. It makes things so much easier.

If you really want to work at home, you can cut back on certain things to make up for temporary lost income until you get your business going. Get books from the library instead of buying them. If you're home, you have more time to look for bargains and do your own repairs and cleaning instead of hiring other people to do them. You can look for sales in the newspaper and cut coupons. If you go into working at home with a realistic idea of your financial situation, you can make it work(pun intended).

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