I don't know if you were doing cheese or not with your paleo, but if so I've found that pre-making and having little deli meat/cheese rollups in the fridge and at the ready is an awesome way to eat on the go. Keep them in a couple tupperwear in the fridge so that you can just grab a tupperwear on the way out the door!
Not the healthiest of all the healthy, but it is relatively cheap, not messy, and super easy!
You can do it!!
Agreed!! Skittle, here is my list of "paleo to go" recipes. I will need to pack lunches and dinners when I start traveling with the dogs again so I sat down and worked up this list. These are easy to pack and heat in a microwave if you're at work, or warm up in the morning and pack into a good insulated lunchbox to stay hot.
Meatballs - just meat rolled into a ball and baked, or some variation of these (skip almond flour/meal in any of these. I promise they'll hold together.):
http://paleomg.com/breakfast-bacon-maple-meatballs/
http://taste-for-adventure.tablespoon.com/2013/04/01/mini-chicken-parmesan-meatloaf-cupcakes/ - I made these without the breadcrumbs. Awesome!! But fresh parm is a teensy bit expensive if you're cutting the food budget. You could just do a chicken meatball with mozz in the middle.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-meatballs/#axzz2WX83hI5P
http://www.health-bent.com/pork/paleo-asian-pork-meatballs-dipping-sauce
http://paleomg.com/paleo-crockpot-sweet-asian-meatballs/
http://paleomg.com/superbowl-snacks-bacon-meatballs-mango-honey-mustard-sauce/
http://www.traceysculinaryadventures.com/2012/03/honey-chipotle-turkey-meatballs.html#.Ub_O95yjISo
Sausage patties
Breakfast hash/casseroles - my favourite involves taking a small sweet potato, using the shredding attachment for my food processor, then frying them up to hash browns. Layer those on the bottom of a casserole dish. Next get some breakfast sausage and fry it up crumbled in a skillet and layer that on top of the sweet potato. Next crack, whisk, and pour eggs on top. Anywhere from 8-12 depending on how many you want to use and the size/shape of your casserole dish. Finally, layer strips of bacon on top. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes or until the egg is set. I like to slice it like a loaf and eat a slice (or two... maybe three...)
Mashed sweet potatoes - or mash, then turn into a potato pancake and bake (or fry with some coconut oil.) I like to season mine with chipotle powder and cinnamon. You can also do a sweet potato casserole version with pecans/walnuts and some maple syrup and it's good cold.
You can also make your own sweet potato fries!
Paleo trail mix... google for some ideas but basically get yourself some nuts you like, chop them up or leave them whole, get some dried fruit (the kind that is just straight dried fruit without sugar added), unsweetened shredded coconut if you like it... and throw it into a container. Shake it up. My paleo trail mix on my shelf is currently just a bunch of nuts seasoned with cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla. Next time I think I want to do a spicy version with chili and peppers.
Homemade lara bars... beware, these are going to be high in carbs. But oh so good! I broke mine into tiny pieces and ate a tiny little piece as desserts.
Chicken... just baked chicken tenderloins. Some people like to just eat straight shredded chicken. Season it however you like, there's no lack of ways to season chicken.
Jerky. A food dehydrator isn't super expensive and you can make your own, or just be careful with the ingredient lists and buy good ones from the store. Or if you know people who hunt, often they make jerky from their kills. My dad got a ton of venison jerky years ago... turkey jerky is another common one around here from hunters.
Paleo breads, pancakes, or waffles... just be careful with these, avoid anything that is super heavy on almond flour, and remember that calories (and carbs) still count
Egg muffins - here's a non-breakfasty type variation:
http://www.primalpalate.com/recipe/buffalo-chicken-egg-muffins/ Mine are normally like this but include bacon:
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=450757
You can also do muffin tin "meatloaves" like the chicken parm meatballs I linked above.
Lunch meat and cheese roll-ups like PW mentioned. I can't afford the really great, expensive lunch meats, but I did find Hormel Naturals to be pretty affordable (especially if I get the big "family" pack) and not very objectionable on the primal/paleo scale. No added nitrites or nitrates, no artificial flavours, naturally gluten free. I'll take it.
BACON.
Fresh berries are great, you can do some banana slices as well if you like bananas... bananas + nut butter is yummy!
Hard boiled eggs, I know some people enjoy them cold so that's a hot + cold option.
Scotch eggs:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-scotch-eggs/#axzz2WXDOasyA
Those are just the ideas I wrote down. There's other stuff I realistically could make and take along as leftovers as well.
You might want to get into the habit of cooking and packing all your lunches on Sunday and stocking the fridge so you're ready to go... that way you don't have the chance to go "what should I take for lunch today?" and be in a rush and NOT take something, because it will already be there, packed and ready to go. My breakfasts are almost always egg muffins; if I haven't made any, I do scrambled eggs in the microwave:
http://www.wikihow.com/Scramble-Eggs-in-a-Microwave