Lasting a week for lunches??

Hay_2 · 22 May 2006 at 12:01AM

I'm really getting into this whole saving money lark and suprisingly finding myself enjoying it.Ok so I overspent by a couple of quid this(my 1st)wk but I managed to chop over £57 of my usual weekly spend and we didn't go without anything.Still had the odd bottle of wine,a few lagers at the weekend,nice meals each day etc.My freezer is now also filled with all the extra portions I made of things like stewq,spag bol and shep pie~for both kids and adults meals.Feels ace!!WHYYYYYY didn't I do this before?We could have saved thousands of £££s:rolleyes:
Anyway the one thing I'm having trouble with is lunches.I am doing one big weekly shop from tescos online and resisting all temptations to go there to top things up.THAT is my danger spot where I usually blow £50 on crap....so not doing that anymore.
I can get fresh rolls etc but obviously they only have a couple of days shelf life.By thursday DP is resorting to BOGOF saus rolls etc...NOT healthy OR filling.I bought some part baked baguettes this week which is one idea but was wondering what else?If you only do one shop a wk HOW do you not end up eating all rubbish stuff by Thursday?
And the biggest problem seems to be lunches at the wkend.After a week living on budget sandwiches etc we're all home together at the weekend.We're having lovely homecooked evening meals but I'm stumped for lunches.TBH most weekends prebudgeting we went out for lunch at least one of the days then had a fry up on the other...so now we're trying to cut costs I'm lost!Any ideas for cheap and healthy family lunches after a boring wk of sarnies?LOL :rotfl:

skystar · 22 May 2006 at 6:41AM

Hi Hay

Well done with the moneysaving so far.

I only do one shop a week and the three of us in the house take packed lunches. The way we get round it is to freeze the bread/rolls. If frozen on day of purchase they still taste fresh when defrosted.

For weekend lunches we are normally the same and want something different from weekdays.

Things we would have include:
soup
toasties
cheesy nachos
baked potato
beans on toast

Hope this helps

nicki_2 · 22 May 2006 at 8:13AM

I freezer the loaves of bread as well. We can go through 6 loaves a week :eek: so I always buy it once a week as I do my top-up shops at Co-op where I can easily blow £10 a time rather than Asda where I can blow £20+

Throughout the week I make sandwiches for packed lunches for the other two, while I have whatever is in, maybe leftovers or I'll make a sandwich. At weekends we tend to eat breakfast late (more towards midday

Don't you just love lie-ins? :rotfl:) and have both cereal and toast or 4 slices of toast, so a sandwich is enough for us for lunch. The way I get around the boredem is to buy three packets of meat a week (3 for 2 in Asda) so the filling changes through the week (one packet at a time used, always in date order) and then at weekend we either finish off the last packet or I can make up fresh egg mayo, tuna mayo etc. We sometimes have a treat like cumpets (bought on clearance or offer), scotch pancakes or toasties. My favourite option ATM is to "hide" jars of paste, sandwich fillings, vegemite etc in the cupboard behind other things and only get them out on a Friday afternoon when I'm on my own ready for the weekend. Then we have a slightly earlier tea usually and I make it filling, like pasta or a roast/pie

HTH

fairy3 · 22 May 2006 at 11:35AM

Hi Hay,
well done in your first week! I have been around for a while, have not posted much but your thread reminds me of me about 5 months ago!

I too managed really well til thursday then the chip shop seemed very inviting after working most of the week! Am more disciplined now lol

On the packed lunch front I too freeze rolls and for DS 1 freeze them with the filling in. Most meats are fine, not too sure about other fillings but he is not overly fussed. DD has portions of pasta mixed with meat or chopped egg or slices of HM pizza also from the freezer. Coleslaw is usually fairly resiliant too and can be mixed with other things.You may need to think 'outside of the box' because they do get bored with sandwiches!!!!! There is a great packed lunch section in the indexed section (sorry can't do link) with tips for healthy lunches.

At the weekend we too enjoy a lie in (bliss) but still have a fry up for brunch, doesn't have to be unhealthy though, grilled bacon, value beans,value tomatoes,lightly fried value mushrooms, poached eggs (not value) and wholemeal toast usually sort my lot out til tea.

Other lunches include
Baked potatoes (these can be done in bulk and frozen) filled with beans,cheese,the resiliant coleslaw and any meat left over chopped up, tomatoes and onions can also be sneaked in.

Soups which are nice and thick also work with home made bread

Filled pitta's

Pasta bake with tuna

Although tip that really helped me from here, am sorry I am not sure who to thank, was to have a treat once a month in the form of a takeaway as a reward for being soooooo good. I let the kids choose which it is to be and then we plan the menu making sure everyone knows this is a BIG treat!

This worked well for a couple of months until I think our tastebuds adapted and then to be honest the takeaway didn't taste that good. So now they just choose the type eg pizza, chinese, indian and I make the takeaway and they do all the preparation and they still think it's a treat (result!)

Good luck with your challenge

G
x

tiptoes · 22 May 2006 at 12:06PM

Hi Hay
Though I've fallen off the OS wagon in recent weeks hopefully these idea will help with the lunch dilema. Of a weekend I usuallly either do the brunch thing or HM Pizza with salad or I keep a packet of wraps in the cupboard and use these with diffrent fillings, like HM hummus, pigs in blankets.

As for end of the lunchs I buy and freeze bread with egg/tuna mayo, peanut butter and bananna or any left over meant from the meals teh night before.

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Lasting a week for lunches??

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