Affordable, easy lunches to take to work?

Cantisque · 13 March 2017 at 4:08PM

So right now I've hit rock bottom with my reluctance to prepare lunches and am just taking a couple of cereal bars to work. As you might be able to guess, these don't really keep me full for the entire afternoon so I was wondering if anyone else had any recommendations for work lunches that meet the following criteria:

Quick to prepare with minimal mess to clean up

Doesn't result in most of it getting thrown out as it hits the expiry date (am living alone, so multiple bags of fresh veg are a bad idea)

Cheap and easy to store (not too fussed about the quality or nutritional value, to some extent). That also means, not too many ingredients that I need to constantly keep on top of the expiry dates for. I am sort of leaning toward taking hot soup in a thermos but I usually like to have that for dinner often as well and don't want to get sick of it too quickly.

[Deleted User] · 13 March 2017 at 5:03PM

The easiest fairly filling lunch is a chunk of cheese, a couple of good sized eating apples, a couple of hard boiled eggs and a nice hunk of bread. You can add in tomatoes, spring onions, a jar of pickle, pickled onions and things of that sort for variety but as a basis for a sustaining lunch the basics will take no more prep than hard boiling the eggs and cutting a hunk of cheese. Hard boiled eggs can be cooked ahead and will keep for a good week in the fridge at home. If you want something sweet to finish with a handful of dried fruit (I love medjool dates) and handful of nuts will fill up the corners.

moneyistooshorttomention · 13 March 2017 at 5:06PM

No reason not to have healthy type cereals - eg healthy type muesli or granola and fruit and yogurt with it. Fill up on some decent type bread.

Maybe overnight oats - google will bring up lots of ideas on that.

Ginmonster · 13 March 2017 at 5:15PM

I guess it depends what kind of facilities you have at work. If you have access to a microwave then I'd just make too much dinner the night before and take leftovers in for lunch. If you have a freezer at home and some plastic food boxes you can make 3 or 4 portions at a time and bung some in the freezer for future meals. That's what I do and as I don't ever label my frozen food it's quite often a total surprise what I get to eat.

If you just have access to a kettle then you could take a cheapo packet of Chinese-style noodles and a little pot of whatever frozen veg you like (peas, sweetcorn, soya beans, mixed veg) and add it into the bowl when you add the hot water. If you've got some nuts or seeds you could sprinkle a few on top as well if you like.

Leftover pasta from the night before would be fine cold the next day as long as it's not got too much sauce, ditto home made stir fries with noodles or fried rice for that matter. Only do the rice one if you have a fridge at work though. Rice that is allowed to warm up for too long can give you food poisoning.

How about a pot of hummus & some carrot/ pepper / bread sticks to dip in?

And there are always sandwiches...

elsien · 13 March 2017 at 5:22PM

Bean salad - tin of mixed pulses or cannelini type beans, tinned tuna, celery, a couple (or more) of chopped hard boiled eggs, parsley, bit of lemon juice or oil depending on what your tuna is in. Takes a few minutes. Does for two days.
Bit of fruit on the side if you want a bit more.

You can make sandwiches the night before. I like a BLT but you can cook the bacon in kitchen roll in the microwave so no washing up.

Prinzessilein · 13 March 2017 at 5:23PM

Put some dried couscous into a lidded bowl, add some herbs and spices. close the lid...in another bowl put some finely shredded raw veg (carrots, courgettes, onions, leeks...whatever you like and have handy)....at lunchtime add the veggies to the dried couscous and cover with boiling water from a kettle...stir, cover and leave for about 5 minutes for the couscous to absorb the water - the heat will 'cook' the veggies....to make it more filling add your choice of protein...some chopped ham or chicken or some tinned beans/pulses.

PasturesNew · 13 March 2017 at 6:47PM

A bunch of, say, 5 bananas is a standby - 1/day. They cost about 12p each and you can feel virtuous as you "had fruit".

Cheese sandwiches, keep it simple, freeze them individually and grab one each morning; if you don't eat it one day it'll still be good the following day and there's no need to get a new one out that morning.

DIY pot noodles.

Cup a soups - I bought a pack of 4 for 20p the other week from a supermarket (might be Asda).

katie_saver · 14 March 2017 at 4:47PM

The bean salad lunch is delicious and very simple. Most supermarkets do tinned mixed bean salad (s'bury 60p) does for 2 lunches comes in a lovely vinagrette - then choose whatever you have left to add to it - prawns, checken, ham. I added ice berg lettuce to mine - bit of lemon very tasty and healthy. Part of your 5 a day too :-)

Flat_Eric · 14 March 2017 at 5:58PM

My favourite stand by no prep lunch is crackers cheese pickled onions

Carmk2008 · 14 March 2017 at 6:36PM

Chilli cheese wrap, good hot or cold I have them cold regularly.

VfM4meplse · 14 March 2017 at 6:51PM

PasturesNew wrote: »

A bunch of, say, 5 bananas is a standby - 1/day. They cost about 12p each and you can feel virtuous as you "had fruit".

11p if you shop at Aldi

If it's just something filling you want OP, make up some bulgar wheat when you make a cup of tea the night before. Stir a spoon of pesto through it and volià. If you want a portion of veg with it, add frozen peas to it before you add the boiling water.

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Affordable, easy lunches to take to work?

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