Indecisive about money-saving on lunches.

PJ1

Hello.
Could do with some help on deciding cheapest/healthiest route to go please. For lunch each day OH and I take sandwiches (him 2, me 1) plus 1 apple and 1 orange. However, I'm trying to decide if it would be cheaper to take something homebaked rather than the fruit. Trying to cost certain recipes for scones etc but it appears it would be cheaper to buy value type scones than to make them myself especially if you cost in electric for oven. I realise this would also be higher in calories and not as healthy as just fruit and so I cannot decide what to do. The oranges we buy have also been deteriorating in quality and seem quite sour and dry now rather than sweet and juicy. Also it's obviously going to impact on five-a-day and waistline so can anyone give other thoughts/perspectives to help me decide? Thanks. P.

Quasar

Personally I would stick with the fruit because it cannot be beaten on health grounds, if you can at all afford it. I don't think that homebaked stuff would be cheaper.

Instead of oranges, buy a bag of clementines or satsumas etc. Easier to peel and I find the quality varies but they are better than oranges in general imho.

oliveoyl

As Q says... don't stick to the exact same fruit all the time... buy what's on offer/in season.

Could you save money on the sandwiches by making your own bread... if you don't already?

Quasar

One of my favourite lunches costs me 84p. A low fat own brand Tesco mozzarella at 66p and one loose Tesco (Express) banana at 18p. Nutritious and easy on the stomach at any time of day.

rach

you could substitute one of the pieces of fruit for some sultanas or similar - might save a bit and counts towards your 5 a day still

KE7285

What kind of fillings are you both having in your sandwiches? Is this maybe something you could change to make up for the cost of fruit?

pigpen

Or could you manage a yoghurt instead of one of the pieces of fruit?

a little tub of grapes and cheese?
carrot and/or celery sticks?

greenbee

Vegetables are generally cheaper than fruit - and have less sugar, so better for you too!

Pigpen's suggestion of carrots & celery as an alternative is a good one.

Chunks of cucumber, radishes, tomato etc would be good (I usually mix up lots of this kind of stuff, add a few beansprouts, a bit of lettuce if there's any around, then pasta/rice/millet/barley/couscous for carbs and egg/tuna/cheese/cottage cheese for protein and have a salad. Sunflower & pumpkin seeds are good to add. A small handful of almonds is also supposed to be a good thing and actually help with weight loss.

HariboJunkie

Don't forget about tinned and frozen fruit. As long as you have it in juice not syrup it is healthy. You can also make up a cheap jelly to have with it which mkes a lovely pud for lunch time. I also refuse to waste any fruit now despite having 2 fussy daughters who won't eat anything that is marked or bruised. I now just cut off the bad bits and serve it to them as a fruit salad.