Stop buying sandwiches

Butti

About 2 to 3 evenings a week I cook double portions of my dinner and put half in a plastic takeaway dish to take for lunch the next day. They tend to be one of three recipes - I'm very exciting!

About 100g Chorizo and 1 onion fried, cherry tomatoes and 2 tins of tomatoes added, seasoned and reduced down, pasta added. parmasan added at end.

Veg and chicken curry made with one of those jar sauces diluted with 1 jar of water.

A bunch of spring onions stir fried for 2 minutes in butter. Add about 250g of spinach and allow to gently absorb butter. Season - s&p, nutmeg and a sprig of herb. Add parmasan. Add 200g cooked pasta and mix. Add one pack of ricotta mixed with a couple of tablespoons of milk. Put in a dish. Sprinkle with parmasan and grill. Nice hot or cold.

B

Star2018

I had this problem so i can up with ideas that freeze well, it is part of my meal plan, and i alternate combinations. So when I do my monthly bulk shop I make/box up 5 of each and freeze all of the following;

Sandwiches
Cheese and Pickle Roll - 62p each
Salmon and Cream cheese bagel - 50p each
Tuna and Salad Wrap - 68p each
Pita stuffed with chicken fajita mix - 36p each

Snacks
Handful dried apricots - 23p each
3 slices Buttered Malt loaf - 12p each
Fruit Salad - 20p (from bag of frozen tesco value) 20p each
Grapefruit segments (tinned) 13p each

I have ideas like this for every meal of the day so if you want any more ideas let me know

P.S My monthly meal plan costs under £60 including extras for one person.

Hope this gives you some good ideas

property.advert

Overcooking and taking it to work is a great one.

If you've got a Gregs, buy loads of the crusty rolls and freeze them straight away. They are £1.05 for 6 and the best I've found which taste the same defrosted. So often I would not have any bread for sandwiches and bang, there goes another £5-7 a day.

Buy a chicken, loads to make from that.

Soup is a great one as are foreign versions of the pot noodle type which are much better. Thai Mama brand are tops and just add hot water. Available in some Tescos.

Maybe agree to treat yourself on a Friday to relieve the boredom if you find it boring.

Perhaps talk to people at work about a fridge and microwave if you don't already have one.

For drinks, water and lime / orange etc. far cheaper than buying the bottles.

However, it is the total net cost which is important. If you spend £2 making it yourself or £5 buying it in, but it takes you 30 minutes a day to buy the stuff and make it and you could do extra time at work for more than £6 per hour, you would be better off to work more and buy it in.

Or if you could do some surveys online for £3 (if not doing it already) then you would be at a net gain.

hattiefats

This is a bit grim so apologies in advance. I watched something ages ago about a factory where they made pre packed sarnies. The hygiene was so poor I cant even look at a pre packed sandwich without feeling queasy! Didnt stop me going to bakery though for pastyies, cakes etc!
On a more practical note if you but your lunch stuff for the week ie:rolls,fillings etc the guilt about not using it might spur you on!!!

MessyMare

izzydogsam wrote: »

I was doing EXACTLY the same thing with the diet coke. I got really narky and headachey when I didn't have any either, so I packed it in

Someone on MSE gave me a tip of taking a bottle of sparkling water and a carton of fruit juice to mix together to wean me off the diet coke but to still have a fizzy drink. It worked a treat and when I have proper fizzy drinks from time to time now, they taste really sickly sweet. I've been feeeling and sleeping a lot better since I packed in the diet coke a few months ago, and I have saved quite a lot of money! :j At almost £1 for a smallish bottle I was spending a small fortune

I've tried the sparkling water one, but the taste doesn't agree with me! I've taken to filling small bottles up out of big ones (that are bought fairly in bulk when they're on offer)...I've not been able to go cold turkey but am cutting down onto on can if I need extra, rather than a bottle that I'll probably drink half of then leave it in the coke bottle graveyard that is my car!

Marru

Hello,

I asked some inspiration some time ago in OS board and HERE are the replies I got. I am yet to go throuh them all and make a proper plan for January lunches. What has helped me is to get sandwich ham when it is reduced to clear and then make sarnies to the freezer ready to take with me in the morning. Also leaving nice things like cerial bars at work has halped.

bank_of_slate

To avoid the boredom why not do what I do and 'award' yourself one day a week when you can buy lunch instead of taking a home made one.

You're less likely to rebel against the new system.

Also - vary what you take, make enough evening meal so that there's a portion left to take to lunch, take some nice soup and a fresh roll and butter, these are great options when it's cold and the last thing that you want to eat is a cold sandwich.
...Linda xx

HellsGranny

Thermos flask of soup and a roll is cheap, warm and cheerful in this weather,

Cheers HG

wannaberich1

OMG just found this thread... this is so me!!

Santa got me a breadmaker for Xmas this year so I'm hoping that the added motivation of making my own bread will mean I bring sarnies to work instead of keep buying them....

niksyg

OH says that if he makes sandwiches then they don't tatse as good as the lady that brings them to his work...but if I make them they are better....I have a feeling he may be just saying this so that I make them every day!!

I find that you can make really good sarnies but cheaply - just buy reduced nice cold meats/pork pies etc and you get good sarnies and lunches but cheaper. Also - as a psychological thing, I think rolls are better than sliced bread - looks less 'boring' so more tasty!! Cold pasta leftover from previous night's meal (extras obviously, not off the plate) is great, as is soup in a thermos! Yum!