saving money on lunch

Little_Penguin_2

I usually make my lunch but sometimes get lazy or have to be creative if I haven't been to the supermarket yet that week.

In the winter I often take homemade soups, bread to toast with beans or another topping, or a baking potato and some cheese (am veggie - you can top with whatever) if you have access to a microwave.

I also take leftovers. On my own I can't eat a whole quiche so I take half into work the next day, I boil some extra new potatoes when I make my dinner and add lite mayo to it for a potato salad. Also take in pasta or noodle stir fries made when I cook my dinner the night before.

xxOOxx_2

Here's a great lazy way..

Lidl (the friend of the cost conscious!) have bags of mild BBQ chicken wings - roast the lot, and grab a few each morning, plus go Turkish! - when they go for a picnik, they grab a loaf of bread (half a french stick to us maybe) plus a few tomatoes, a cucumber, some cheese and a few olives. If you want add some fruit (I only like mine distilled or fermented). Should keep hunger locked up, and is no hassle and help towards your five a day!

Everyone likes a nice lunch box!:rotfl:

Turbo_Gran

lady_fuschia wrote:

Those cans of mixed beans form the supermarket are a great invention. You just drain off the water and add some chopped spring onion and/or pepper and you have lunch in less than a minute. Sometimes I use chickpeas too- good with cherry tomatoes, bit of oil and some chilli (no cooking needed and I make it in the container I eat out of to save washing up)
The leftovers from dinner is a good plan too- rice dishes like paella and egg fried rice work particularly well and you can eat them warm or cold. If you have a large baking tray you could also make a large pizza at the weekend and you'll have enough to last you until at least wednesday.

Just a note of caution; please be careful when saving cooked rice as it must be cooled as quickly as possible to avoid tummy upsets.
Prepare your own mixed salads in advance,saves a fortune on those ready mixed from the supermarkets,if you tear the lettuce up instead of cutting it with a metal knife it is less likely to go brown,also do keep salads etc in celophane not plastic bags as they are less likely to sweat, ( I save the packets that birthday cards are in or lentil,pasta etc bags)
Buy a roll of small plastic bags mine were 1000 for £1 and slice up large economy sized cakes and freeze into portions also get a big bag of bread rolls,slice, then butter them and freeze in individual bags ready to take,then all you need do then is take whatever filling you fancy for that dayand slap it on.
Buy some of those small cartons of fruit juice (Aldi,Lidl both have a good cheap selection) freeze and pop into your lunch box to keep things nice and cool and also provide you with a healthy alternative to office coffee.
If you don't have access to a microwave or other facilities at work take soup or stew in a vacuum flask.
Bon Appetite!
I

anniecave

My current two favourites:

If you have a fridge at work

Ryvita or crackerbreads or anything similar with cottage cheese or cheese or marmite or peanut butter or whatever (the fridge is for keeping margarine at work, you may not bother with that)

If you have a toaster and fridge at work

toast with any topping like jam or peanut butter or marmite or honey

lizzie12_2

Another good idea.
Topping for crispbreads etc, chop a celery stick onion tomato sweetcorn raddish pepper or enything else you may have and mix thgether with mayo.
Keeps for 2 days or so in the fridge, also great with pasta or rice.

EagerLearner

LaughingCow sounds like you have it down to a 't' and I'm salivating at the thought... I need to be more organised like you as I have a fridge at work and could do better... Right now I but a Sommerfield quiche every Monday which does 4 lunches, plus 4 or 5 pieces of fruit and small bio-liquid yoghurts. However the quiche has been getting boring... thing is I don't like bread so will have to try and make wraps - problem is how to 'bulk' them out... any suggestions for wrap fillings desperately welcomed!

MORPH3US

A week or two ago I went into 24 hour Asda and they had all the sandwiches reduced to 30p.

I brought about 10 various ones, chicken, bacon and stuffing wraps, coronation chicken pita breads etc etc.

Chucked them all in the freezer and took them out each morning. By dinner time they were chilled to perfection and no hassle at all.

You could then make your own and freeze them, salad and mayo etc won't be too good frozen, but sausage sandwiches, ham and cheese, tuna and onion(?) etc etc

M

newlywed

EagerLearner wrote:

thing is I don't like bread so will have to try and make wraps - problem is how to 'bulk' them out... any suggestions for wrap fillings desperately welcomed!

I usually put some sliced meat, flavoured rice, chopped tomatoes, sweetcorn and coleslaw in mine.

Have been known to put potato salad in it too - and left over pasta. Anything that's in the fridge!

shopsalot

I used to have this problem - if I dont take lunch I will go to the shops (when already hungry) and spend a fortune on not-very-good food that was probably adding wieght too.

Now I split my evening meal and set some aside for lunch the next day (I have very jealous collegues eating a cheese sandwich wishing they had my spag bol!).

Also I have frozen portions in the freezer - eg if i make lasagne for dinner I can freeze at least two portions. This helps for evening meals that cant be split or those eaten out.

And if you dont have anything in the freezer - have a treat and go to the sandwich shop! Just as long as it doesnt happen every day!