Packed Lunch for work

Penny-Pincher!!

Baked spuds in the MW
Leftovers from night before
Soup or beans on toast

HTH

PP
xx

anniebooklover

Hi there,

Soup is a wonderful filler in the autumn/winter. You don't necesarily need a food processor or any other kitchen gadgets to make a filling soup. Chunky vegetable soup with some wholemeal bread or rolls (shop bought isn't really that bad, you know ) It can be stored in a flask and is just perfect for eating at lunchtime.

As PP said, baked spuds are great when you are in the office. Add whatever topping you like.

You could also cook more food than you need at home and re-heat (only once though!!) some for these lunches. Chilli and curry both re-heat well in the microwave. There are bound to be loads of other stuff you can come up with.

HTH

Annie x

recovering_spendaholic

When I was working I could easily spend £5 a day on hot lunches if I didn't bring something in. I used to take leftovers most of the time. I got myself some of those plastic takeaway containers from Costco (but you can get them in Home Bargain and Wilkos too), and if we were having curry and rice, or chilli, or stew, spaghetti bolognaise or whatever, I would always put a portion into the container and label and freeze it. I would take it out of the freezer on the morning and by lunchtime it would be defrosted enough to microwave. I also used to take pitta breads and have them hot with salad in which was nice.

apple_mint

Chunky soups are very good - think of them as being like veggie casseroles

You can push soups through a sieve if you don't have a blender

I cook an extra portion of the evening meal and OH reheats this at work for his lunch - I usually have some of the batch made soups I put in the freezer each weekend (mushroom, celery, pumpkin, veggie etc.)

Irish Soda bread doesn't need yeast and is very easy to make. Takes about 30 minutes or so including baking and I freeze it in chunks (take a portion out when I take my batch made soup out in the morning)

The Soda Bread recipe I use is the one posted by Smashing (number 8) on this thread

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=252053&highlight=soda+bread

I can highly recommend it. Very simple to make and absoulutely delicious. If you don't have butter milk use plain yoghurt (make a little runnier with some milk). I use the buttermilk left over from making butter.

Edit: I read somewhere to prop the soda bread upright against a clean tea towel to cool - it seems to work well as I never have soggy soda bread!

N9eav

Penny-Pincher!! wrote:

Baked spuds in the MW
Leftovers from night before
Soup or beans on toast

HTH

PP
xx

I would go for a Cornish Pasty .

But you may not have them locally..... SO the jacket Pots are a good idea. If you micro them at home the day before, then you only need to warm them up at work.

How about a POT NOODLE :rotfl:

Bambam

You can buy those re-usable pouch thingies that go in the toaster and do scrummy ham and cheese toasties :drool:

broomstick27

You don't need a slow cooker to make stew either. Just cook in a big saucepan for a couple of hours (actual time depends on what type of meat - chicken would only need an hour but stewing beef would need nearer two to make sure it is not too chewy)

jamgirl

i've just finished making a lentil and potato soup which i have then mashed with a potato masher!
or make any soup and leave it chunky.

you could take couscous with chopped veg and warm it in the microwave.

left over dinner from the night before warmed in microwave

Eels100

Littlemiss-lotsofdebt wrote:

craving something warm and filling now its getting colder. ... don't have a BM, SC or blender so can't make bread, stews or soups easily - any ideas?

Yes you can make soups and stews easily! SC and blender not vital at all. Try warm casseroles of chicken, beef or tomatoey spicy beans, all of which will freeze easily. Tesco do a pack of 3 portion-sized tubs with lids for about 98p which are ideal for freezing leftover stews etc. Just grab a tub from the freezer and by lunchtime it will be defrosted ready for a blast in the microwave! Top stews tip is to make your stew in a bit pot on the hob, making sure it's a tiny bit watery, then add potatoes to it. Give it a stir and cook very slowly for delicious melt-in-the mouth tatties without the extra washing up. Same goes for soups, you can do these on the hob really quickly by frying off some onion, adding a few bits of chopped carrots and then chucking in tatties or lentils or yellow peas. You don't even need stock! If you prefer soup smooth you can get a stick blender from Tesco.com for about a tenner - mine's going strong despite some hard use!

DrFluffy

Soups are great - I usually avoid stodgy things such as potatoes and pasta though, as they send me to sleepsville and the afternoon is less than productive!

Warm salads are also great - cook a little too much meat for your evening meal, take it to work with you, along with a salad in another container. Heat the meat in the microwave and toss it into the salad when warm. Chicken and beef are especially good like this

My fave though, is custard! Yuuummmmm! Doesn't matter what I have for lunch warm custard always makes me feel snuggley!