Packed Lunch for work

squishyclaire

I agree with dearbarbie. I have cut our expenditure a lot by making my partner take lunch rather than buy it. He was paying 1.50 for a roll and a soup from the shop next to his work. The soup was really nasty packet stuff too so not good value for money. If your husband can heat stuff up (if not maybe a flask) then soup is a good option. I make a really nice chicken noodle one and a minestrone one. They both are filling because of the pasta and noodles in them.

Have you got a breadmaker? I often make pizza with dough from the breadmaker but you could also use a scone base. This is also good for using any bits up in the fridge for the topping.

Pies are another good option, perhaps a little more fiddily but you could use chicken, veg, cheese etc for fillings. My dad also used to make us lovely cornish pasties with bought puffed pastry when we were kids. They were great for lunches.

HTH, I have a few recipies for some of the above, most are my own receipes but let me know if you would like any.

Pink.

Hi Daisy,

Welcome to MSE :hello:

These older threads might give you some inspiration:

Packed Lunch Ideas On The Cheap

Lunch for work

pasta lunch box help please..

Packed Lunch

Lunch ideas

HM Tortilla wraps for lunch?

saving money on lunch

Work lunches - ideas needed!

Help! Need Sarnies ideas for lunches

cold packed lunches

Packed lunches

Wanting help with packed lunches

Pink

Daisy_Dormer

Thank you so much for the suggestions, there are some good ideas there.

Unfortunately he doesn't have any facilities to heat things up so my options are somewhat limited. A flask is a good idea though, I hadn't thought of that. Soup will work nicely, I usually make a batch once a week in my slow cooker with whatever veg is lurking at the bottom of the fridge.

dearbarbie, when you say salami and cheese rolls do you mean in a bread roll or a pastry roll? If it's a pastry roll type thing I'd love the recipe.

Also, squishyclaire, I'd love the recipes for some of your pies, especially the cheesey type one. I do have a breadmaker yes, (it's on as we speak!) and I often make pizza but with no oven at my husband's office, unfortunately it won't work as a lunch.

Thanks again ladies.

Daisy_Dormer

Pink winged, that's excellent, thank you!

Contains_Mild_Peril

If you live near a supermarket, try shopping near closing time - you can sometimes find some really good bargains in the reduced-to-clear fridge, e.g. ready-made salads, pasties etc cheaper than making your own from regular-priced ingredients.

Daisy_Dormer

contains mild peril, (great user name btw), unfortunately I can't do that as I have to put the baby to bed.

kittyscarlett

Welcome to OS Daisy !

if you're going to get him a flask - buy a wide necked one if possible - that way he can take not only soups but beans, chilli, casseroles, sausages, hm meatballs in sauce, hm pasta etc. Also, re : the pizza - cold hm pizza is delicious, nowt wrong with that ! especially if you pack up some salad/ hm potato or pasta salad/coleslaw to go with it !

I make up cheese potato and onion pasties/slices but I don't exactly have a recipe. I use prebought puff pastry but shortcrust is easy to make at home if you prefer that. I make the filling from either cubed cooked potato ( I leave the skins on but thats personal choice ) mashed potato or a mixture of both, whatever oniony thing I happen to have lying around - spring onion, leeks, chives etc finely chopped - if it is strong English onion you may need to blanch or fry it off a little bit first - and whatever cheese I happen to have - grated strong cheddar is the best as you don't have to use as much of it, but stilton works well and this is good for using up any odds and ends of cheese you may have in the fridge. I also tend to put herbs in as well - fresh parsley and sage from the garden but thats entirely personal taste.

Roll out pastry to desired shape and thickness, cut out circles if you like circles, or just divide up into squares or triangles, put spoonfuls of filling on, seal with beaten egg, put on greased baking tray, wash over with rest of beaten egg and cook in medium oven til golden brown, basically ! nice hot or cold and better than Ginsters

squishyclaire

I tend to make the fillings for pies using a really thick white sauce. to this I add my cheese- the more the better. I normally use lots of veggies also because just the cheese sauce is a bit yack on its own. I normally use anything I have around, carrots, onion, peas. I just cook them up in micro for a few mins first.

To do chicken, i often sjust use bits off the roast added to a thick white sauce and some lightly cooked mushrooms.

I nomally make a big pie and slice it up. I normally blind bake the bottom first.

My friend also makes the most delicious chees and onion pie. She just uses pure cheese and some blanched onion and loads of fresh ground pepper. Same method for the base (for large pie) blind baking. It truley is fantastic although rather decadent on both pocket and waistline. Goes lovely with a bit of HP.

Daisy_Dormer

Thank you all for taking the trouble to write these out for me.

I know I'm going to have some potatoes left over at the end of the week so I'll definitely make some kind of pastie type thing (have just dug out my Be Ro book to get the recipe for rough puff pastry!).

Now that I think about it I do have a small thermos type pot thing from Lakeland that will be perfect for one portion of some sort of hot meal or other.

I've just asked my husband about how he feels about cold pizza and salad for lunch. He said he doesn't mind in the slightest but he doesn't see how there will be any leftovers as homemade pizza is one of his favourite meals!

Thanks again all.

LouBlue

Great thread, boy am I hungry now.

Just started work again after some time off and already I am bored of my sandwiches.

I love tomatoes in my sarnies but when I put them in the night before, they are soggy the next day.

Apart from the obvious...putting them in there in the morning...I always have NO time to do that....is there a genius on here that knows how I can put them in the night before and they are not soggy by next lunchtime?