Packed Lunch for work

Purplekylie22

when i need to make the kids packed lunches (which isn't often as they get free school meals) I try to give them somehing different from everyone else so it fun and exciting, I once made

pizza pinwheels
Just puff pastry laid flat, with tomato puree spread thinly on it and sprinkled with cheese, rolled up like a Swiss roll and cut into approx One inch slices, then bake until golden. Dont over fill them or it gets messy!

Another time I made Tuna and sweetcorn mini pasties
I made a basic white sauce, 1tbs butter, 1tbls spoon flour cooked together for a few minutes in a saucepan to make a Roux and then milk added until u get a thick smooth sauce, add a can of tin of tuna and half a tin of sweetcorn into the sauce and leave to cool. Take some shortcrust pastry, roll it out flat and use a large cup to cut out dough circles, put a tsp of the filling into each dough circle, fold the circles in half crimping the edges with your hand or a fork to seal the filling inside and baked in the oven until golden (some egg wash helps for a nice golden finish)

both of those can be modified to suit your tastes, chicken and mushroom pasties would be yummy or ham in the pizza rolls and both are great hot or cold, u can also make quite a few of each and freeze them when cooked then just put them in the fridge overnight and hope they are defrosted by lunch time.

eminemfan001

this sounds a but daft but does anyone have any good ideas for packed lunches that i can take to work with me? im working hard to pay off my debts at the moment but i think buying food at work costs to much and there must be a cheaper way to do things. thank you for any ideas!

LJM

any leftovers from night before,salads/pasta/bolognaise etc do you have access to microwave at work you could reheat there i always used to take soups and crackers lovely and filling plus cheap as i used to take a can in and eat over 2 days

bluebag

I do packed lunch for 3 every day. I never seemed to have the energy to sort it out in the evening and I'm no way a morning person.

I make them all once a week and freeze them, I just defrost a packet each day for each person in the fridge overnight ... all good to go in the morning. It saved me a fortune and my sanity, I can face the task once a week, but every day is too much for a soul to bear!

Do a forum search on freezing sandwiches if you fancy doing a job lot and freezing them, there are loads of ideas there.

Nickitree30

Tinned mackerel in tomato sauce is nice if you mash it up and have it on oatcakes.
I would also make extra pasta for dinner at night and put a portion in a small kilner jar, (the kind with the rubber seal and metal wire closure thingy) with chopped salad veg and dressing. I think there may be a packed lunch thread on here somewhere but not certain where and I still haven't got to grips with searching.

Aarons_mummy

Crackerbread with a selection of cheese, meat, veggie sticks, dips, soft fruits, a tub with some cheese spread mix it up a bit with different combinations.

Leftovers from the night before, rolls, wraps, pitta breads, crackers, breadsticks, baguette.

Make replications of snacky lunches you buy ie lunchables, cocktail sausages you can buy in big bags frozen, cook and eat cold, make scotch eggs, sausage rolls, cold pizza, soup in a thermos.

bramble1

Today OH and i both have some tuna pasta salad -we made a huge bowl last night that will keep us going for a few days. I've also got some potato salad thats on its way out and fruit salad for nibbling.

claire21

today I made 2 things from Jamie Olivers 30 mins meals,

Mackerel pate and sausage rolls, both were lovely and could go in a pack lunch and obviously quick to make the night before ready for work.

dronid

Our new office has a canteen which, at £3 for potato and beans, is not the cheapest:eek:.

I've made meals for reheating in the microwave before but seem to have become bogged down with Bolognese and Chilli and am looking for some good ideas that I can freeze, then microwave at work.

It'd be nice if they looked good too - I like to show off to the other staff!:o

Issues I've run into - Mashed Potato takes a long time to heat up evenly and stirring is not the answer for it on a cottage pie - I tend to use slices potatoes for that kind of thing.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a more varied diet, ideally with 2 or 3 portions of veg?:D

seafarers_wife

what about a tuna pasta or a macaronie cheese, or lasagne or canelonnie, or some hearty vegetable soup for winter, or a potato gratin, or cauliflower cheese. i sometimes take fahitas or tacos from the night before.

I tend to take leftovers from the night before, so if making something i always do an extra portion so ive got lunch the next day.