Packed Lunch for work

FrugalFranny

Baked potatoes warm or cold are good for filling peeps up, as long as no one cares too much what it looks like when you get to it, and you have something like those bottle warmers for babies (they usually hold two large bottles), the ones hollow ones you can add hot water too. You can fit a couple of small buttered baked potatos in one side in a freezer bag and any 'toppings' in the other side in the same way. Add a paper plate, fork and couple of tissues and pop it all in a carriers bag with their flask...you never know, they might use the plate too lol. My partner uses one of these for his lunch, the only complaint he had was the cute baby styled cover on the bottle warmer, so I covered it with some black gaffer tape to make it look more 'manly' XD. That and it won't keep things piping hot for a very long time on a cold day.

kittycat204

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3764181

thefamousexcuse

Thanks guys your all amazing!!! Some fab ideas!!! Will defiantly be using some this week!!!

Hope you all have a great week

x

thegirlintheattic

Homemade cornish pasty's for leftovers? Bagels and wraps make a change from sandwichs and I find wraps with leftover beef and some mayo absolutely divine.

Homemade pizza begettes - very cheap if you get yellow sticker-ed stuff from the supermarket.

I also agree that a big batch of pasta - with some salad or garlic bread is very filling.

keran77

I like making sandwiches or wraps once or twice a week.

Sometimes I make couscous and fry some veg (red peppers, courgettes...) and chicken to go with it. If I am making a veg meal I might add chickpeas. It takes about 30 minutes to make in total and I make enough for the whole family.

A stir fry meal really doesn't take much time either and you can choose the veg you like. I tend to use peppers, courgettes, spring onions, mushrooms...

I am making a stir fry for tomorrow!

balibali293

Hi Everyone,

Do you have any good meal/packed lunch ideas for healthy but cheap. I need to cut the food bill lots as we spend a ridiculous amount on food and end up chucking loads of our 'bargains' away as they don't get eaten in time. My idea is to go back to cooking from scratch, i.e slow cooked cheap cut of meat with fresh veg?

My 3 boys LOVE fruit, but living in a seaside town now, its scarce, so I'm always getting Aldi's super 6. Any other ideas?

DCFC79

Maybe this thread, you could try the old style board as well.

So living in a seaside town means fresh fruit is scarce ?

So theres no weekly farmers markets or pick your own farms nearby ?

maman

balibali293 wrote: »

Hi Everyone,

Do you have any good meal/packed lunch ideas for healthy but cheap. I need to cut the food bill lots as we spend a ridiculous amount on food and end up chucking loads of our 'bargains' away as they don't get eaten in time. My idea is to go back to cooking from scratch, i.e slow cooked cheap cut of meat with fresh veg?

My 3 boys LOVE fruit, but living in a seaside town now, its scarce, so I'm always getting Aldi's super 6. Any other ideas?

I'd suggest never buying 'bargains' unless they can be frozen (or unless you can cook them and then freeze them). Pasta salad is a healthy option for packed lunches.

balibali293

DCFC79 wrote: »

So living in a seaside town means fresh fruit is scarce ?

So theres no weekly farmers markets or pick your own farms nearby ?

Yes, when I moved here I thought it would be in abundance as we are <5 miles from a farm, but it all goes to the supermarkets, so we go there. There is a small stall at the monthly farmer's market though.

BitterAndTwisted

I don't think your issue is necessarily not making meals totally from scratch but meal-planning. It's a criminal waste to chuck food out because you've bought it and haven't got round to using it. A "bargain" in the bin stops being any sort of bargain the moment you lift the bin-lid up: then it become the equivalent of setting fire to five-pound notes in the street.

One of the things you could do is to have a think about how much you are spending on meat. Many on this forum design a couple of meat-free dinners a week into their meal-plans. Never underestimate the usefulness of peas, beans and pulses. Or eggs and dairy. Some even do a home-made soup night with fresh bread followed by a pudding.

In my opinion, one of the largest and semi-visible drains on the purse are soft-drinks, snacks and treats. I'd be having a think about how I could provide them home-made instead of buying them in as much as possible.

The only way to be certain about what could be cut down on or omitted altogether is to keep all your shopping-receipts for a couple of weeks and then go through them with a fine-toothed comb, and see where you could substitute for cheaper or make from scratch.

But I would advise you to take small steps rather than completely changing your shopping and cooking habits overnight or you could risk becoming overwhelmed and discouraged.