Great 'cheap but nutritious packed lunches' hunt

dolphinwitchuk

Someone pointed out to me the other day that, rather than buying ready cooked sliced ham, it was much cheaper to buy a whole (or part) ham and cook it yourself. Having looked around it appears you can save AT LEAST £15.00 PER KILO. Quite an eye opener. So for £7.99 a kilo I can either have a meal for 6 and make at least 10 rounds of sandwiches OR make approx 30 rounds of sandwiches (would freeze sliced ham to keep fresh). This would normally cost £24 a kilo ready cooked.

niksat

at this time of year they need a bit of extra protection from all those colds and other nasties, if you can do it without them complaining, try and add a little raw red onion (red is usually sweeter than brown), cut up very finely, to any sandwich filling (not sweet filling obviously). garlic is good too, but slightly more difficult to get away with!
:j

niksat

mrs_moneyspinner wrote: »

Lots of brilliant ideas here already- just thought I would add our current favourite - Iceland chicken strips are about £2 a bag and go a long way, we cook them the night before, them put them in a wrap with shredded lettuce and cucumber, add the goujons and some sweet and sour sauce wiped inside the wrap. Our kids aare not sandwich eaters but will consume these.

tossed with curry powder and cooked in the oven, then cooled make the plain ones very popular with my sons! good in pittas too with raw red onion, cucumber and grated carrot.

niksat

Doodles82 wrote: »

My daughter loves egg mayo sandwiches, however, they stink by the time lunch comes around! Any suggestions?

i put my in an enclosed wrap which helps dampen the smell!

frugaliciousnow

Some nice ideas for my work lunches on here. I certainly like the idea of mini quiches made in yorkshire pudding tins. I would never have thought of that.

nikkicfr

Hi if you have a flask you could send them in with soup my 9 year old has had soup the last couple of days. Lovely for them to have something warm in this weather. I just heat it up in the morning and put it in the fkask he takes a plastic bowl and spoon and a little box with some bread and butter. You cant get much cheaper than value tomoto soup or homemade soup when ive got veg that needs using up.

Little_Moo

I make some simple noodles for my kids and they love them. Really cheap too, just noodles in a sauce. I always sneak in some veg too and they never complain. It's a simple, tasty lunch and very cheap.

ScarletRaven

I like to add in leftovers from the night before's dinner if possible, for example some leftover pasta bake, or if there is too much pasta made I'll save some aside and mix it with tuna and mayo and there's a quick and easy lunch for the following day. Also, little homemade treats rather than shop-bought ones - that way it is cheaper and you know what has gone into them so probably healthier too. Lots of fresh stuff too - use up some of those peppers and cucumbers in the fridge! Fruit rather than choc bars etc.

I tend to set out lunch boxes in a 3:2:1 ratio - 3 parts (ie half the space) is the main bulk of the meal, so made up of bread, pasta, rice, noodles, potatoes etc. The 2 parts (2/3 of the other half of the box) is made up of fruit/veg/salad and the final one part is the protein part - fish, meat, egg, tofu/soya etc. Little gaps are filled in with some dairy (ie a little bit of cheese) and on occasion a little sweet treat (The box isn't too big by the way! Just make use of a little box by packing it in nicely, that way nothing moves around either). This way the box is healthy, balanced and varied and allows for a lot of different foods that can be made up from leftovers. Keeps it fun and interesting too

cjd2206

Doodles82 wrote: »

My daughter loves egg mayo sandwiches, however, they stink by the time lunch comes around! Any suggestions?

I find its the whites that cause the smell, I just make yolk ones

Edwardia

Loads of ideas here..OH does his own lunches but looking at this thread he's stuck in a rut - cheese roll (has to be Tesco no other will do), ham of some sort or Polish sausage with Branston or cheese with Piccalilli (has to be Hayward's) or mustard. Also partial to Scotch eggs, pickled eggs, malt loaf, Jaffa cakes, Jamaican ginger cake and wine gums. Not very nutritious. He does often eat with his team in the subsidised canteen and as it's very much multi-ethnic he has stuff like goat curry, which he loves.