Home Made DFW lunches

MascaraMinx

I see in a lot of threads the amount of money to be saved by taking home made lunches to work. I try to stick to this but I get really bored of sandwiches and am also trying to watch my weight so have to choose food carefully.

What do you take to lunch? Do you have any ideas/ recipes that will stop me getting bored & encourage me to stick to it??

Lara44

I know cheese sandwiches aarg if I have to look at them one more time :rolleyes:

Even when I have to have cheese sandwiches I make sure I take loads of different things as well, like a biscuit, nuts, a carrot and a piece of fruit. These make the cheese sandwich a bit more exciting!

Some of the nices things I take are:
Feta cheese salad
Roasted vegetable sandwich (from dinner the night before)
Salsa
Sometimes I make little tarts with leek and cheese and roasted vegetables with some puff pastry when we're having it for tea
Grilled cheese and tomato croissant
Cous cous salad

But check out the old style board there's bound to be loads of suggestions there

eamon

I agree sandwiches can get boring.
Couple of tips. Vary the type of bread you use as well as fillings. I sometimes just have bread and a tin of sardines. Don't forget fruit (apples, bananas, clementines etc). There is also soup (tins or homemade), also left over curry, chilli, stew, hash etc:D . Not forgetting any kind of cooked pasta shape with a tomato or basil based dressing, yummy!.

themaccas

I have the same problem! I take baguettes with salad fillings, I have tried croissants, sainsburys pick n mix salads (love them only 99p), brioche rolls with cream cheese, cook some low fat sausages and make some sausage sandwiches for 2-3 days with branston pickle/ tomato ketchup. Couscous salad with sping onions and chilli peppers.... if I think of any more I'll let you know

Brassic

Alternatives to sarnies :

• pitta bread
• salad
• bagals
• wraps
• rolls

Things I put in in addition to that :

• yoghurts
• flapjacks
• quiche
• mini pizza (or left over hm pizza)
• mini sausage rolls
• fruit
• crackers with cheese
• fruit in jelly
• rice pudding
• HM cake
• HM brownies
• HM cookies
• etc etc etc

HTH!

nidje

Hi
I'm on a diet to (red day/green day !!) so I have to limit the amout of bread I eat. These are a few of my lunch choices -
*vegetable soups ( I have my own veg plot so even cheaper ) at the moment it's chilli squash soup but any left over or imperfect veg will do.
*big salad with a hard boiled egg or cottage cheese and a couple of Ryvita
* We have a microwave at work so I sometimes take a jacket spud or left overs from the night before and heat them up
* Fruit salad from any fruit that's past it's best and yoghurt
HTH
N x

tomandjerry

MascaraMinx wrote:

I see in a lot of threads the amount of money to be saved by taking home made lunches to work. I try to stick to this but I get really bored of sandwiches and am also trying to watch my weight so have to choose food carefully.

What do you take to lunch? Do you have any ideas/ recipes that will stop me getting bored & encourage me to stick to it??

Hi MascaraMinx,

I work long hours + suffer from IBS (just the last 2 years) so I have to eat properly. Bread (naan bread is excluded) and all dairy products are out. So I have to take my lunch and dinner to work. I have to prepare it a night before, so when I cook for that day I take leftovers next day. Pasta, cous-cous, rice... with veggie, salad are great option. I also eat meat (mostly chicken and fish = easy to prepare and very tasty). When I run out of any ideas (has happened), I have plenty of cook books to find any inspiration. You can buy them in a second hand shop (as I do). If you like soups there is a great and very tasty one. Good for an autumn/winter season.

Lentil soup
250g(8oz) lentils (any)
1l (1 3/4 pints) water
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 carrots
1 stick celery, sliced thinly
400g can of chopped tomatoes
olive oil
1 tbls dried oregano (personally prefer fresh/dried parsley)
salt and black pepper

Boil the lentils for 3 mins first, discard the water. Place them in a large saucepan with water and the rest of ingredients, cover and cook for about 30-40 mins or until the lentils are soft. Serve it with fresh bread if you like.
Enjoy.

TAJ

rog2

If you have any of those 'tupperware' sandwich boxes (we use the containers from our local chinese take-away) you can prepare all sorts, including salads, but best to take dressing separately and add just before you eat. If you have a micro-wave at work, then curries, pasta and soups can give you a good healthy varied diet without sandwiches.
Stay away from the doughnuts and chocolate though.

Mirtos

I take the following in a little tuppaware box or flask: Home Made lentil soup, HM Tomato Soup, HM Green beans in tomato sauce, HM chilli with tortilla chips or a baked potato, Baked pots and tuna mayo. Ummmmm left over curry sometimes. - let me know if you need recipes - I never take anything that I can't make in 10 mins the night before - or have left over from the previous evenings tea!

meerkatgirl

Pop over to the Old Style board - there's heaps of ideas for packed lunches there!

Uniscots97

I like pasta with tuna, sweetcorn and a little mayo. Can't remember who originally posted it on here but tried it and loved it. Its very filling!