Not sure where to look,need ideas on taking lunches to work

Frankie100

Hi everyone,
Ive tried looking for a thread regarding packed lunches at work,I spend a fortune in the drinks machine and chocolate machine and the local cafe at work.
I really want to start taking in lunch,s and tea,s from home which will save me money,we have a microwave at work but sometimes it works,most times it dosent.
I work shift work,one shift ends at 9pm so on that shift my tea will be around the 6pm mark.
Does anyone have a links about making cheap lunches for work please:)

Tixy

Hi Frankie

Hopefully some ideas on these threads, to get you started.

solventsoon wrote: »

Lunch for Work.
Laptop Lunchbox Ideas.
Packed Lunches.
Cheap Healthy Snacks
Muesli & Cereal Bar Recipes.
Low Carb Kids Lunches...contains advice for diabetics.
Kids Lunch Box Ideas.
Back to School Lunches.

And Packed Lunch for work

Frankie100

Thank you so much Tixy,gonna have a good read of them and hopefully say farewell to my very expensive lunches at work.Very much appreciated

happycamel_2

BBC Good Food website has loads, literally thousands, of recipes, all free. You can filter by meal and also ingredients so you can find a recipe to suit your fridge!

getmore4less

You ask about lunch but the spends are not all lunch related.

Drink water(if you like cold freeze/chill at home) or just have a multipack of pop no machine cans.

Good breakfast/eat before work will help

plenty of alternatives to a choc machine, fruit/veg

end of the day it's cost.

you don't have to eat 3 meals fixed times

eat to the needs of the body

experience08

Frankie100 wrote: »

Hi everyone,
Ive tried looking for a thread regarding packed lunches at work,I spend a fortune in the drinks machine and chocolate machine and the local cafe at work.
I really want to start taking in lunch,s and tea,s from home which will save me money,we have a microwave at work but sometimes it works,most times it dosent.
I work shift work,one shift ends at 9pm so on that shift my tea will be around the 6pm mark.
Does anyone have a links about making cheap lunches for work please:)

Eat what you want mate. Humans need food (& sex) so no need to be stingy. What's the point of going to work if you can't eat what you like at the works cafe.

Frankie100

experience08 wrote: »

Eat what you want mate. Humans need food (& sex) so no need to be stingy. What's the point of going to work if you can't eat what you like at the works cafe.

Its the fact when I go into the works cafe its costing me around £4.00 per day,adding that with bits and bobs in the drinks and toffee machines mean Im actually forking out around £6.50 per day and im there 6 days a week:eek:

Thanks to everyone whos contributed to my thread,without doubt Im going to save a fortune and every penny that I save will go on to my credit card,Ive got £1,300 to find before next March and my food at work has to be one of the things to stop.

Thank you so much everybody!:T

SOT2011

Good Luck with saving some pennies by doing this.

I am sure the recipe links already attached will be great. What really worked in the past for me when I used to work the sort of hours you mention was to make a big batch of something like pasta salad, cous cous or rice salad or something similar, usually enough to last 3 days for my "main meal" at tea time, somehow seemed more satisfying than sandwiches at that time of day, but still really easy & cost effective if you choose sensible recipes. I found after 3 days I needed a change, but it was well worth doing.

If I needed to cover 2 meals out of the house I would take sandwiches for the other, and also tried to make sure I had at least one snack with me to avoid temptation, usually a piece of fruit and a pack of crisps - about half the cost of a vending machine packet if you buy a multipack.

If you don't have access to a fridge at work it might be worth getting one of those insulated sandwich bags and a couple of freezer blocks to go in it, that way it is still cool and fresh when you come to eat it.

Frankie100

Fantastic ideas SOT and ones that will certainly help me at work.Your right about the shifts,some days i work from 8am till 8pm or 9pm and its on those days I spend a fortune.
There is a fridge at work but Im never in the same place all the time but insulated sandwich bags will really help me(are they ok to re-use them?)
The hardest part will be not taking any money to work with me,its guarrenteed if I go for a coffee and a friends with me i will always buy them one(70p each) but I,ll just carry my water bottle around with me and fill it up when its empty,I drink far too much coffee anyway!

Im really looking forward to doing this,the only problem I can see is if I end up eating everything ive brought to work by mid day but I,ll have to work on that one.
Many thanks indeed SOT,very much appreciated.

Tink_04

I do a tuna pasta salad and make enough for a few days worth too - I also make soup in the winter and take it in a flask so its ready to eat. When I used to do 12 hour shifts id take something like a Muller rice as a snack which filled me up till my main meal. If your drinking lots of water too you will prob find your less hungry.

ms_night_ryder

I just make it up depending what I cook, today for dinner I had a salmon fillet, chunky coleslaw and a sald, with a pitta bread it was yummy! So for lunch tomorrow, I will have a wrap which I have just taken out the freezer, coleslaw and a salmon fillt, I just made 2. Dunno abt tuesday, will prob make atuna pasta saad and bring that in.