Ja-NEW-ary 2013 - Take your lunch to work thread

stormbreaker

Have you seen this thread for taking your soups etc to work?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4362965

vics199

The parsnip and ginger soup is made - 7 portions. Tastes rather yummy. Needed more water than my original recipe I posted said. Only problem is I burnt my thumb and index finger in the process. No blistering though so luckily no A&E trip required! So the soup only cost me 20p for the ginger as I already had all the other veg to use up.

kittiej

Hey thanks stormbreaker for the linky, excellent for if there's a microwave in work.

Glad the soup was a success vics and 7 portions is a decent amount too! Just a pity we don't have smell-net so we could all have a whiff

penelopedee_2

I would like to join please :wave: I got into really bad habits of nipping out and buying stuff at lunchtimes before Christmas so need to get back into the swing of taking food in.

I will count in days if you don't mind as I want to take all of my meals out of our normal grocery shop as we always have bread and stuff here. There are plenty of mince pies and crisps etc left from Christmas to liven the lunches up.

I just need to keep on the straight and narrow with it I am going to make a bigger effort with weekend and day's off lunches too as at the moment we seem to be popping out for lunches etc when we have a house full of food.

Its not just the sandwiches I buy when I pop out, its the look around the reduced counter and then a few bits that look nice for the family etc ... it soon adds up.

kittiej

OK penlopedee, maybe you could just post up eg 1PL day or something so we can keep track of your success, :wave: and welcome btw

killerpeaty

lionheartedgirl wrote: »

I'm at college a few days a week (it changes all the time) and when I'm in, I have no access to a fridge. I'm quite fussy on keeping things cold but have lots to carry and can't manage a big cool bag as well.

I prefer to have sandwiches for lunch - anything pasta or soup-y doesn't quite hit the spot. but I'm quite partial to oat cakes and things too, so I'll get my thinking cap on as to how I can make this work.

I was going to suggest something like this but the one I had found previously was much smaller, kinda lunch box size I think.. But I'm leaving the link in case they magically have the size..

Also, if you like sandwiches, do you like wraps? I get big wraps (6-8 for £1 from most supermarkets but in lidl and aldi they're cheaper) then I like to put peppers, salad and a meat (or meat substitute like mushrooms or cheese). They taste good hot or cold, plus I find them cheaper than buying bread as I tend to over eat with bread but not with wraps.

Thanks Kittie, I have no recipes, I am very boring with food. But if I venture out a bit, I will definitely let you know! Or I might just take advantage of the free chocolate from my office. Ha ha.

kittiej

Ooo kp can I come and work in your office if there's free choccy :EasterBun

Candlewick

Hi Vics

Your soup sounds lovely. I adore parsnips!

Killerpeaty

Thanks for the idea of wraps! I actually have some in the freezer although I think they've been in there for a good few months!

I have made my mushroom risotto soup. Eat your heart out Pret!

Seriously, it's very yummy and filling. I made a couple of adjustments to the method above.

I needed to add another 200 mls of vegetable stock and rather than add the parmesean on top I added it to the soup.

I used a mixture of brown chestnut & shitake mushrooms.

I decided against the cream!

I estimate the cost of making this soup around £1.75 for 4 portions based on S*insburys prices.

I still have lots of mushrooms left so will add some to my pasta sauce I will make tomorrow.

Not sure what to do with the remainder so may have them for breakfast in the morning!

My other challenge now will be not to eat it all before I go back to work!!

Last week I had no challenges, now they are growing by the day :rotfl:

CW

kittiej

Well done cw, glad your soup lived up to expectations because you weren't too sure this morning. It's amazing what we can do if we put our hearts and minds to it.

I always used to have mushrooms in a bread roll for breakfast, but no more alas!

Now step away from the soup lol.

Dee-Dee

Hi - please can you add me to this one? I'm quite good at taking packed lunches once I am in a routine but once I fall off the wagon I can easily spend £5 a day plus my husband would probably spend £3 a day in his work canteen.

I'm determined to take lunches to work for every working day in January (19 for me) so taking an average spend for me and my husband of £6 per day between us can you put me down for a £74 saving as I reckon I can get our lunches for a max of £10 per week through a combination of taking sandwiches, soups and leftovers! OK seeing that written down has strengthened my resolve - that is a shocking amount! :eek: