Healthy filling frugal packed lunch?

babyboysmommy

Thank you. The last 3 years I have sent him off on Mondays with his evening meals, HM, but I've not had to provide breakfast or lunch so apart from the pay cut it's going to increase our food bill too so a double hit. Loving the ideas, thank you.

torbrex

Just to add about the salad, I use the ready washed bags of 'crunchy salad' from Lidl, not the most MSE way of doing it but at 89p a bag, it saves me time in the mornings and I get at least four lunches out of a bag, sometimes five

onthecatbus

Spanish omlette/frittata is really nice cold - basically a thick omelette with chunks of potato in it, cooked underneath on the hob then finished off under the grill. Very filling too!

Couscous with chopped cooked chicken, chopped up veggies and a mix of 1tbsp tomato puree, one tbsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp lemon juice is pretty tasty.

I sometimes make sushi for our lunches, it's actually really easy to make and doesn't have to be too pricey if you just use bog standard carrots, cucumber, tinned sweetcorn and tuna or ham in the middle, maybe mixed with a little mayo. The rice isn't too pricey from t*sco, and the nori (seaweed wrap) is about £2 for 10 sheets, and I'd say the sushi you get using one sheet would be a very good sized lunch! You don't need a bamboo mat either, a clean dry teatowel does the job fine

JIL

I often make an omelette and roll it in a wrap. You can add cheese and sauces, wrap in foil. Easy to eat cheap and filling. Especially if you buy the ingredients from lidl.

Alli135

Onthecatbus - how long can you make sushi in advance? I am hoping you can make the night before! Love Sushi and have everything to make it with just don't have time in the morning.

NewShadow

This costs pennies, is very filling, very tasty cold, and is really good for you (see nutritional stats here)

Ingredients

• 250g fine green beans or fine sliced carrots, or peas
• 1 tin chopped toms
• 2 little onions or 1 med-lge one
• 65g sultanas
• 250g dry weight couscous
• 20ml oil

to taste:

• 2tsp garlic
• 2tsp mustard
• 2tsp curry powder (or garam/cumin/chilli)
• 1tsp sugar

Defrost veg if frozen.

Drain the liquid from the tin of tomatoes and pour over the sultanas. Soak the sultanas in freshly boiled water, stirring as you add it, leave to plump.

Fry the onions and garlic/spices in the oil (you'll need a large Wok or equivalent.

Stir in the tomatoes and your veg.

Add the sultanas and the liquid from the jug.

Turn off the heat and add the couscous - top up with extra boiling water if needed to hydrate the couscous (keep stirring - the fished mix should be dry, so try to not add too much water, I use a little under 1L in total - inc the tomato/sultana water)

Stir in 2 tsp of mustard, taste and adjust seasoning accordingly.

This freezes well, can be batch cooked to use a full kilo of couscous (if you've a big enough pan) and makes 4 generous lunch portions - I normally have it with a boiled egg and chopped gherkin, but you could serve as is or with diced cooked meat stirred through.

Seakay

wholemeal pasta is more filling and has more nutrients than white, ditto wholemeal and granary bread.
veggie sushi and can be made a couple of days in advance if necessary

zippychick

this thread has loads of ideas as well as cheap healthy snacks

I'll merge this later

ZIP

RicardaRacoon

I love all sorts of pasta-, rice-, potatoe- and couscous salads. You can bulk them up with loads of veggies but you still have something filling in them. And you can very well adampt them to the season.

For example in winter you could make couscous with roasted veggies like pepper, courgette, eggplant etc. In summer you can take tomatoes, cucumbers and cheese or peach, cucumber, red curry paste and left over chicken.

Or healthy-ish sandwichs with a small salad or some fruit/veg. Something like tuna mixed with some ketchup and quark or yoghurt and loads of cucumber. Just think Pret-sandwichs, but hm and not as expensive.

zaxdog

Today I got a pack of chicken drumsticks from Lidl's half price weekend and roasted them (half with tandoori and half with paprika) one they cooled I wrapped them in foil and stacked in the freezer to grab and go :j. That with a flask of coffee, a wee pack of biscuits and a couple of pieces of fruit does my OH for a lunch :-)