Great lunch ideas

tom_styles

Hi all
Looking for some collective wisdom - new year, new resolution - be better at taking cheap, healthy lunches to work, that are delicious enough to ward off the range of city centre treats near the office. Trying to avoid sandwiches ... what great ideas do people have??

Thanks in advance!

PollyWollyDoodle

There are huge savings to be made doing this. Do you have any facilities for 'cooking' at work, eg toaster or microwave?

The cheapest solution is leftovers from the previous night's meal, if you can bear to eat it twice. This may depend on being able to reheat things, although after my work introduced a 'no hot food at your desk' rule, I got quite accustomed to eating cold stew! If you don't fancy this, it's definitely worth cooking extra rice, pasta or potato the night before.

Add some veg or salad, and some protein (egg, cheese, ham, tinned fish, whatever floats your boat) and a bit of interest - toasted seeds, nuts, chopped gherkin, dried fruit - the options are infinite. Frozen peas or corn can be added without cooking, they'll defrost by lunchtime and are perfectly edible. Balsamic vinegar, salad dressing, lemon juice will add some piquancy.

I have stopped doing this now I work from home and perhaps I should start again, because I really miss these lunches!

GreenQueen

How about things that can be eaten with crackers/ryvita/carrot, celery and pepper sticks/olives:
- Hummus
- soft cheese
- mackerel pate
- peanut/almond butter
- veggie spreads/dips

All can be home made or bought

poorweelass

I hate the days when I don't have left overs for lunch

We have a fridge, kettle, microwave and toaster and I do enjoy something hot for lunch

if I don't have leftovers then I throw a small tin of beans in my bag ( I keep small amounts of bread and butter in work ) for beans on toast, or a couple of eggs for scrambled eggs. I make cheese on toast by microwaving the cheese on the plate and then scraping it onto my toast. I also have a toastie bag if I fancy a toasted sandwich. Home made soup in a microwave soup mug also hits the spot

During the hotter days, I like a salad box, with rice or pasta to fill me ( I have a physical job, not a desk job and Im ravenous by 12)

I no longer take a cold sandwich as I find I then add a packet of crisps and a snack bar

My leftovers may not always be left overs, I might be batch cooking a casserole or curry or similar so just portion some out into old take out boxes and freeze them so Im not eating the same every day

Ive even been known to take in left over burgers from BBqs and nuke them with a bit of cheese on and stick them in a toasted bap

So not always the healthiest options but as I say, I work in a very physical job and eating something substantial stops me snacking

trailingspouse

Soup in a flask is a quick and cheap lunch, perfect for cold winter days - either homemade or try the tinned soup from Aldi (my current favourite is the Thai Chicken).

jackrabbit123

I tend to make up for DH and DS (16) so eats alot! pasties, I make a batch of bread dough easier to handle than pastry and then what ever I've cooked be it fish pie,mince chilli, ham filling left over when making pies, I roll out the dough ( usually 8 portions) and then fill the pasties and dampen down the corners with either water or milk or any left over from cooking, and bake for 30 or so mins they come out lovely puffed up and crispy and easy to pack in lunch bags, my DH loves them cold and says they are better than bought ones! Hope this helps.

YORKSHIRELASS

We have a microwave at work but to avoid taking up too much time I buy frozen jacket potatoes from Li@l then take some beans in a tub. Leftovers also work well and I sometimes make HM soup.

Todays lunch was some cold pasta, tuna in mayo with sweetcorn, a chopped tomato and some chopped peppers thrown in a plastic tub!

Wraithlady

For ease, couscous is also very useful - all you need is a kettle (a sieve helps, but you can get by without one) - there are flavoured packets in supermarkets or I take just a small container of the plain stuff to which I add a pinch of salt and pepper, and use it with LO stew or curry - or even to bulk out soup. Just put in a bowl with twice its volume of hot water, leave 5 minutes then drain off any excess.

FrugalAndFabulous

I tend to have a look at the pre-packed lunch options in supermarkets and try recreate them. For example pasta salad etc.