New job and I need ideas for not buying food on the go

theoretica

Rice got its bad name for food poisoning thanks to the sort of canteen that keeps food warm all day and adds new stuff to the half empty tray.  I cook large batches and reheat what I want to eat without worry.  I am not too worried about reheating only to luke warm either - it won't kill any bacteria that are in there as heating it to boiling would do, but it will only be warm for a few minutes before it is all eaten, so not much time for bacteria to breed.

Longwalker

theoretica said:

Rice got its bad name for food poisoning thanks to the sort of canteen that keeps food warm all day and adds new stuff to the half empty tray.  I cook large batches and reheat what I want to eat without worry.  I am not too worried about reheating only to luke warm either - it won't kill any bacteria that are in there as heating it to boiling would do, but it will only be warm for a few minutes before it is all eaten, so not much time for bacteria to breed.

Best practice for rice thats going to be eaten a few days after cooking is to cool as fast as possible - cold water - and freeze 

When working cooking for the public, rice was cooked, cooled as soon as cooked ( running under cold water ) and used in 48 hrs 

I personally have stopped using the absorption method as well. I boil in a big pan of boiling water

Kerreh

JIL said:

I dont freeze sandwiches, but I freeze buttered bread.
If I pick up reduced bread, I portion it up, slice any rolls and butter the bread. Freezing in lunchtime portions. The night before work, I take it out of the freezer, and fill it whilst still frozen.
By doing it this way, just gives me more choice of fillings.

I never eat breakfast, I have to be up and about for a couple of hours before I feel hungry. If I'm at work, I tend to calorie count my lunch box and add my dinner on to my daily intake if that makes sense.

My lunch box, could be 2 rolls with protein (such as quorn ham, tuna and cucumber, cheese and pickle, egg mayo) a yogurt, fruit, a cereal bar, sometimes crisps or nuts,  carrot sticks, hummus, all adding up to about 850 calories and I eat a bit about 10.30 and some more at 1.30. In winter I do supplement with home made soup. 

When I get home I have my dinner.

Works for me.

Pretty much the same here... I buy bread/rolls and freeze them into lunchtime portions and defrost overnight so they're fresh the next day. Hadn't thought about freezing them buttered but then butter is one of my 'can save a few cals here' approaches - I stick a bit of cucumber in the roll for moisture (roll contents shoved in tupperware and put in the roll just prior to eating for the avoidance of soggyness).

No breakfast
lunch - Salad roll (lettuce, cucumber, whatever meat/protein is going oftentimes leftover from weekend roast - this week it's pork loin sliced up)
yoghurt
cherry tomatoes
cheese (I'm a sucker for snack cheese so buy a massive block and cut down into 25g cubed portions - much cheaper!).

All in comes to about 600 cals usually, then have dinner. I know sandwiches for lunch probably sound boring but I've tried crackers, salads, soups etc and found that I'm still wanting for *something*... a bread roll sorts that out!

YoungBlueEyes

Similar here Kerreh. Breakfast is a couple of black coffees, a banana, and a few spoons of kefir. Lunch is always a sandwich no matter the weather - nothing else ever feels…. right? I’m satisfied after a sandwich, anything else leaves me feeling lacking 🤷‍♀️

Pixie_Cosmo

When I was in the office, I'd take in breakfast and lunch, calorie controlled and cheap.

Breakfasts were greek yogurt and fruit in a tub, or yogurt pot with a cereal bar and fruit, or overnight oats, or an overnight chia pudding. Used the microwave to make porridge in the winter. I also went through a phase of breakfast burritos - make 8, freeze in foil, leave in the fridge overnight to defrost then reheat (sans foil!!) in the microwave. We didn't have an office toaster.

Lunches - hm soup or tinned soup if on offer, with pitta bread, and a snack. Or cheese, biscuits and crudites, hm houmous (freezes well too!), oatcakes and crudites with fruit. Pitta bread freezes well, and 10 secs in the microwave warms them up nicely, so I'd also take in a small Greek salad filling to go with sometimes.

Lots of things I could prep the night before as I had to leave early for my commute. I tended to avoid sandwiches as they used up a lot of my calorie allowance, and I do love a bag of crisps with a sarnie! I did put on weight working from home :-( 

Good luck!

lookstraightahead

Thanks everyone. I'll let you know how I get on the first week 😊

eamon

Just to reinforce your ambition re staying in control and in/under budget. Research & Planning is everything.

lookstraightahead

Hello all! First week went well. In one environment I have to literally carry everything around with me so no fridge etc, on the other site I have access to a kitchen and all mod cons 😁. I'm taking a frozen roll/sandwich on the days I carry round, with a banana fur breakfast,  and this week I made a big couscous  salad for the other days. I had one packet of crisps over calories on one day which I think is good going.

im batch cooking a chicken curry and a stew today which will make 6 meals of two portions that I can freeze for evening meals. 

I've spent no money on snacks (except the crisps 😂).

I take a flask of coffee in and bought a rucksack to save my shoulders as I'm walking a lot. 

Feel a bit like a snail 🙈😂

joedenise

Well done.  Keep it up and you'll save yourself a fortune!

Katiehound

Congratulations