'Non-packed lunch' suggestions for ultra busy worker?

Charlton_King

The busiest person I know is in one of those catch-22 situations - so exhausted of an evening that she can't find the time to do anything but flop - and then she pays for this by having to purchase expensive baguette type lunch snacks from the delivery van which goes around her industrial estate. £2 a time or nearly.

So here's the challenge:

Can you recommend anything she could buy which would be nourishing and filling and involve just one trip to the shop/supermarket per week (she has a fridge available to her at work).

One restricting condition is that she has to avoid pastry, so things like sausage rolls and pasties are out.

Can you save her, say, half of her £10 weekly outlay, i.e. keep it to £1 per day?

HariboJunkie

Surely she would have time to make up a salad or baguette in the evening?

Why not have a look at these older threads for ideas.

Packed lunch ideas on the cheap

Cheap packed lunch ideas

juliapenguin

Cheese and biscuits? Cheese and maybe butter in a tub in the fridge, a variety of biscuits in a tin/tub in her drawer? Plus an apple and/or some pickles?

squeaky

We can do even better - no shopping trip at all.

I know you said buy but there's really no need.

Any time that she makes any sort of stew, casserole, curry, chilli... pasta dishes... At weekends I guess if she's very busy (and a slow cooker can help during the week).

..all she has to do is to make double or triple the usual amount and then freeze it in portions. She'll quickly build up a collection of fast food ready meals - either for work or when she gets home.

WE have links full of easy ideas - though you'll obviously need to cherry pick for those that suit your friend's life style and tastes:-

Lunch:
- Best sandwich?
- Cheap and practical lo-carb
- Desk top sweet snacks
- Food on the go
- For work
- Healthy eating (packed lunch ideas?)
- Lunch for work(salads)
- Packed lunch
- Packed lunch - Advice On Daughter Please!
- Ploughman's
- Problem with pack-up

Spendless

What about her making sandwiches up on a w/end and freezing them? Many fillings will freeze (a few won't). All the bits and pieces (eg crisps or a biscuit etc) I'd recommend putting them all in the same biscuit tin/tupperware container, then you literally throw in a few bits for your lunch.

Failing that I would buy a weeks worth of bread rolls, freeze them, packets of ham say and keep butter in fridge and work and make them up at work.

HariboJunkie

That's a really good idea Spendless.

Charlton King.... There's a thread about freezing sandwiches here

Roz_V

Does she have a microwave at work? If yes, jacket potatoes

If not it's a bit trickier...

Charlton_King

Thanks for the ideas so far. Yes, she does have a microwave at work.

I'd ask people to take seriously the idea of this lady having zero time for home food preparation. That is why I mention buying and nothing else. I won't go into all the detail but, amongst other things, she is a single mother who is heavily involved with chauffeuring children/housework/main meals during her evenings, weekends and early mornings.

So... any more buying suggestions please?

shelovestobuystuff

She could buy a small bag of white potatoes and some cheese,coleslaw,mayo,tuna,a couple of onions,a bag of mixed salad and have a baked potato every day with a different filling.She could even keep bits of curries etc that she has at home to take in for her potato the next day.
Should be able to find plenty of healthy ready meals to keep in the fridge.

Nessa56

She could alternate between jacket potatoes, soups and sandwiches which she could make up at work. that should prevent any boring repetition?

HariboJunkie

Charlton_King wrote: »

Thanks for the ideas so far. Yes, she does have a microwave at work.

I'd ask people to take seriously the idea of this lady having zero time for home food preparation. That is why I mention buying and nothing else. I won't go into all the detail but, amongst other things, she is a single mother who is heavily involved with chauffeuring children/housework/main meals during her evenings, weekends and early mornings.

So... any more buying suggestions please?

I don't think anyone is not taking the idea of her lack of time seriously. There are alot of us in a similar position. If she doesn't have any time at all to prep a sandwich at night then I would suggest she just buys bread, cold meat, cheese, soup etc and makes her lunch in her lunch hour.
If she does any cooking at home then why not suggest Squeaky's idea of bulk cooking and freezing portions for taking to work.