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

Charlton_King

HariboJunkie wrote: »

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.

Like many people who work out there in today's Thatcherite society, she has a 'lunch 20 minutes' rather than a lunch hour. Much 'preparation' at work is also a non-starter, sadly.

NemoToad

If she really has no time in the evening then the idea of jacket potatoes is a good one. Buy 5 baking potatoes (probably about 1.50), some cheese (a block would work out cheaper if she takes in a grater to work) and a tub of butter. That would last for a week and be a lot cheaper than £10. She could buy some fruit and take that in too, and have a lettuce and some cherry tomatoes to go with the jacket.

If she has a toaster another idea would be to buy a packet of pitta breads (about 50p) and a tub of houmous (80p). Toast the pitta and tear up and dip in the houmous. If she'd rather she could buy felafal (about 1.50) and some lettuce and tomatoes (about 1.50) and stuff pitta with all them and the houmous into the pitta.

She could buy 5 tins of soup (most supermarkets have offers on soup) and a loaf of bread (if she keeps it in the fridge at work it will keep for longer) and then have a nice warming meal of soup (heated in the microwave) and bread

HariboJunkie

Charlton_King wrote: »

Like many people who work out there in today's Thatcherite society, she has a 'lunch 20 minutes' rather than a lunch hour. Much 'preparation' at work is also a non-starter, sadly.

I understand that time is tight for her but surely putting a piece of cheese between 2 bits of bread and getting an apple or some crisps out of a bag to go with it can't take more than a minute at most.

I've no more suggestions unfortunately so I wish you luck in finding her a solution.

Charlton_King

NemoToad wrote: »

If she really has no time in the evening then the idea of jacket potatoes is a good one. Buy 5 baking potatoes (probably about 1.50), some cheese (a block would work out cheaper if she takes in a grater to work) and a tub of butter. That would last for a week and be a lot cheaper than £10. She could buy some fruit and take that in too, and have a lettuce and some cherry tomatoes to go with the jacket.

If she has a toaster another idea would be to buy a packet of pitta breads (about 50p) and a tub of houmous (80p). Toast the pitta and tear up and dip in the houmous. If she'd rather she could buy felafal (about 1.50) and some lettuce and tomatoes (about 1.50) and stuff pitta with all them and the houmous into the pitta.

She could buy 5 tins of soup (most supermarkets have offers on soup) and a loaf of bread (if she keeps it in the fridge at work it will keep for longer) and then have a nice warming meal of soup (heated in the microwave) and bread

Excellent ideas, Nemo. I hadn't thought of the pitta bread. Spot on.

shelovestobuystuff

Basically she needs microwave ready meals.These are usually expensive but I had a look on Tesco website and found some things,heres some examples.
light choices vegetable lasagne-buy 2 save £1 so just £2.10 for 2 just now.
fresh soups in 600g pots-94p(this would be too much for one lunch so it could do 2 days)
chicago town twin pack pizzas(little round ones to microwave in various flavours))-£1.60
Tesco bacon,mushroom and pepper quiche 400g-£1(again this would do 2 lunches at least)

belfastgirl23

Oatcakes are very good and filling. you could have with banana or peanut butter or cheese. Mostly they come in 5 oatcake 'serving' packs so you wouldn't leave a packet open at work. The lidl ones are particularly nice in my opionion - 75p for a pack of 4 portions.

Also what about cereal? Porridge is good and filling and takes literally 90 secs in the micro. Muesli can also be a good-ish meal (I'm flexible about when you eat what personally )

Otherwise I'd suggest she watches out for offers on slightly more ready meals. Covent garden soups are on 2 for £3 at the minute and with a bit of bread one pack does two meals. And they are lovely. Or tins of soup either...

Finally though if she is cooking for the kids anyway and doesn't mind the same thing two days in a row I'd suggest just cooking an extra portion of dinner each night (it is no effort to throw in some extra pasta to boil) and having it the next day. I often do this and it tastes different the next day and I also vary hot and cold too...

MonkeyGirl

In lidl and Asda there are tins of well i'm not sure what it is but it has meat and veg and pots its a small ish tin but I find it filling. The ones I normally pick up have ham, vegtables and potates in or a chicken one with veg and pots. You just open the tin and add salt or pepper etc and eat it. You can have it hot or cold I eat it cold. What about things like breakfast bars / museli bars?

Charlton_King

Some more good ideas, thank you. I have the feeling she'd like to avoid 'ready meals' but, in her situation, maybe she'd find it difficult to steer completely clear of them.

liz545

In the supermarket, buy a couple of red peppers, pack of cherry toms, little gem lettuce, bag of couscous, and her choice of tinned tuna/mackerel/chargrilled chicken fillets. Then for lunch, put 3-4 tbsp of couscous in a mug, top up with boiling water, and stand for 5 mins or so until it's soaked up the water and gone fluffy (if you prefer you could add a veg stock cube). Serve with a simple salad and the meat/fish. Other good things to keep in the office would be oatcakes, tinned soup, yogurt, cereal, sliced meat, cheese, porridge, and maybe some ready meal type things - like microwaveable rice, instant mashed potato, spaghetti hoops. Sainsburys have a range called "2 minute meals" that's got things like curries, meatballs, chili etc in microwaveable pouches, and it's long life so she could keep it under her desk, and just top the fridge up once a week with fruit & veg. But in all honesty, if her work is so demanding that she barely has time for a lunch break every day and leaves work too exhausted to even make dinner, she needs to talk to her manager and reconsider her work. It sounds like she might be working above the legal maximum number of hours and this can have serious implications for your health & happiness!

Chris_Nowak

What about a tin of sardines on toast (if there's a toaster available) and then a low fat yoghurt/fromage frais and an apple/banana to finish? You could probably squeeze a muesli bar or suchlike in to go with coffee and still come out at under £1.

I know that's only one suggestion but it seems pretty healthy to me and the 'preparation time' is next to nothing.