cheap work lunches?

[airplane]

HI,
I need to start saving my spending money for my upcoming trip.
I need some ideas for cheap lunches I can bring to work w/ me w/o gaining a million pounds. I get sick of eating sandwiches and frozen entrees every day. What do you bring for your lunches? I need something that is filling, not just salad. For the past couple of weeks I have been bringing Lipton Sides which are cheap (.99) but I know I am going to get sick of those soon.
Thanks for any advice.

 

[swilshire]

Leftovers are an obvious choice.

We baked some potatoes last night and I took one of those today along with a container of butter, cheese and sour cream. I added a homegrown tomato and had a very satisfying lunch.

Some of the Stouffers frozen foods are quite good. We buy the family size for home and if I'm lucky, there will be a bowl full left. Our favorite is the Chicken Broccoli Bake, with the lasagna a close second.

I keep a couple of cans of Campbells chunky soups in my desk for days when I don't have anything else. One of the big cans will last me two lunches.

I bought a bag of peaches last week, so I've been taking one of those for snacks. Much better than my usual choices.

I'm sure I'll think of more things later and will add another post.

Sheila

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I keep the cans of tuna or the packets of tuna in my desk for those days when I am just too lazy to bring a lunch. They are the ones with the pop top. I usually scrounge up a couple of packets of mayo and I am good to go. A bag of salad mix goes a long way too. If you add some croutons and dressing it will fill you w/out putting on the lbs. I try to keep the fixin's in my room in a small fridge and it is very economical. If you buy a salad from a restaurant even for take out it will be around five or six dollars but this way you can get away for about two AND have a good salad.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

I like the green giant boxed veggies (frozen) - some have rice or potatoes or a seasoning or sauce- like broccoli and cheese, creamed spinach etc. They are often on sale and I like them as is, sometimes with some extras- a tortilla or veggie sticks, etc.

I also like the low fat turkey hot dogs and they only take 30 seconds to microwave!

 

[deltachi8]

Each day I have Yougurt ($0.25 at Aldi or $0.38 at Super WalMart) and Oatmeal ($0.20 per bag, $1.99 per 10 at BigLots).

 

[pearlieq]

They have little single serve cups of baked beans (or just buy a big can and divide into little dishes). That with some low fat ham/hot dog/sausage and a piece of fruit makes a filling and reasonably healthy lunch (lots of sodium, but probably not much worse than most packaged foods).

Wonton cups are fun for lunches as well. You can get a big packet of wonton skins at the grocery store. When you get home, spray a muffin tin with cooking spray, and then line the cups with the wonton skins. Bake at 375 for about 8-9 minutes until the skins are golden and crispy. Take them out of the oven and add your favorite filling--chicken salad, tuna salad, chili, taco meat, beans and corn, barbecue meat--anything goes! Pop them back into the oven until the filling is heated through. You can pack a couple of these and either enjoy them cold or pop them into the microwave for a few seconds to warm them up. It's a fun way to dress up plain leftovers.

Calzones are great too! You can use refrigerated biscuit dough or make your own with reduced-fat Bisquick. Just flatten the biscuits out to about 6", fill with any kind of meat/cheese/sauce you like (another great way to use up leftovers) and then fold them over and seal. Bake according to the biscuit pack directions or until they are golden brown.

 

[mommytotwo]

An alternative to sandwiches is making them into rolls using tortilla wraps or pita bread.
Mac and cheese. If you eat rice, you could make musubis aka rice balls.

 

[Shagley]

If you like meatloaf sandwiches, try this.

My favorite is fried / grilled meatloaf sandwiches. Make up meatloaf as you normally do, make into patties, and fry or grill like hamburgers. Then put on a bun and they are GOOD!

Any meatloaf recipe will do, but I use...
1 lb. hamburger, 1 small onion (chopped), 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs, 1 to 2 eggs, and a few splashes of worchester sauce mixed together. Then for a glaze I mix ketchup and brown sugar - almost equal parts but a little less of the brown sugar - and spread that on top of the patties when they are just about done cooking (it sounds gross, but it is good). This makes about 8 patties and is usually enough for dinner and a few lunches.

This isn't really low fat, but you can use lean beef or ground turkey and it won't be as bad.

I tend to make dinners specifically with the thought of having leftovers for lunch the next day.

 

[planning06]

Leftovers (of course)

Make a pasta salad on the weekend and bring for lunch during the week.

Cheese sticks, slickes, cubes, etc.

Fresh veggies with lf dipping sauce.

Any fruit.

Yogurt or cottage cheese.

Tortilla wraps are great. Try a thin layer of lf cream cheese, some grated lf american or cheddar cheese, some grated carrot, and deli ham.

Lf triscuits with lf laughing cow cheese. Makes a great satisfying late afternoon snack.

Bring a baggie with some frozen edamame beans. I get a huge bag from Sam's Club. By the time I'm ready to eat them they are defrosted.

I much prefer foods you make yourself than boxed and canned processed foods. They tend to have a lot of sodium and fat (including trans fats).

 

[swilshire]

Make an extra big batch of your favorite casserole for dinner over the weekend and take leftovers for lunch a couple of days during the week. You could even freeze a few individual servings.

Two of my favorites are a chicken with stuffing dish and a potato casserole loaded with cheese and topped with cornflakes.

I've found it's much easier if I pack my lunch in the evening when we're cleaning up after dinner. Nothing sounds good in the morning before work.

Sheila

 

[grlpwrd]

...just taking notes...

What wonderful ideas..thanks!

 

[branv]

I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but I've started making extra for every meal. I.e. I make an extra chicken breast, etc., for dinner, and pack it up for DH to eat the next day. The good thing is that if he really doesn't feel like eating the very same thing the next day, usually this food will keep for one more day in the fridge. Stirfry w/ either rice or noodles, stews, pasta, etc. reheat SO well.

Other things we do:

Chili dogs - they make those individual sizes of chili. I send DH with two hot dogs, two buns, chili and a small container of shredded cheese. If you want to be healthy, you can have turkey dogs and the low fat chili.

Wraps - we do this too! I buy some of the spiffy mayo's like Pesto mayo, wrap it with Turkey and Provolone on one of those large low-carb whole wheat tortillas.

Pitas: few combos could be tuna mixed with italian dressing, chopped up water chestnuts, cheese and spinach leaves. Or season and cook turkey/chicken meatballs the night before and serve in the pita with hummus spread on the inside w/ sprinkles of feta.

Pasta Salad: super easy to boil up some rotini pasta, toss in some tuna and italian dressing. If you like veggies, you can add green peppers, and cherry tomatoes.

If you have a toaster oven, you could make Bagel pizzas - just take some sauce and mozzarella.

 

[LindaBabe]

I cook a whole pound of bacon on the weekend and put the leftovers in the fridge. Also boil a dozen eggs. I take two eggs and two strips of bacon, sometimes eat for breakfast - if not lunch, wth salad or cut veggies with dip, leftover fish or meat, snack size bag with two spoons ful of peanuts for dessert. Apple. cheese. for afternoon snack. I can eat some variation of this day after day.

 

[crazelion]

How a fruit salad. That would be good for lunch. Fresh watermelon, peaches and bannnas.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I've been bringing those ready-rice side dishes as my lunch. Zatairain's, Uncle Ben and Rice-a-Roni all make them now, they're less than $2 apiece and they take 60 - 90 seconds in the microwave. Yes, I know they're supposed to be side dishes, but they're just so convenient!
Also those prepared tuna meals - a small can of tuna, some crackers, a little spreader thingie and you're good to go.
Also those, um, frozen pb&j sandwiches (the name escapes me at the moment). Take them out of the freezer in the morning, leave them someplace safe all morning and they're nicely thawed by lunchtime.
Then add a small salad or whatever vegetables are on sale

 

[OceanAnnie]

Sometimes I just don't want to go to alot of trouble, but I still want a frugal meal. Leftovers are great, but sometimes I just want to go out even if it's just to pick something up. You know, those gotta get out of the office days. It's also nice to have something ready made on hand at the office.

Wendy's Dollar Menu-

1 baked potato + 1 chili. I put sour cream on the potato
and then pour the chili on top. Tastes great. Especially
good on a cold, rainy day. $2

1 side salad + 1 chicken nugget order. Cut up the chicken
nuggets add to salad. $2

ETA- Now and then I'll get a kid's meals at McDonalds.

Dollar Store-

They have the chicken salad & cracker kits (salad already made
up!). For a dollar! Six crackers, little spoon and the salad. They
have ham, chicken, tuna, lemon pepper tuna. They are all good.

Like other posters, I have kept soup, oatmeal, and assorted things
at my desk.

 

[mommy22gurlz]

I love pasta so I sometimes make angel hair pasta and just some spaghetti sauce mixed with it, I can buy one 16oz. pasta for about 89cents and a jar of ragu sauce for about 1.40 and I only make enough for that days worth and put the jar back in the fridge and I just make it daily and this will last me for about a weeks work of lunches for about $2.30! I just sprinkle some parmesean cheese on top!!

 

[RadioFanatic]

I'm a big fan of the Smart Ones frozen meals - there are a bunch for $1.99 each or less and they are less fattening.

 

[airplane]

These are great ideas. Thank you so much.
In no time I will have plenty of extra spending money for the important things

 

[Jsme]

If you have a Costco membership you can buy the South Beach Diet wrap kits a variety pack of 4 kits for $8.29. It comes with enough to make 2 wraps and a small sugar free jello. I buy these for the pool during the summer.