Ideas for inexpensive relatively healthy lunches?

[Tazicket]

DH and I are trying to eat better and also stay within the budget. The problem is sandwiches get really old really fast. Anybody have any ideas to mix it up without blowing the budget?

 

[goodeats]

I usually have leftovers from dinner for lunch.

 

[Lewski709]

sorry wrong thread

How about tortillas with cheese and herbs for home made quesadillas?

 

[Tazicket]

I usually have leftovers from dinner for lunch.

I would prefer that, but DH wants to do the leftover dinner stuff for dinner the next night to help save more, since lunch stuff should be less expensive to buy than dinner stuff.

 

[DisneyDawnNH]

Those new Hillshire Farm salad kits are really good! We have been buying them on sale with Q's and getting them for less than $2 each along with a bag salad to use with it for about 2 a bag. It is a great healthy lunch!

 

[Tazicket]

How about tortillas with cheese and herbs for home made quesadillas?

Those new Hillshire Farm salad kits are really good! We have been buying them on sale with Q's and getting them for less than $2 each along with a bag salad to use with it for about 2 a bag. It is a great healthy lunch!

What great ideas! They sound yummy. Thanks!


Any other ideas?

 

[Bren's Mom]

I like tuna wraps. Or tuna in a hollowed out tomato if I have no wraps.

Other wraps I like are herbed cream cheese with a few slices of turkey, ham or roast beef and lettuce & tomato. You can cut it into bite size pieces after rolling it all up.

I like salads with a leftover piece of meat on top...sometimes there's not enough for 2 for dinner but there's enough for 1 lunch. Like a piece of grilled chicken or grilled fish. Leftover taco meat goes on a salad too...and you can easily make a tortilla bowl too to eat it in!

 

[Todd&Copper]

I am on a sandwich kick now, but before that I was into soups (I got cans for $0.50 - $1 on sale) and coupled it with some crackers and fresh fruit (apples at the time).
Last winter, I was on a "frozen dinner" kick and got Lean Cuisine and/or WW frozen meals for less than $2 each and added a bit of veggies or coupled it with a piece of fruit or carrot sticks.
I'll probably move on to a pita or wrap kick before the summer is over.

 

[eacatwork]

I started making my own "lean cuisine/smart ones" meals. I buy frozen chicken breast in the big bag...20 breasts for $9.95 @ Wegmans ($0.50 per breast). I cook five of them on the grill on Sunday. I make 5 servings of a "starch"...either couscous, brown rice, or barley...and then I portion out the 5 meals into microwaveable containers. Each morning, I add a serving of a frozen vegetable to round out my meal. These meals wind up being cheaper than LC/WWSO/HC meals, better tasting (because I can season the chicken however I want...BBQ sauce, Monterey seasoning, teriyaki sauce, etc.), and better for me (less sodium usually...and no preservatives). I've found that because I can vary the flavor of the chicken, I never tire of these meals.

 

[Karalea]

Lately, I have been mixing up a can of black beans with some salsa and shredded low-fat shredded cheese and having it for lunch on a whole wheat tortilla with a little fat free sour cream. Sometimes I add in a little leftover chicken or corn if I have it.

Delicious, filling and one can of beans last for 3-4 lunches.

 

[Tazicket]

Yay! There is hope! We don't have to be doomed to boring sandwiches everyday!! Thank you so much!!

 

[Kate and Pete]

Subscribing because I'm looking for ideas, too! Keep 'em coming - DH will be so happy! He's been eating canned chili for lunch for at least a year!

 

[Tazicket]

I started making my own "lean cuisine/smart ones" meals. I buy frozen chicken breast in the big bag...20 breasts for $9.95 @ Wegmans ($0.50 per breast). I cook five of them on the grill on Sunday. I make 5 servings of a "starch"...either couscous, brown rice, or barley...and then I portion out the 5 meals into microwaveable containers. Each morning, I add a serving of a frozen vegetable to round out my meal. These meals wind up being cheaper than LC/WWSO/HC meals, better tasting (because I can season the chicken however I want...BBQ sauce, Monterey seasoning, teriyaki sauce, etc.), and better for me (less sodium usually...and no preservatives). I've found that because I can vary the flavor of the chicken, I never tire of these meals.

So do you keep them all frozen and then microwave it all together at lunch?

 

[Tazicket]

Subscribing because I'm looking for ideas, too! Keep 'em coming - DH will be so happy! He's been eating canned chili for lunch for at least a year!

That's A LOT of chili!

 

[tink fan]

We make burritos a lot around here.

Sam's has a pack of Mission tortillas 36 for $2.88 and Kraft Mexican shredded cheese for 4 lbs for about $5.

We use leftover chicken, or refried beans (only $1 per can and last a couple days), or eggs, or sometimes just cheese as the filling.

Put them in the microwave for about 30-40 seconds and you have instant lunch.

I'll even send them for my husband's lunch because he has access to a microwave.

 

[mjantz]

I do lots of leftovers and I've done quesadillas which are incredibly easy to assemble, even in a classroom of preschoolers! A few tricks I use:

-canned chicken or grilled mixed with a little taco seasoning (leftover taco ground beef works well too)
-shredded 'fiesta blend' cheese is my fave but a cheddar Monterrey Jack cheese works as well.
-A few tablespoons of salsa or pico de gallo can add a nice zing.

Also, if you're tired of the standard sandwiches, try different breads. I love pitas, bagels (I've found square 'bagel bread'), even hamburger & hot dog buns. Even a simple ham & cheese becomes something a bit more special when you can slip it in an onion pita.
If you like hummus, try hummus with fresh veggies & pita wedges. I like roasted garlic but even plain is good stuff.

 

[englishteacha]

I sometimes eat breakfast cereal for lunch. I put the cereal in a tupperware bowl and some milk in a small bottle and I'm good to go. I only have 20 minutes at lunch (I'm a teacher), so whatever I have I have to be able to prepare and eat within that time frame. I often avoid hot things because there are 10 of us trying to use 2 microwaves in that 20 minutes.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Great thread! We have the same problem. After a while, I have to have something hot for lunch. Cold sandwiches of any kind get old to us, after a few days. Unfortunately, I end up resorting to unhealthy, more expensive options to have something hot.

 

[feedindy]

Sandwiches are the easiest to take so we try to mix those up a bit. We'll do turkey or ham, but then I'll sometimes make meatballs, tuna salad or chicken salad too. Another thing to keep things mixed up is to buy different types of bread-tuna on wheat, turkey on rye, meatballs on a sub... The salads can also be used with crackers instead of bread for a bit of a different taste.

 

[SSDonut]

My DH really Loves this lunch:

nice size cuts of red pepper
mushrooms
broccoli
a big scoop of hummus (either store-bought on sale or homemade) to dip it into.