Easy, Cheap, GOOD take-to-work lunches??

dearly4ever

I try to do leftovers but when I cant, I make a sandwich with low calorie wheat bread. I typically buy the sara lee breads. Add turkey, lettuce and carry a yogurt too or a piece of fruit.

emAZn

Chicken/Pork/Fish
1/2 Sweet Potato or Lentils
Lots and Lots of Veggies
Couple tablespoons of bbq sauce/buffalo sauce/marinade/dressing
*Top with cheese if you have enough calories

Possibilites are endless I make 4 at a time and eat all week. Portions are bigger than those frozen meals.

FlabFighter86

I normally eat pretty much the same thing. I buy my food for a whole week so that it saves me from buying crap.
Normally buy a bag of salad or pea shoots, baby tomatoes, cooked beetroot, 2 pitta breads, carrot.
Fillings for the pittas are normally egg or tuna mayo, cheese and pickle, chicken and avocado.
For snacks I take a tub of mixed nuts and sultanas, and whatever fruit is in season.

mccindy72

I just make extra at dinners and put all left overs in single serving containers.

This is what I've always done. If you're making a healthy supper, just make enough extra to have a healthy lunch the next day. Easier to track because you know what's in it and you've already logged it the night before!

SuperWhoLock24601

I just make over the amount that I would eat at dinner and then take it for lunch. Crock pots are great for that. There are those great compartment Tupperware also that sometimes I just put cheese, a hard boiled egg, fruit, veggies, and nuts in the night before. The last thing that I do (since I am a teacher) is I put things in my desk drawer that don't need refrigerated or microwaved (such as nuts) that I can snack on throughout the day if I get hungry.

judykat7

I keep Morningstar products in the freezer and eat them on a warm Healthy Life English muffin. Some days I have a greek yogurt, cottage cheese, piece of fruit, or Fiber One 90 calorie bar with it. Makes me feel like I got a hot sandwich and some dessert!

krazyforyou

My fall back is homemade soup and crackers.

ohitsmunstar

When I'm in a hurry and/or lazy, I take a bag of Birdseye Steamfresh Rotini & Vegetables or some other microwavable frozen vegetable & carb medley (but not a frozen meal). One bag is ~450 calories and is very easy to heat up and eat.

I do the same! To add a little more flavor (plus I like hot meals) I pour gravy on top. Simple, quick, and budget friendly.

doctorsookie

I get the Healthy Choice steam meals. Usually on sale at at least one of the big chains 4/$10. Sometime 5/$10. This week, they are 6/$10. I'm getting a deep freezer with tax refund partly for sales like this ;-) There are tons of variety and calories vary from 220-400. I love them. IMHO they are decent on sodium too. Every meal I have had takes 5 minutes or less to heat.

Depictureboy

When I had my embroidery business. I had a sign in the shape of a pyramid. On the points it said Fast, Good, Cheap. Underneath it said Pick any two.

Its kind of the same thing. Like some of the others have said, the best thing to do is make too much for dinner and take leftovers...

Wifey7891

I snack a lot during the day. Fruit, mixed nuts, yogurt and granola. I bring salads a lot for lunch, tuna sandwiches, stir fry with rice, pastas, etc.

Mangopickle

Take whatever veggies are in season. Chop into 1" chunks. Toss with olive oil, sea salt and herbs de Provence and some garlic. Roast covered 20 min at 475 then uncover and roast til soft and have some color, tossing occasionally. My faves are turnip, parsnip, carrot, onions, Brussels sprouts, and sweet taters 'cause they are all pretty cheap and slow carb. When I make roasted yellow squash I replace the herbes de Provence with chili powder. The roasted veggies are good for a wk. I make a huge pan and they are good hot or cold.

Armagan123

Bump to read later

ThinLizzie0802

I'm a big fan of roasting four chicken breasts and then chopping them up to use for the week for salads. I like spinach salads with pomegranate dressing, goat cheese, and honey roasted sliced almonds or balsamic dressings with green apple and blue cheese and nuts.

SteveMoto

I don't do this every week but I can make a turkey chili on Sunday that lasts me and the gf all week if I used 40 oz of ground turkey and two cans of beans (rinse well). I worked it out once and it was under 200 Cals for a one cup serving so you could either have more or supplement it with something else.

elainecroft

I swear by cheese sticks & greek yogurt - I need dairy and protein or I get the munchies. I get a big container of plain yogurt and a bag of frozen fruit and mix my own yogurt every day and is a lot less expensive than single serving packs.

2youngatheart

Bump! :-)

33Freya

I understand a tight budget!!

The best thing to do is to cook your meals ahead at home. This way you know what's going in your food, you control the fat and sodium, and you can do it on the cheap.

I like to cook dried beans (3/4 black beans, 1/4 Pinto- get a bag of these for less than $2) rinse, boil, let sit for an hour, rinse, then cover with hot water/broth in the crockpot or in a pot on the stove. Add salsa or tomatoes and onions ( cooked with ground beef if you like meat), hot sauce, garlic, plus what ever else you find in your spice rack that may be interesting, and cook for 2-6 hours until they are tender.

Once the beans are made, I stir fry or roast veggies (cabbage, onions, yams, green peppers, squash- get what is on sale and preferably in season) and add them with the beans to a tortilla and roll into burritos that I can freeze.

Total time for a week's worth of lunches: shopping: 30 min round trip, cooking/prep: about an hour. Total $$ for a week's worth of burritos: .50 for the beans, $1 for the salsa, $5-7 for the veggies: definitely less than $10 for 2 burritos per day. Total Calories per burrito (non-meat version): about 150 each.

Or just stir fry veggies and take that in a container.
Or take left overs from the night before (just cook a little more)
Or skip all that, get a Costco box of salad, and add different things to it each day: smoked salmon (about $1.50/serving), chicken, cheese (sparingly), cranberries, sliced almonds (get from bulk isle), shredded coconut, apples/berries, avacado, plus what ever else you put on it...

Good luck, you can do this!

srkelley9

Get a rice cooker, prep rice in it and use the upper area of it to steam veggies and chicken. The rice (brown preferably) will be what really fills you. The chicken (tenderloins preferred by me) and veggies are there to help balance it. Water and tea are cheap and even free at some places (I get water, tea, coffee and oatmeal free at my job). You could even bring in your own lemon and lime juice to sweeten the tea or make lemon/lime-aid.

reneemosley

A 5 dollar rotisserie chicken can be a weeks worth of lunch, here are some things I add to the chopped chicken,

1. Chopped apple, celery, walnuts, curry powder and greek yogurt or light mayo
2. Frozen "fiesta" veggies, salsa, and black beans
3. Greek yogurt ranch dressing mix, franks buffalo sauce, eat with celery sticks
4. Chopped artichoke hearts, tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, feta cheese
5. Frozen corn, tomato, enchilada sauce, and cheddar

There is a week and a whole chicken.......I eat low carb but you could wrap any of this in a tortilla, pita, or not. I use an ice pack and lunch sack. Add an apple or banana for a pm snack.

Happy lunching.

cwolfman13

On the weekends I usually make some big batches of stews/soups, casseroles, etc that I can easily take to work and reheat. Cooking with scratch ingredients takes some time (but I enjoy it) and it is far cheaper than buying the same product already pre-made and packaged. Example, I can make a gallon of chunky chicken noodle soup that is going to feed me and my family for about the price of two Campbell's cans.