Cheap, healthy, and suitable for "brown bag" lunches?

mrsgigandet

Hi everyone! My name is Whitney. I'm 22 years old and I've struggled with my weight and self esteem for most of my life. At my highest I was about 330 pounds; right now I'm sitting on a very frustrating plateau of 200 pounds. More than anything, I'm trying to learn love for myself, something I've never had and something I truly hope I'll gain over the course of my journey.

I was just wondering if anyone had ideas for cheap, healthy lunches that are suitable to take to work/school in a lunchbox. I'm a college student who works a wonderful but not very high paying job, so I really have to stress the CHEAP!!!! It's a struggle for me to be so down on cash and eat healthy at the same time. It's frustrating to see all the fast food you could buy from McDonald's dollar menu and you're spending almost $3 on two lousy gala apples!

Besides CHEAP and healthy (obviously!) food ideas, I really need it to be suitable to take to work/school with me. I eat here at the college almost every day. I have access to a fridge and microwave, but I try to avoid using microwaves if at all possible. I'm not much of a cook but I'm trying hard to learn. I want to be out on my own by 24 and I pray I'll have a family someday, and I want to be able to cook healthy, homemade meals for both myself and the hypothetical them

Thank you so much for any help. Blessings!

~ Whitney

AnisaMG

Tuna salad on WW with sliced cucumbers - one can is 2 days of lunch!
Homemade hummus with raw veg - mmmm (chick peas are pretty inexpensive and a can can make enough hummus for a week!)

Karenmm1960

I have found this is a good cheap way to eat. I bought a few of those reusable containers.
I picked up a few peppers (any kind), cucumber, green onions, etc. Basically any kind of vegetables you like.
I line up two or three containers.
I put on the bottom some salad dressing. Whatever you like.
Chop up the hardest veggies first ie peppers, cucumbers and start layering my veggies.
Hardest first (as they don't absorb the salad dressing as quickly) then end with some kind of spinach or lettuce leaves.
When ready to have lunch turn it upside down on plate or in a bowl and eat.
You can load up on veggies, usually cheap (when in season) and I find it quite filling.

Hope this helps.

Evachiquita

I have a field job where I am in the field for up to 10 hours a day. (OK so now I mostly work in the office, but I used to work in the field, and still do sometimes) So I needed to come up with things that didn't require refrigeration. I ate a lot "pilaf" type of dishes. They were essentially quinoa or rice (usually brown or wild) as a base and had some type of beans (use dried beans and boil them yourself so save money) and/or nuts (pumpkin seeds, almonds, sunflower seeds) and lots of fresh veggies. You can use oil and vinegar or lemon juice and spices to create a little dressing for the pilaf. I even add tofu sometimes, or a tasty cheese like feta or gorgonzola. I know this isn't a recipe but I do not use recipes so it's hard to say what amounts to use. Just use what you like or whatever you have on hand. This type of dish has minimal preparation and you can make a lot of it at once and eat it throughout the week. It's great hot, cold, or room temp.

4karin

Go to the Hungry girl website for tons of ideas. Her microwaved egg in a mug would which is pretty much an omlette in a mug- you can add any veggies and cheese you like. you can cook in a very short time and reheat in the microwave. Also veggie frittatas you can make 1 on Sunday & it will last the week. Soups are an option. Wait til they go on sale and stock up but watch the sodium listed. Also Quinoa salad I make a mexican version 1C cooked quinoa mixed with a can of black beans,frozen corn,cherry tomatoes,salsa and a little lime juice & cilantro takes very little time to throw together and can last a week if you like mexican. You can also add in grilled chicken if you like. I have to say grilling a bunch of chicken at the beginning of the week is a godsend when you get stumped because you can just slice & put over greens or shred and add a little lo-cal mayo and you have chicken salad to put on a deliflat or mix with pasta. If you don't mind eating the same thing several times a week it is much cheaper than having a large variety.

mrsgigandet

Thank you all very much! AnisaMG, do you have a good recipe for hummus? I eat it like it's going out of style from Sabra on carrot and celery sticks, but it can get pretty pricy!

worldofme

Also....good to note that if you have an Aldi near you, they have amazingly cheap veggies and fruit.

Mostly I make a chicken salad ( canned chicken $1.79 at Aldi, TBSP of mayo, TBSP of plain Non-fat greek yogurt, 1/4 cup finely diced celery, 1/4 cup finely diced onion, 1 tsp mustard, 1-3 tsp seasoning (currently using one my hubbys cousin makes but you can use Mrs. Dash or any seasoning blend) mixed up day before) put into a container with celery and carrot sticks to dip/eat the salad with.

melsmith612

String Cheese (may seem expensive but $4 for a bag of 12 breaks down to 3/$1.00)

Big 3-4 lb bags of red delicious apples go for $4/bag at my grocery store (and RI has a pretty high cost of living)

All Natural Peanut Butter (the kind where the only ingredient is peanuts) is about $3/jar for store brand, high in protein and goes great on the apples or in a sandwich (I tend to use Wonder Smart White bread because I like white bread but want low cal)

At $1-$1.25 each, greek yogurts in individual containers are highly portable, have great nutritional value and cost about the same as a McDonalds partfait. ;-)

ercarroll311

I like using the sandwich thins for my chicken salad/tuna salad/turkey sandwiches.

Produce is a great way to stay healthy and help out your wallet. I like to get my veggies (cauliflower, carrots, asparagus, etc), cut them up as soon as I get home and put them in tupperware so they're easy to grab and take with me to work. Fruits would be good the same way.

Tortillas are cheap and it's fun to find stuff to fill them with--beans, chicken, salsa, any kind of toppings you can think of. I like to mix fat free plain yogurt with reduced fat cheese to put in with chicken.

MelissaE1214

beans too.... super cheap... 85 cents a bag. You can make several meals with them