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

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.