Ideas for packed lunches on a budget

I pack lunches regularly for my job as well, and I'm on a very tight budget myself. I typically cycle through the same things over and over, and I often eat the same thing for lunch for about a week because it means I have to buy less groceries.

I like half sandwiches with veggies and a low-cal dip, like hummus or veggie dip made with greek yogurt, and a fruit cup or serving of fresh fruit.

If I get tired of plain veggies, I'll switch to a a veggie wrap or sandwich that I sort of copied from a popular smoothie restaurant and a handful of whole-grain crackers and some kind of fruit. My favorite are Wheat Thins Fiber Selects or Triscuits.

If you're interested in the veggie sandwich, spread hummus on a bread or wrap of your choice, add a cheese of your choice (provolone is my favorite with this, although I sometimes use veggie cheese), then layer lettuce and/or spinach, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, diced peppers, diced onions, and matchstick carrots. The only thing is it's sometimes hard to get enough protein in this meal.

Half sandwiches and soup or salad are another combo I like, or sometimes I'll pack soup and salad with fruit. This is easy to vary to keep yourself from getting bored because you can get lots of different soup, salad, and dressing varieties.

(The half sandwiches mean less prep overall and they keep the calories in check, because I love bread, but it can quickly add calories and not-as-filling carbs.)

I like to keep lunch simple and quick to prepare, but I love to cook and try new recipes for dinner, so if I'm tired of all of this stuff, I'll just pack leftovers from the night before.

In general, I try to make sure my lunch has a balance of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and a lean protein, or at least 3 out of 4.

Hope this helps! It probably sounds boring for some, but it works well for time and budget constraints.

I tried out a new recipe today for portobello pizzas! Hallow out 2 large or 6 small portobellos, then fill w pizza sauce, skim milk mozz. cheese and I cut up turkey pepperettes(2, one each mushroom) to sprinkle on top! Since you don't have an oven at work, just pop em in the oven at home either 350 for like 20 mins or broil on hi for a bit less! and they reheat nicely at work! I used a serving and a half of cheese grated and the cals came out to about 350 for the 2 large, felt pretty satisfied after as well!

I like to take a sweet potato and microwave it for about 6 minutes. Then I take 1/2 cup black beans and some salsa and put over it baked potato style. It's really filling and cheap.

I eat anywhere from a half to a whole pound of broccoli and almost a pound of chicken thigh every day at lunch. Costs about two bucks, I make it at home, you can cook broccoli and chicken so many different ways too and it's about 600 calories - tons of protein and good carbs & fats. I buy the food at an asian grocery store in town which may make it cheaper than if you go somewhere else.

Crockpots and casseroles are your friend for this. I can cook one big soup or stew on a Sunday and portion it out into Tupperware and just grab and go everyday. Same with casseroles.

I forgot to mention that one thing I do to keep the overall cost down is buy whole fruits and veggies and prep and cut them myself. I usually do it all the day I go grocery shopping or just any time I can set aside a chunk of time to do it all at once, that way it's grab-and-go during the week.

I do this as well. I also buy a big bag of chicken and throw it all on the George Forman grill while I am cutting up all the veg and fruits for most of the week. Make sure you put it in separate containers (it tends to last longer) I use the chicken for several meals (mainly lunches (salads, wraps, chicken tacos) I also eat left overs a lot for lunch. This is what works for me.