To wonder what people trying to reduce UPFs eat in adult packed lunches and sandwiches?

For bread makers Panasonic are the best, eg This . With cheaper ones you might get lucky but often they make rubbish bread. If it's like mine the wholemeal cycle takes 5 hours and can be delayed up to 12 hours.

The fresh bread smells amazing but needs to wait a bit before slicing so you might need to plan ahead if you make lunches in the morning.

Ooh I haven’t seen or heard of pease pudding in years! Off to google a recipe.

@Ka1eChip do you need bread ? I take a salad for my lunch usually salad leaves tomatoes cucumber pepper plus some chopped fruit - plums or grapes or strawberries etc I add hard boiled egg and avocado or feta cheese or leftovers like roast chicken or sliced gammon. A frittata is good if you have a bit of time the night before . Sometimes I have some carrot batons and houmous and couscous with roasted veg.

I don't have space for a bread maker but love a sandwich. Use Jason's bread or Crosta and Mollica wraps. Otherwise frittata with potatoes and veg in and a side salad or left overs form dinner.

ive been trying to eat less UPF since Christmas. It's been hard and a bit pricier but feel good for it.

I don't working full time has to stop you - if you get into the habit, it's not that time consuming.

I do the rising overnight and then put it in the oven when we are all getting ready and breakfasting

Panasonic do good bread makers. Cheese needn't be boring especially if you also put in chutney and/or salad stuff. Peanut butter. Egg mayo. Avocado. Also banana. Dried fruit. Nuts.

Homemade soup and a sandwich made on bakery shop bread

Chopped salads or roast veg with homemade hummus

Rice, salmon steak (chilli, garlic powder, salt & pepper), cucumber, tomato, spring onion, lemon juice, avocado.

Rice, prawns (plain, with garlic and lemon, chilli, fried after being dusted with seasoned GF flour, lime juice, snippings of coriander or parsley, etc), cucumber, tomato, red onion.

Boiled potatoes, spinach, tuna, hard boiled egg, olive oil, lemon juice.

GF pasta, tuna, tomatoes, olives, red onion.

Coleslaw - red onion, carrot, red cabbage, sliced in the food processor, salt, rice vinegar, splash of pickled beetroot juice from the jar or orange juice, salt, pepper, sometimes a bit of mayonnaise, all in a tub and shaken up to last for a few days. Goes well with (everything) cold leftover chicken or roast pork.

Potatoes, spinach or mixed green leaves, pickled beetroot and horseradish, bit of mayonnaise to turn it glowing pink, spring onions or chives. Also goes well with cold meat.

Things like that.

Most of my usuals have been said already, but also MOB app/website has lots of great batch cook lunch ideas too.

Sourdough bread - Jason's is good or Crosta&Mollica toasting bread
Sliced chicken (cook a whole chicken and use it across the week)
Get an olive oil or avocado mayo with no seed oils
Cucumber
Salad
Cheese
Pepper and carrot batons
Handful of nuts
Crosta and mollica bread sticks with a cream cheese / cottage cheese dip (add garlic powder yum)
Greek yoghurt, add honey and fruit

The possibilities are endless

I bake wholemeal soda bread on Sundays, a biggish loaf, slice and freeze for the week.
I make the easy mayo with a stick blender, lots of recipe instructions out there.
Pesto, veg mousse (leftover veg blended with breadcrumbs from the loaf lol), hummus, tinned salmon (is that breaking the UPF rules), tuna in spring water, eggs, cheese. That's more or less it. Oh and greek yogurt or Skyr, or kefir with fruit.

I'm no angel though and eat dark choc whenever I can get my hands on it lol.

Once you’ve chosen your bread, fill with
Egg (I mash with a bit of natural greek yoghurt)
cold roast meat
hummus
roast veg and pesto
peanut butter (the stuff that is just peanuts) or other nut butters
homemade mushroom pate (just made from mushrooms, strained nat yog, seasonings)
Banana
Avocado
Felaffel (are they UPF)?
Cheese, salad, Marmite

Yes, it is. I think it is a little bit more expensive though, which I guess makes sense.

Home made wholemeal bread, either bread maker or sourdough. The bread machine is literally 5 minutes work, it's a no brainer. I work full-time as well and just start the loaf on the timer before bed.

Spreadable butter, it's only 2 ingredients so not too bad. Cheese or ham salad fillings. Not all ham is a UPF, it's a traditional processed food.

Also a small container of fruit like grapes/melon.
I also make up batches of salad but tend to be fed up of it by Friday. In the winter I make batches of soup and take a bit of bread or a scone with it.

Take a few nuts and dried fruit rather than granola bars, or some plain yoghurt with fruit rather than a sweet yoghurt. (Or a Longley Farm single pot).

The main thing is to have a plan and shop for it. Also don't obsess over the small stuff like is your hummus a UPF.

Leftovers, salad, fruit are the easiest way to avoid UPF lunches. I chop up a big bowl of salad veg, which will last two days at least. Then chuck some of it in a lunch box and add some kind of protein (leftover meat, tuna, hard boiled egg etc). I always have jars of stuff in the fridge to make it more interesting- kimchi, olives, gherkins, capers etc. And I have some little pots for dressing (usually just some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper).

Soup is my favourite packed lunch though.

Aldi sourdough is UPF free
Aldi also have some olive oil ciabatta rolls which are UPF free.
m and S has a packed white sliced loaf for about 75p which is ok UPF wise.
jasons sourdough is ok.
i struggled to find any non-UPF options in Morrisons so I don’t go there.
also the Crosta and mollica has lots of UPF free options for wraps and pizza.

so I go somewhere specifically to get UPF free bread and keep some in the freezer.
id have cheese, peanut butter, or make a chicken/tuna mayo and sweetcorn mix.

or I make a pasta salad with nitrate free bacon from m and s, and chicken. Big batch.

I cook my own grains and freeze in portions. I add my own flavouring.
I tend to use tins of cooked beans as they are cheap and convenient.

@Mathsdebator - I'm not a fan of mixed beans, but I eat a lot of quinoa, bulgar and couscous. At this time of year I'd tend to have them with eg feta and salady bits and then a lemon/oil dressing. If winter it could be roasted veg with chickpeas and a harissa dressing.

Lots of great ideas here!

But I’m puzzled as to why 58% think the OP is being unreasonable…??

FWIW, today I am having some left over tabbouleh from last night’s dinner, 2 boiled eggs, a Middle Eastern flatbread, and a cup of blueberries 😀

Yeah this. Or home made soup and a Greek natural yogurt. If no microwave- buy a flask. My blood pressure has dropped by an insane amount since I started cooking from scratch - my GP couldn’t believe it - and I wouldn’t have believed it myself if it wasn’t me IYSWIM

If I’m having sandwiches I tend to make my own bread (machine) which is quick, then add veg, protein and either mayo or hummus which generally I will make myself. Generally though I tend to go with roasted veg and protein (generally just by cooking extra of whatever we’re having for dinner) plus some rice/potatoes.