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Easy lunch ideas

18 replies

edin16 · 23/07/2021 08:07

Hit me up with your easy lunch ideas that aren't sandwiches or wraps.
The whole families in for the next couple of months for most lunchtimes and I'm at a loss of what to make every day!

OP posts:
MilkCereal · 23/07/2021 08:20

Baked potatoes,omlettes, frittata, salad with chicken/ham etc, pasta salads, pizza and salad. Roasta veg and pasta/couscous/rice. Sausage rolls, poached egg, beans, bacon....

Yellowcar2 · 23/07/2021 08:21

Some of our favourites include salad with something (egg, cheese, ham, chicken, tuna), hummus and veg or bread sticks, jacket potatoes, cheese and crackers with pickles, pasta salads, omlettes. If you have a waffle maker cheese waffles are really nice with avocado or smoked salmon. Noodles. I know you said no wraps but my kids love quesadillas.

Fivemoreminutes1 · 23/07/2021 09:15

Pitta pizzas
Sausage rolls www.curlyscooking.co.uk/quick-sausage-rolls/
Beans on toast
Cheese scones
Gazpacho soup and crusty bread
Quiche and salad

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HalfShrunkMoreToGo · 23/07/2021 09:17

Croissants with ham and cheese or cheese and tomato
Scrambled egg/beans/mushrooms/fried egg - on toast
Pork pie/scotch egg and salad
Omelette
Boiled egg or avocado on toast/rye bread/crackers

petitdonkey · 23/07/2021 09:20

Picky platter- ham fruit olives egg cheese hummus- whatever you have in fridge with some pitta bread on the side.

Sausage rolls- the big type with fruit snd veg
Pesto pasta with frozen veg chucked in
Baked beans when it’s not too hot
Quiche

I abhor making multiple sandwiches so would rather boil some pasta or rice!

HalfShrunkMoreToGo · 23/07/2021 09:22

Oh and of course leftovers, double up what you make the night before and either just have it reheated or have a variation so if you're cooking chicken breasts, cook extra and shred them to go in wraps or salad the next day, make a load of pasta let half cool and put tuna, sweetcorn and Mayo in it for cold pasta salad the next day and so on.

nocturnalcatfreetogoodhome · 23/07/2021 09:45

Jacket potato bar - jackets done in the oven/slow cooker a few different fillings (could even buy the premade sandwich fillers from supermarket) with some crudités or salad bits.

Breakfast for lunch - sausages/bacon/hash browns in oven, fry some eggs and beans.

‘Party lunch’ - scotch eggs, mini sausage rolls, crisps, fruit salad, cheese sticks.

Fajita rice - get some packs of Mexican rice from Aldi/Asda etc either the microwaveable or the dried. Cook chicken peppers and onions in bbq seasoning (could do in slow cooker to make it extra easy) and do chicken and rice with cheese/salsa and salad.

For quicker ideas - hot dogs and crudités.

A nice salad? Kids tend to like a nice Caesar with shredded iceberg, lots of cheese, bacon and cold chicken and maybe some crusty bread?

A couple of the supermarket pizzas? Could do own toppings to make them a bit more fun?

Fivemoreminutes1 · 23/07/2021 10:58

Homemade pot noodles www.myfussyeater.com/healthier-homemade-pot-noodle/

sashh · 23/07/2021 12:06

Things on toast, beans, cheese, eggs, bacon or a combination.

I've started cooking eggs in a sandwich maker, just add a spray of oil, crack the eggs, put the lid down and 2 mins later you have cooked eggs.

Cheese and biscuits - just put on the table for people to help themselves.

Pita bread with salad leaves, crispy bacon and crème fraiche.

Egg and chips, you can get the chips from teh chip shop and just fry some eggs.

One of my favorites - rice 50/50 orange juice and water with smoked haddock - stick it all in a pan until the liquid is absorbed.

Pancakes - but get organised.

Two frying pans, one smaller than the other, fat, pancake batter.

Make (or get someone else to make fillings) cheese, bacon, tomatoes for savory and sugar and lemon for sweet.

Start with the small pan, heat a bit of oil, use a ladle to add the batter, when it develops small holes tip it onto the bigger pan, start with more oil in the first pan, by the time that is read tip the big pan onto a plate.

The pancakes keep warm as they stack up. They also freeze really well.

Pasta with cream cheese and whatever else.

Cook pasta, turn off but leave in the water.

In another pan put a big dollop of cream cheese, add a couple of spoons of pasta cooking water and stir with a wooden spoon.

If this is too bland then start by frying peppers, bacon, ham, mushrooms, whatever is in the fridge and then add the cream cheese.

Bluesheep8 · 23/07/2021 12:06

Cous cous with roast peppers and feta cheese

AtleastitsnotMonday · 23/07/2021 17:00

I deliberately don’t plan for lunches. I use them as a way of minimising food waste by utilising all the odds and end that accumulate from other meals and combining them with store cupboard and freezer items along side fresh salad. It helps to have very well stocked store cupboards and having a freezer with various bread products. If I’m at at a shop or bakery I sometime pick up a fresh loaf but other than that there’s always a sliced loaf in the freezer for toast or toasties, a packet of pita bread and often wraps. I guess I include cheese, eggs, cream cheese etc as store cupboard ingredients as I tend to buy them regardless of what’s on the actual meal plan.
I usually have some kind of salad with the protein element usually coming from left over cooked chicken, falafels, or salmon and if I don’t have either of those have egg, tuna or chickpeas from the store cupboard.
The not so keen salad eaters in my family tend to have a wrap, toastie, pita with filling or something on toast. Cheese and crackers with grapes and pickles. Crudités, toasted pitas and dips. Pasta or cous cous salads usually including a mix of left over and store cupboard ingredients like olives, sweetcorn, tuna, capers and leftover cold meats, cheeses like feta, left over roasted veg).
If I make fritata for dinner sometimes then have it for cold for lunch but most of the leftovers I use are left over ingredients (e.g half a can of kidney beans, a couple of rashers of bacon, a chicken breast) rather then whole dishes (if you see what I mean).
If I do any savoury baking it tends to get eaten for lunch (sausage rolls, cheese straws, cheese scones etc).
Occasionally (well more often in winter) I’ll do hot things, jacket potatoes, omelettes, soup etc.

BiggerBoat1 · 23/07/2021 17:04

Omelette. Every day. Food of the gods!

FirstStarToTheRight · 23/07/2021 17:44

Bruschetta

Uncle bens ready to boil pouch rice, mixed with a little Worcestershire sauce, tuna, olives, capers, boiled sliced eggs and Mayo on top. I can eat masses of this, and tastes even nicer the next day if you make a lot.

Sourdough toast from the freezer with an artichoke spread topped with cherry tomatoes and feta.

Frozen fish and mixed frozen veg… plenty of seasoning, twenty minutes in the oven, no mess, no fuss, healthy and delicious.

bugaboo218 · 23/07/2021 18:09

Fridge raid rice _use 2 packets of microwave rice to serve 4 add salad and anything you have in fridge with thousand island dressing.

Creamy mushrooms on toast with carrot, cucumber and pepper sticks.

If you have a soup maker home made Creamy tomato or veg soup and marmite and /or cheese pinwhees.

Home made vegtable/beans/cheese melts. You need a sheet of pastry just add filling of your choice and cook for 20 mins add salad or veg sticks.

Halloumi and chicken burgers with veg.

patkinney · 23/07/2021 18:15

I got a sandwich toaster recently (I know you mentioned no sandwiches, but this is slightly different), I'm experimenting and love cheese and banston pickle (the small chunks version). Its great how it sort of compacts and 'cooks' the bread and makes it really crispy, so better than cheese on the toast.

YelloYelloYello · 23/07/2021 18:15
  1. Chuck a load of med veg in the oven.
  2. Cook a big batch of cous cous (you can put a veggie stock cube in for more flavour if you want).
  3. Slice up a load of hallumi and gently fry it (no oil unless your pan sticks) a few mins each side.
  4. Plate up!

If you want you can also spread pesto over the hallumi slices when you serve. (Or sweet chilli sauce or mango chutney.)

YelloYelloYello · 23/07/2021 18:16

@BiggerBoat1

Omelette. Every day. Food of the gods!
I had a feta and red pepper omlette the other day that was SO nice!
StevieNix · 23/07/2021 18:25

Our current family favourites:
Eggy bread
Jacket potatoes
Tuna and rice salad (tuna, cold rice, mayonnaise and any veg - sweet corn, tomatoes, spring onions etc)
Frittata
Quiche
Toasties
Pizza muffins - English muffins/tortilla wraps/ bagels/pitta bread/french baguette/naan etc topped with tomato purée and cheese- then whatever toppings.

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