To have found the best cheap lunch

[Overthebow]

with the cost of living going up I’m trying to find cheap lunch ideas for work.

this week: pot of pate £1, loaf of bread £0.80, bag of apples £1.50. Pate on toast and an apple, cost for the whole week only £3.30 and really filling.

anyone else got any cheap lunch ideas?

Bit of dinner saved from the night before. Ok as long as you're not in danger of becoming underweight, as it means eating a bit less dinner.

I often just take leftover dinner for lunch at work. I do have access to a microwave and a toaster.
Boiled egg and soldiers would be very cheap for me, I have hens at home so eggs are essentially ‘free’ (disregarding the initial outlay and their ongoing costs!) and then 2 slices of granary toast and (quite a generous spread of) butter. Bit of salt. Can’t have that at work but i do sometimes come home.

I use Anjum Anand's dal recipe, available on bbc food website

I recommend Pick Up Limes & Rainbow Plant Life (both vegan Youtubers) for lots of ways to make various bean dishes.
Spain On A Fork is another channel that has lots of lovely bean dishes, they aren't all vegetarian, there are lots of potato, rice, pasta, egg, meat, fish etc.

Or deliberately cooking a bit more dinner. That’s what I do.

😁👍

@lightisnotwhite you can freeze ginger. When you need it, just grate it straight from the freezer, even the peel!

Variations on roast parsnip and carrot soup - roast with cumin seeds, while sweating down onion, leek, celery. Add stock and roast veg, simmer, then blitz. Often chuck in left over veg - cauliflower, squash, potatoes.
Veg and lentil soup. Similar to above, but without roasting the veg first. Add in red lentils to bulk it out.
Salad wraps or sarnies, with leftover roast meat (leftover roast meat frozen in small portions then defrosted as needed). Although our eldest would happily eat just cucumber slices or tomatoes in sandwiches without any additional filling.
Cook extra pasta and have it next day (often do this for our 6th former as he likes it reheated at lunch)

I get the Itsu gyoza when they're on offer for £2.95 for a bag of 20. I find gyoza incredibly filling for very few calories so four is enough with an apple and crisps or whatever.

Very tasty too..

Roasted vegetable soup. I am trying to get as much out of the oven as possible now when I turn it on, so will shove a tray of slightly sad root vegetables from
the fridge/cupboard at the bottom of the oven to roast while something else is cooking. Reheat then in stock and then blend. So much nicer than non-roasted and very healthy.

Homemade lentil soup, delicious abd very cheap

I make ham/bacon lentil soup using ham stock cubes. You get the smokey, savoury flavour without the expensive bit. If I've got some bacon in the fridge I might fry some off until it's crispy as a garnish.

Green lentils in slow cooker with pre chopped onions, dried mint and a dried Persian lime. Makes loads. Would prob be really nice with feta but usually just have with toast or couscous and splash some oil on.

Also a fan of porridge with massive spoon of peanut butter not stirred in and a banana, sometimes with a massive spoon of tahini and/or some cacao powder.

Leftover rice fried with kimchi and a fried egg or two.

Humous and tomato on toast.

Tomato and mayonnaise on toast with basil.

Now i’m getting hungry.

" If somone was heating up Daal everyday in my office I'd be pretty upset but i am sensitive to food smells."

I do. Daal is lentils. They don't smell. You can add spices, but you don't have to - I add a bit of cumin, that's all.
Much better than someone eating fish at work.

God the recipes on here have got me drooling.

Following so I can make some of them.

Today I made hummus out of cannellini beans as I didn't have any chickpeas. I added tahini, lemon juice, fresh garlic, olive oil, a few ice cubes and some smoked paprika and it was incredible.

I also roasted a handful of tomatoes in oil in thyme and toasted a pitta bread. Lunch was a pitta stuffed with hummus, roast tomatoes and a handful of salad leaves. amazing

Baked potato is the best cheap lunch. 45p for 4, so 11.25p each. Add half a small tub of cottage cheese and your meal is about 50p at most.

Tinned sardines on toast, or mixed with butter and a teaspoonful of whole grain mustard in a sandwich. Incredibly cheap (far cheaper than tuna) and good for you.

Drain but don't rinse a can of baked beans, add a drained and rinsed can of chick peas. Fry a tablespoon of curry paste, add teaspoon curry powder and some garlic paste (I like lots of garlic but communal kitchens maybe not) , add the beans and peas, keep stirring for ten minutes. Then add a big bag of fresh spinach leaves, salt and pepper, turn the leaves through til wilted. Sometimes needs a splash of boiling water near the end.
Voila, Crucible Curry. About 4 or 5 portions.

Nah, I make the makhani Dahl (dishoom) in slow cooker all the time. No crust, no stirring needed. Delicious!

Why is this an AIBU?

I couldn’t make a tub of paté last a week, great for a couple of days, but cheese on toast, egg on toast, or an omelette are my go-to lunches. Or Nutella on toast. Grapes or a clementine in preference to apples!

@AffIt - that's exactly what I had for dinner this evening.................

Do you have a fav daal recipe?

Yes I should read to the end before commenting sorry will check the shared links!

There is a really good recipe in the what mummy makes cookbook, but I'm pretty sure she has posted it on her social media platforms, it's designed with young kids in mind so it's not got much heat to it, but it is tasty!

PMK