Grown up lunch box ideas

[hackneylady]

I'm really interested in hearing your lunch box ideas, to try to stop spending money on lunch at work (and to be a bit healthier!).

Here's mine - you can use lots of different veg, whatever is to hand.

www.nigella.com/recipes/view/sesame-peanut-noodles-83

Hi, will follow this thread with interest as DP and I take our lunches to work. We take things like granola bars and hot cross buns, bananas, as well as sandwiches. Tescos do a chicken mustard pasta salad I may try to recreate. DP takes rather too many biscuits, need healthy alternatives.

I have nothing to contribute as your op took mine idea! I love those noodles!

*my idea!

I'm in the middle of batch cooking some mini frittatas which can be filled with whatever you have to hand (mine are courgette and red pepper/bacon and mushroom/tomato) all also have onion and grated cheese. Just fry the ingredients until soft, whisk up eggs with a splash of milk, salt and pepper, and three-quarter fill muffin tins with the eggs, and add a tablespoonful or so of your ingredients, bake for about 20-25 minutes, cool and freeze

@ Penguiney

Costa they sound great. When you take them out of the freezer do they need to be baked again for lunch or just de-frosted?

Just defrost, unless you want them warmed up, if you take them out in the morning they'd be defrosted by lunch - also good for breakfast on the go!

I usually have some sort of salad in a box. Today - 1 oz wholewheat pasta, slices of vegan salami cut up into 1/4s and mixed in. green beans (boiled with the pasta) mini plum tomato, shredded lettuce, mangetout and mixed olives. other days I do roasted sweet potato and beetroot, Felafel, have humous and pita bread or cold fried tofu. I make really good salads with edame beans, sliced red cabbage, avocado, lots of nuts and seeds. Sometimes on cold days I take a veggie curry in a flask and I keep meaning to make a vegan omelette with gram flour and stuff it. Being vegan makes for more creative eating.

Soup with leftovers from the veg box. I also buy a big bag of veg samosas from the Asian shop & grill them while I am eating breakfast. They are ready to pop in a thermos box with salad for lunch in 10/15 mins.

I will be watching this thread... I am so bored with what I take for lunch. Ususally a sandwich or leftovers.

I was thinking making small quiches / tarts and freezing them. Has anyone done this? Would they defrost OK?

I have a bit of a challenge for you all - we are moving offices and will be hot desking with a small locker to keep all our papers. Therefore I will be carrying a lot of papers & laptop to and from work each day. Does anyone know of a compact lunch box that has a compartment for things like chutney, dressing etc. I currently keep a selection in the fridge at work, but we won't have any fridge or freezer space anymore ... sob!

Sistema do lunchbox like this, in Ireland we get them in homestore.

I make a chicken curry salad with chicken, Apple,curry powder, sultanas,cherry tomatoes etc have it on its own or with toasted pitta bread.

What equipment have you access to at work? Microwave, toaster,sandwich toaster, grill, kettle and fridge at mine so pretty much any lunch is an option.

Just made porridge bread muffins last night. Going to bring them along to go with homemade soup. Or have with a salad.

Watching with interest as I'm so bored of sandwiches! unescorted that's awful! There's a range of boxes called sistema or something that looks like it has lots of compartments.

Costa love the sound of those Fritata - do I need to line the tins or do they come out ok?

I like to graze so usually take lots of bits and pieces if i -a-can be bothered--. Stuff like mini savoury scones, veg & dip or crackers with various bits to top them with. Actually, that's what I intend to do. In reality I usually make a sandwich 2 minutes before walking out of the door.

I take lunch and never sandwiches. Mini roast dinner or various leftovers. Soup. Salad. Wraps. Gosh I'm so boribg
I like taking smelly stuff ... crab stick salad yesterday

At the moment we have a full range - toaster, microwaves (one is a combie type thing so can be used as a grill), fridges, freezers. Our new office cohabitees are all into clean desk policy - we were shown pictures the other day and it looked like an empty office. Hopefully it dosn't extend to the kitchen - although they double up as meeting areas so I suspect we may have a more limited range of cooking facilities.

We are trying to work out where to stash our team biscuit tin and fruit bowl....

Thanks I will check out the Sistema range.

Sainsburys do a modern version of a pot noodle, chicken laksa flavour, is surprisingly tasty and filling. £1.50 and about 350 cals. Add a bag of crisps from a maxi pack and a single finger Twix. This is my latest cheap combo. Other wise it's salads (egg and tomato/mackerel and beetroot/chicken and red onion etc etc).

I've got a Yumbox - I usually have some form of salad - goats cheese and beetroot, chicken tikka, mozarella and tomato, along with some olives, natural yogurt and fruit, and a small portion of nuts and cacao nibs (to satisfy my chocolate cravings). Or I take a thermos food flask with home made soup or leftovers in. [Only microwave is seven floors up and I can't be bothered to go all that way to warm food up, and no kettle either]

I like couscous with roasted veg and a bit of feta crumbled over.

I use whatever veg needs using up/is reduced in supermarket, but tomatoes. onion, courgette, peppers, squash and sweet potato are favourites. I squirt over one cal spray sprinkle with thyme and chilli flakes and pop in oven for around 15mins.

I usually make enough for 2 days.

waxybean your goats cheese and beetroot salad has inspired me. Have both in at the moment. Had beetroot carrot & prawn salad for dinner with porridge bread scones...basically this recipe Porridge Bread

Handfuls of washed spinach, halved plum tomatoes, some cashews, leftover bits of roast whatever. I add a balsamic vinegar and oil just before eating and have it either cold or heated in the microwave for a couple of minutes.

I will be watching this thread as we are trying to do pack ups every day...averaging 3 days a week so far. so while not ideal its ok.

so far we've had:

pearl cous cous salad with pesto, feta, roasted pumpkin, and pomegranate seeds.
cold roast whatever salad
soups
haven't yet tried quiches, but think they'd be great so might make some tomorrow.

I used silicone muffin tins for the frittatas and they just popped out - I'd probably line a metal tin though!

Cooked puy lentils, roast veg, sundried toms, feta cheese, fresh basil. Add a small amount of vinaigrette. Dead easy. I usually make enough for two lunches.

I made frittatas today in a metal muffin tin and I just lightly oiled them. I made 6 butternut squash, sage and Brie and 6 onion, cheddar and sausage.

I used 12 eggs, 120ml of double cream and 120ml of water along with salt and pepper.

Can I ask what lunchbox you all use? DH would like to take packed lunch occasionally but he doesn't want to look a tool with a big lunchbox on his commute!

I just make to much dinner and we eat it the following day for lunch - take in Tupperware and reheat.

Last week we had a birthday meal at home, as it was a big saving on eating out. We had chicken fricassee and I cooked pasta to put in the bottom of the lunch box then the chicken and sauce on top.

I make chickpea curry and dalh which is easy to reheat and serve with cous cous.

I get rolls from aldi and the ready sliced cheese and ham, as sometimes there isn't left over dinner. I keep the rolls in the freezer to save them becoming mouldy.

Tuscan bean soup or leek and sweet potato soup is good. As is roasted sweet potato reheated with half a tin of bake beans. Or sweet potato roasted then mashed with a tin of kidney beans or similar, add cumin and garlic and coriander and use in wraps.

Has anyone worked out how much their packed lunches cost per meal? DH and I are both teachers, we eat at the canteen every day which costs us 4€ each/meal, I'm wondering if it would be financially worth the time and effort to take our own meals in every day.