Exciting 'pack ups' - must reduce eating out spend

[wanttoworkbut]

I'm sure this must've been done before but I couldn't find a thread.

I really must stop eating out. Not fine dining, just having something to eat while I am out of the house. I have just gone through my bank statement and its mad - just £5 here and there but its several times a week. Drinks - I am quite good at taking a flask, or my collapsable cup for when I can get free (thanks Waitrose!)/cheap refills. But easy lunches I can pack up and eat cold I am out of inspiration. I am crap at making (and not mad about) sandwiches. I could buy ready made stuff like falafels. I used to bake. But is there straightfoward stuff I can make at home and pop in a lunch box easily?

You need a set 5 day rotation, that’s what I do for my kids school lunches! Ideas include:

southern fried chicken wrap with chipotle sauce

budda bowl

veggie pitta pizzas

falafel and hummus

prawn pasta salad

cheese muffins

ready made cheese and crackers

pinwheels or cheese staws

cheese and bacon croissant

Used your flask for soup ?

What sort of things are you out of the house for?
What facilities do you have?

eg if in the office do you have a fridge/microwave etc
if out walking the dog, do you have somewhere to sit and eat or is it literally on the go
Are you on public transport etc

Most straightforward is always just to make an additional portion of whatever your dinner is, put that in your lunchbox before you plate up for dinner so you don't eat it by accident, and don't forget to bring it the next morning!

I like making something specially for lunch sometimes, and I find the Mob Kitchen lunchbox ideas are really nice.
www.mob.co.uk/types/lunch-box

-Wraps
-Cooked chicken drumsticks with foil as a handle. Coleslaw or salad on the side
-Soup or stew on the flask
-Quiche or frittata and salad
-Sushi or summer rolls. Lots of you tube videos available and you get quicker the more you practice

The easiest one we do is a store bought tortilla with bread rolls or bit of baguette and hummus and salad. It’s our go to for family walks on the weekend. But if just for your lunches. One tortilla and one baguette plus hummus, etc would last you all week.

Cold noodles are also great. A packet of ready made udon noodles, microwave for 1.5 minutes, then season with sesame oil, soy sauce, bit of sugar and peanut butter, top with whatever veg you have and a boiled egg or two. You can re-heat but also have cold.

The easiest is oat cakes, cheese, grapes, apple, celery type stuff

Spanish omelette

Yes to these questions

If you’re just out for a few hours then my solution is generally to eat at home before/after I go. So I may have “lunch” at 10.30 and then a top up when I get home at 3.

If out all day - depends whether you can warm things, sit down etc.

Best bet that covers you whether at work or out is probably a food flask which you can put a complete meal into. Batch cook a casserole, curry/dal, or substantial soup like pearl barley & veg or minestrone, or a pot of pasta, heat a portion and tip it in. Or if you are cooking dinner make an extra portion and put it in the flask the next day. Swap for salads in summer.

Bread rolls and wraps with whatever is in the fridge... today's lunch will be leftover shredded chicken breast (had some done in a so maggie garlic bag for dinner). With sliced peppers, red onion and leaves from whatever is wilting in the fridge... Tastes better than it sounds... honest.

Not in offices etc so no microwave, has to be room temperature.

I hadnt thought of that, or quiche as someone said.

The Higgidy feta quiche is good and can spread across several days with salad.

I like the Higgidy feta rolls with salad too

Or sometimes I do cubes of manchego, some olives and some of those fried corn snack things - I copied it from a snack pack at M&S and it gives a good salty kick!

Store bought tortilla is nice plus home made or bought potato salad. I also put quorn picnic eggs and pepperami in plus baby tomatoes, cucumber batons and radishes. If I have left over pasta or rice then I put that in salad.

I'm not keen on sandwiches either

And also have no microwave at work.

I take cold pizza (I love it cold)

Some sort of orzo salad combo

Nachos and guacamole

Summer rolls

Sometimes a selection of things like; cheese, olives, falafels

Crackers

Quite like a bagel

I have just purchased a lunchbox you plug in to heat your food too. Worked well. Took chilli and rice yesterday.

Dinner leftovers are the best.

I also really like two hard boiled eggs with anchovies, green leaves (eg spinach) and some more veggies left over from dinner. I take a little pot of dressing too.

These sound fab I’m stealing these ideas!

I have a flask for hot drinks, but also a shorter wide necked one for food. Usually either a soup or pasta and sauce. In the summer I tend to do an interesting salad or a poke bowl type thing with dressing in a mini jam jar. If I’m caught on the hop I go to a supermarket and buy some fruit/veg, pot of humous, slice of deli quiche, veg samosa or similar - but not from the meal deal/food to go section. So it’s a similar price to food from home iyswim.

Can you have an insulated bag/esky and an ice brick to keep things cold? Or do you have no way to keep things cold.

Then people can tailor their answers more directly.

Pesto, tomato and mozzarella pasta
Savoury muffins
Savoury flapjacks
Cheese scones with pickle
Honey and mustard chicken pasta
Tuna mayo pasta
A jar of overnight oats - I make mine in the morning and they’re perfect by lunchtime.

All sorts of pasta salads

Roast cauliflower and chick peas

Tuna, beans, tomatoes

A tub of Longley Farm cottage cheese and tomatoes, cucumber, olive oil and pepper.

Look at jar salads. You can prep them for a few days. Plastic tubs will be more practical than glass, but the point is the layering so the wet and dry ingredients stay separate to increase longevity.

If you don't mind having the same lunch a few days in a row you can rotate round for simplicity of prep and ingredients required.

Have a look for things you like and aim to copy them. I like the M&S nutrient dense range where you get hummus, roast cauliflower and some other bits.

Also it might be worth investing in suitable tubs to make it easier, you want something slightly deeper than it is wide. They'll pay for themselves in no time, and well done for recognising this as a way to save money. Some people spend huge amounts on prepared food and then wonder why their money doesn't go as far as they hope it will. Once you're into the swing of it, you'll realise that it's quicker than queuing up in a shop and likely nicer food, especially as it won't be fridge cold like it is if you buy it at lunchtime to eat straight away.

Unless you're eating seafood in mid summer, it's really not necessary to keep things cold. I've taken packed lunch most days for decades and it sits on the shelf in my office or in the boot of my car for around 4-6 hours until I eat it and it's never caused an issue.

I agree with this, the UK isn't really hot enough most of the year to need a coolbag or ice pack. I take my lunch in a glass Ikea 365 container which has been in the fridge overnight - it's a bit heavy, but at lunchtime it's usually still really cold in my bag even without refrigeration as the glass keeps it cool.

Korean eggs (look up recipe but soft boiled and marinated in soy sauce, ginger, garlic, chilli) served with sesame oil and lime dressed cucumber/ thinly sliced cabbage. Can add coconut rice on the side.

Roasted med veg, couscous and cooked chicken
cold soba noodles, edamame, ribbon carrot, cold beef/tofu
I do these for kids’ lunches- nut free- but you could probably do eg satay chicken and make some more interesting things. We also do thermos with warm noodles and meat and veg. Daughter had baked gnocchi, bacon and mozzarella with spinach and sausages today. I tend to do a double of roast meat on Sunday. We eat some for supper and then it serves as lunch protein for the beginning of the week. Also for quick suppers of eg buddha bowls or ramen. I keep frozen herbs in the handy shake out boxes, chilli oil, sriracha mayo, pesto etc. to add flavour. It becomes quite easy when you start planning ahead.
When my Sunday oven is on for the meat I also bake flapjacks or cakes for lunches, a tray baked pancake or french toast for breakfasts, baked apples or other compote for Greek yogurts etc.

I tend to prepare a batch of one thing and eat it for a few days, eg:
Roast loads of veg (courgette, peppers, sweet potato, chickpeas etc) with spices, mix in cubed feta. Eat with salad.
Make a batch of soup - take in a food flask
Make a couscous or quinoa salad and take that with a bit of chicken / smoked mackerel
Buy falafel and hummus and have that with salad, or hummus, oatcakes and veg sticks
Pasta with tomato and veg sauce and mozzarella stirred in.

It’s a bit of prep initially but worth it when you have a few days of lunches you haven’t got to think about. I work at a school in the middle of nowhere so my only option if I don’t take lunch is a school dinner, which isn’t very appealing!

Some great ideas here - I've mainly ditched couscous for bulgur wheat, it only takes slightly longer to cook (I weigh out how much I want and double that number to add that many mls of cold water in a pan, bring up to a simmer, put a lid on, turn the heat off and leave for ten minutes)

I've also just discovered freekeh, which is very tasty. Both these are higher in fibre (and maybe protein) and better for you than couscous.