There was a time when eating lunch in a restaurant during your work day was just unheard of. Every working person either packed a lunch to eat at noon, or was provided with lunch by their employer, if they were working in someone's home. Heading out to drop an hour's worth of wages would have seemed ridiculous to most folks.
Today, it's relatively common to grab a restaurant meal during the lunch hour. If you have money to spare, that's great. But for our family, that money we don't spend on restaurant lunches is put to better use in other areas of our budget.
So, earlier in the month, Kristen from thefrugalgirl.com mentioned that she had to send her husband out for lunch on a couple of occasions, as she simply didn't have any leftovers to pack for him. I totally understand where she's coming from, as we reached this point, too, several years ago. The kids get bigger and suddenly, there's nothing left from dinner to pack for lunch.
In our house, this is now compounded by not just my husband needing a lunch to take everyday, but also my two daughters. (My son gets lunch for free every day, the lucky guy!) I suspect that packing lunches for the workers in the family becomes an issue at one time or another, in other frugal families, as well. So, how have I managed this, while keeping to a small grocery budget?
I could buy bread, chips, lunch meat, fruit roll-ups, pudding cups, etc. But that would burn up a large chunk of my grocery budget and, depending on choices, may only provide marginal nutrition. Here's what I do instead.
On Sunday evenings, I scramble to put together enough for my family for lunch the next day. Often this includes, some nuts, raisins, pbj sandwich, bottle of milk, and a muffin, piece of cornbread or a biscuit. This may sound like a lot of food, but what I pack covers breakfast
and lunch, as my husband and daughters are out the door before 6 AM and eat breakfast while commuting.
Batch-cooking, but for lunches instead of dinners
I used to think of batch-cooking as a dinner prep help. But I've found batch-cooking to be extremely valuable for preparing lunch items, as well.
On Monday morning, I prepare large batches of
4 to 6 items from my list below. (I'm usually in the kitchen anyway on Monday mornings, making bread or yogurt.) I choose simple-to-make items, and spend about 2 to 3 hours total.
The bonuses with making these lunch supplies are three-fold: 1) any time anyone wants a snack, they can help themselves to these healthy and low-cost, home-cooked items, and 2) any busy night when I just can't get dinner made, I can pull together a meal in minutes using some of the lunch supplies, and 3) I use whatever is left on Friday afternoon to add to a simplified version of that night's dinner menu.
I often find that I've made more than a week's supply of some items. As I'm packing menu items for the fridge, I'll put extras into the freezer, to use for another week's lunches sometime in the future.
Remember, I only make 4 to 6 of these items, not the whole list!
One fruit -- in spring and early summer, this is usually rhubarb sauce, but may also be cut up melon, fruit salad, opening a can of pineapple, or homemade fruit gelatin cups. In late summer, we usually have a lot of fresh plums and apples for lunches. When my daughters had braces on their teeth, I would slice up apples, swish with lemon juice and put into small containers or baggies, several days worth, and keep in the fridge. Just like those packaged, sliced apple snacks, only practically free (apples from our trees).
One vegetable -- this can be cut up raw veggies, or, undressed salad greens, or, oven-roasted carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, or green beans, or, a veggie medley with zucchini, onions, garlic and tomatoes.
One grain item -- usually a rice dish, such as herbed rice, Spanish rice or Asian-style vegetable fried rice. Some weeks I make a batch of flour tortillas, for making burritos, or a pan of cornbread, or make a batch of corn tortilla chips.
One soup -- this item will usually have a good source of veggie protein, like lentils, split peas, or other cooked beans some of the soup stock from the freezer, and a lot of vegetables.
One main dish salad -- in warmer weather, I'll prepare either a pasta and veggie salad
(w/lentils or beans) or a tabbouleh-type salad with grains, beans and
veggies.
One treat item -- this is usually something like muffins, or, a loaf of banana bread, or, a batch of tapioca, rice pudding or custard.
One simple, low-cost protein item -- refried beans or a bean-based spread or dip, or boiled eggs. These can be eaten, as is, or in a sandwich or burrito, or with crackers, tortilla chips or raw veggies.
A small pot of cream cheese spread -- simply softened cream cheese blended with herbs from the garden (chives, parsley, basil) and some chopped olives, or, softened cream cheese blended with dried fruit or crushed, canned pineapple. I may also pick up a box of crackers from the dollar store, or make a batch of crostini, if time allows.
One quick to assemble casserole -- often this uses the odds and ends from the fridge and freezer. It can be as simple as cooked pasta, chopped canned tomatoes, Italian herbs and topped with grated cheese. I bake this in a small baking dish, for about 10 minutes to melt the cheese. Family members cut squares of the casserole and put into containers.
One batch of smoothies to freeze -- I make a pitcher of protein smoothies, using milk, peanut butter, banana, cocoa powder or berries, vanilla extract, sweetening if desired, and rolled oats (I use the recipe for a weight-gain shake one of my daughters was drinking several days per week, only I now pour into smaller containers). I pour into 6 ounce containers and freeze. These can be grabbed from the freezer on the way out the door, and eaten semi-frozen with a spoon while commuting.
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Every week I choose different items, so lunches never become hum-drum. Last week, it was lentil-vegetable soup, herbed rice, refried beans, roasted carrots and rhubarb sauce. I made a batch of flour tortillas later in the week, for do-it-yourself burritos for Thursday and Friday lunches. This week, it's fruit gelatin cups (creamy rhubarb jello), a pasta-tomato-chicken-cheese casserole, a tabbouleh-style salad, carrot sticks and sour cream-herb dip, kale-ham-cheese muffins, and I'll open a can of pineapple.
In the mornings, family members chose the items they want and we work together to scoop into containers. They may also make a pbj sandwich, grab some yogurt, or a handful of raisins -- it's up to them. But the above items give variety to make lunches interesting for the week, hit the major food groups (whole grains, protein, fruit and vegetables) and are very low-cost to make. I estimate that I save about $20 to $25 per week preparing these items, instead of buying typical lunch fixins'.
I do have to add, all of my kids (and husband, too) are adults and have more mature tastes. Many of the items that I now prepare would not have been huge hits with the kids when they were, well, kids.
(And just an FYI -- Kristen from thefrugalgirl.com did say she now tries to have back-up lunch ideas/items for when there are no leftovers in her house. She didn't give details, but I'm sure she's come up with some awesome lunch ideas.)
