Healthy lunches for a dollar or two?

[Auric]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
Tuna in water + dollop of low fat mayo + 2 slices whole wheat + relish + reheated frozen broccoli.

Tuna in oil is so much better. And fuck the low fat mayo. Why even bother eating mayo if you aint gonna eat the real stuff!

Best: tuna in water... drain... add your own olive or grapeseed oil. Tzatziki > mayo. For low (no) fat: dijon.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

yeah take a time machine back 30 years or so

 

[lyssword]

check frozen food section for "budget gourmet" or something like that

 

[rocadelpunk]

walmart has really cheap produce.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Do people seriously eat out this much? I rarely ever go out, and when I do, it's usually a team lunch for work or a buddy is expensing it. I don't see what's so hard about cooking at home and bringing your lunch. It really saves a ton of $ in the long run, and it's healthier to boot.

For some reason I have never been able to get myself into the habit of doing this even though you are correct that it is probably the cheapest and healthiest way to go.

 

[Papagayo]

Go buy bag of lettuce and Free Ketchup from Mcdonalds.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Doodoo
Pasta is pretty cheap if you have a place to heat it up. You can get a whole pack of dry pasta for a buck..and a jar of sauce for a buck on sale. For two bucks you can make lotsa pasta.

you could make your own sauce for nearly as cheap as most quality pre-made sauces.

large can of tomatoes, salt/pepper, fresh thyme or basil, part of onion, stick of celery....whatever.

one person can eat off of that (+ normal 12 oz box of pasta) for about 3-4 meals

 

[Analog]

Actually a McDonald's Side Salad for $1 is not bad. Get a couple and it comes with your choice of dressing - I prefer balsamic vinigrette

 

[Bryophyte]

Make 2-3 times as much as you normally do of any dinner that you could package and reheat for lunches and keep them in the freezer (or fridge if it's not something that can be frozen.) Grab something from the freezer before you leave for work and by the time lunch rolls around, it'll be partly thawed and simple to reheat in a microwave.

It's typically cheaper per portion to cook larger meals, so your dinner prices will drop a bit too. If you make a habit of doing this, you'll accumulate enough variety in the freezer to keep lunches from being too repetitive.

Another easy thing to make and freeze is burritos. Make a bunch of them and freeze them in ziplock bags.

I second djheater's suggestion of getting multiple uses out of things like chicken and leftover veggies. Whenever I roast a chicken (or buy one at the Costco deli), I throw whatever we don't eat in the freezer, then when I get a couple of them in the freezer, I cook them down for stock or soup. Small amounts of leftover veggies can get thrown in so they don't get wasted.

Our family averages about 3-5 dollars per person, per day, for food (monthly food costs for our family of 4 is typically around 400-500/month.) We NEVER eat ramen or Chef Boyardee or that kind of nasty crap.

 

[daveshel]

I eat Trader Joe's premade salads most days for lunch they are more than $2 but less than $3 and are quite good.

 

[sonambulo]

Beans and rice. Canned beans are 3 for 2.00 or 3 for 1.00 on sale. You can get a five pound bag of rice for less than five bucks. Ramen is key and you can prepare those noodles a lot of ways. Hit up an asian grocery store and buy cheap produce to toss with the noodles. Apples are cheap. Peanut butter is cheap. Eggs are cheap.

Also, what's wrong with water? It's the only thing I drink.

 

[Dunbar]

A buck or two? Not really, I like the Lean Cuisine paninis which are $2 at Walmart but I don't consider that a full meal. I usually add a can of soup but some veggies would work.

 

[Fritzo]

I don't know about healthy, but I'm eating a double cheeseburger, chili, and water from Burger King once a week, and that costs $2.24

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Do people seriously eat out this much? I rarely ever go out, and when I do, it's usually a team lunch for work or a buddy is expensing it. I don't see what's so hard about cooking at home and bringing your lunch. It really saves a ton of $ in the long run, and it's healthier to boot.

Then there's always the tightwad in these discussions.

Do you know how many promotions and raises I've negotiated over lunch with my bosses? I'm part of the office group that picks a place to go and we eat there 2-3 times a week. Eating with the higher-ups makes you look good.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark
Tuna in water + dollop of low fat mayo + 2 slices whole wheat + relish + reheated frozen broccoli.

Tuna in oil is so much better. And fuck the low fat mayo. Why even bother eating mayo if you aint gonna eat the real stuff!

Mayo is for lube. The relish is for flavor. Or honey mustard if you're eating turkey or something.

 

[potato28]

Dented can bin, cheap meat and lots of pasta. If you want veggies and fruits look around at the local markets, usually cheaper than the grocery store prices.

 

[Insomniator]

Double cheeseburger from bk is at least 2.50 where i am... where do you live?!?

I love those and have been dieing for them to come to the dollar menu like mcdonalds double cheeses...

 

[randomlinh]

my staple is 2-3lbs of ground meat, whatever is onsale. 2-3 "normal sized" jars (can't remember off hand) of whatever premade sauce, an extra can of tomato sauce, some oregano, pepper, salt, sugar, chicken broth, red pepper, onions, garlic, cheese of choice... all mixed together.. make some pasta.. i can get two weeks worth of lunches. Altho, my portitions might be a little small.. at least compared to going out, but they serve too much anyway.

I also find I can't use fresh herbs.. I always have excess I don't get around to using. So I make due with a few dried ones.

throw in a banana everyday and yogurt, water is free. altho, i dunno if this meets the $2 requirement, i think it comes to almost 5... heh. but at least it's a little healthier, albeit has been really boring.

 

[Injury]

You can easily do meals on the cheap if you plan them out.

A crock pot of homemade chili or soup should cost about $20 (depending on what you put in it) and could last for a little less than 10 lunches.

I guess a lot of it depends on how much you think you need to eat for lunch.

A pound of ground beef costs about $3-4 at some places, a bag of buns $1.50 - $3.00... cook them on a Foreman grill the night before and throw in a few toppings and you have 4-5 days of hamburgers for about $8. If you want to be really cheap you can take mustard/ketchup packets from restaurants. Stalk of celery and some applesauce to round out the meal should hit in at around $3/meal for a week.


I think the most important key other than planning your meals out, is to not bite on single-serving packages and name brands and just pony up a few bucks for some cheap, reusable plasticware.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Bread
Cheese
Fried Eggs
Ketchup
Soda

Welcome to my world.

 

[Turin39789]

I can find pork loin roasts on sale for 1.70-$2 a pound pretty regularly. Roast that up on sunday night, and you get 3 1/3 lb servings for a dollar. Add a can of veggies and it's lunch