Do menu plan lunches?

[Kris10Leigh]

I have a great system for menu planning dinners, but I am really horrible about lunches! I pretty much do not plan for lunches. I just buy a few loaves of bread and few bags of chips and hope we find something to eat. We rarely have leftovers because if there are any, it's usually enough for a full meal which I means I repackage it and freeze it.

Do you plan lunches? If so, how? Especially with school coming up, how do you plan lunches?

[getforfree]

Whenever I cook something for either dinner or lunch, I go with whatever we already have or what is on sale this week. If I don't have any potatoes, and I didn't see any at a good price, the soup will be without any. I will add more rice instead. For the salads, I go with whatever is at a good price : cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage. Now that we have our own tomatoes, the salads are tomatoes mostly.

[cschin4]

We generally just take sandwiches, a piece of fruit, yogurt, bottle of water and maybe some crackers/chips. When we have leftovers, I sometimes make some smaller containers and use the next day for lunch.

[PrincessPerky]

DH generally takes leftovers..but I seem to have a problem where I now have less leftover..so far this means no food for us, and we then have sandwhiches or if I am feeling useful eggs, I never cook real breakfast so breakfast for lunch works well. I am starting to cook more than usual..more people eating . (I have a 9 month old who is starting to make a real dent in food..not just nibble)

DH also has lots of 'just in case' foods to take if we don't have enough left.

[Kris10Leigh]

Well, I screwed up the title of this thread, didn't I? Obviously it should read "Do YOU menu plan lunches?" Funny, I've been reading the replies and my brain kept inserting the "you" so I didn't even realize I messed it up! I just re-read it five times to be sure it really said what it said.

Anyway, thanks for the replies! I go about lunches the same way most of you do and it just doesn't work. When I plan for dinners, I am able to make one grocery trip with no extra trips in between for two weeks. It's lunches and snacks that become the problem.

[rickatheslicka]

Kris - I was about to post a similar question! So I hope you don't mind if I tag along...

A little background - I work out of my home. My office has a fridge that actually stays clean, and any food I bring in doesn't suffer too much looting by coworkers (LOL!). There is a cafeteria in my building where in a crunch I can buy two hot sides for $1.50.

I would love to hear what other people think I could do to save money (ideally less than $1.50 a meal) and still have a yummy, nutritious lunch every day...

Like others, I freeze leftovers for dinner another night, or my guy takes them to work. So I try to meal plan for lunch, here are my ideas...

1) Box of crackers or bag of chips, bag of deli meat (love the ones that come in resealable bags or even tupperware, but can get pricey), pack of string cheese, cutup veggies in a plastic bag, bottle of Ranch dressing - yum! (Bonus - no dishes or silverware required, just a napkin)

2) Half-gallon of milk, box of my favorite cereal, spoons and bowls (or can wash one everyday)

3) Ramen or Lipton cup of soup - but this is probably not so healthy and gets old fast.

4) Microwave popcorn, bottle of grated Parmesan cheese, cutup veggies and Ranch

Oh, and I also keep a bag of M&M's or miniature candy bars on hand for my chocolate fix.

Sometimes I make fruit salad at home and it will keep for a couple days in the fridge at work. I love to bring in bananas, but they get smooshed! Not so crazy about apples and oranges, despite the better portability. If grapes are on sale, I buy a big bunch, pick and wash them and put them in tupperware, so they stay fresh and don't get smooshed.

And I bring in my own soda and water (one can and bottle a day, otherwise they do get pilfered by my coworkers - what is with that?)

Any other thoughts on things I could bring to work with me and leave in the fridge or my desk?

Thanks!!!

[Kris10Leigh]

Hi Rickatheslicka! I just came up with a plan for my family. We are going to try rotating meals throughout the week. I could only come up with five so it's pretty boring, but here it is:

Kid version:
Monday: PB&J, cheese stick, carrot, cheetos, fruit snack
Tuesday: Quesadilla, orange, tortilla chips, cookie
Wednesday: Turkey sandwich with tomato, yogurt, cheetos, animal crakcers
Thursday: Lunch meat, cheese, grapes, crackers, fruit snack
Friday: Ham & Cheese sandwich, apple, potato chips, cookie

Adult version:
Monday: Tuna sandwich or Tuna with crackers, carrots, chips
Tuesday: Quesadilla, orange, tortilla chips, salsa
Wednesday: Turkey sandwich, yogurt, cheetos
Thursday: Lunch meat, crackers, cheese, grapes
Friday: Roast beef sandwich, apple, chips

Then I came up with a master grocery list to make sure I have the right food each week. For four people, I will need:

Peanut butter
jelly
cheese stick X4
carrots X4
bread X24 slices
cheetos X6 servings
fruit snacks X4
Tortilla shells X6
shredded cheddar
orange X4
Tortilla chips X 4 servings
cookies X4
Turkey meat 8-10 servings
Tomato
yorgurt X3
animal crackers
grapers X4 servings
crackers
ham X4 servings
apple X4
potato chips X4 servings

[lrjohnson]

I don't menu plan lunches. Ieat lunch at work almost always; maybe out to lunch once a month or so. I'm not against planning, I just don't. Even when I have a lot of leftovers, I freeze up to 8 individual servings for lunch. I rarely have sandwiches. I try to always have fruit, but often I eat that as the morning or afternoon snack. I'll take a whole carrot or whole zucchini sometimes. I try tro keep some hardboiled eggs in the fridge.

A few weeks ago I tracked my meals... here are some lunches
*Left over blender soup (reconstituted milk and steamed broccoli with a tablespoon of leftover ranch), fruit salad
* half of a leftover burger, potato salad, gelatin
* leftover pasta/sauce/steamed broccoli, steamed spinach
* Leftover potato salad, carrot sticks, grapefruit
* Freak Soup, Leftover potato salad, hard boiled egg
* Spinach soup (from scratch, blender), avocado and cheese sandwich
* Spinach soup (from scratch, blender), bulghur cooked in chicken broth
* leftover grilled potato/zuchinni/chicken grill, Freak Soup

Clearly I am not afraid of repetition!

A can of sardines makes a good emergency lunch for me when I am running really late. Also I eat a lot of muffins.

When I'm totally in a zone, I have a lunch shelf in the fridge, where all possible lunch items are. Then I can grab some this or that and be gone.

[MoneyHoney]

You mentioned "freak soup" in your list of lunch items. What is your recipe?

[rickatheslicka]

Kris10Leigh - I love your lunch plan, mind if I borrow it? I especially like the idea of quesadillas for lunch, easy to make the night before (or even in the morning), and I can keep salsa and sour cream in the fridge at work! In a pinch, I could even keep the cheese and tortillas at work, and just pop them in the microwave, but I think they taste better made in a skillet. I think I'll add some lunch meat and tomato - yum! Thanks for the ideas!!!

lrjohnson - yes, please post your recipe for "Freak Soup" - can't wait to see it!

[rickatheslicka]

Kris10leigh - I forgot to mention one other thing I like to do for lunch - make homemade mac and cheese. I bought a HUGE box of elbox macarroni, and I almost always have milk, cheese, and bread crumbs on hand. In fact, it's a great way to use up whatever cheese we have, sliced provolone or swiss, the last of the block of cheddar, even sour cream.

It's pretty easy to have the water boiling, then the pasta cooking while I'm making something else for dinner. And I just mix it all up in the same pot, I don't bother with putting in the oven. I dish it out into tupperware, and sprinkle the bread crumbs on top. Next time I may add some cubed ham and some brocolli - what do you think?

[PrincessPerky]

mac n cheese is never served in oour house without a veggie in it (green peas or broccolii are favorites)

[rickatheslicka]

Slowly but surely introducing veggies into my guy's diet... he would stick to meat and potatoes if he had his way, or just meat - LOL!

[lrjohnson]

Originally Posted by rickatheslicka

lrjohnson - yes, please post your recipe for "Freak Soup" - can't wait to see it!

Y'all may be less intrigued with the recipe than the name. This is how I posted it on my blog....

My discovery of blender soups has led me down strange paths. I bought a ten pound bag of carrots because the price was right. I knew I could not eat them all as carrot sticks, so I steamed some for blender soup. When we grilled last Sunday I realized we were at the bottom of the ketchup and mustard containers (we bought more). So I took some water and put it in the ketchup and mustard bottles, shook’em up, and poured into the blender along with some dry milk powder and carrots, blended, and made Mustard Ketchup Carrot Soup.

I tasted it and I’m almost giddy……it tastes great. I’d serve it to guests as Cream of Carrot soup, though.

A friend tasted it at work, and said it tasted like hot dogs. My reply? "You mean I've created a vegetarian miracle?!?!"

I also call it Hot Dog Soup. If you like hot dogs and/or carrots, it's a 30 second good soup.

[LuxLiving]

Hi everyone,


"Do you menu plan lunch?"

I do and I don't. The Hubster packs a sandwich, snack cakes & chips for lunch, so yes, those are planned for on the shopping list.


Myself - I eat what is leftover in the icebox or a cheese sandwich or once a week I usually splurge on me, myself and I and eat a 2.50 or less takeout item. Yeah, I'm a real wild splurging woman, aren't I?!!!? So REAL american cheese, bread, and Helmann's Real Mayonaisse is always in the cupboard or on the shopping list.


Boys - they either eat leftovers, a sandwich of some kind - so there is always bologna, cheese, PB&J, or tuna on the shopping list. OR, they eat at their afternoon jobs - both at an Arched Affair. So many times it is a hot plate of food at home, but others a more catch as catch can here or trying to make sure they know about the more healthful selections at work.



So, yes, lunches are in the plans to be shopped for, but not exactly menued out so to speak!