If you’re doing the 8 to 5 thing, or something similar, you know that having a decent lunch on a regular basis can be a rather daunting challenge. The same food day in, day out, it gets old after a while. Eating out for lunch is fun, but after a while it can get very expensive rather quickly. Spending $7 a day for lunch at work adds up to be nearly $2000 a year! Here are five unique meals that you can bring to work for under $2.00
Pasta – Take an hour or two on Sunday afternoon and make a large bowl of Pasta. Throw in some chicken, fettuccine, or any sauce that you’d like. You’ll have enough to bring to work for the entire week. Sure, you’ll probably get tired of it for a while by Friday, but you’ll be able to take care of an entire week’s meals in one shot, and next week you can make something new!
BLT – Everyone loves a bacon lettuce and tomato sandwich every now and then. You can get the bread for just pennies a slice, and the vegetables are very inexpensive as well. Bacon’s a bit more, but still relatively cheap. You can create four or five sandwiches for a week at a time, and take care of a week’s worth of meals. To add a little more taste, try adding a thin layer of pepper-mayonnaise.
Frozen Dinner Extravaganza – If you walk down the frozen aisle at Wal-Mart, Hy-Vee, or any other major grocery store, chances are you’ll be inundated with more frozen food options than you could ever imagine! You can pick these up for $1 or $2, depending on what you get. There are so many options it’ll take you months to try everything. It’s not the best food in the world, but it’s very inexpensive and it’ll work for lunch.
Frozen Pizza – On Sunday night, make a couple of decent frozen pizza’s for the family. Don’t get the really cheap stuff…because it’s just not very good. Grab some Tombstone or D’giorno and cook it up. Take whatever leftovers you have to work for a few days. Everyone loves pizza now and then, so why not have it for lunch?
Fruits, Vegetables, Meat, Cheese, and Crackers – I’m a sucker for meat and cheese trays. If you want to do something a little bit healthier now and then, pack up some of your favorite fruits and vegetables, as well as some slices of your favorite meat and cheese along with some crackers.
Watch out for pre-packaged meals such as Lunchables though, they’re filled with sodium and really not that healthy.