Ok, I'm a bit stuck. Normally lunches around here are fairly basic, just looking in the fridge and knocking something up. That works for me and DD1 during the week, but will not work over the holidays when DH is home along with visitors. So I need some interesting, cheap lunch ideas that will keep adults and kids happy, inlcuding an 8yo who only wants to eat chips
school hols my mum (she had 5 of us and not a lot of $) used to whip up stuff like:
pocket bread with grated cheese carrot and salami
pocket bread with a mix of cheese tomato sauce and tuna (or used to do cheese on toast w this too)
she'd buy a long french stick and make huge sandwiches with salead/ meat / etc but we used to help and made a stack of yummy food for everyone
leftovers sandwiches - we'd always have a lump of left over roast or corned beef in the fridge
picnics
Thanks for the suggestions Nelly. I was thinking of cooking up a big silverside for sandwiches and salads. Just want to be prepared so we are not going to the supermarket every 5 minutes,
wraps are always good - have frozen chooken in the freezer (just simple oven bake stuff), pita wraps in the cupboard and salad in the fridge - works a treat. if you're not wanting a heavy lunch, you can do them without meat
we also do this with burritto mince - make it in bulk, freeze in small portion, and defrost for something different at lunch...
we always cook too much of whatever we have when doing a saucy based dish (spag bol, braise anything like that) and freeze in meal sized servings too
-home made sausage rolls (you can add onion and carrot to it) - i find most shop bought ones uninspiring flavour and texture wise
-baked spuds are good - with bacon onion cheese etc (you can keep most of it in the freezer)
-egg salad sandwich
-wedges with bacon, onion and cheese (sour cream if you fancy it) - divine! we do this as an easy feed when the boys are working - filling, but not too heavy
-steamed/bbq'd dim sims
-quiche is always good
-ommelette/scramble
-meatloaf - sausage meat, mix through some veg (we put onion and capsicum), form into a neat little shape, whack it in the oven - usually we top it with a tomato sauce/mustard glaze
-simple vegie stir fry (don't need to add meat, but can if you're needing the protein hit)
-toasted sandwiches! the best - cheese, ham, pineapple or whatever you like. the best ones we have are the ones with left over burrito mince and cheese - sooo yummm!
-nachos - simple - chips, salso, cheese (sour cream and stuff if you like) - if you want it a bit more bitey, use nacho sauce instead of salsa. if you want it "heavier" - use burrito or taco mince. the best way we've done it is left over mince, melted cheese, top with a nice salsa. yummmmm (neither DH nor i do sour cream or guacamole, but you get the pic) - if you're not big on cornchips for a meal, you can replace the chips but you can use wedges instead. take a bit longer though. when we make tacos or burritos, we make HEAPS and then freeze lots of small portions ready for stuff like this.
umm, DH has been home a few days so we have been eating other simple lunch foods and it's inspired me again!
You could make pizzas using pita bread as the bases. I do them all the time and they are far tastier when you make them youself.
Your 8 yr old might even enjoy creating his own with various toppings??
I do a hawaiian one and then another one which has ham, salami, mushrooms on it... yum, feel like one now actually!!
old fave here I thought about today is mum's bacon and egg pie - it is divine, easy and tastes great!
1kg puff pastry sheeets
750g-1kg Bacon
12 egg
frzn peas and corn cooked for about 1-2 mins in microwave
fruit chutney
salt and peper to season
This used to feed us for 2 days lunch and dinner, or when we were older 7 adults and lunch the next day for a few of us - just as good hot or cold.
Line a huge baking dish - ours the the biggest one corningware makes without a lid - about 30x45cm ?
Grease the base and line it with pastry including up the sides w a bit of overhang.
Evenly sprinkle bacon around the dish, followed by peas and corn
Dot with fruit chutney
crack the eggs evenly around the dish and pirck their yolks a couple of times
Season w salt and pepper
Top with a layer of pastry and seal the edges, brush with milk or butter or egg white
Bake in a mod-hot oven for about 45mins until golden brown.
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Budget Family lunch ideas
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