Stuff to make & bring for work lunches

[SlappyKincaid]

So, I love to cook when I'm not being a lazy sack of shit, and I know my way around the kitchen, but seeing this folder made me think of something.

I work long hour days in the middle of the week, but my mondays start later and are usually short days.  Generally, Monday & Friday, I bring only snacks to work, eat actual meals at home, but tues-thurs I'm basically having dinner at work, and need to not spend all my money on wendys and supermarket sandwiches.

Trying to think of some things to make that I could either make a "batch" of on like sunday or monday, and bring for lunch during the week.  Going to be making a soup tonight after I finish cleaning my kitchen, but usually I'm not a big soup guy.  I like sandwiches, but it seems like every time I buy bread, I don't use it fast enough and it goes moldy.  I had been doing wraps for a bit, but similarly, when I'd buy salad greens, they'd go off before I could get through them, so it would be wasted.

Stuff like chili or stroganoff, baked ziti, that kind of stuff works really well, but I'm looking to make things interesting, anyone got idears?  I like all kinds of things, spicy or not spicy, curry, I'm not vegetarian or vegan but I'm open to things if they're tasty, I think the main issue is it needs to be something that I could just throw in a container and microwave at work, or have in a wrap or something.

I have recipes I can share, but I'm trying to think of easy and cheap things, because its easier and cheaper to bring stuff than it is to go out and grab things on my break.

[Raptorpat]

I need to make a legitimate effort to bring lunch to work on a regular basis, spending between 3 and 8 dollars four or five days a week on lunch adds up, and i need to spend sparingly now that I have all these bills to pay.

The lady tried making "freezer burritos" the other night, basically assembling fresh burritos and freezing them while still hot and fresh. That seemed to be a success given that she ran out of her test batch within two days.

[SlappyKincaid]

I was buying those frozen burritos and bringing two to work, and they taste good but they must have a catch, either theyre just really unhealthy, or not cost effective.  I'm writing a recipe for something in my other post, but I wasn't done and saw the notification
 

[Raptorpat]

She made them for real, which is probably more up your alley.

Bought wraps, cooked her own mix with turkey, beans, and the sauce, put it and rice and whatever else goes in a burrito all together, and froze them.

Definitely a project, but if you like cooking and burritos it's probably rewarding/satisfying. 

Roast a whole chicken for dinner and then the next day rip the remainder of the carcass apart for burritos. Or if you want a real project, do it with a goddamn turkey and you will have burritos forever.

[SlappyKincaid]

Here's a stroganoff recipe as bartering

2ish lbs ground beef or ground turkey (turkey works, just needs more seasoning)
1-2 large onions, chopped
bunch of diced garlic, I use a lot but I like garlic, so use your own judgement
one of those 10oz packages of mushrooms, white or "baby bella", sliced like medium thin, or a can of sliced mushrooms, if you use canned, just add them later, drained, than if you use fresh
bunch of grinds of pepper, black pepper or one of those menagerie peppers if you're fancy.
Paprika.  Smoked is good, regular is good, I don't know how much I use, but it seems like a lot.  The sauce you will eventually end up with should be a pinkish-brown, so that much.
salt to taste
herbs, I like thyme, sage, and rosemary, dried and crushed, or fresh and diced finely.  The ratio is up to preference, but its easy to over thyme or over sage something, so use judgement
some milk or cream, 1/4 cup or less, and small amount of flour, half a tablespoon at most
egg noodles, maybe like half a pound (half a bag)
butter or some kind of vegetable oil, or both

Heat large saucepan on medium-ish, with either a big chunk of butter or like a tablespoon of oil.  Throw in the onion, garlic, mushrooms, and a generous pinch of salt, and sautee until its soft and the onions are browned and the mushrooms reduced and soft.  If you're using canned mushrooms, sautee the onion and garlic and when they get to this point, add the canned mushrooms and toss them around a bit.

Add the meat and stir a bunch, then add the herbs and paprika, and give a few cracks of pepper, circle the pan with it a few times, then sautee until the meat is browned thoroughly, stir semi-frequently.

While that's happening, follow the instructions on the bag of egg noodles, you want enough to mix into the rest of the meal once they're done, so my estimate might be off.  When I make this, I use a 3 quart pot for the noodles, I think about half a 1lb bag fits.  Pinch of salt in the water, boil til done, drain, set aside etc.

Back to the other pan, when the meats browned fully, reduce the heat a little bit and splash some milk or cream in there, you don't need a lot, but you want enough to make a sauce.  I hesitate to say a quarter cup, but that sounds right.  I always eyeball it when I make this.  But add that, and stir, and make sure you  scrape the bottom of the pan.  Once you've done that, sprinkle a bit of flour over it and stir and cook until it thickens up a little.  If you added too much milk, you can add more flour, and if you added too much flour, put a splash more milk in.  You want a thicker sauce, but not too thick.  Thinner than like a mac and cheese, but thicker than a sloppy joe.  You can adjust it with the milk/flour technique, but it doesn't take much to shift the balance, so just use judgement.

Once that's done, shut the heat off, and depending on which is bigger, either the pan you had the meat in, or the pot you cooked the noodles in, mix them together, and then serve.  Or, put some noodles in a bowl and slap a spoonful of the stroganoff on them and serve.  It ends up mixed up either way, I usually mix it all together before I take a portion.  Keeps in the fridge for about a week, you could probably freeze it if you made a shitload of it.

 

[SlappyKincaid]

22 minutes ago, Adminderaptorpat said:

She made them for real, which is probably more up your alley.

Bought wraps, cooked her own mix with turkey, beans, and the sauce, put it and rice and whatever else goes in a burrito all together, and froze them.

Definitely a project, but if you like cooking and burritos it's probably rewarding/satisfying. 

Roast a whole chicken for dinner and then the next day rip the remainder of the carcass apart for burritos. Or if you want a real project, do it with a goddamn turkey and you will have burritos forever.

Could easily do that with cutlets or thighs, too, but using leftovers from a roast bird is also a really good idea.  

[SlappyKincaid]

31 minutes ago, Adminderaptorpat said:

She made them for real, which is probably more up your alley.

Bought wraps, cooked her own mix with turkey, beans, and the sauce, put it and rice and whatever else goes in a burrito all together, and froze them.

Definitely a project, but if you like cooking and burritos it's probably rewarding/satisfying. 

Roast a whole chicken for dinner and then the next day rip the remainder of the carcass apart for burritos. Or if you want a real project, do it with a goddamn turkey and you will have burritos forever.

I made stock from a chicken carcass once, and it was a good idea in theory, but for me, it made more than I could use, and also, I let it boil down too much, so I really had more of a gravy.  I should try again and not fuck it up, but chicken stock and even just bullion cubes are so cheap to buy, I dont know if its worth it.  I dont usually roast a whole chicken or turkey much, so...

[SlappyKincaid]

Another easy recipe, although not really a "bulk" one, it's more of an easy one-lunch thing if you're a pig like me.

Can of deviled ham
bread or a wrap
a cheese that you like, either pre-sliced, or you slice yourself
mayo
pickled banana peppers or other sliced pepper in a jar
some kind of salad greens (lettuce mix if you're boring, spring mix, spinach, whatever)

Take bread, or wrap, put some mayo.  Standard bread will make 2-3 sandwiches per can of ham, a good bread will make one giant sandwich.  For a wrap, you want the biggest burrito wrap you can get.  Anyway, mayo. Not too much, but not too thin.  Crack open that deviled ham and just pile that nasty goodness in there, for bread, you want to go from sea to shining sea, for a wrap, the zone of control.

Cheese depends on if it's pre-sliced, or if you're slicing it yourself, and even that is really up to you, but you want a layer of cheese.  For a sandwich, if you've mayo'd both breads, put the cheese on the other bread half, not the ham half, unless you like to live dangerously.

Get your peppers and put a generous amount on the ham side.  They add a good crunch and some spice.  You can also use pickles if you don't like spicy-hot.  I've done both, and it works pretty good, but one or the other is also fine.  Then add some salad greens of your choice.  I like spinach, but something like a spring mix is good too.  Regular lettuce is fine if you're boring.   

Close sandwich, or roll up wrap.  Secure with plastic wrap or tin foil, I tend to use both because I over-pickle stuff and it gets juicy, plastic to keep the mess in, foil to hold the shape.

Quick easy sandwich.  (Works with tuna as well, I like adding mustard if I do that.  I know, it sounds weird, but a friend told me about it, and I tried it, strangely enough it works pretty good with tuna.)