Planning meals in advance.....challenge accepted.

So, the wife and I go out to eat too often. I find myself going out to lunch 4/5 days during the work week, and then going out to dinner with her 3ish times per week. We eat healthy (read: no [cr]applebees/mcdonalds) but the bottom line is that it is expensive.

We are wanting to limit ourselves to going out to eat only 1 time per week for a month in an effort to save money and see how we do, overall.

Give me some ideas for good things that I can pack in advance for lunch. I work in an office setting so I have a refrigerator/freezer, microwave and a toaster at my disposal. Any ideas for dinner items where the leftovers could flow into a lunch item would be awesome, as well.

Thanks for everyones help and hopefully this will end up benefitting others on the food forum, as well!

anything lol. Seriously. If you have a microwave I don't see how you can't eat anything.

Originally Posted by DylloS

anything lol. Seriously. If you have a microwave I don't see how you can't eat anything.

I guess I should have put the fact that I don't want to eat the equivelant of Hot Pockets every day. Sandwiches are good, but plain old turkey and cheese is a tired choice. I was looking for some more variety.

Make a couple cans of pasta sauce, possibilities are endless with a recipe and what you can do with it. Put it over pasta or rice... add ground meat to it and some red wine to brighten up the flavor.

Meatloaf will last you a decent amount of time.

Roast a couple chickens

Family pack of sirloin tips always lasts a couple days for me... lunch and dinner at least a couple times nom nom

Shrimp cockail is good for a couple days easily

Originally Posted by evolved

I guess I should have put the fact that I don't want to eat the equivelant of Hot Pockets every day. Sandwiches are good, but plain old turkey and cheese is a tired choice. I was looking for some more variety.

honestly foods like that didn't even cross my mind. I was thinking of

chicken
steak
tacos
pastas
meatloaf
fish

anything.

For example this week I had

steak and green beans
chicken with bacon wrapped asparagus and sweet potato fries
more chicken and green beans

that's just because I'm very particular with what I eat during the week.

Originally Posted by evolved

Sandwiches are good, but plain old turkey and cheese is a tired choice. I was looking for some more variety.

there are a bunch of different bread, cold cuts, cheese, veggies, and condiments you can use for creating sandwiches and wraps. use your imagination, and you can go through a whole month without eating the exact same sandwich/wrap twice.

I love making BOMB Italian sandwhices! The wonderful cold cuts you can put in! Publix has a fantastic Jerk Chicken too!

Also, I do a big batch of beef bourguigon every few months or so and package it into single serving sizes using freezer bags... I've done turkey and beef chili the same way and all have worked wonderfully, but I'm a stew kinda guy... Also every time I cook chicken, I always make chicken salad. I really think the key to a good lunch is GREAT bread to put your creations between! When we eat out for lunch, its always sandwiches... Also pork butt bbq does well too.... Just plan ahead!