Cheap, Healthy, Filling lunches for a large family?

[Soliloquy]

My kids often scavenge for lunch. . I eat a big breakfast and a very small lunch. They do the opposite.

Soup is my favorite.

I'm looking for very filling, economical, packable lunches for skiing. Soup in a thermos is tricky but we do it. I'm thinking of baking a big pan of Mac & cheese and putting it in my thermal carrier. If I get my act together I could have burritos hot and packed.

Baked potatoes covered in chili (or stew) is another winter favorite.

[ViolaMum]

If you eat bread, hand pies are a good make-ahead meal. The dough for these hand pies is fantastic. The filling good, too and lends itself to endless variations. (You can even use leftovers!) Empanadas and cornish pasties are other options, but the crusts for those are more like the pastry you would use for a dessert pie.

[tempus vernum]

We do some of the above but Leftovers is our main lunch. We made rice and mix w spaghetti sauce, taco meat refrigerator beans etc.

Corn tortillas w all of that too.

Quesadillas (corn tortillas refrigerator beans cheese and tomato)

We r gluten free, yeast free and can only eat 2 legumes. Bread is a very rare treat cuz of cost.

We also do egg salad and tuna salad in a bowl or w lettuce.

Other things are more expensive that we add (fresh fruit and veggies) but my rule in general is that there must be protein.

Oh and gravy. I add gravy to lots of leftover meats and rice. Just thickened seasoned chicken broth. Since broth is so cheap and healthy.

[greengirl19]

Following, we're severely budgeting this coming year and food is a big cost in our household.

[ViolaMum]

Omelettes baked in muffin tins - I use carton egg whites to lighten them up. They reheat well.

[Maedchen]

With everyone's allergies and such it is hard to know what to suggest.

One thing for my husband that I do because he can't have many veggies and nothing with anything corn in it. I make a quiche. I use 5 eggs and add sea salt, 8 oz of sour cream and cheddar cheese. I chop fresh spinach leaves and add 1/2 cup of Gluten Free Bisquick. I spray the pan and bake at 350 for almost 1 hour.

The quiche will then make it's own crust. (sort of, At least it holds together like a pie slice.)

I do that with his pumpkin pie and custard pies. This way it doesn't require a lot of physical work on my part making pie crusts.

For myself, I would add onions, broccoli, and artichokes or a variation there of. (Sometimes I will add turkey bacon crumbles, but for the most part it is just whatever veggies we have on hand and the protein comes from the eggs.)

[2sunshines]

Originally Posted by Soliloquy

My kids often scavenge for lunch.

TOTALLY here too.

I cook hearty breakfasts and big dinners every day. I pack their lunches on school days but on days that they're home, lunches tend to be whatever they can find in the fridge or something that that they make. They do a lot of leftovers, or sandwiches (grilled cheese is their fave) or simple things to make like nachos or pasta and sauce, etc.

[meagan]

We have beans with a lot of our meals. Hummus on everything is good because dry beans are cheap and it's filling. We like to have stuff ready to make wraps; we eat that a lot. Quinoa spiced up with salsa or both and spices is something we have a lot that's not too expensive. I buy it in 25lb bags at WinCo. That's how I buy beans, whole wheat pasta, and other dry goods too. We often have soup, but I see that that's not a favorite.

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