Want any easy way to save a good chunk of dough? Take your lunch to work. If you already do brown-bag it, then perhaps you could use a few fresh ideas. This article is the second in a series designed to help you eat better–and of course cheaper–for lunch.
Today’s subject is soup. A hearty soup makes a great portable lunch. Most people have access to a microwave at work. You may need to pack along your own spoon if the break room doesn’t keep those for you to use. It also helps if you can bring your soup in a microwavable container so you don’t have to transfer it to heat it or eat it.
When you make soup for dinner, take leftovers to work. You can even freeze leftover soup in pint- or quart-sized freezer bags. When you’re ready to take it to work, take a bag out of the freezer, tear or cut the bag open, and store the frozen soup in a plastic container. By lunchtime, it will be nearly defrosted and you just need to heat it up.
Another idea is to buy some cans of soup when they are on sale. This still makes for a really cheap lunch. You can even store some cans of soup and a mug at work for mornings when you are in too much of a hurry to even think about what you’ll eat for lunch.
Below is one of my very favorite soup recipes. It is all you could ever ask for in a recipe: it’s cheap, super easy, and fast.
Polish Sausage Stew
This is a recipe I got from my husband’s grandmother. Along with being cheap AND easy, it is really handy to just keep the items on hand for when you need a quick meal.
2 14 oz. cans cut green beans
16 oz. pkg. polska kielbasa
5-7 potatoes, peeled, cleaned, and cut into ½ in cubes
Slice kielbasa in ¼ in slices and place into soup pan. Add green beans with liquid. Add cut potatoes. Add enough water to just cover potatoes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Boil until potatoes are tender, 10-15 minutes (or pressure-cook for about 3 minutes).