Bringing your own lunch to work rather than eating out is an easy way to save some cash. And brown-bagging it doesn’t have to be a glum PB&J affair.
Wise Bread’s post “Sex Up Your Sandwich” offers a tips for upgrading your lunch from mere sustenance to something that’ll get you excited about more than just taking a break from the cubicle grind. Like:
Pre-cooked bacon (a main ingredient in BLT sandwiches) is a flavorful accent in other sandwiches and upgrades them affordably to the status of “club.” For around eight dollars at my local warehouse store, I can purchase a bulk bag of pre-cooked bacon that equates to four pounds of the raw equivalent.
When toasted, I routinely find several whole grain [bread] varieties to be suitably sexy.
One of my favorite items is those bulk jars of banana pepper rings you can purchase in the bulk aisle at Walmart. For under five dollars you’ve got a bulk supply of a zippy little sandwich add-on that won’t spoil quickly like certain produce items (cough — tomatoes).
Other ideas include basil leaves, sliced bulk pickles, mixed organic spring greens, sprouts, and French-fried onions.
And, in true sandwich-like form, when you take what’s in the main story and combine it with the suggestions in the comments section, what you have is something tastier than the sum of the parts. Reader comments like:
I use a Chipotle spread recipe to add zip to my sandwiches.
My boyfriend is an amazing cook, and he does great things with roasts in the slow cooker. One of my favorite sandwiches is leftovers from the night before: meat, veggies, a little sauce, all atop a baguette with some melted cheese. Truly, truly delicious.
I’ve added flavour (and avoided boredom) to my sandwich by using various chutneys. I prefer fruit chutneys that include peach and mango with liberal amount of pepper
I used to like to put a bit of French Onion Dip on turkey sandwiches (in lieu of mayo, which I detest).
Finally, combine that with the tips from 90+ comments about the topic at Consumerist riffing off of the original post:
I like to toss my left overs into my salad when I take my lunch. It usually gives it a bit more flavor than just lettuce, carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes.
Use cookie cutters to put shapes in your bread.
Awesome wasabi horseradish sauce. It’s mint green and has the awesome “nose-hotness” I love.
Hummus instead of mustard or mayo.
Convince the office to supply a toaster oven in the kitchen/break room. Almost ALL sandwiches taste better fresh out of the toaster oven.
Gather up all of these suggestions and what you have is one heckuva smorgasbord of options for bringing your lunch to work and not hating that you have to eat it.
Related:
How to Eat Well on $50 a Week