Thread by @Telegraph

🍽️The packed lunch is back.

As office workers return en masse, returning employees are preparing thrifty lunch box meals in the face of the anxiety-inducing price hikes of the cost of living

Here are some frugal lunch ideas for those on a budget ⤵️
telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink…

🗣️“You can’t reduce your council tax, but you can make little savings on everyday meals which add up to a significant difference, and help you to feel more in control,” says Lesley Negus, an East Sussex-based frugal cookery blogger

So, is it possible to eat delicious, varied, nutritious packed lunches five days a week for less than £10 (and still commute to the office with a steaming hot cup of coffee in hand)?

➡️Absolutely, according to Lesley Negus

🍵 Instead of buying food to go, suggests Negus, invest in a chunky, wide-mouth leak-proof flask, and make some soup.

“Home-made soup usually works out at as little as 30p a portion,” she claims

Soup is easy, cheap, simple and quick to make in bulk, says Suzanne Mulholland.

🍲“The flavours don’t have to be boring if you experiment with ingredients like miso, coconut milk and beetroot.

But what if you're short of both time and money?

“A lot of people worry about the time it takes to make packed lunches, says Suzanne Mulholland

⏰"You only need two 30-minute slots of time a week max to prepare your work lunches for the week."

🧑‍💻For mid-afternoon slump office snacking, Mulholland is a fan of the crudite-and-hummus combo

“Hummus is freezable and so cheap and easy to make from scratch"

One of Lesley Negus's cheap eats is a salted cashew cous cous salad

🥗A simple salad of couscous, a dash of oil, juice of lemon, frozen peas, grated carrot, a scattering of salted cashews and quarter of a sliced onion

Read the full weekly menu here ⤵️
telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink…