How We Save Money With Our $100 Food Shop - Lunch

The most common lunch we have is sandwiches. Partly because of a dear friend we can get free bread. But also because it's great travel food for kids going to school and DH going to work.

• We have the basic sandwich spreads like Peanut Butter, Marmite/Vegemite(whatever is cheapest at the time), Honey and homemade Jam.
• We use leftover meat from dinner for a sandwich filling. Like chicken, beef or bacon.
• Leftover salads like coleslaw, green salad or tomato and red onion salad.
• Fresh veggies from the garden, like tomatoes and lettuce when in season. Or sliverbeet finely sliced.
• DH makes great Aioli with our chickens eggs, that can go on our salad sandwiches. I make chutneys, pickles and relish form our garden produce.
• We make our own humus, and egg salad.
• Having a little grated cheese can make a sandwich tasty too.

Our family doesn't always have sandwiches though. Sometimes we are home and can make cooked lunches. Have something more filling so dinner can be more simple at night.

• Sometimes DH, DS14 and DS13 take leftovers from dinner in little containers they can microwave for lunch.
• Homemade hot chips with Aioli and tomato sauce.
• Toasted sandwiches with a fillings of cheese, baked beans, sweet corn, or leftover mince.
• Salads like potato salad with some bacon
• Homemade mini pizzas
• Homemade hamburgers
• Homemade soup with bread
• Roast chicken, and mayonnaise on buns. Leftover chicken is used for dinner and stock.

For us its about using what we have first before buying extra for lunch. Using up leftovers, making our own condiments. There is more I would like to learn how to make our own of. I will be making our own peanut butter, to see if I can make it cheaper. Even want to try making some of our own cheese.

• We buy cheese on sale 1kg blocks (last time time I got them for $6.50). And cut them up into 250g blocks, grate them in my food processor and bag them in zip lock bags for the freezer. They defrost faster, and ready to use for meals. That gives me about 8 weeks worth of cheese (that worked out about $1.63per bag) . I was also able to do this for Parmesan cheese, with a very good special on blocks of that cheese. Came to around $2 a bag of 200g Parmesan cheese (yummy in risotto).