The Bring Your Lunch Contest: Winner!
Jan 21st, 2011 by Carlos
It’s been almost two weeks since I kicked off the Bring Your Lunch Contest and today I get to announce the winner. There were more entries that I thought would come in, and a lot of great ideas bandied around.
To recap: the submissions had to be easy, tasty, and cheap ($7.99/week to compete with my current sandwiches).
One thing I didn’t expect was how many people were horrified at my daily salami sandwich and how unhealthy that is. Honestly? I had no idea. So I’ve been eating a turkey sandwich ever since.
Let’s take a look at the three finalists:
- Pasta for a Week: This is great because it’s simple. Sure, there is some work to be done on Sunday. But it’s pretty easy and I can see pasta taking on several varieties to keep me from getting bored in five years.
- Tacos: Tasty and easy. They rely on pinto beans for heartiness, and I can see myself taking some hot sauce or something to spice them up.
- Stir Fry: I love stir fry, so this one jumped out at me right away. Some of the prices on there might be deal-dependent, but a nice choice.
And the winner is…Pasta! OneFrugalGirl wins a $25 Amazon Gift Card!
As part of the contest, I will be testing out her lunch idea and reporting back here to see how it went and how much it cost. It won’t be next week since we’re trying out Peapod and we already did our shopping for next week (no salami).
Thanks to everyone that participated!
Great ideas, some healthier than others. There are certainly healthier options than pasta. I have tried taking leftover pasta for lunch but vegetables and chicken do not tend to reheat well. I am late on the submissions but I think an excellent healthy option is Quinoa. It is one of few superfoods that is economical and tasty. It is a significant source of protein, has all the amino acid chains in it and can be seasoned and upgraded to be a breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Add almonds and honey for breakfast, add cumin, chili powder, and some black beans and its a mexican bowl, add some chicken or ground turkey and its dinner!
Is Mrs. Coin partaking in the pasta as well? Because then it gets even cheaper (as opposed to her still doing sandwiches). From my vantagepoint, I am interested to see how this turns out!
I’m with Brad on the Quinoa. The protein is sky high and the carbs/calories/fat are way better than traditional pasta. That said, you should get whole wheat pasta to make the dish that much healthier.
She says, while eating Cheez-Its straight from the box …
It has been a few weeks how is it going? Are you tired of Ragu?