5 Ways your Crock Pot Can Save You BIG Money at Work

One of the BEST ways to save money is to bring your own lunch to work each day. And while it might not be as attractive as eating out at a restaurant with your co-workers, the money you save will be pretty hefty.

Think about that $8 – $10 you spend per day, over the course of 5 days… that could be as little as $40 … or as much as $50 (and that is on the conservative side!)

Think about putting that money to work in another area of your finances, or even perhaps your savings… that could add up to $1,200 per YEAR that you are using just on eating out.

And many times, you can’t even eat out for that LITTLE, adding up the coffee you buy on the way IN to work, the Starbucks you buy on the way HOME, some people easily spend $15!

I know people do this because every day when I drive my kids to school and pick them up, the line around Starbucks is unreal. Just unreal, really, just…. absolutely unbelievable to me… it spills into the stop light and every day makes me have to leave earlier. Is it really that important to go there before work? After work? Maybe I’m missing something, who knows.

Whip out the Crock Pot… or invest in an Instant Pot (they are pricey but they will PAY off!) because that is one of the BEST ways to save on your lunch for work.. when used (USED being the key word!) you can easily put together lunch with little or no effort.

Here are some ways YOUR crock pot can save you from eating out each day on the job…

#1 — Crock Pot Sweet Potatoes

Your Crock Pot can make Baked Potatoes (we have mentioned that before, find a recipe HERE – although aluminum foil is unnecessary, they cook fine without… but it can ALSO make Sweet Potatoes. Organic Sweet Potatoes are a great buy at Costco.

You can pick up the 10 lb Bag of Organic Sweet Potatoes for $.79 lb… wash them, and then place them in a DRY slow cooker without ANY other liquids or items. Turn on that slow cooker and let them cook for 7-8 hours on low – which can be done the night before, as you are sleeping.

Get up that next morning, and take out those sweet potatoes, wrap them up in some foil, and throw in your lunch pail – ensure you have a few condiments containers for sour cream or even butter (or, keep those items at work in smaller sizes!), and you have an easy and healthy side item for your lunch pail.

#2 — Crock Pot Pinto Beans

Cook your Pinto Beans the night before, on low – by the time you wake up they will be ready to go and you can put in a lunch container.

You can make your own El Pollo Loco [Copycat] Bowls and take to work, relativity easy if you cook the beans overnight. Make your own bowls in the morning with Beans, Rice, Chicken and then add Tomato, Cilantro and use your Sour Cream you keep at work.

#3 –Crock Pot Rice

Use your Crock Pot to make rice – instead of standing over the stove, spray or wipe the pot with butter or cooking spray (or, coconut oil) and use 1:2 rice to water (so 2 Cups of Rice = 4 Cups of Water or Broth)… and 1 tablespoon of butter. Cover, and let cook 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours on high.

You can do this with white, brown or even Wild Rice – if you shop at Costco Lundberg Organic Wild Rice is a great price.

#4 — Crock Pot Lasagna

With just THREE ingredients, you can put together Lasagna for your work lunch, too! In fact, you can make it for dinner and if you have leftovers they’ll be great for the next day.

Head to Crockpot Gourmet to get the recipe – only 3 ingredients are needed.

#5 — Crock Pot Chicken

Chicken has got to be the easiest thing you can throw in the crock pot overnight – you can literally toss it in at 9 or 10, and wake up at 6, and take a few minutes to shred and you have meat for lunch. Or, buy a whole chicken, and use an Instant Pot & it takes 40 minutes.

You can doctor that meat up a million different ways – in fact, if you eat the recommended serving (3 oz) then 1-2 breasts will literally last you up to 4 days if you supplement with legumes, or .. with rice, side salad or even potatoes.

Here are 9 Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes that you could incorporate for lunch at work:

(1) Buffalo Chicken Salad (Homemaking Hacks), (2) Chicken Quesadillas (Just 2 Sisters), (3) Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken (The Tiptoe Fairy) , (4) Nacho Shredded Ranch Chicken (Who Needs a Cape), (5) Deeeelicious Easy Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken (Thrifty Jinxy), (6) Easy BBQ Chicken Sliders (Ann’s Entitled Life), (7) Cheesy Ranch Chicken Quesadillas (You Brew My Tea), (8) Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken (You Brew My Tea), (9) Chicken Bog (Mommy Musings)

And Don’t Forget…

If you are going to commit to lunch at work, you must have containers that you can take with you – ditch the mismatched containers you have in the cabinet. If you are going to be taking your lunch to work regularly you will need matching items that you can actually be proud to take to work…

If you are like us, then lids disappear to special places and leave a lot of empty containers that are useless. Why is this? They must get together with the socks we lose daily somewhere in the depths of the dryer.