Packed Lunch for work

robnye

pavlovs_dog :

will you do lunches by mail order.......

yours lunches sound a lot better and varied than miine......

chardonnay_2

this might not help your dilemma re what to make, but have you thought about getting your colleagues to chip in to buy a microwave. depending on how many of you there are it might not be very much each, plus your company might chip in too! think you can get microwaves from £50 but might be able to get them even cheaper. or if you like toasties, a basic toastie maker costs £10. by bringing in leftovers from te night before you could pay for your contribution quite quickly. worth a shot.

r.mac_2

this thread inspired me to jazz up my lunches. So the risotto was yesterday and while I was stirring the bolognase sauce for dinner last night, I chopped up some carrots into sticks and put them in a tupperware box. This moring I threw them and a pot of hummous, a yoghart and a pitta bread into a bag and hey presto - an instant picnic, which took about 3 seconds to put together.

I ahve to admit. It also tasted better than my old, dingy and boring sandwiches!

Thanks

Trow

If you have made curry or a stir fry or anything that involves that kind of sized bits for dinner - save some and put it in a wrap or pitta bread with salad the following day. I make felafel at home and make sure I make too much, I then have it in a pitta the following day with salad yoghurt and chilli sauce.

tiff

Mmm I almost wish I work so I could have that for lunch lol

crana999

tiff wrote:

Mmm I almost wish I work so I could have that for lunch lol

is there some kind of rule that you aren't allowed to have sandwiches at home?

eleanorchang

We have a fucntunal kitchen at work, however we do have the most important cooking device the microwave where between my 2 other colleague and I, we all chip in towards buying food for the week and store it in the fridge. Normally comes to about £30 for non branded food. But it covers breaky, lunch and snack times.Which is alot of food considering my other colleagues are well over 15 stones each!!!!

Sometimes the food runs over to next week aswell. It heathier and fresher and alot more variety than sandwiches.

raeble

You're lucky. I ventured into the microwave once at my new workplace, never again. Nasty was not the word. I don't know how people can so filthy, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised the department is all men. How I long for the cleanliness of my previous workplace.

Thanks for all the ideas about pack-lunches. My wallet has been taking a bit of a hammering because there are so many food outlets on site.

Bogof_Babe

You could always keep a small lidded pyrex dish in your office drawer, so your food wouldn't have to come into contact with the micro's innards :eek: .

This thread reminds me of when we had a toaster at work, which was great as we all brought our own bread for "breakfast", but the fridge (that was meant for milk) was crammed full of about 20 different tubs of butter or spread, each with a sticky label on top with the owner's name.

We weren't allowed any other electrical equipment except the kettle, for "safety" reasons. (Or so that we would have to eat in the barely-subsidised works canteen, that was half a mile away from our block anyway ).

I used to make (very boring) sandwiches in the morning if I had time, or grab a packet of crackers from the cupboard and a tube of squirty cream cheese. With a banana that was enough to get me through the day.

Now I don't work, I do budget my lunch at home (well everything I eat from getting up until the evening meal with hubby) and have to stay under £1 a day. That makes me sound like the original anorak, counting up the cost of every slice of bread or fish finger, but I find it focuses the mind wonderfully!

Pukeko

Mmm yum, lots of good ideas in this thread!

Btw, I saw a smallish sized bright yellow microwave at TJ Hughes today for £29.99.

As for sandwiches (important: please have ready a small tub of mints or mint chewing gum after eating these!) I like humous sandwiches as well, but I have recently re-discovered the joy of tomato and onion salad which I have found goes very well with different sandwich fillings - especially avodaco or cheese or just lettuce.

Tomato & onion salad is great because it lasts till Fri in an airtight container (if made on Sun), and just gets more yum as it marinades gently in the fridge. It tastes great (if you like tomatoes and raw onions!) and adds a nice zing to my normally bland and boring sandwiches.

Tomato & onion salad as a sandwich filler (experiment with amounts but basically as follows):

tomatoes - chopped into small bits
raw onions - chopped into small bits
(you'd usually use a lot less onion than tomato unless you really looooooooove onions!...)
vinegar (fancy vinegar is nicer but I use whatever I have)
olive oil
pepper (and/or salt)

into airtight container combine chopped toms & onions then add equal amount of vinegar & olive oil, add pepper and/or salt as you like

You reeeeeeeeeeeally need your mints though!!!

I found some glass Pyrex dishes with plastic covers at Woolworths, on special for £2.49 (for smaller size, £2.99 for larger size). I keep the t&o filler in one of these. I think you have to be careful what you store toms in because for example I think they eat metals (??).