March-ing and Munching 2013 - Take your lunch to work thread.

kittiej

Was the chocolate from the free table in work FatVonD? I can't believe how you end up with such lovely goodies. Bad news about the crumpets though

@ Twiggy, well done for your 56 days LTW :T were you cold this morning, is that why you turned into Twiggy piggy :rotfl:(sorry I laughed when I read your post).

Well done all! Almost April

FatVonD

It was! I love working with lots of figure-conscious young girls, all the more for me :T

kittiej

^ You're so funny lol. I'd be like that too

Candlewick

Evening :wave:

I have not posted on here for a while but I have reached my target of T-L-W. :T

Over the course of the month I have taken the following lunches:

Pasta with HM chilli & garlic sauce with cheese
HM Paella
Cheese & crackers
Cheese & mustard pickle sandwiches in crusty bread (yum, yum)
Tuna, mayo & onion on brown
HM vegetable soup
Egg mayo
Smoked mackrel with balsamic vinegar and lettuce (reduced to 20p!)

I didn't end up going to the leaver's lunch as I would have felt a hypocrite but did buy a sandwich one day as I was so busy at work that one night I didn't fancy sorting lunch and then in the morning was running late.

Off to read back on what I've missed, including other ideas to inspire me.

CW

sas79

Can anyone give me recipes/tips on pastas to take for lunch please
My cold pasta goes either sticky or soggy

Esp candlewick please my 3 favorite things garlic chilli and cheese, in a pasta sounds lovely, recipe please x

kittiej

Hi sas79, we have a new thread for April so if you post your q's on there Cw will be along at some point

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4526955

Candlewick

[FONT=&quot]

sas79 wrote: »

Can anyone give me recipes/tips on pastas to take for lunch please
My cold pasta goes either sticky or soggy

Esp candlewick please my 3 favorite things garlic chilli and cheese, in a pasta sounds lovely, recipe please x

Hi Sas[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Firstly, tips
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Use dried pasta for lunch. I find this keeps much better than fresh if planning on batch cooking.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]When boiling pasta always add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil which prevents pasta from clogging and becoming stodgy[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
I prefer fresh basil so rarely use dried but it's an acceptable alternative.

If you intend on freezing this, I would drop the mushrooms as they don't freeze too well. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Pasta Sauce Recipe - enough for 3 / 4 X lunches, kept in fridge (if I want more I bulk it out with more pasta and cheese).[/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Slice 250g of mushrooms, 3 chopped red chillies (I deseed 2 and leave the other but it depends how hot you like it) and 2 crushed garlic cloves and gently fry together in a mixture of 1 tablespoon of butter (I prefer L*rpak as it's less salty) and 1 tablespoon of olive oil[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Add one tin of chopped tomatoes (cheaper than plum and taste no different) and also add any other tomatoes hanging about in the fridge (I always have a couple rolling about)
  [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Add 1 heaped teaspoon of dried oregano (if I have no fresh basil which I would add at the end then I add 1 teaspoon of dried basil at this stage as well)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Gently simmer for about 10 minutes.[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Add salt & pepper to taste (I am not keen on salt but do love pepper) and stir
  [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Sieve and remove excess liquid (do not throw away)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Pasta
[/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Boil large saucepan of water adding (salt if you prefer, I don't) 2 tablespoons of olive oil (as mentioned above, this prevents the pasta from clogging and becoming stodgy)[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Add 1/2 pack (or more if bulking out) of dried pasta[/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]Bring to the boil[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Once you have drained the pasta, put in frying pan, cover with sauce and as much of the excess liquid as you wish (I like mine quite dry so usually only a couple of tablespoons) and stir for a couple of minutes.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][FONT=&quot]Take off heat

[/FONT]Once cooled pour into large airtight container

If you prefer fresh basil (as I do) I chop and put on top and put in fridge.

Grate one pack of mature cheddar cheese (if it's on offer I sometimes buy it already grated). I also often have mozarella left over so mix with some of that and put in separate airtight container. Parmesan can work out expensive if you don't use it all so usually go without unless I have bought some for something else.

At work, I pour the cheese over the pasta and put in microwave for 2 / 3 minutes. Voila, yum, yum.

I've just made myself hungry. :rotfl:

I will add this to the April thread.

CW[/FONT]