Healthy(ish) Packed Lunches

[Redjeep!]

I changed my job recently and the new works canteen isn't great, so I'd like to start taking in my breakfast snack and lunch.

I normally have a scone at breakfast and salad for lunch, but the scones are way too sweet for me and the salad can be a bit boring and repetitive. Does anybody have any suggestions for replacements that are :

Easy and fast to make the night before.
Reasonably healthy and nutritious
Transportable without advanced tupperware skills.
Don't require any special preparation when I get to work. There is a microwave, but I'd prefer not to use it.

I'm not really thinking sandwiches, but may be tempted by some killer recipes.

Any suggestions/ recipes, links to websites or books would be welcome.

[hellymedic]

Surely advanced Tupperware Skilz are what it's all about?
Sandwiches aren't necessarily a sign of failure.
Kitchen roll is your friend and will give you the opportunity to partition your lunchbox, allowing your tuna and cucumber sandwich to coexist with 5 cherry tomatoes, a two-finger Kit-Kat and a satsuma, all in a neat, shakeproof, crushproof, 11 x 6 x 20cm box...

[nikki]

I found this falafel mix can be a good base for a few days, adding dobs of cheese, nuts or greens etc into the tupperware to fill it out to a meal:
https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2013/03/06/carrot-coriander-falafels-23p/

Just leave it as a hash sort of mix if you can't be bothered to make the individual patties, and a job lot of carrot can be grated and then frozen to save you having to do that every time.


What's the objection to the microwave? General principle or one of those work microwaves that you'd prefer not to use / touch with a barge pole?

[Mrs Pingu]

Mmm, I like falafel,  might try that.

[Redjeep!]

Surely advanced Tupperware Skilz are what it's all about?
Sandwiches aren't necessarily a sign of failure.
Kitchen roll is your friend and will give you the opportunity to partition your lunchbox, allowing your tuna and cucumber sandwich to coexist with 5 cherry tomatoes, a two-finger Kit-Kat and a satsuma, all in a neat, shakeproof, crushproof, 11 x 6 x 20cm box...

It was the Ninja level of  Tupperware bento box complexity that i didn't want to have to get into. The ones with lots of small boxes that all fit together. You sell the single box plan well ! I'd be okay with that and the use of kitchen roll or alu foil to separate the constituent parts.

[hellymedic]

Bento is just artistic parental food willy-waving...

Maybe you could stroll around M&S/Pret A Manger/ supermarket and see what they are offering and mimic...

[Redjeep!]

I found this falafel mix can be a good base for a few days, adding dobs of cheese, nuts or greens etc into the tupperware to fill it out to a meal:
https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2013/03/06/carrot-coriander-falafels-23p/

Just leave it as a hash sort of mix if you can't be bothered to make the individual patties, and a job lot of carrot can be grated and then frozen to save you having to do that every time.


What's the objection to the microwave? General principle or one of those work microwaves that you'd prefer not to use / touch with a barge pole?

Mmmm. That looks like just the job. I might give that a go next week. Thanks.

No real objection to the microwave I suppose, just trying to keep it simple. The ones in work are pretty hygienic. Reminds me of when I worked in Paris and the canteen used to sell steak tartare, which the American visitors used to treat like a DIY burger and nuke for 3 minutes much to the disgust of the locals ....

[Kim]

Don't underestimate the comedy value of tying up an office microwave for a fair chunk of the lunch period by cooking a enormous slightly NSFW-shaped baked potato.

[hellymedic]

[not healthy] or win friends by baking a microwave CAEK and sharing...

[Jakob W]

Make enough of your evening meal the night before so there's leftovers? Lots of things nuke fairly well or are good cold - when I make aubergine parmigiana I chuck some in tupperware and take a salad and maybe some bread.

[nikki]

I've just falafel'd in a tray bake stylee and can also confirm it's good with a few chopped rashers of bacon added in at the onion and carrot frying stage 

Boiled new potatoes (or potatoes parmentier) are another staple of mine when I have to do (gluten free) lunchboxes. With the former you can use a few dollops of chutney/pickle as an alternative to mayonnaise for lubrication. Spinach works well as a green leaf that can be eaten raw or chucked in with stuff that's going to be microwaved.

~~~
For snacks, I've been experimenting with variants of this recipe for energy ball type things (having found the flapjack recipe I was initially following waaaay too sweet for me, and subsequently having taken top tips from peliroja and things like this: http://dietitianwithoutborders.com/homemade-nakd-cocoa-orange-bars/).

Oven on at 175 centigrade
Line a tray with greaseproof paper

Soak 200-250g of stoned dates in boiling water for ~10 mins then drain. (Basically one of the packets you can get from the supermarket.)

Chuck about the same weight of cashew nuts in a blender and show no mercy.
Add in the dates and mulch it all together.

Add in the following:
100g of oats
50-100g of coconut oil (they don't seem to suffer too much without it. I'm using coconut oil because of lactose intolerance, but you could probably use butter)
a dessertspoon of peanut butter

Then your extras.
I'm using ~30g candied orange peel
~30g of crunchy banana chips
A couple of teaspoons of cocoa powder
A bit of sea salt if you're using them as a ride snack

Blend it all up then tip the thick, gritty paste into the baking tray and press it down.
Bung in the oven for about 10 mins, taking it out just as the corners are starting to go a bit crispy.
Wait for the mixture to cool down enough to handle, then squidge spoonfuls up in your hands to make mouth-sized balls, which can then go onto a plate to cool down properly.

They're sweet-ish enough to keep me off the chocolate bars and filling enough that 3 or 4 are a decent snack. Moreish enough that you might not stop at 3 or 4... I've been working away from home for the last 10 days and a tub of these lasted me for the first week or so.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Mrs Cudzo often takes soup to work in a special microwaveable container which doubles as a mug. I'm not sure if this counts as special Tupperware skillz but as she got it from Wilkos I suspect not.

[dim]

no point in preparing a meal the night before, to eat the next day .... you will most probaly eat it, not because you lust for it, but because that's all you have 

rather, log into deliveroo an hour before lunch time .... scan the menus from the different vendors and choose something that makes you salivate

you will get it delivered half an hour later and piping hot 

[Redjeep!]

no point in preparing a meal the night before, to eat the next day .... you will most probaly eat it, not because you lust for it, but because that's all you have 

rather, log into deliveroo an hour before lunch time .... scan the menus from the different vendors and choose something that makes you salivate

you will get it delivered half an hour later and piping hot 

Great idea, but it won't work where I am. They don'teroo doo it.
 

[Redjeep!]

[not healthy] or win friends by baking a microwave CAEK and sharing...

No more cake. Please. I've honestly never worked anywhere like it for junk food.

Take today. Sausage rolls and pastries brought in at 8am. Cake at 11:30 because two work colleagues got engaged (yes, to each other). Cake at 3pm because a couple of the students were leaving.

[Redjeep!]

Oh, and I admit I had to google "aubergine parmigiana", but it looks pretty good.

[Redjeep!]

I found this falafel mix can be a good base for a few days, adding dobs of cheese, nuts or greens etc into the tupperware to fill it out to a meal:
https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2013/03/06/carrot-coriander-falafels-23p/

Just leave it as a hash sort of mix if you can't be bothered to make the individual patties, and a job lot of carrot can be grated and then frozen to save you having to do that every time.


What's the objection to the microwave? General principle or one of those work microwaves that you'd prefer not to use / touch with a barge pole?

Tried this tonight. MMmmm. Very nice. Thanks.

[Oaky]

My current favourite thing is noodle soups.  You do need a kettle at work, and, dependign on the noodles you can get, a microwave, but it's easy to prepare in advance, tasty, VERY easily transportable, and doesn't absolutely need to be in the fridge when you get to work.

Take one tupperware container of decent size.  I use a cylindrical one with a clipfik- type lid.

Then you basically put three things into it (see below for more detail/options).

1. flavour
2. veg 'n' stuff
3. nest of noodles

Then you basically fill it with boiling water from the kettle; wait 3-5 mins; stir and eat.  If your noodles need longer to cook, at this point, you blast it in the microwave for a couple of extra minutes at the end.

so:

Flavour:-

usually a veg stock cube,  with one or more of the following depending on mood:

  - tablespoon of thai curry paste from a jar
  - squeeze of ginger puree + garlic puree + soy sauce + sesame oil
  - spoonful of curry powder and half a teaspoon of cornflour

veg:-

  - finely shredded anything:  cabbage (brussels sprouts, shredded are particularly good).  Carrot. Courgette. spring onion.  A mandolin is your friend.
  - bean sprouts
  - bamboo shoots
  - frozen peas/sweetcorn
  - etc.

noodles:-

  - you need individual nests of either
    > fine egg noodles,  or, better (IMHO)
    > rice noodles/vermicelli

You can add other stuff into the tupperware.  I quite like to cut up a bit of biltong into small pieces adn throw that in with the veg.

I like to add some shavings from a block of creamed coconut.  You can end up with a pretty convincing faux laksa if you use thai red curry paste with the creamed coconut.