The packed lunch thread

[wafter]

For all the usual reasons - plus a few less-usual ones - I started making my own lunch for work last summer.

Uninspringly this was typically some bagged salad, bought coleslaw and whatever meat (usually chicken) product I could score reduced or pull from the freezer - sliced up Kievs, bits of corned beef etc.

This did well but Salad sucked in the winter; while both the pre-packed salad and coleslaw are expensive, potentially temperimental and plastic-heavy.. so not an ideal solution but acceptable and probably no worse than buying a meal deal every day..

After months of bought sandwiches, crisps, chocolate and other horrors, at the back end of winter I had another stab at filling my Postman Pat lunchbox with something home-made.

The meat angle remains the same, but this time chucked in with some roasted veg for a more filling alternative to salad. This has become a load of onion, carrot, brussels and whole garlic cloves slow-roasted in olive oil with salt. Last week I freestyled it a bit with some Balsamic vinegar post-cook; which was nice. I currently have this week's batch, along with some Waitrose chicken schnitzel (seasoned with middle-eastern spices I don't understand but smell great) finishing off in the oven.

Ideally in future I'd like to source some plain chicken from the butchers (which, if owt like the other meats will be better quality and cheaper) and bulk-cook it myself, but that's a bridge too far currently.

So, for the purposes of both casual conversation and inspiration; what's in your lunchbox?

 

[dicko]

The landlady, of my digs, asked me ‘do you like cheese sandwiches’? I said yes. For the last two years of my apprenticeship I took cheese sandwiches to work every blooming day.

 

[annedonnelly]

I eat at home now but couscous is a good addition to your chicken and veg lunch. Or pasta.
You could swap the meat for tinned fish - oily fish are really good for us.

In the summer hummus with crunchy veg.

I do love a cheese sandwich though.

 

[richardfm]

A sandwich, either cheese or meat, a pot of homemade yogurt and a piece of fruit.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Thinking back to packed school lunches, in the 1970's, those lunches were made the night before, taken out the fridge at about 8am then kept in a satchel or a briefcase in a warm classroom till eaten at mid-day. In the spring and summer months those packed lunches were exposed to even warmer temperatures, yet we were never ill from lunch box content food poisoning!

 

[Electric_Andy]

I did a lot of salads but they became boring very quickly. Sometimes it's rice cakes with coronation chicken. Other times it's leftover curry or Chilli. In fact it's usually leftover dinner from 1 or 2 nights ago. If all else fails I go to Asda and buy sushi, or a ready meal buy that gets expensive.

 

[Kingfisher101]

I personally wouldn't be stinking out an office with tinned fish, people will complain.
What about some homemade chunky soups etc.

 

[Drago]

The landlady, of my digs, asked me ‘do you like cheese sandwiches’?

I think that may be code speak for something entirely different!

 

[AndyRM]

On the days when my good lady is in the office I make hers. Usually a sandwich with meat of some kind jazzed up with pickle, gherkins or beetroot. Some crisps, chocolate and her morning vat of tea in a thermos for the commute finish it off.

I don't usually eat at lunch as I don't have a huge appetite. But I've got some haggis lasagne left over from last night so I'm having that!

 

[roubaixtuesday]

haggis lasagne

Followed by kipper trifle for pudding perhaps?

 

[Tenkaykev]

On the days when my good lady is in the office I make hers. Usually a sandwich with meat of some kind jazzed up with pickle, gherkins or beetroot. Some crisps, chocolate and her morning vat of tea in a thermos for the commute finish it off.

I don't usually eat at lunch as I don't have a huge appetite. But I've got some haggis lasagne left over from last night so I'm having that!

Haggis Lasagne, a true fusion food, veggie version also available courtesy of McSweens 😎

 

[Alex321]

Varies a lot for me.

Sometimes a bought pasty or steak slice.

Sometimes home made soup, most commonly butternut squash & bacon or Leek & potato, but others depending on what we had available to make it with.

Sometimes a home made mushroom risotto.

Sometimes sandwiches.

 

[AndyRM]

Haggis Lasagne, a true fusion food, veggie version also available courtesy of McSweens 😎

I quite like McSween's veggie version. It's a little drier, but really well spiced which is what makes a good haggis anyway.

 

[Tenkaykev]

I quite like McSween's veggie version. It's a little drier, but really well spiced which is what makes a good haggis anyway.

It's on my radar to use the veggie version as a filling for " sausage " rolls, savoury bakes etc. only issue is the local supermarkets only seem to stock it around Burns night.

 

[AndyRM]

It's on my radar to use the veggie version as a filling for " sausage " rolls, savoury bakes etc. only issue is the local supermarkets only seem to stock it around Burns night.

Aye, "seasonal" outside Scotland, which is like saying turkey is a Christmas only thing... Although Costco seems to have it pretty regularly in Gateshead.

It's very tasty in rolls and bakes too.

haggisuk.co.uk have it, but it seems very expensive!