Lunches

cunnins4

So after years of packed lunches in school/college and work, the humble ham and cheese sambo has outstayed its welcome in my bag. Sooooo.... what do people do for lunches?

I've no access to a microwave in college, so I can't reheat anything. I'm also spending a lot longer in college these days, so I have to bring more food with me to keep me going all day. And as with most students, the wallet's fairly thin (the main reason i bring packed lunches!:o).

This week I'm gonna try a few different sauces (caesar and some red pepper thing I got cheap in Dunnes) and see how that goes with chicken and stuff on the sambos. Might get a few rolls or chiabatas to break up the monotony. Any other ideas?

tSubh Dearg

What about making a quiche and bringing slices of that into college? Very easy and tasty cold as well as hot.

Faith

Try out a variety of different sandwich fillings - the possibilities are endless! If putting in tomatoes though, keep them separate until you're about to eat, thus preventing them from making the bread soggy.

You could make some salads, like a tuna salad. Filling and tasty! Cold pizza isn't half bad (cook it the night before). You could make a pasta salad with anything you like in it. Buy a Thermos flask and bring in soup. Bring in snacks like nuts to help keep you going throughout the day.

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Faith wrote: »

If putting in tomatoes though, keep them separate until you're about to eat, thus preventing them from making the bread soggy

:eek:

Whaaa?

Soggy tomato sammiches are the best!

Ha, I remember eating them on the beach in Howth when I was little.

jdivision

The quiche is a good idea, eat with salad.
You could cook pasta with arrabiatta sauce and bring that - it's really good cold but use shells rather than stringy pasta. Add cooked chicken if you want
Other things
Yoghurt with fresh fruit
homemade soup in a flask
hummus with pitta bread - does smell

Minder

bananas - you can't get a better ready packaged lunch - chuck a couple of bananas in your bag every day.

You could try a granola - roast a variety of nuts and seeds with some oats coated in a mixture of honey, oil and cinnamon. Add some dried fruit. Keeps for about a month in a sealed jar.

Lainabaina

I've been threatening to make Nigella Lawson's Sesame Noodles. There are a fair amount of ingredients for the dressing, but I reckon some of them could be left out for budgeting reasons That's actually why I haven't got around to making it! Same boat though, quiche sounds like a good plan.

Ingredients
For the dressing
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp garlic oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
100g/3½oz smooth peanut butter
2 tbsp lime juice
For the salad
125g/4oz mangetout
150g/5¼oz beansprouts, rinsed
1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into small strips
2 spring onions, finely sliced
550g/1lb 3½oz ready-cooked egg noodles
To serve
20g/¾oz sesame seeds
4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Pigletlover

Sandwiches: there's way too many combinations to list but you could include ham, chicken, turkey, lettuce, eggs, tomato, cheese etc. Instead of a couple of slices of bread you could try pittas, bagels, wraps, rolls.

Pasta: (probably nicer cold with a tomato sauce as opposed to a creamy one) either with a plain sauce or else add meat or vegetables. Noodles and stir-fries are nice cold too.

Salads: don't always have to be boring, you can add chicken, bacon, cherry tomatoes, whatever takes your fancy really. Try varying dressings for a change.

Leftovers: a bit of whatever you had for dinner the night before, of course this won't always work because some things only taste good hot, but if you're having something that works cold then make a bit extra.

Snacks: fruit - besides the obvious apples and bananas you could have oranges, grapes, pineapples or melons cut into chunks, you could even use tinned fruit cocktail. Yogurts - plain ofrwith fruit or muelsi. Cheese - slices or chunks. Crackers - work well with a variety of toppings.

The above might seem expensive if you were to go out and buy them all, but if you pick a few of the ingredients and plan your meals and lunches around them you'll save yourself a small fortune on buying sanwiches, rolls etc from Spar.

jam_mac_jam

you need bento things, some good ideas on this -

http://www.justbento.com/