Oct 12 2008
Credit Crunch Lunches
Even before the credit crunch started looming, I was taking my lunches to work with me. There were a few reasons for this, including being too lazy to go out at lunch and find something nice, get back, and enjoy it, all in the space of an hour. Granted, there are some days when only a hot chicken roll with cure what ails you, but they’re few and far between. Also, once I realised it was going to cost me about €30-40 a week just for lunch, I realised I could put that money to much better use.
Of course, nobody wants to eat ham sandwiches every day, as that gets a bit boring, and I don’t know anyone who has the energy to assemble lunch before work, so where does that leave you?
Personally, I think the big trick is to have a few things in the freezer ready to grab on your way out the door. I usually have a few soups (delicious with Deb’s Farmhouse Cheddar Muffins) and the remains of a too-big dinner in there, ready to go. If I really thought about it, I could buy a bag of bagels, split them, and stick them in there too, but this goes back to organisation. I’m usually delighted if I manage to have bread in the house.
This leaves time then for you to dream up a few things of an evening when you have nothing else to do and you’ve already seen everything that’s on UKTV food. One of the things I made last week in a fit of industry was a cous-cous dish with stir-fried peppers and a few peas. It was dead easy and very tasty. I’d give you a recipe, but calling it a recipe would be the height of cheek, as it basically involved dicing up half a red pepper and half a yellow pepper and sautéeing them quickly with some salt and black pepper. I also simmered a few peas (about half a cup maybe) while the cous-cous was soaking. Now, I know this sounds terribly bland, but bear with me. The trick with soaking cous-cous is to do stuff to the water. I know that sounds airy-fairy, but there you go. Last week, I soaked it in chicken stock (veggie would also work), with paprika, pepper, a TINY bit of cumin, and a whisper of mustard powder. It made a great side-dish for dinner, and was even better for lunch the next day.
What’s your lunch strategy? Do you bring it? Buy it? Or a mixture? And what are your favourite can’t-fail lunch recipes?
I’ve been doing the packed lunches for the last week or so, for exactly the same reasons you used above. My total food budget for the week for the 2 of us is €100 and we’re trying not to add to it by buying outside the house.
I’ve been added a couple of pieces of salmon to the weekly shop, and baking these in BBQ sauce - that’s 2 days of salads or wraps (keep the sauce/dressing separate and add to the salad at lunchtime). Then I love tuna, which I mix with saladcream, sweetcorn and chopped chives from my herb garden, usually served in a sandwich or wrap with lettuce.
My Friday treat as I work from home is Cully & Sully pea and mint soup, to which I add some fried Lidl bacon bits - delish!
im in town every day to meet himself for lunch, theres nothing like a home made lunch but lets face it, Im rotten lazy! so we usually go into the wokking and order their chicken and sweetcorn soup, and a side of noodles….
not much but its lovely!
Id adore if japanese bento boxes were available here!!! but i bet they would all be fish related and i dont like that! :p
soup is always good
Hi Elly, that salmon thing sounds delish, nom. Unfortunately Tuna tends to give me heartburn, but I love the stuff. I’ve only made pea-soup once, and it was the Nigella Express Pea and Pesto stuff - foul altogether. I do like a Cully and Sully soup though if I’m too lazy to make my own I have to admit.
Lette, I know it’s difficult to find somewhere to meet himself other than Wokking or that place on Henry St, so I do sympathise, but do neither of ye have a canteen/work kitchen that ye can use?
well there is a canteen in my college, which is more expencive than meeting in town and its disgusting!!!! we could use it to bring our own lunch tho