Welcome to Week 5 at Lunch Matters.

Got a favorite photo or recipe to share?
Email it to us at lunchmatters@lunchmatters.com.au and we'll publish it here!

NEWS
Is taking a packed lunch to work the new black?

A few thoughts this week on taking your lunch to work as a cost saving, diet friendly, environmentally conscious way to go.
It would appear from the growing number of blogs dedicated to people discussing their daily lunch fare, it is back in vogue to take a packed lunch with you to work. For all the reasons that I have listed above, it is a great idea and again once you are in the habit of packing a lunch it becomes much less onerous than you’d expect.
I still can’t explain the joy that my packed lunch brings me. I think as I am usually immersed in feeding my family when I sit down to the other meals of the day, I am often distracted from what is on my plate by the discourse and general mayhem around me. It is perhaps for this reason that when I actually stop, during a working day, and open my lunchbox I really do enjoy what I have packed. I still can’t really understand how everything that I pack in the morning and bounce on my hip all the way to work is not scrambled by lunchtime! The whole layout/presentation does give me the sense that I am doing something nice for myself. I do believe though that it is important if you pack your lunch for work that you still take the time to get up and away from your desk – those days when the sun is shining and you can perch somewhere warm while you eat your lunch are the best.
The issue of cost and environmental waste reduction is significant. I made the transition from sushi from the sushi bar to my packed lunch so I was already eating a healthy lunch but it came in a plastic packet with 3 plastic fish of soy sauce and a plastic bottle of water and it cost AUD$10 a go. So each week that I pack a lunch I am really making substantial environmental and financial savings.
This is a feature of the Laptop Lunchbox that has been explored by many of the bloggers who are into Frugality (there seem to be a number of them). If you’re interested in reading some of their entries see the links section this week.
A little housekeeping hint here: If you are packing leftovers and reheating them at work in the microwave do remember to remove the lids before you do – the lids have to be more flexible than the hard plastic that makes up the containers and as a result they aren’t suited to a blast in the microwave.
The other thing about packing your lunch is to include as many others in the production line – the more lunches you pack the less effort per lunch you are expending and the more likely you are to improve the eating habits of the whole family.

RECIPES

Very simple recipes this week – one for the mountain bread toasted wraps and one for the baguette roll.

As both recipes include ham it is important to make a couple of comments about processed meats. Where possible it is best to buy free range, organic or boutique ham simply because if you spend a minute looking at the labels on some of the mass produced ham products you’ll be horrified with the actual meat content versus all the other products that they contain. The hams that I have described above are much more expensive – I think the ham that I bought this week was $29 kilo BUT I don’t buy ham very often and when I do I don’t buy very much. So I guess what I’m saying is that every now and then, processed meats can have a place in a lunchbox but think about the quality and frequency seriously as too much of a low grade processed ham product is not good for anyone.

Rye Mountain Bread toasted wraps with swiss cheese and polish leg ham

The only real purpose of drawing your attention to this item on the week’s menu is to suggest that if you haven’t tried toasting mountain bread as a wrap – you definitely should. They are delicious cold and a big hit with my children and me. They are great way to incorporate rye bread into the lunchtime experience.

Baguette rolls


Ingredients:
Swiss cheese
Ham
Parsley
Fresh breadcrumbs
Baguette (half size)

Scoop out the inside of the baguette and place in a bowl with your other breadcrumbs and parsley
Heat a dot of olive oil in a pan and add the bread and parsley mix, then add the ham and cheese and mix until the mixture is all melted together and then spoon back into the baguette.
Then slice the baguette as you would a sushi roll and you’ll have a delicious new look ham and cheese roll. They are very filling so you’ll only need two in a box to satisfy your hunger.

LINKS TO OTHER SITES OF INTEREST:

The Vegan Lunchbox even for non vegans it’s amazing! Lunch Matters is hoping to be able to sell the Vegan Lunchbox cookbook through the website when it is released – we’re waiting to hear and will keep you posted. I’m sure many of you are onto this site already but if there are any of you who haven’t discovered it yet, in my opinion this is the best site on the web if you’re looking for ideas for how to fill a LLB – take a look at the archives.

Then Things – A Personal Finance Blog that reviews how the LLB has helped her to economize.


WEEKLY SHOPPING LIST:

Fruit:
Vegetables:
Blueberries
Mango
Rockmelon
Kiwis
Bananas
Lemons
Strawberries

Tomatoes (cherry are the best, but this week I just chopped up big tomatoes)
Potato
Beetroot
Carrots
Parsley
Garlic
Lettuce
Corn
Cucumber
Avocado
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Fish:
Salmon fillets

In the pantry:
Dairy:
Olives
Mountain bread – rye
Baguette
Sushi rice (I used brown but I think I’d be recommending white – for less mess, stay tuned for the brown white blend recipe, it’s in development)
Tahini
Olive oil
Organic free range eggs
Quinoa
Soy sauce
Brown sugar
Sake

Bocconcini cheese
Swiss Cheese



NEXT WEEK: A TRIP TO THE NO NUMBERS SUPERMARKET…