Welcome to Week 6 at Lunch Matters

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News

Lots of exciting news at Lunch Matters this week! If you're reading this you'll be aware of the first new venture for the week and that is to post the weekly newsletter as a blog entry in an attempt to minimize the impact that the weekly newsletter was having on your inbox...It will also allow you to really easily add your comments and feedback.

If you're subscribed to our newsletter we'll send you an email each week letting you know when we've updated the blog so that you know when to pop in for a visit.

Now to the really exciting news. Lunch Matters has secured stalls at two big events in Melbourne this month. Next weekend we'll have a stall at the EcoSustainability fair on Sunday the 22nd October and the following Sunday (29th) at World Vegan Day. We'll have the Laptop Lunchboxes and a selection of other goodies there for people to see and buy and we'll be offering an event discount of 10% to anyone who is wanting to buy their lunchboxes on the day. So if you're in Melbourne and you're wanting to have a look at the lunchboxes or you know someone else who is interested, let them know.

In recent weeks we have looked at some of the hot topics that surround packing healthy lunches for children. This week again there have been a number of stories in the media about parents wanting to steer their children away from making unhealthy choices. But how do we actually convince our children that the wizz bang packaged foods that they see at school are not what they should aspire to eat in their lunches? One approach that I have found particularly effective when I have to take my children to the supermarket is to focus on a ‘no numbers’ approach to filling the trolley. Very young children are capable of recognizing numbers on food labeling. When browsing the isles, as the inevitable temptations come my children’s way, we stop and I ask them to read the labels. “Are there numbers on the packaging?” If the answer is yes then it goes back on the shelf. If you can explain what those numbers mean and why some foods have numbering on the package, this can be an easy way to help your children to understand about foods that are good for them and foods that are not so good for them.

We make regular trips to the ‘no numbers’ supermarket – Macro. In Melbourne and Sydney, these stores are expanding. They have shelves of foods that are organic and free from artificial colours and preservatives. Health food stores all over the country offer similar products. When I first made the transition to buying organic foods nearly 5 years ago, the stores that I needed to shop in were few and far between and still pretty rustic, it seemed to go with the territory. To see how much that has changed in such a short period of time, suggests that more and more people are getting on board and what that means for the consumer is that the price tag that often made organic foods prohibitively expensive are gradually coming down and availabilty is on the way up. I have even found a couple of regular Coles supermarkets with half an aisle dedicated to organic produce!

Recipes

Simple fare was the order of the week at Lunch Matters this week - although looking back I think I was bitten by the bento bug. I am a Japanese teacher by trade and having spent time living in Japan, all that delicious Japanese food is one of the things I miss the most. When the weather heats up I often find it is cold noodles and sushi that I crave so I thought I'd post a tried and tested recipe for soba salad and one for the Japanese meatballs that are featured with the quail eggs in this week's menu suggestions.

INGREDIENTS

50g soba
1 small carrot julienned (I have a nifty thing like a peeler that juliennes in about 10 seconds)
toasted nori cut into strips or shapes
1cm piece fresh ginger (5g), grated
1 teaspoon organic sesame oil
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan, add soba and allow the water to come to the boil again, as soon as it does add a cup of cold water, and repeat twice more until just tender; drain. Rinse under cold water; drain.

Place soba in your open container with carrot and nori. Mix the dressing ingredients and put those in the lidded dipper to pour onto noodles at lunchtime. This is one of the BEST ever dishes for a hot summer or spring (as was the case this week here) day!

Japanese Meatballs

As I suggested a couple of weeks back, to make these just for lunch rests in the realms of the lunchpacker with lots of time on their hands, the key to these being a handy lunchbox filler is to make them for dinner and then to use the left overs for lunch or freeze a few for the days when you need to grab something quick and easy for lunch.

Ingredients
1/4 onion minced
1/2 tsp cooking oil
80g ground beef
2 tsp beaten egg
2 Tbsp breadcrumbs
2 tsp soy sauve
1/2 tsp each sugar, mirin and sake
3 Tbsp water

Method
1. Saute the onion in the oil and let cool.
2. Combine the ground beef, cooked onion, beaten egg, breacrumbs.
3. Knead well. Form into small balls.
4. Cook on an oven tray for 25 minutes until well browned.

At this point you can add them to a tomato based sauce and have them with pasta for dinner
or if you want to make them Japanese meatballs then:

5. Place meatballs in a pan with all remaining ingredients. Boil for 4-5 minutes.
6. Place the meatballs on short skewers alternating with quail eggs.

Links of interest
In line with the Japanese theme:
Cooking cute and Bento Corner have some great ideas if you are looking to pack your Laptop Lunchbox with some delicious ideas from Japan.

WEEKLY SHOPPING LIST

Fruit:	Vegetables:
Kiwis Bananas Lemons Limes Apples Pears Oranges	Tomatoes (cherry and regular) Carrots Parsley Ginger Avocado Cucumber Asparagus Red Pepper Rocket Onion
Meat: organic mince
In the pantry:	Dairy
Sushi rice Olive oil walnut oil organic sesame oil free range quail eggs Quinoa Soy sauce Brown sugar Sake Organic dried nectarines and banana (no sulphur) Marinated organic tofu Organic seaweed and sesame sprinkles	Cheddar Cheese Fromage Blanc and goat's cheese from the farmer's market plain yoghurt