Welcome to Week 10 at Lunch Matters

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NEWS
I am delighted to announce that Lunch Matters is now stocking another fantastic resource for those of you looking for inspiration on the lunch packing front, LUNCHBOX by Helene Canavan is now available on the website in the resource section. I stumbled upon this book in July and I was very impressed for a number of reasons. Firstly it is a beautiful colour photo publication, which always helps when you are trying new things, secondly the philosophy that underlies all the recipes and information is right in line with the Lunch Matters ethos and thirdly because it offers so many great ideas beyond sandwich fillers! Her page on drink suggestions really sealed the deal - it's one page and it starts with water, water and more water. So many of the books that I pick up have a million suggestions for juices and smoothies and really, at the end of the day, there is nothing better or more suitable than water as a drink with lunch!

For those of you who have been in for the long haul - you'll recall my blogging the rice quiches and Lentilles Nicoise some time back - these are just two of the recipes that I have used from the book, simple and delicious. There are many more contained within its pages and if you are looking for a great Christmas gift idea you would do well to check it out - at AU$19.95 it represents excellent value for money!

You can read a review of the book here.

If you have read the review you'll probably smile at the reviewer's comments about people who get up early to cut our smiley faces from Rye...am I one of those mothers that makes her want to stay in bed? I did read something somewhere about a points system for parents, points were allocated to parents who packed takeaway sushi in their kid's lunchboxes but serious points were deducted from those who made their own - I guess along the lines of get a life??

What interests me is that somewhere in the liberation of women from the kitchen, the preparation of family meals has somehow become associated with the shackles. My feeling is that this has a little to do with what's gone wrong with our children's eating habits as a nation. That's not to say that it's the mother's responsibility for a minute, but it is to say that someone needs to take up the slack and ideally that means a team approach, parents and kids included.

In racing out of the kitchen we have raced into the arms of the processed food companies and the takeaway food industry and we have lost our way a little.

In the early years of my professional life, I was a teacher who worked in the independent school system. I often wondered about parents paying so much for school fees who, no doubt because they had to work so hard to pay those fees, had little time left over to pack adequate lunches for their children. The net result was that even in the best teaching and learning setting that money could buy, the child who had a bag of chips, a vegemite sandwich and a can of coke for lunch spent the afternoon bouncing off the walls or finding it very hard to concentrate on the task at hand. Then, more so than now perhaps, parents didn't seem to understand that packing a nutritionally sound lunch for their child would do more to help them get through the academic and social demands of the day than almost anything else that they did.

That's a long and soap boxy (sp?) way around the issue, but I guess what I'm trying to get at is that this is a priority not a luxury. And those of you reading this, already realise it. What can be left to slide is housework, ironing, gardening etc. Our children will not suffer if their clothes aren't ironed, if the floor isn't cleaned every other day or if the grass is left to grow another week. They will not thrive, however, if they are not given the nutritional building blocks that they need to grow and learn. We need to make time for this. Who prepares the family's meals is not important but the fact that they are prepared and prepared with care is.

So to cut a long story short - why do those smiley face cutting parents do it? I guess the answer is, if getting their sons or daughters to eat Rye bread every once in a while means cutting it into a smiley face or if making sushi for them because they love it, is part of that equation then they'll be getting up out of bed! For my part though, if there are easier ways, I'm always always on the lookout as long as it doesn't mean outsourcing - if anyone wants to take over those other jobs though I'd be thrilled! Needless to say a new company called Ironing Matters isn't in the pipeline.

RECIPES
Tuna patties or potato croquettes.

INGREDIENTS

Mashed potato

Peas

Onion (sauteed) or fresh spring onion sliced finely

Canned tuna (optional)

BBQ Sauce (Japanese style)

tomato sauce

worchershire

sake

ginger

garlic

sugar

mirin

These are very popular bento items in Japan and I love them because they are delicious to have for dinner the night before and they are equally delicious cold the next day. They also freeze very well so it's worth putting some unfried ones in the freezer.

The way that they are prepared is the same, its just a matter of adding some tinned tuna to the mix if you'd like tuna patties. It is important to remember that tuna contains mercury and as such shouldn't be a lunchbox staple but it is far to delicious and great for you in other ways to leave aside on those grounds.

METHOD

Mix left over mashed potato with peas, sauteed onion and some spring onions. Form into patties and then coat lightly in flour, dip into egg and then breadcrumbs (homemade from the off cuts of smiley faces...).

Heat a little olive oil in the pan and fry until lightly golden.

Allow to cool then place them in your lunchbox and refrigerate over night. Serve on a bed of sliced cabbage or salad.

Japanese croquettes are sometimes served with a bbq sauce, the store bought version almost always contains MSG but you can make your own by mixing:

1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup worchershire
1/2 cup sake
2 tablespoons ginger
2 tablespoons garlic
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup mirin
Put all above ingredients in sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring occasionally.
Reduce to a simmer for 25-30 minutes skimming any foam that rises to the top.

Will keep refrigerated for 4 weeks
Pack the sauce in a dipper so that it can be poured onto the croquettes just before they are eaten.

Cucumber chains

This is a great edible garnish that will entice the less enthusiastic cucumber consumers to give cucumber a go!

Cut a 20cm piece of cucumber from the whole. Use a corer if you have one to remove the seeds, if not slice the cucumber into thickish slices and use a cutter to remove the center - or if you don't have any of these things, just cut the center out like I did (not so neat but still works).

Slit every other ring and then link the chain together et voila a chain that can be as short or long as you desire. If you add a little dressing that will make them even more enticing.

WEEKLY SHOPPING LIST: Remember for optimum health the aim is to have 3 fruit and 5 veg a day...

Fruit:

cherries
apples
bananas
lemons
kiwi

Vegetables:

cabbage

avocado

asparagus

potatoes

beans

cucumber

cherry tomatoes
broadbeans pumpkin
onion
spring onion
carrots

In the pantry:
sushi rice

freeze dried apples

bagels
cranberries
almonds
sultanas

canned tuna

bread

tomato sauce

worchershire

sake
biscuits for dipping

In the fridge:
Cream cheese
Ham
Creme fraiche
Organic eggs
Smoked salmon