Monday 30 January 2012

The beginning of a lunch box journey...

In the next couple of weeks I'll be starting work. Officially starting work. I've been putting off mentioning it here because mentioning it means that it might fall through but I've been given the trainee position at Occombe Farm.   At the moment I'm helping out at the volunteer days but soon I'm going to start doing a few days a week and then going into full time as spring picks up. I get a qualification out of it and a nice training budget but I get paid living expenses rather than a wage.
The Three Food Groups: Green, Fruit and Pizza

Unfortunately living is expensive so I'm going to have to say good bye to indulgent lunches bought at the farm shop and say hello to lunch boxes. Fortunately I love lunch boxes. At the moment my challenge is to pack tasty, filling, nutrient packed, filling and really filling food to fill me up for a hard day of digging and playing in the garden.

So this is my starting point. The roasted broccoli, apples and mini pizzas (from Hearty Vegan) was my perfectly planned box from the last volunteer day. I wasn't overly proud of it but I wasn't disappointed either. It was a fine looking box and I looked forwards to opening it up. But I need ideas so if you have any suggestions  of blogs, or favorite packable dishes to help me on my lunchboxy journey feel free to leave them in the comments.

Cheers!

3 comments:

  1. A while ago there used to be a lot of links to a blog about "bento" or "laptop" lunch boxes; I'm sure that it was by a mother making up vegan or at least vegetarian meals for a small child, and had some really nice ideas which I don't have the energy for.

    Quiche wouldn't be suitable for you unless you have a vegan sub? But vegetable pasties (with a little stock) are delicious cold, tomato and onion tart too (caramelised onions, topped with tomatoes and herbs and a bit of oil over the top).

    My favourite vegan proof lunch is couscous or other starch with chopped up bits; olives, peppers, mushrooms, a little bit of onion or shallot (any or all of which might be from a jar) and a shovelful of fresh herbs is the kind of lunch that makes me pleased when I remember that I've packed it.

    When I've forgotten...Marks & Spencer do a "nutty wholefood salad" which has a spicy dressing; I don't know, but can't think of any ingredients in it that aren't vegan, and it would be worth checking out the ingredients list with a notepad in hand as it is really tasty for a shop bought lunch - I think the chilli dressing and the nuts make it feel substantial and exciting.

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  2. Vegan Lunch Box? Her pups in blankets (American style so sausage wrapped in pastry) are a staple here!

    I have both books and I even have the laptop lunch box. It can't hurt me to go through the archives again though.

    I'm not vegan myself so I'm not above sneaking in the odd bit of cheese or egg if I'm out of ideas. And Quiche defiantly sounds like a plan.

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  3. Ah, I thought you were vegan so was treading on eggshells (appropriate or highly inappropriate) in which case really eye up the M&S one, it's pretty good & I plan to recreate it one day (pity about the packaging). That blog does look familiar; will explore it more, thanks for the recommendation!

    If you do eat quiche then when spring is properly with us get hold of some wild garlic/and/or nettles (sorry, if you have already) - they make marvellous quiches fillings.

    One last thing - I really want to try that dukkah thing HFW is always going on about in the River Cottage Everyday books; a little pot of oil, the seedy dip, and some homemade bread would make a very cheery base and portable base for lunch? I need a longer to-do list...

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