That lunchbox is fantastic I am going to get one
I have been spending between £1 and £1.50 each day on a filled roll at the canteen. If you have the "special" it can jump to £2.45
One day it was egg & bacon. How they can justify £2.45 is beyond me

Don't apologise You can post that link every hour on the hour and I would never tire of it. Those lunches look simply spectacular. Just amazing.

This might be my favourite: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginger_...7601368797142/
"roasted butternut squash, sweet potato and red onion, with crumbly cornbread topping and some pumpkin seeds", mmmmmm

Excellent choice, though I prefer to make them fresh as the rice will usually harden in a fridge (sugar in the rice seasoning). There is also the fact that I prefer the nori to be crisp, not soggy as it will do in the fridge.

Did anyone see the Australian chef bloke (Bill Granger, apparently, having just looked him up) who was on after Saturday Kitchen this morning? He was doing healthy lunchboxes (aimed at kids, but hey, they'd work for me too) and they looked really lovely. He made a muesli bar thing (honey and oats and nuts and almonds and berries and things, looked all chewy and crunchy, yum!) and a really lovely looking salad.

I can't find the recipes online, sadly, but I think I may have to buy his book...

Oh wait - here it is!

Real Muesli Bars:
Makes 16.
350g rolled oats
30g shredded coconut
50g flaked almonds
45g wheatgerm
30g sesame seeds
35g sunflower seeds
55g chopped dried apricots
185ml honey
55g firmly packed brown sugar
125ml vegetable oil.

Preheat the oven to 130 C(250 F/Gas 1) and lightly grease and line a 35x25cm(14x10 inch) tin.
Put the oats,coconut,almonds,wheatgerm,sesame seeds,sunflower seeds and apricots in a bowl.
Put the honey,sugar and oil in a small pan and stir over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.Pour this over the dry ingredients in the bowl and stir until everything well combined,mixing with your hands if neccessary.
Press the mixture into the tin and bake for 50 mins,or until golden brown.
Cut into bars while still warm

http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/

wow those lunches look fantastic! where can you get a lunchbox like that?

I usually have two wholemeal pittas stuffed with salad and some variety of quorn. Might add a spicy tomato, onion and mushroom sauce (home made) to add to the taste.

I also take a handful of grapes, a pear, chopped carrots and raw broccoli to nibble through the day.

I'm lucky that I don't really have a sweet tooth but if I do fancy a biscuit, I have a Rich Tea which I dip into a cuppa!

Hi Terry - your spicy tomato, onion and mushroom sauce sounds yummy. How do you make it?

I'm also very impressed by Elanor's lunchbox link. My ham/salad and tuna/pesto sandwiches are looking incredibly boring right now.

I would recommend something like couscous or pasta salad for lunches - it's easy to shove in a container and filling too. It's also a good way to get lots of fruit and veg if you chuck in lots of tomatoes, peppers, olives, etc.

You can make it in big batches and just add some sort of sauce, some herbs and fruit or veg. Or if you're lazy, like me, you can buy the premade packs from the supermarket (not too expensive and definitely not calorific, either!)

Hi Dolly.

I usually fry some onions in a saucepan, chop and add some mushrooms until soft and then pour in a tin of chopped tomatoes (with some juice drained off). I then add pepper sauce and maybe a pinch of turmeric. I then leave this to simmer and reduce for about 20 mins.

Usually I put it on pasta but I've found it livens up a pitta and is healthy too. No added salt etc, and you know exactly what's gone into it. I'm one of these trial and error types...bung it in and see what happens!

Thanks Terry. I'm going to get one of Elanor's lunchboxes when I get paid at the end of the month and start taking food to work. Will help me claw back the Xmas overspend and , like you say, I'll know exactly what's gone into my lunch!

I should get comission!

Heh heh you should, Elanor.

I've been surfing about today and found this recipe on the Channel 4 food site:

Soba Noodles with Sesame Seeds Recipe by Nigella Lawson

Serves 4 as part of a meal; or 2 when eaten as they are.


Ingredients

75g sesame seeds
salt
250g soba noodles
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
5 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons sesame oil
5 spring onions


Method

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan over a high heat until they look golden brown, and tip them into a bowl.

2. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add some salt. Put in the soba noodles and cook them for about 6 minutes (or according to packet instructions) until they are tender but not mushy. Have a bowl of iced water waiting to plunge them into after draining.

3. In the bowl you are going to serve them in, mix the vinegar, soy sauce, honey and oil. Then finely slice the spring onions and put them into the bowl with the cooled, drained noodles and mix together thoroughly before adding the sesame seeds and tossing again.

4. Leave the sesame seed noodles for about half an hour to let the flavours develop, although this is not absolutely necessary or sometimes even possible.

Plus got Nigella Express at Xmas so looking forward to using recipes in there too!

That's funny - I was thinking about noodles today, as a new thing to try out for my lunch. I may try that one, it sounds lovely.

I've yet to find soba noodles where I am, but I'm sure it would be fine to use rice or egg noodles too.

Nigella Express has a FAB recipe for noodles and veggies with a peanut butter based dressing. It sounds gorgeous so am dying to make it.

I've never even heard of soba noodles. I do like rice noodles though, and they're lovely and light - I bet that recipe would work really well with them.

Ooh, I found a site with some lovely looking recipes and ideas.
http://www.fabulousfoods.com/feature...ag/brnbag.html

And a quote which I really liked, as an answer to the people who say they get bored of making a packed lunch every day - "The trick to making it special is not to think of a packed lunch as a chore that must be done, but rather as a chance to have a picnic each and every day. Now doesn't a picnic sound more appealing than lunch at the cafeteria or a fast food burger? Of course it does."

My kids are going to worship you Elanor They are starting packed lunches this week and I'm not known for my inspiration

Thinking about investing those lovely lunchboxes but I have tons of tupperware that I guess I could use instead!

I have favourited your site and will definitely show them tomorrow

you want your own website Elanor !!

What fabulous ideas, you have a good imagination, you make my lunches seem sooooo boring, I never buy wraps and things.
Great links, thanks

I've only changed like this in the last year - but now I couldn't imagine going back to just sandwiches. I do have the odd sandwich in my box from time to time, but I never enjoy it as much as the variety of salad/veg/fruit etc that I have now.

I took some noodles in today's box - I think I forgot something when I was doing them though, because they were really bland and dull.

Ooh did you use the recipe I posted the other day Elanor? I've never tried it before and just wondered what it tasted like.

Not really - I was going to, but didn't have soy sauce or rice vinegar or sesame oil or honey, and I haven't got round to buying any yet. So they were rice noodles with some sesame seeds, some olive oil and lemon juice, and then I threw in some dried cranberries and some almonds. It was not a success.

Oh that's a shame. Nothing worse that looking forward to something new you've tried and it's not turned out the way you expected.

It's ok, I just sort of threw them together before I went to bed last night. Not a success, but not awful.

I'm going shopping soon, I'll get some things for flavouring noodles more, so I can try some proper recipes.