Do you like to prepare breakfast or lunch to take with you to work? Perhaps you would, but don’t have the right food containers to hand or easy recipe ideas that appeal to you.
Well hopefully today’s post will give you some inspiration! For me, food on the go has to look appetising as well as taste nice. A homemade cheese sarnie wrapped in cling film, looking a bit sad and sweaty, might tempt me to buy a more expensive meal deal instead, or an unhealthy cake or pastry in the nearest coffee shop. Which isn’t good! Nor is all the waste packaging and plastic wrap we get through as consumers with our throwaway lunches.
I’m really making a conscious effort to recycle and reduce waste wherever possible these days, which is one reason I was excited to discover black + blum recently, with their fantastic portable lunch pots and sandwich boxes that can be re-used over and over.
Strong, sustainable and incredibly well designed, their containers are superb quality. Made with premium materials, they look and feel great to the touch – and are really versatile, as I found out recently when I got to try some out as part of black + blum’s #designforhealth campaign. They are really keen to encourage people to try preparing healthy snacks and meals and they challenged me to come up with some ideas using their range, which I was happy to do!
Regular readers of the blog will know that a year ago I started running to get fitter and I lost a couple of stones too, with Slimming World. Since then, although I’m still running fairly regularly, I have put a few pounds back on and would like to get them off in time for summer! So I know that planning and prepping my lunch and breakfast each week will help keep on track with good habits and hopefully resist temptation elsewhere. I thought I’d share a few of my ideas here:
Hydration
I was intrigued by the eau good water bottle as I have a terrible track record when it comes to remembering to drink water! So hopefully having this bottle on my desk every day from now on will help. Ergonomically designed, with a cute cork stopper, the bottle interestingly comes with a binchotan active charcoal filter to pop inside, which lasts for 6 months and makes tap water taste great! Apparently the Japanese have been using it for years. Hopefully an increase in my water intake will improve my skin’s appearance and curb my appetite between meals!
Breakfast
I’m a big believer in breakfast setting you up for the day, but I don’t always feel like eating as soon as I wake. So its great to take a pot of something to eat on an early train or at a more civilised hour in the morning. I’m really into porridge – I love it with blueberries and a drizzle of maple syrup on top – and this fantastic watertight lunch pot is just perfect if you are headed to the office, as it can be popped into the microwave for up to two minutes at a time (perfect for those sachets of porridge oats).
For the ultimate in easy morning prep, pour some frozen berries into the smaller pot and take with you. They will have defrosted, or partially defrosted, by the time you get to work and the hot porridge will do the rest. Chuck them on top and enjoy a really fruity and satisfying breakfast.
An alternative and another fave of mine is overnight oats. Simply mix your raw porridge oats and favourite yoghurt together in the larger pot and leave in the fridge overnight with a dollop of frozen fruit on top. Or add fruit the next day if you prefer – again carried in the smaller pot, which could also be used for extra toppings such as nuts.
Lunch
As mentioned, I’m keen to shed a few pounds and start meal planning and prepping again, plus I feel I ought to give my immune system a good old vitamin boost after all the bugs we endured in January!
The containers from black + blum are so handy to have at home, ready to hold salads, sandwiches and tasty hot food such as noodles or soup. They would be ideal for kids packed lunches, too.
The brilliant Box Appetit stainless steel sandwich box not only looks gorgeous, it is so practical – made from durable stainless steel with a naturally anti-bacterial bamboo lid.
For a hearty lunch that’s going to keep you full and resist snacking, you can’t beat a healthy soup and sandwich combo. Homemade soup is so easy even I can make it! Leek and potato is my speciality, but I am partial to carrot and coriander as above, with some lentils to keep me feeling full. The stainless steel food flask has a ladle style spoon hugging the side of the container. It is perfect for soup, noodles and stews, keeping food hot for up to 6 hours (and cold contents chilled for 8 hours). I love the design of this flask, with its vegan leather strap holding the colourful spoon in place.
I am also quite partial to a salad, the more colourful the better! The bowl style Box Appetit container is absolutely ideal – my favourite salad is probably Chicken Caesar, but I also love a Greek salad with feta cheese and black olives. Here, though, I thought I’d try something different – delish honey glazed mackerel, some rocket, salad potatoes and a portion of aioli in the dinky sauce container to dip into. Yum! It’s really tasty and will keep you filled ’til dinner time.
I hope this goes to show that even a humble homemade lunch can be elevated by using the cleverly designed and stylish containers from black + blum! I am smitten with mine and know I’ll be using them a lot. You can check out the full range of products at black + blum.com.
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© Copyright 2018 Antonia, All rights Reserved. Written For: Tidylife
