Last year I was a naive first year in my catered food bubble; I could easily fend for myself in the comfort of my parents’ house when I didn’t have to think about the cost of things and food was usually in the cupboards. Food decisions for my second year became more difficult. Not only would I have to buy my own food but I would have to think about meals in advance. The meal I have struggled the most to this for is lunch. For dinner there are different cuisines and you can have it hot or cold; lunch however, has to be portable, quick and easy to make in the morning as well as having to be better than the food served on campus so you can’t be tempted into buying it. The situation I got into was just eating sandwiches every day. The only variation I had was the filling – not very exciting! So this week I set myself the challenge of having a different thing every day for lunch.
Monday: Pitta breads with hummus, carrots, cucumber and pepper
Tuesday: Grilled chicken (leftover from dinner the night before) with salad and cucumber, as well as salad cream (I didn’t have time but alternatively you could make your own dressing) in wraps
Wednesday: Pasta salad (Pasta, peppers, sweetcorn and beans)
Thursday: Pitta breads with salad, falafel and hummus
Friday: Prawn noodle salad (leftover from the night before) containing: noodles, prawns, baby corn, sugar snaps, soy sauce, and chili flakes for an additional kick
If you’re like me, weekends are about having a long lie in and waking up just in time for lunch. With all the time available on Saturday and Sunday you can have whatever you fancy; big or small, taking barely any time to fix or spending an hour preparing a real treat.
I hope this helps anyone in a pickle with what they could have for lunch, and now I’ve seen what I can do in the same amount of time as sandwiches, my lunches will hopefully be something to look forward to.
Edited by Luisa Parnell