Yummy!

First ever veggie burger experiment! The burgers are made of chickpeas (cooked in water and then mashed) and diced potato, carrot, celery, a little bit of onion and some kale too, 1 egg white, salt and black pepper to taste. Patties are then rolled in breadcrumbs and cooked in a pan with just a little bit of sunflower oil.

A trick to avoid using too much oil: put a little oil in the pan, then use some kitchen paper to uniformly spread it in the pan and remove the excess oil.

The box also has some salad at the bottom, 1 tomato and some sauce made with fresh French cheese with a dash of chipotle paste, to give it a spicy/smoky taste.

simple simple...

Now, this one is very simple… From left to right:

- salad with carrots, celery and green beans.

- 1 hard boiled egg; fresh French cheese with basil (as salad dressing)

- risotto with butternut squash: gently brown some onion with a little butter, add butternut squash cut in small dices, rice (half a glass of white wine, but I didn’t have it) and then vegetable stock, little by little. Add salt and black pepper to taste. When almost done, add parmesan cheese and let it melt, giving a creamy texture to the rice. Garnish with parsley.

Omelette day!

This one looks lighter, and it also feels lighter, but the calories are about the same, bummer…

From left to right:

- 1 cup of rice, carrot sticks

- sorta-omelette made with 1 egg and 1/3 milk, 1 teaspoon flour, a pinch of salt and some grounded mixed pepper, rolled with about 1/2 cup steamed kale and cut into 4 pieces

- 1 tomato, 1/2 carrot, about 1/3 cup of cucumber, mixed salad spices, no oil

Total calories: approx. 460

Yummy!

This one is definitely less graphic

From left to right:

- 1 cup of pasta with 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and some grounded chilli

- 1 cup of kale, cooked in a little water in a frying pan. Then place 1/2 cup at the bottom add 1 teaspoon of olive oil and some grounded chilli. Mix the other 1/2 cup with 1/2 cup of steamed potatoes. Halves the mix, add black pepper to 1 half and some curry powder to the other half. Make 2 small patties with each half. Cook in a frying pan, about 2 minutes per side. Garnish with carrot slices.

- 1 tomato and some cucumber, diced. Dressing: French fresh cheese with chopped basil.

Total calories: approx. 440

The "Moustached Man"...

Meet the Moustached Man!
From top to bottom:

- steamed green beans (90 gr.), 1 egg split in half, 1 slice of cucumber split in half. I sprinkled some black pepper and parsley as dressing on the green beans before trying to make the eyes with the egg and the cucumber slice.

- iceberg salad, diced cucumber and 1 diced tomato, 1 tablespoon of French fresh cheese. OK, the moustache is a little funny shaped, I have to admit it. I guess I have to improve my food-shaping/carving skills

- 1 cup of steamed white rice, 1 tomato slice. I was out of inspiration for the smile, so I went for something simple, haha!

Total calories: approx. 450

As you can see, the box is quite handy, food is staying in place. The trick is really filling each section so 1- food doesn’t move around and 2- you have a decent lunch and you don’t starve yourself. The box is a Lock & Lock 500ml box with 3 compartments that can be taken out and washed properly. It’s air-tight, compact and very sturdy, as well as BPA-free

Bento lunch

This morning I got a little creative with my lunch and the result almost looked like a bento lunch box. From left to right:

- 1/2 cup of steamed white rice, 1 carrot cut in sticks

- 1 chicken breast fillet, diced, cooked in a pan without oil, just some spices (I used Schwarz Grilled Chicken mix: peppers, parsley and garlic). When the chicken is half cooked, add half an apple, diced, and finish cooking. The mix gets a nice brownish color and it’s tasty even though there is no oil

- 1/2 apple, 1 pear, diced; and some fromage frais (French fresh cheese, it tastes much like plain yogurt).

Total calories: approx. 400.

Veeeery light indeed! But hey, with this World Cup week, we’ve been having pizza, BBQs, wine etc. a bit more often than usual

For the rice, I used the trick I found on this awesome website, Just Bento: during the weekend I steamed 2 cups of rice and then froze them in portions (1 cup and 1/2 cup). So I had a total of 5 cups of pre-cooked rice ready to de-frost in the morning. Very nice!

PS: sorry I forgot to fix one carrot eye, I didn’t notice it and then I ate my lunch and it was too late to take another picture

Recently, I’ve been looking for a solution to avoid buying even those 3 or 4 little water bottles/months and this morning I found a 750ml BPA-free water bottle at Cirencester’s Waitrose (UK online shop: Reusablebottle.co.uk: Aladdin Clean & Clever Water Bottle, or click here to view other items).

Below I am reporting an article from TheDailyGreen.com that explains what BPA (Bisphenol A) is, the large number of items it can be found in and the dangers associated with this substance.
http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/bisphenol-a-fda-47121402

Aladdin is US-based company that sells a wide range of BPA-free products, bottles, mugs and other useful containers. Aladdin has an online shop, but I’m happy to see regular shops/stores are increasingly more sensitive to the subject. It makes it easier for consumers to find their desired products even outside of big cities, where there are certainly more choices. We all need some sort of container for drinks, snacks or our daily packed lunch. Then why not trying to avoid buying the same old plastic items and turn to ‘greener & safer’ products?