Lunches

I am always on the lookout for new lunch ideas to bring in to college with me, so here are a few nice ones so that you can vary your lunch box ideas for school, college or work.

1) Last nights chicken pesto - salad
I don't know about you but we always have a bowl or two of dinner left overs that end up in the fridge. One of my favourite the next day is chicken pesto pasta made up into a fresh crunchy salad, no dressing needed.

1/2 bowl of chicken pesto pasta
1/2 bell pepper (I used yellow)
handful of rocket and or baby spinch
Fresh parmesan cheese for grating on top

So simple, yet tastes so good because you have the flavoured chicken pasta, yet there's fresh, crisp vegetables, and the salt from the cheese.
I usually eat it with two ryevita crackers.


2) Homemade Red Pepper Hummus and Carrots in a Jar.
Homemade hummus literally is so easy all you need is a few ingredients, an oven and a blender.

2 Red peppers roughly sliced-

• Put onto a tray with olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika and chili flakes.
• Roast for 15-20 minutes until soft.

Into the blender;
1 tin chick peas- drained.
Tahini 1.5 tbsp optional
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1.5 tsp cumin seeds ground
Add the peppers
Blend.

I store mine in old jam jars which I sterlize with boiling water while the peppers are roasting.

For lunch, I put to tablespoons of hummus into a shallow jar, I slice two carrots into batons and then I place them standing up into the jar so that they are sitting in the hummus ready to eat.


3)Chicken, Mango and Avacado Salad
SO simple:

1/2 breast roast chicken
Handful of baby spinach
Half of a fresh mango, diced
Half an avacado diced
Handful of mixed nuts (sunflower, sesame, walnuts, pumpkin seeds).

still to come:
4) Last nights roast chicken and mixed veg salad


5) Bacon and Avacado Salad


6) Sweet potato, Mixed veg and Quinoa salad.

Banoffee and Strawberry Pie

Ingredients:

1 packet of digestive biscuits
40g butter
Chocolate chips
2 tbsp Golden Syrup
1 can of condensed milk
2 fresh bananas
1 box of strawberries
1 bottle of cream
Packet of maltesers

Method:

1. Boil the can of condensed milk in a pot of water for 3 hours.
2. Crush the digestives into crumbs, add in the melted butter, golden syrup and chocolate chips.
3. Using a cold metal spoon flatten the biscuits into a shallow round cake tin until smooth.
4. Remove the tin of condensed milk from the water, open and smooth over the biscuit base.
5. Place the tin into the fridge.
6. Beat the cream until lightly whipped and pour over the caramel layer.
7. Place slices of banana and strawberries onto the cream in a decorative pattern.
8. Crumble the maltesers and scatter over the cream.
9. Enjoy!

Mac & Cheese

Ingredients: (serves 3-4)
Macaroni pasta
Inch of butter
half a mozzarella ball
half a block of red cheddar cheese ( I use Charleville)
1 small bottle of cream
tablespoon of flour

Method:

1. Cook and strain the pasta.
2. In an empty pan add the butter, cheese and cream until melted.
3. Add flour to thicken
4. Add pasta back into pan.
5. Enjoy!

Vegetable Soup (6-8 bowls)

Ingredients:
1 inch of butter
3 potatoes (peeled and cut into quarters)
3 sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into quarters)
2 onions (peeled and cut into quarters)
5 carrots chopped
6 sticks of celery roughly choppped.
1 stock cube

Method:

1. Chop the Veg.
2. In a large sauce pan add the butter.
3. Add all veg and cover with parchment paper and sweat on the hob (level 2-3) for 10 minutes.
4. Boil the kettle.
5. Remove parchment paper.
6. Add 3 pints of water (mostly boiled, then fill in whatever is left with cold water) & add the stock cube to the pan. 
7. Cover pan with lid, put onto level 5/6 and wait until it boils.
8. Once boiled, turn down to 2-3.
9. After 20 minutes check how soft the veg are, if they are easy to penetrate with a knife then remove from heat.
10. Liquidize the mixture until smooth.
11. Then enjoy with chili flakes to spice things up.