5 conseils pour gagner du temps avec vos Lunch Box

March 11, 2021

5 tips to save time with your Lunch Boxes

" Wow , that would be too much work for me. ", "What time do you get up for that? ", "That must take a long time! "

I hear comments like this all the time. And no one seems to believe that I certainly don't want to stand in the kitchen for more than an hour every day, putting back each little leaf of my lunchbox individually. On the contrary, in everyday life, he often has to go fast . Typically, my next lunch meal is ready in 15-30 minutes , often in parallel with preparing dinner. That it goes so fast is a matter of practice, but I've also picked up a few tricks over time.

1. THE food scraps

I love leftover food! Little or no effort for the preparation and yet delicious dishes , what could be better? Of course, this method can be used quite consciously and is unbeatable, especially for box-wrapping beginners. Just cook a little more than usual for dinner and put the rest in your Lunch Box.

Advanced cooks can vary dishes a bit and create new dishes on the go . With a little cumin and paprika seasoning, kidney beans and sweet corn, the tomato rice suddenly becomes Mexican rice. Leftover jacket potatoes become a great potato salad with pesto and olives, and a drop of ajvar suddenly sets it in a whole new direction. with gnocchi with a spinach sauce. There are no limits to your imagination. And if you want it to be a little more variable and creative , let's go easy on point 2:

stay

2. Pre-cooking elements (aka "meal prep") .

It's so simple and yet so effective: preparing a few basic products in advance saves a lot of time. Whether I make tomato sauce for one serving of pasta or for four, it makes little difference. If I make 8 burger patties instead of 2, it might take me a little longer to brown them, but I'll still have three servings on hand. Preparing the ingredients, documenting the recipe and finally cleaning up after the fact only happens once. And it's a wonderful feeling to know that all you have to do is quickly whip up three veggie muffins of ice cream and chop some veggies and your box is ready for the next day.

I make a lot of things ahead of time and freeze them. It also works in jars. Other things are kept in the refrigerator for a few days, for example salads, or a large serving of cooked pasta, brown rice or potatoes, which can then be processed or combined in different ways. Preservation is of course also a great option in many cases. By the way, I always prefer to cut fresh raw vegetables the day before, but that's just my personal preference.

For example, the following recipes are ideal for freezing:

Muffins vegetables
Mini quiches (for example, with beans and spinach)
Falafel
Mushroom and nut pancakes
Red bean patties
Chile sin Carne or almost any type of stew
Spinach lentil dal
Tomato sauce simple
Humus
Frozen pesto in the form of ice cubes (for example, from kohlrabi leaves, radish leaves, pesto Rosso ...)
Raisin rolls
bread frozen in slices
small bagels

The products to keep in the refrigerator are:

a large platter of vegetables or baked potatoes
Carrot salad
Tomato and cucumber salad
Sauce house salad
Energy balls ( can also be stored without refrigeration)

3. just "decorate"

Decorate in inverted commas because I'm very, very lazy about this, arranging is more appropriate. But a little clever organization can go a long way, and that's what colorful bento lunch boxes do. If you fancy sculpting works of art out of fruits and vegetables, there are also much simpler methods:

Arrange geometrically:

There are people who have a knack for arranging something "random-chaotic-and-super-good ". I'm not like them at all, so I stick to a very clean and tidy style. Stripped vegetables, diagonal rice and vegetables, or staggered cucumber slices are simple and effective .

Sprinkle:

Whether in the form of a spot in the middle, a straight line or a diagonal line, a little sprinkled on top and even a visually quite mediocre risotto looks much better. Small seeds like sesame or black cumin, colored spices, herbs or nuts are fine. Let yourself go! A chive flower or other edible flowers are also very decorative.

Play with colors.

Your food is colored anyway, so go ahead and play with those colors. For example, arrange your salad ingredients like a rainbow or deliberately compose your box in one or two specific shades.

The little one is cute and fills in the gaps.

Anything small goes well in a Lunch Box and at the same time is handy for filling a void. Cherry tomatoes, mini bagels, grapes, mini mozzarella balls, salty pretzels – keep your eyes peeled while you shop. Small "bouquets" of lamb's lettuce are also excellent and can be stuck in different places. Mini hamburger patties, mini quiches, small muffins (savory or sweet) or energy balls are also excellent.

organization

4. keep/cook simply

If you have nothing pre-cooked and no leftovers and still want or need to do it really quickly , remember: it doesn't always have to be gourmet food. It is also possible to prepare delicious things in a magic time called "pasta cooking time". Of course, a little more time is usually good for flavor - flavors can combine, steps can be done more delicately - but just because a product is prepared faster than usual doesn't mean it won't taste good at all. And if in doubt, don't bother turning on the stove. Prepare a salad, as long as it's better than the ready-made salad from the supermarket, you've won!

If all else fails, how about two slices of bread with cheese spread and raw vegetables? Or you can use good ready-to-use products like stuffed and pickled vine leaves or a good potted pesto? It is important and useful to always have some basic products at home. For me it is definitely various dry goods, frozen vegetables, pesto and tomato puree, so that I always have at least one quick pasta dish up my sleeve. Put that in a box, sprinkle some black seeds or frozen herbs diagonally, and add some fruit and you have your "emergency box".

5. The right Lunch Box

Choosing the right container is important . Especially for beginners it is a great relief if the box already comes with a fixed subdivision. If you are looking for quality Lunch Boxes that will make you want to cook and prepare food, visit our Ma-Lunch-Box website
Here is my selection of our best collections

Bento lunch boxes