Good recipes for food to take to work on bike.

tempest5

Hello,

Whilst the commute gets/keeps me fit, I don't usually save that much on petrol as I end up going to the canteen for a pig out. Does anyone have any decent, not so expensive recipes that I can take in a sandwich box to reheat in the office microwave for lunch ?

Chris

lost_in_thought

I often make paella, good to make a huge batch on a sunday, then freeze in portions, pop in with your kit and it should be defrosted by lunchtime.

Same applies for most things really, make, freeze in portions. It's amazing what you can do - curry, pasta, cake, pies....

rjsterry

Don't you get damp all over the inside of your bag from the defrosting? Risotto is a good one - make it sticky enough so there's no chance of a leak, and put pretty much whatever you want into it. I don't really have a recipe as such, but basically, finely chopped onion and any spices you fancy in first to fry off in olive oil + a bit of butter, in with the rice (arborio or carnoroli or another one I can't spell NOT long grain) coat well with the butter, and heat through then in with stock, a bit at a time until all absorbed/rice cooked. what ever meat/veg you want go in at the appropriate times to finish cooking at the same time as the rice. Just before you finish stir in a bit of butter, and some parmesan.

lost_in_thought

No, I have to say I've never had a problem with damp from the defrosting.

Risotto = another great idea. Basically, rice freezes really well.

alfablue

Take care with keeping rice at room temp and then reheating. Nasty food poisoning can result. It needs rapid cooling after cooking, not keeping at room temp. Freezing should be okay if this is achieved rapidly, but the thawing process could be a problem if it is allowed to get to ambient temp too soon and then sit like that for any time before reheating.

http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/processed-food ... /index.htm

Mr Sworld

Why not make really tasty sandwiches at home and take them?

If you've got a nuke at work them make extra portions of evening meals, freeze them, and then take them to work a week later. (Stops them boredom of eating what you've eaten the evening before!)

However, summer lunch is salad made the night before. Winter is stew, shepherds pie, curry, spag bol or chilli....

noisemonkey

Make all your food with a hole like a donut so you can thread it on to your handlebars then lean down mid ride and take a nibble.

Mr Sworld

noisemonkey wrote:

Make all your food with a hole like a donut so you can thread it on to your handlebars then lean down mid ride and take a nibble.

You could blend it all and put into the camelbak.......

CiB

Mr Sworld wrote:

Why not make really tasty sandwiches at home and take them?

Or do like I do and make unpleasant ones. They still get eaten but it's less of a faff doing them and you can cram them into your pockets without caring. Mmmm - corned beef again. Lurvely.

mickbrown

I'm a lazy arse so found these packet things at the supermarket called 'look what we've found'

Casseroles, stews, etc. 3 mins in the mocrowave, job done.

http://www.lookwhatwefound.co.uk/

Mr Sworld

mickbrown wrote:

I'm a lazy ars* so found these packet things at the supermarket called 'look what we've found'

Casseroles, stews, etc. 3 mins in the mocrowave, job done.

http://www.lookwhatwefound.co.uk/

They are pretty good actually. I use them when camping as you can heat them up like a 'boil-in-the-bag' meal.

GMRK

Homemade vegetable soup concentrate:

http://justbento.com/handbook/johbisai/make-your-own-instant-vegetable-soup-concentrate

Similar warning to the one about thawing rice in the comments below the article:

I am a sanitation expert and letting a frozen soup mix thaw in your lunch box is NOT SAFE! The only SAFE way to thaw anything frozen is in refridgerator or under cold running water and then immediatly cooked. A lunchbox with a cooler/icepack will NOT keep the concentrate outside of the DANGER temperature zone.

Norky

Cous cous is versatile, keeps for ages. and very easily prepared. To 'cook' it put some in a bowl, pour hot water from a kettle over it and let it stand for a few minutes. You can mix it with all sorts - pesto, grated parmesan, oregano and sun dried tomatoes is a particular favourite of mine. You can get quinoa in a similar form so that it just needs hot water on it, and that's very nice, though I've not found it anywhere for less than £stupidamount.

My colleague and I order a bunch of food from Ocado (Internet supermarket delivered to your door) every 3 or 4 weeks. Other people in the office boggle when they see the contents of the cupboard that's between our desks. It's mostly stuff that keeps for a while, jars of artichoke hearts, dried salami & chorizo, cous cous, tins of mixed beans, lentils, herring/mackerel/sardines all in tins, with some fresh fruit and veg that we use up first. This works very well for having a varied lunch and we can have as much or as little as we like, though we both tend to eat like starving pigs.

In the winter making a hot meal in large batches, freezing in lunch-sized portions and bringing one of those in per day to heat up in the microwave oven works well as other people have said. If you're lazy, Innocent (the smoothie people) make vegetable pots which are very nice, even on hot days, though not cheap. There's also porridge and other cereals, which you can liven up with dried (or fresh) fruit, nuts and seeds, though eating cereal for lunch everyday would be very boring.

I'm lucky enough to have access to a kitchen with a fridge, microwave oven, toaster etc and somewhere to store non-perishables.

Regarding recipes: any curry made in a batch, I'd suggest adding some extra vegetables for a balanced diet; chili con carne; soup of your choice (tomato and chorizo gets my vote); any stew or casserole (I've brought last night's coq au vin in a metal flask before, that was tasty); really there's no particular limit so long as you can freeze it.

davis

+1 for the batches of home-made stew-type things, especially in winter.

Another one that's awesome is Spanish omelette: basically an omelette with wafer-thin slices of potato, and some really good Chorizo. Nom nom nom

andy83

I make a little too much porridge in the morning and take some in with raisens to have around 10

im really lucky as working in a residential home have to cook fresh meals for the people there and be rude not to have some

makes up for the low pay, but spose in another job id just spend it on food

PBo

GMRK wrote:

Homemade vegetable soup concentrate:

http://justbento.com/handbook/johbisai/make-your-own-instant-vegetable-soup-concentrate

Similar warning to the one about thawing rice in the comments below the article:

I am a sanitation expert and letting a frozen soup mix thaw in your lunch box is NOT SAFE! The only SAFE way to thaw anything frozen is in refridgerator or under cold running water and then immediatly cooked. A lunchbox with a cooler/icepack will NOT keep the concentrate outside of the DANGER temperature zone.

i know this is all technically correct, but i've never poisoned myself. I know about the rice thing, and it's the only thing I edge on caution with. That is to say, I don't reheat it if i forget to put it in the fridge overnight. but i don't rapidly cool it, and i defrost stuff on the draining board at room temperature if i forget to take it out freezer the night before.

i personally am sure that you just need to use common sense with most things. reheat properly, and the bugs are killed. if it smells bad chuck it! i think the problem with rice is the spores that don't get killed by heating, or somtehing?

i've worked in professional kitchens, and whilst general cleanliness can be better than your normal kitchen, and food handling protocols over things like raw/cooked meat tend to be obeyed well, all this stuff about rapid cooling/slow defrosting etc? nah....

alfablue

I think the rice thing is just luck. If it is infected with the spores it won't smell, you won't be able to tell, so that won't help you decide on its safety.

So you could ignore the safe handling of it all the time and only get an infected batch one time in 20 / 50 / 1000 - I just don't know. Then when you eat the infected rice it may make you ill every time, 1 in 5 times, 1/100, never etc. If you are a more vulnerable person (immune system compromised, weaker, otherwise less healthy, or just unlucky) then the chances of illness will be greater. Problem is, its a roll of the dice. Do you feel lucky?

(If you sell food for a living, do you feel lucky for your customers? And your business?).

PBo

and forgot to say....+1 to freezing and taking in pretty much anything you make the night before, particularly the one pot stuff. chiili, stew. curry etc

if you need some emergency supplies at work, couccous (I assume you have access to a a kettle) and tins of sardines (dirt cheap, healthy, lovely protein!), plus maybe a jar of roasted veg in oil.

your colleagues will hate you though due to fishy smell.... :twisted:

Kieran_Burns

(very) quick and nutritious curry: packet stir fry veg (I like the Sainsburys crispy stir fry) choice of protein, me being veggie use Quorn chunks / Realeat mince, and a jar of your favourite curry sauce

15 mins, split into tubs and freeze.

essex-commuter

Cheese sandwich

tiny_pens

Soup?

In the winter I make a pan full of soup freeze half and eat the other half during the week. Cheap as chips. Best thing to do is try a few soups from the supermarket to get hold of a few of the resealable plastic containers which can then be reused for home made soups.

I prefer protein rich salads during the summer (thats lots of salad plus cheese/ham / sausage / egg for those smirking at the back of the class). You think its not going to fuel you very well but you would be suprised. If you can't be bothered to make one your self - try the Subway salad bowls. £1.99 for a massive bowl of salad with a dolop of meat on the top. Gives you plenty of energy without making you feel tired in the same way that bread can.

GMRK

PBo wrote:

GMRK wrote:

Homemade vegetable soup concentrate:

http://justbento.com/handbook/johbisai/make-your-own-instant-vegetable-soup-concentrate

Similar warning to the one about thawing rice in the comments below the article:

I am a sanitation expert and letting a frozen soup mix thaw in your lunch box is NOT SAFE! The only SAFE way to thaw anything frozen is in refridgerator or under cold running water and then immediatly cooked. A lunchbox with a cooler/icepack will NOT keep the concentrate outside of the DANGER temperature zone.

i know this is all technically correct, but i've never poisoned myself. I know about the rice thing, and it's the only thing I edge on caution with. That is to say, I don't reheat it if i forget to put it in the fridge overnight. but i don't rapidly cool it, and i defrost stuff on the draining board at room temperature if i forget to take it out freezer the night before.

i personally am sure that you just need to use common sense with most things. reheat properly, and the bugs are killed. if it smells bad chuck it! i think the problem with rice is the spores that don't get killed by heating, or somtehing?

i've worked in professional kitchens, and whilst general cleanliness can be better than your normal kitchen, and food handling protocols over things like raw/cooked meat tend to be obeyed well, all this stuff about rapid cooling/slow defrosting etc? nah....

I'm not so cautious myself, just thought I'd point out the comment as a kind of disclaimer.

And yes, rice is the only thing I take real care with, reheating doesn't destroy the bacteria that forms on when it sits at room temperature as far as I know.

boneyjoe

Multigrain bagel with marmite, cheddar cheese, sliced cucumber and tomato (squeeze pips out tomato before slicing to avoid a soggy sarny), bit of mayo on top - yummy!

Another great bagel, with a good protein fix, is a sliced boiled egg mixed with some mayo, with a few meaty chunks of smoked mackerel on top - a bit smelly but delicious!

Take about 10mins to make each morning. If short on time, go for a peanut butter sarnie, which I find gives excellent slow-burn energy (very underrated if you ask me!).

Home made energy bars are also great - there are various recipies you can find on-line or in cycling nutrition books, health cookbooks etc. Make a big batch and then freeze them, to take out on the day.

Plumby Baby

I cook a jacket potato the night before (microwave then oven to make it crispy) and take it to work the next day with a can of beans, chilli, tuna (or whatever is in the cupboard).

Few minutes nuking and got a cracking lunch for the price of a spud and a tin of Heinz.

lost_in_thought

With the rice thing, I've never had a problem, even *gasp* leaving it in the le creuset on the side overnight then freezing the next day.

I was always told you can't reheat anything twice. But I still haven't made myself unwell doing so.

I may, of course, just have a cast-iron constitution. YMMV.

Kieran_Burns

lost_in_thought wrote:

With the rice thing, I've never had a problem, even *gasp* leaving it in the le creuset on the side overnight then freezing the next day.

I was always told you can't reheat anything twice. But I still haven't made myself unwell doing so.

I may, of course, just have a cast-iron constitution. YMMV.

Why can't you just say "big iron pan" ya big posh southern person you.

lost_in_thought

Kieran_Burns wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

With the rice thing, I've never had a problem, even *gasp* leaving it in the le creuset on the side overnight then freezing the next day.

I was always told you can't reheat anything twice. But I still haven't made myself unwell doing so.

I may, of course, just have a cast-iron constitution. YMMV.

Why can't you just say "big iron pan" ya big posh southern person you.

Because if I did someone's bound to say 'my god iron is like super-poisonous, I hope that pan's coated in something LiT'. And I don't know what it's coated in. But it's something!

Matt.K

Super Noodles!
Boil kettle, put in bowl with noodles. Whack in microwave for 3 mins. Drain and eat.

Hardy weighs a thing for carrying and lots of flavours for variation!

davis

lost_in_thought wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

With the rice thing, I've never had a problem, even *gasp* leaving it in the le creuset on the side overnight then freezing the next day.

I was always told you can't reheat anything twice. But I still haven't made myself unwell doing so.

I may, of course, just have a cast-iron constitution. YMMV.

Why can't you just say "big iron pan" ya big posh southern person you.

Because if I did someone's bound to say 'my god iron is like super-poisonous, I hope that pan's coated in something LiT'. And I don't know what it's coated in. But it's something!

S'enamel, innit.

rjsterry

lost_in_thought wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

With the rice thing, I've never had a problem, even *gasp* leaving it in the le creuset on the side overnight then freezing the next day.

I was always told you can't reheat anything twice. But I still haven't made myself unwell doing so.

I may, of course, just have a cast-iron constitution. YMMV.

Why can't you just say "big iron pan" ya big posh southern person you.

Because if I did someone's bound to say 'my god iron is like super-poisonous, I hope that pan's coated in something LiT'. And I don't know what it's coated in. But it's something!

Enamel, same as old bath tubs. Basically, ground glass, melted on to form a smooth hard coating.

prawny

I take sandwiches, 1 turkey mayo, 1 peanut butter and choclate spread, yummy.