The Lunchbox

My lunchbox is to be this container - originally from Japanese bean paste, it's only about 8cm x 8cm x 6cm in size, with an internal capacity of about 300ml.

Technically, that's enough to contain more than enough calories for me for a whole day, if I were to fill it with something like lard or peanut butter, but I'm not going to do that, of course.

My aim is that I will fill it with combinations of things that provide enough to keep me going all day until dinnertime - I can allow myself to nibble on whatever I like for breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon snack, or whatever, as long as it all fits in this box.

So let's take a look at some example meal plans and their components...

Nuts, Seeds And Fruit

This combination contains salted peanuts, dried fruit, seeds and a little chunk of chocolate - for a good balance of protein, carbohydrates and fibre.

This will be a good one to take on days when I suspect snacking will happen, or when I know I have to work through lunchtime.

Item	Amount	Calories	Fat	Protein	Carb	Fibre
Raisins	50g	150	0.5g	1.5g	40g	2g
Peanuts	20g	120	11g	6g	3g	2g
Pumpkin Seeds	20g	108	9g	5g	3.5g	1g
Dried Apricots	25g	60		1g	16g	2g
Dark Chocolate	20g	108	6g	1g	12g	2g
Totals	135g	546	16.5g	14.5g	74.5g	9g
% Daily Amount		22%	17%	16%	25%	30%

 

Deconstructed Pizza

Flatbread, cheese, a mini salami and cherry tomatoes

Although it looks a bit like a matzo, the bread is in fact a soft square wheat tortilla, so it folds up to pack in the box.

This meal really delivers on protein, so it should be satisfying, even though it's small.

Item	Amount	Calories	Fat	Protein	Carb	Fibre
Flat Bread	50g	123	2g	6g	20g	2g
Cherry Tomatoes	3 (50g)	9			3g	1g
Mini Salami	25g	230	20g	12g	0.5g
BabyBel Cheese	21g	70	6g	5g
Totals	146g	432	28g	23g	23.5g	3g
% Daily Amount		17%	12%	41%	8%	10%

 

Sweet Treats

Almond cake finger, yoghurt coated raisins, a little pot of fromage frais and a few grapes.

Item	Amount	Calories	Fat	Protein	Carb	Fibre
Almond Finger	40g	160	6g	2.5g	23g	0.5g
Fromage Frais	55g	48	1g	2.5g	7g
Yoghurt Raisins	75g	260	10g	2g	42g	2g
Grapes	4 (15g)	10			2.5g
Totals	185g	478	17g	7g	74.5g	2.5g
% Daily Amount		19%	17%	13%	25%	8%

 

Simply Cereal

This is a lazy option (well, they're all quite lazy, but this one is positively bone idle) - just fill the box with dry cereal - in this case, 'Krave' - chocolate-filled crunchy wheat pillows.

Item	Amount	Calories	Fat	Protein	Carb	Fibre
Krave Cereal	75g	330	10g	6g	51g	2g
% Daily Amount		13%	11%	11%	17%	6%

 

The Cheese Board

Cheese (2 varieties), crackers, apricots and grapes

Item	Amount	Calories	Fat	Protein	Carb	Fibre
BabyBel Cheese	21g	70	6g	5g
Cheese Triangle	17.5g	42	3g	2g	1g
Crackers	3 (25g)	134	7.5g	2g	14g	1g
Apricot	1 (35g)	17			4g	1g
Grapes	8 (30g)	19			5g
Totals	128.5g	282	16.5g	9g	24g	2g
% Daily Amount		11%	17%	16%	8%	7%

 

Sesame Salad

Chopped mixed salad with just a little dressing, plus a little pack of sesame snaps to smash up and sprinkle on top.

This will be one for days when I'm feeling particularly virtuous, or maybe if I'm feeling guilty after an indulgent weekend.

Item	Amount	Calories	Fat	Protein	Carb	Fibre
Sesame Snaps	20g	106	6g	2g	10g	1g
Mixed Salad	150g	24		2g	4g	1g
Dressing	7g	40	4g
Totals	177g	170	10g	4g	14g	2g
% Daily Amount		7%	11%	7%	5%	7%

 

Deconstructed Cheesecake

Crunchy biscuits, a double helping of cream cheese and two varieties of fresh fruit

This one is nice and light - but also very nicely balanced

Item	Amount	Calories	Fat	Protein	Carb	Fibre
Cheese Triangle	35g	84	6g	4g	2g
Biscuits	30g	119	3.5g	2g	20g	1g
Cherries	30g	18			4g	1g
Blueberries	25g	15			3g	1g
Totals	120g	236	9.5g	6g	29g	3g
% Daily Amount		9.5%	10%	11%	9.5%	10%

 

Sandwich Selection

Four quarter-slice sandwiches (2 slices of bread) just fit the lunchbox - one each of peanut butter, jam, chocolate flavour cream cheese and honey

Item	Amount	Calories	Fat	Protein	Carb	Fibre
Bread	60g	180	2g	8g	32g	4g
Butter	5g	35	4g	1g
Fillings	25g	100	10g	5g	7g	2g
Totals	90g	315	16g	14g	37g	6g
% Daily Amount		13%	17%	25%	12%	20%

 

Well Dressed Lobster

I bought this tiny tin of dressed lobster for less than £1, and it fits inside the lunchbox - I'll combine this with some chopped salad, some pickled vegetables (including gherkin, olives, capers), and a little pack of crackers to pile it all onto.

At this point, I got bored with the nutritional analyses - suffice it to say that, as long as I'm sensible about keeping a reasonable balance between the different food groups, it's really not hard to keep these mini-meals healthy, nutritious and light.

How It Went

Update at the end of the first week - this week's little lunchboxes were:

Sesame Salad - This was nice and light, but a little unsatisfying.

The Cheese Board - Really good - I did deviate a little from the meal plan above - I only had two Cornish wafer crackers, and replaced the apricot with a cherry tomato - I also managed to squeeze in a few thin slices of extra mature cheddar, some tiny, thin crackers and a few tiny little gherkins (packed into an empty plastic pod from inside a Kinder Surprise chocolate egg. This was a very satisfactory little meal and it left me feeling quite happy.

Nuts, Seeds and Fruit - This was quite satisfying, although not terribly interesting. The slight drawback with this one was that it was too easy to graze at this selection - and by lunchtime, I had eaten nearly all of it, however, it did keep hunger at bay for the whole working day, so this wasn't really a problem.

Well Dressed Lobster - the meal eventually comprised: the little tin of lobster, some Ryvita crackers and a little pack of thin Asian crackers, some thinly-sliced red pepper, cucumber and spring onion, and a little pod of homemade tartare sauce (made from a teaspoon of light mayonnaise with roughly-chopped gherkins and capers mixed in).

This little lunch was an absolute delight - and the time taken to eat it was a pleasure - delicately loading each little cracker with various combinations of the ingredients at hand.

Positively super - I will definitely be doing more of this.

Deconstructed Cheesecake (shown here reconstructed!) - again, I surprised myself at how much I was able to pack in.

Five biscuits, three triangles of cheese spread, some sliced strawberries and raspberries (in a vanilla syrup), a crushed chocolate biscuit, a couple of squares of dark chocolate and a little pot of sour cherry jam.

I spread the cheese onto the biscuits, then the jam, then added the fruit, sprinkled on the chocolate biscuit crumbs and shavings of the dark chocolate.

Although it lacked the variety of the cheese board and lobster meals, this one was definitely the best of the bunch. It was great fun to put together (at my desk at work), and it tasted really luxurious.

Kinder Surprise Pod

I've written before, elsewhere on this site on the utility of these little plastic pods, originally containing the toy element of a Kinder Surprise chocolate egg, but they've found yet another use in my Little Lunchboxes.

They're just perfect for securely containing a small, but adequate amount of dressings, sauces, pickle, jam, or for ingredients to be sprinkled on the top of things.

How It Worked

Even at the end of the week, I can feel that I've shed a little surplus weight - I suppose I should be keeping track in a spreadsheet or something, but I'm just going to keep an eye on my waistline instead - my belt now buckles one hole smaller - and my stomach is flatter - there's a way to go yet, but this is a step in the right direction.

Not all of this is attributable just to the Little Lunchbox, of course - it has taken a bit of resolve and willpower to resist snacking, and I don't expect that to get easier, but having a very rigidly defined plan does help - for me at least.

More Little Lunches...

Tiny Tapas - this one was very delicious and satisfying. Anticlockwise from top:

• Morcilla (black pudding) with boiled peeled wheat, tomato and herbs.
• Salad of green olives, cucumber, green pepper, grapes, pickled hot peppers, capers and gherkin.
• Sweet pickled hot cherry pepper stuffed with cream cheese.
• Ham, cheese and potato tortilla (Spanish omelette) - this was originally two small slices, but they welded themselves together in the box.
• Crispy potato sticks.
• Spicy slim chorizo sticks.
• Savoury crackers.

(I heated the black pudding and the tortilla in the microwave at work before plating up the other components - the additional contrast of hot and cold was good).

Deconstructed Tiramisu

Comprising three malted milk biscuits, a pot of vanilla fromage frais, apricot jam, fresh whipped cream (in a little plastic bag - I cut the corner off and piped it onto the jam and vanilla loaded biscuits) and grated dark chocolate mixed with a little bit of freeze dried instant coffee.

There was a little bit of space left in the box when I packed it, so the three squares of white chocolate were just a bonus.

Nice, but not quite as delightful as the deconstructed cheesecake above.

RDA

I based my calculations in this project on the following daily amounts:

• Calories: 2,500
• Fat: 95g
• Carbohydrates: 300g
• Protein: 55g
• Fibre: 30g

Why Restrict Volume?

Why restrict the volume of the day's meal - why not count the calories instead, or use a points method?

The answer is: simplicity. It took me a couple of days to analyse the nutritional content of the meals on this page - And going forward, I can't be bothered with that sort of nonsense - it'll be a good deal easier if I just keep within the confines of a container too small to reasonably contain an excessive amount of food.

Small Can Be Beautiful

Consumption of large quantities of food, although it is on occasion hilarious, is not the only path to gustatory satisfaction - it turns out that a small, carefully-crafted meal can be an utter delight (although in truth, I think this is probably no secret).

I'm not talking about ridiculous minimalism - just attention to detail and great care to pack as much interest, variety and sympathy of flavour and texture (not to mention balance of nutrition) into a finite space.