by Louanne Cox

Created on: November 22, 2008   Last Updated: April 27, 2011

Making your own lunch and taking it to work has never been more in vogue than it is today, however ‘brown bagging it’ has definitely had a makeover.   In these times of reality television and cooking shows the humble peanut butter and jelly sandwich just doesn’t cut it in the lunch time stakes any more as brown bagging has become an art form.

Some people have perfected the bento box idea and provide pieces of art as a lunch – I don’t quite have the patience for that, but it would definitely stop the temptation of popping out to a café for lunch.   Other people bake all natural goodies to stuff their brown bags with…….actually the brown bag has also undergone a makeover, but we’ll talk about that later.

Let’s start with sandwiches, these can be boring and there’s really no need for this to be the case with different breads, wraps and pita pockets so easily obtainable.   There is no way I can make a salad sandwich for my daughter that will be eaten, however if I pop all of the salad ingredients in a wrap it is devoured in record time.

Leftovers make great lunches the next day and as microwaves have become more commonplace in the workplace this is a fast, easy and economical answer to a lunch from home.   Microwaves have also made my father’s favourite form of ‘brown bagging’ to be used – the humble potato!   He simply takes in a washed potato and either a small can of baked beans to add on top or some left over chilli, casserole or bolognaise and he has a delicious lunch that causes envy amongst his workmates.

I love tuna for lunch and will either take a can of tuna along with some crackers or a bag of salad greens or I’ll make a delicious tuna salad to take to work.  Healthy and delicious and so much nicer to eat than a soggy tomato sandwich!

During winter soups make a great idea for lunch and can easily be taken in a flask to have at lunch time or in another container to be reheated in your break room.   You can also get a wider necked flask and take a number of different types of casseroles these can be cooked the day before in a slow cooker so that it’s ready to take to work.

Other ways of updating your homemade lunch is by baking mini quiches, savoury muffins, egg and bacon pies etc which look and taste great in a brown bag, although as I said brown bags are also going out of vogue.   Becoming more aware of waste the biggest makeover of the whole concept of brown bagging it is in nude food!

Buy yourself some fun containers to carry your lunch in that can be taken home, washed and reused again – less waste which means it’s better for the environment and your hip pocket.   There are some really fun boxes which can help to brighten up your lunch even if you’ve resisted these ideas and are still bringing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to work!

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