Last night I cooked Smoked Salmon and Mozzarella Calzone using Tesco economy ingredients which worked out about 50p each, and they were lovely. I thought they'd make an excellent tasty and convenient lunch, but inspired by Kare-pan and Cheese Curry (warning - this commercial may induce nightmares) I came up with a combination.

In the oven right now, I have curry cheese bread

So if you're bored of the same old sandwiches, what do you take for lunch? Ideally, it should be something you can eat while working or driving without getting it down your shirt

Today I had 3 savoury rice cakes, with some peanut butter, and a protein shake.

That does not sound very appetising. I think I'd rather have a tofu sandwich

Perhaps if you'd added some salad or pickle to the rice cakes then I might be able to swallow them. With just peanut butter I imagine they'd be horribly dry. Are you using food as a form of flagellation?

No it's the diet of a weightlifter. Something I'm familiar with but have long since stopped. Thank god for no more tuna (used to force feed that for the protein).

It's sunday so no "lunch box" and I'm at home next week but I just make sandwiches. Tomorrow, egg, I think.

Surely something tasty like sushi would contain all the same ingredients without being so horrible?

Sushi makes a good lunch box. It's quite expensive to buy from the supermarket in those tiny little 99p boxes, but if you make it yourself then it's no more expensive than a sandwich.

What's in a protein shake that you can't get from food food?

I tend to go for chicken rather than protein shakes, much tastier , also, I hope they're BROWN rice cakes :p

Recently I've been taking to work:
Low Fat Humous
Carrots
Bread sticks of some sort
Gala Apple

I approve! I have some humous in the fridge I made a few days ago. I had it with tomato and cucumber in my sandwiches on Friday, along with a carrot to freshen up my mouth afterward.

I don't buy apples because they grow on my tree. I'm rather lucky that I now have a big box of them stored, and they're very tasty. No idea what kind they are, but they're red on the sun side and very sweet. I make pies from them, and they don't need any added sugar.

Good man. Home made humous is so much better than shop bought. We keep frozen chick peas in the freezer just in case we fancy some.

I remember you saying that before, but it's not something I've ever done. I do have sacks of dried chickpeas so I could freeze some next time I cook a batch, but I tend to only cook what I need that week and if I freeze anything then it's the humous. It does freeze quite well, but it loses some of it's scent. A splash of fresh lemon brings it back to life.

I just noticed the phrase "low fat", which isn't great. It basically means skimping on the tahini. If you leave it out all together then it's still tasty, but it's not really humous.

The main attractions of protein shakes:

1. Usually has different types of protein than derived from food. (Lots of different types of protein is better than one type).
2. Won't fill your stomach as much as say eating chicken.
3. Digested faster than food so protein reaches your muscles faster.

Also they taste nice

Also I'm a bit skint until thursday, and despite being able to get a plate of hot food for less than £3 at work, I'm not really into the cafeteria at work.
So I grabbed what I had in the cupboard that required the least assembly and forethought.
The organic Kallo rice cakes stayed in the pack, as did the peanut butter.
The powder goes into the shaker, off to work.
Liberate one plate and knife from cafeteria, some water in the shaker, and lunch is served.

I used to use meal-replacement powders occasionally when on shiftwork. All the nutrients a growing bodybuilder needs! Still have some left over and use them now and then.

Sounds delicious.

I nearly forgot to post the pictures:

Tomorrow I shall be eating Smoked Salmon and Mozzarella Calzone, kare-cheese-pan and a bruschetta filled with cream cheese and tomato:


Slightly better shot of today's baking:


I like bread. It's fun.