The FastDay Forum

[Moogie]

So, I've been thinking about articles I can write for on the site and thought it'd be nice to get some community input on this one. A lot of newbies seem to struggle with ideas for a fasting lunch they can take to work with them easily, so let's hear your ideas for a 200-300 calorie fasters lunch box - what would you include to fill you up and fit in at the office?!

Hi Moogie i never have anything lunchtime on fast days but i have a slimma or cuppasoup (100 cals tops) in the late afternoon
This wd make a warming salty lunch with a crisp-bread or two, and maybe if cals allow,some hoummous on the crispbreads
Or two eggs scrambled in a little butter on a bed of lettuce is nice and filling x

How did you know that I've just been making-up our lunches for the week?

Tuna fish savouries are approx. 100kcals each. (Metric version of Linda Sue's Tuna Muffins with variations)

Tuna/salmon savouries
Three 140-180g tins tuna/salmon, well-drained - substitute some white fish for some if available (flake the fish well - remove any bones from the salmon)
3 medium/large eggs (depending on amount of fish)
1 stalk celery, chopped fine and lightly sautéd if preferred or raw if not
1/2 medium red pepper, chopped very fine (sautéd if preferred or raw if not)
3 Tbsp (50g) golden brown fried onion, chopped fine
Salt, pepper, seasoning as liked
160-180g mature cheddar cheese, grated (can be a mix of preferred cheese but should complement fish choice)

Simply mix together the ingredients and portion into at least 12 silicone muffin cases or similar size of baking container. Bake at 160C Fan/180C for 20-30 mins (depending on size) until set and nicely browned on top.

Store in the fridge (layer with kitchen towel as they are fairly moist). These are good cold but also reheat/microwave well from fresh or frozen.

Per Serving if portioned into 12: 110kcals; Fat 8g; Protein 12g; Carbohydrate 1g

The kcals are lower if you portion this mix into 16 (which usually suits me - I have 1 for breakfast/lunch/snack but DH has 2). You can reduce the kcal count further by using 1whole egg and substituting eggwhites for the remaining eggs (so, 80-120g of eggwhites, depending on how much fish there is) instead of the 3 eggs. You can save a few additional kcals by swapping out some of the tinned tuna for white fish or tinned crab but I'd always include at least 1 tin of tuna as it works as a good binder. You can use tinned mackerel for variety and that would provide a smidgeon of Omega 3 (but not much).

The vegetable mix-ins can be varied according to your preferences. I usually omit the celery and snip in some home-dried tomatoes (that way, I know how I dried them and how negligible the fat content is as well as what the seasoning was) and finely-snipped home-dried red peppers replace the fresh.

The seasoning can vary from whatever salt and pepper is available (people keep giving me fancy salts and peppers and some of them, like Long Pepper, work very well) to a bit of Thai curry paste (but you'd need to use a bland cheese) or a couple of spoons of pesto (if you use pesto, remember to estimate the extra kcals), or a chipotle sauce/chilli and garlic sauce.

This mix bakes up well in a silicone loaf tin to make a rather unusual, 'assimilated' fish sandwich - you can have a slice with some sliced tomatoes, olives, or other salad.

Whether you have the small muffin size or a slice of the fish bread, this is good with salad or with a mug of broth or suitable soup. This can be anywhere from 100-150kcals depending on the size and whether you have salad/soup/broth which would still leave enough for a satsuma to follow, if liked.

I don't each lunch on fast days, but these sound lovely @SSure. I'd have them for lunch any day!

Oops, submitted instead of previewing my last entry. Wanted to add the Clearspring miso soup sachets to the lunch suggestions , as they are easier for work than the miso paste. I only see them in Waitrose.

My boss likes to buy everyone lunch every now and then from Subway so I had to look at the menu and find something in that range. The 6 inch black forest ham sandwich is 216 calories

Moogie I don't normally have lunch on fastday - but once every 3 weeks I go straight from work to an evening meeting, so I grab a chilled gazpacho soup and a protein pot (half an egg, crayfish, lime, quino with spinach and yummy fresh herbs and seeds from Pret. Very refreshing and it gives me such a great boost.

My favourite at the moment is about 100-150g plain greek yoghurt and a punnet of strawberries...I usually just dip the strawberries in the yoghurt and munch away. Before that I was often enjoying hummus with carrot, capsicum & celery sticks. Or a can of flavoured tuna, often scooped out with the same veggies. Hmmm...I'm starting to see a theme here. What can I say, I like to dip! (plus it takes longer to eat, so feels more satisfying).

Ooh...and I had to edit to add - sushi! Well, it fits the theme - you can dip it in soy

The somewhat posher packed lunch I provide is quails eggs with crabmeat. A hard or soft boiled quail's egg is approx. 14kcals so you can decide whether to provide 2 or 5, depending on whose lunch it is.

I season white crabmeat (tinned is affordable and, depending on the brand, approx. 45kcals per 60g serving) and add whatever suitable fresh herbs I have (tarragon or a little parsley) but don't tend to add garlic to a lunchtime dish (YMMV). I thin this mix with some FF yoghurt or a low fat white soft cheese (such as fromage frais) if I want to have it with a cracker of some sort (either home-made, a Ryvita Thin, Finn Crisp, or similar). I supply celery sticks to have with this for added crunch and my beloved cherry tomatoes (approx. 22kcals per 100g).

I have 2-3 eggs (3-4 if I eat this as my substantial snack before kayaking) and the salad and it is easily <150kcals which allows a mug of broth on the side or whatever suits people.

Variations: include some Peppadew piquante peppers if you'd like this to be spicier and omit the herbs (the peppers are approx. 10kcals ea.) or you can replace the eggs with the peppers.

I sometimes pack wedges of red capsicum pepper to put the crab mix on rather than crackers.

Celeriac crisps are good with this crab salad. This is a better illustrated description than me trying to describe what thickness they need to be cut.
http://partofthemain.wordpress.com/2013 ... t-me-okay/
However, I normally spray them with lemon juice, give them a light spritz with oil in the bowl and toss them with salt before putting them on the baking sheet - this seems to work for me and involves negligible added oil tho' I do normally only part-bake them in the oven and then finish them in my dehydrator.

My DH has enough calories to be able to eat a packet of Perry Court Apple or Pear crisps with this salad (they're dried, not fried and <80-95kcals a packet). However, I find the crunch quality of these varies too much to justify the price tag.

On reflection if I was still working during a fastday or otherwise my ongoing fail safe very low calorie very filling lunchtime meal
Large salad with everything on it plus small cubed feta cheese
I can bring thus in well under 100 calories by using 25/30grams of feta more if wished to up it towards the 200 lunch box.

Edit to add:::
Thanks for the celeriac crisps idea @ssure will deffo try them after my holiday, maybe in small batch first with chilli flakes
or paprika over would make a great change.

[Moogie]

Thanks all, great suggestions! Keep'em coming

~ Potato,Spring onion,Dill and Cheese Frittata ~ serves 4...cals per serving 244

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
400g leftover cooked new potatoes, sliced
4 eggs, beaten
4 spring onions, finely sliced
1 bunch dill, roughly chopped
25g cheddar, grated

In a small non-stick frying pan, heat oil over a medium heat. Add potatoes, then fry until beginning to crisp, about 8 mins. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, spring onions, dill and some seasoning. Heat the grill.
Tip the eggs into frying pan, mix quickly, lower the heat, then sprinkle over cheese. After about 8 mins, once the top side has almost set, pop under the grill for 2-3 mins or until firm and golden. Slide out of the pan. Eat straight away with mayo or ketchup or cool quickly and chill.
(protein
11g

carbs
18g

fat
15g

saturates
4g

fibre
1g
sugar
1g

salt
0.4g

~ Butternut Squash Salad ~ serves 4,cals per serving 266

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and diced
2 tsp olive oil
50g wild and brown rice
50g Puy lentils
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
50g dried cranberries
25g pumpkin seeds
juice 1 lemon

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Spread the squash over a large baking sheet, drizzle over the oil and bake for 30 mins or until tender.
Meanwhile, cook the rice and lentils in boiling salted water for 20 mins, adding the broccoli for the final 4 mins of cooking. Drain well, then stir in the cranberries and pumpkin seeds with some seasoning. Add the squash, pour over the lemon juice and serve.
protein
12g

carbs
43g

fat
7g

saturates
1g

fibre
7g
sugar
18g

salt
0.05g

Artichoke bottoms with a filling of mozzarella pearls (dressed in a suitable, low cal dressing) and other vegetables is a good, substantial, low cal lunchbox favourite.

We use Cooks & Co - there are other brands tho' this is one we've found reliable.
Nutrition Data per 100g
Energy 116kJ / 28kcal
Protein 1.6g
Carbohydrate 4.8g

Drained weight is 210g from 390g gross weight and that's usually enough for a lunch.

Drain the artichoke bottoms (preferably packed in brine rather than oil - if oil, you might need to pour some hot water over them to remove the oil and then plunge them quickly into cold water to keep the texture from going mushy) drain them upside down and pat dry. (100g is a good serving and 28kcal.)

Fill the cavity with a filling that appeals to you. My DH enjoys a mix of seasoned Quark or similar low/no fat soft cheese with added Peppadew piquante peppers (100g Quark = 63kcals, the Peppadew are approx 10kcals ea - so he usually has as much of the Quark mix as the artichoke bottoms will pack with the excess of the 100g packed into 2 or 3 extra Peppadew to be served on the side). Even so, this lunch is <150kcals so he can enjoy a small apple, satsuma, soup, or a few cocoa nibs.

I like mini Mozzarella pearls in my artichoke bottoms. The pearls from Tesco are 100g for 227kcals but I rarely need 30g for this lunch and that's <70kcals. I blot the pearls and marinade them in a lemon juice and vinegar mix or roll them in wine maker's salt (did I mention that people give me pretentious-sounding salts and peppers? ): I dress them with soft herbs and then use the same herbs to toss with my much loved cherry tomatoes (100g for 22kcals). This lunch is approx. 150kcals if I eat a vast amount of tomato so I can have a mug of broth if I want it, or an appropriate piece of fruit (depending on what else I'm doing that day).

As ever, the fillings can be varied by substituting various ingredients. The Peppadew can be swapped for charred red pepper which is blitzed into the Quark before filling the artichoke. Excess Quark filling is good on aubergine 'bacon'* or crisps ('bacon' is just the aubergine cut into lengthwise, very thin, strips before dressing with tamari/liquid smoke or similar and dehydrating: the crisps are less faff as it's just thin slices of aubergine that are brushed with a lemon juice/seasoning mix and dried). The aubergine bacon/crisps are 20-40kcals depending on how generous a serving you eat: they're delightful savoury and a good texture.

*Dehydrator version (tho' she hasn't quite sliced them the same): http://www.theppk.com/2011/10/eggplant-bacon/

There is an oven version of the aubergine bacon/crisps but it has to be eaten on the same day (unlike the dehydrated version, which is a huge convenience and time-saver for me) - and she hasn't sliced the aubergine as I indicate.
http://www.theppk.com/2011/10/eggplant-bacon/