Four or five days a week I eat lunch at the office.
And, when I say I eat ‘lunch’, the term is applied loosely.
Two servings of vaguely nutritious dinners are served each evening to my son and my other half. Most of the time. Sometimes my partner comes in from his long working day to a wistful ‘sorry’ smile and a cup of tea and toast. It’s all I can muster. There are occasions where mummy will get all zombie apocalypse if she has to spend any more time in a 2 ft radius of the oven. Don’t concern yourself, we hit the daily vegetable quota to ensure my son reaches his full height potential. Yesterday I tricked him into eating green beans.
Me? Well I will not be the only mum who fills up on their son’s leftovers and a quart of wine poured into a Leo Spiderman cup.
Working parent food fads.
Parents have so little time. It flies past in a tornado of odd socks and tantrums. So when it comes to making my lunches for work, I can be a tad slack. Hit and miss. Usually miss. Who has the time, or energy, or inclination to make lunches on top of life? It’s not unusual for me to Tupperware up half a cold baked potato and nibbled fish fingers.
A friend makes soup from chicken carcass and I am sure some of her meals include the addition of salmon foam. Yes, I endeavor to be more organized and enthusiastic. Also to wear a pencil skirt and adult shoes. Whilst batch cooking seems to be the way to achieve producing what feels like a thousand meals a week, I don’t always have the hours. Or the inclination. Or the onions. Mothers are queens of curries, casseroles and one pot recipes.
Like a third of other mums, a lot of the time I work through my lunchbreak. On my own violation. Yes, it is important to eat, get a break and fresh air. I find equal relaxation in getting home with 10 minutes before the school run to stick the laundry on and stare at my living room wall. Or sit for 20 minutes outside the school and parooze twitter in my car. This is not a healthy eating post. Though if you would like some wisdom, try and have some breakfast that is not just plain black coffee. Start your day well. Welcome to the culinary disaster that is my working week.
The hungry mummy meal plan.
On Monday she eats through a sausage roll from the Grubs up van, a bargain for only a pound. Then had 234 cups of very milky tea of varying strengths. Some had sugar. None of them had caffeine so this must be considered healthy.
On Tuesday she eats half a box of chocolates shaped like buttons as her workmate is fearful of them. Koumpounophobia. She is therefore doing her friend a favour. Lots of water is drank so therefore this even out the unhealthy munching so technically nothing was eaten at all. Calorie count, none, chips can be eaten later.
On Wednesday she eats through a market stalls worth of fruit as she feels minor guilt from the previous days luncheon. Three Clementine’s, two Apples, one banana and a partridge in a Pear tree.
On Thursday she eats through a SALAD. With Kale. Brought from Sainsbury’s. Which results in the need for Rennie and an assault on the vending machine.
On Friday she eats through a myriad of E numbers and pretends she is six years old on camping trip.
Please note, the nutritional value of these meals is pretty negligible.
Do you have any quick make recipes or lunch box favourites? Who else has turned into a snacking monster since becoming a parent?
