Monday 27 April 2009

Meal in a Box

Here's yet another post on our weekday lunch express...meal in a box.


I got the idea of making these Tuna Sandwich Rolls from a Chinese cookbook. These rolls are perfect to bring along to a picnic as they are nicely wrapped in clear plastic sheets (I cut out sheets from my cookie bags.)


I served the sandwich rolls with a simple salad...a combination of Japanese cucumbers, celery, Fuji apples, raisins and some cherry tomatoes. A cup of homemade strawberries smoothies (simply blend some strawberries with yogurt) completes the meal. I borrowed a blender from a close one recently, and we had been making smoothies every other day!


Besides tuna (I used black pepper flavour), I added some thinly sliced cucumbers to give the rolls the extra crunch. These sandwich rolls are really easy to prepare, all you need to do is:
  1. trim off the crust of a slice of bread, flattened it with a rolling pin (I simply flattened it with my fingers),
  2. spread the bread with some butter or mayonnaise,
  3. place some tuna and cucumber slices (optional) horizontally across the centre of the bread,
  4. roll up and wrap it with plastic sheets, twist and seal the ends
It was a joy to watch my kids enjoying their food. I love this delicious lunch-in-a-box too :)

29 comments:

Vashti said...

AWESOME!!! Such a good idea, I love the wrapping, so cute. I think i might try these for my boys packed lunches this week. Thanks for the great idea.
Have a great week.

Anonymous said...

hi,
the cookie bags are cute..
able to tell me where to get it?

thanks..
elaine

Passionate About Baking said...

Hi HHB,
You're really something, a top-notch home maker! Not only do you have to coach your children, but also to think up innovative ways to prepare meals for them! Goodness! Seriously, I think being a working mother is less stressful than being a full time home maker! At least I can give excuse to my children that "I'm working...no time!" *Attention! Salute!*

Susan from Food Blogga said...

I never saw Pooh wrap before! That is the most adorably wrapped lunch I have ever seen.

Rachel Hei said...

Wow, ur blog really amazing.. i like ur baking. :D.. ur child must b very proud of u..

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Vashti, I am sure your boys will like these :)

Hi Elaine, I got the cookie bags early last year, from a HDB shop which sells all sorts of cute stuff. I am not sure whether it is still available.

Hi Passionate About Baking, I used to be a full-time working mum when my kids were still young. That must have been the most stressful time in my life ;) My salute to all working mums!

Hi Susan, I got the Pooh cookie bags by chance...when I saw them on the shelf, I told myself I have to get them right away ;)

Thanks Rachel! but I think, whatever I do, my kids are likely to take them for granted, lolz!

agapejen said...

Very interesting and sure look yummy. May I know where did you get the giraffe thingy?
I am a working mum but going to be a homemaker by next year. As such, your blog has really inspired me and give me ideas to cook something edible and 'lookable' for my son.
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB,
able to tell me at where.. maybe will try my luck :) coz i really luv it... went daiso oso unable to get such a cute cookie bag :)

thanks
elaine

Jackie said...

so cute. i cant bear to "spoil" the whole lunch box !

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB,

I love this too. i can start making breakfast for my family too. It seems simple and quick. heee.

Mico

Charm said...

Hi!
You are really fantastic! Really admire your skills and energy.
I love the photos that you take. By the way, what camera do you use? Do you use any photo editor to edit the photos?

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of cutting up the cookie bag to make a wrap! It's so cute :)

Boringtazz said...

You are really such a great mom. The lunchbox looks really yummy!

Marian said...

What great ideas! Ilove the cute Winnie the Pooh 'wrapper' as well! I'll bet kids eat these twice as fast for the wrapping alone!
Great blog!! =)

Happy Homebaker said...

hi agapejen, I am sure you can whip up delicious meals for your boy, I am a lousy cook! I got the giraffe toothpick from Daiso...it comes in a set with other animals like monkey, rabbit, lion, etc. very cute!!!

hi elaine, i think it is a 'one-off' item. The last time I went to the shop, there were no more such cookie bags, anyway, I will check it out for u and will let you know.

Thanks Jackie for your kind words :)

Yes Mico, this will be great for breakfast!

Hi Charm, I am using an old digital camera, Canon Powershot G3. All my photos are point-&-shoot ;) I use Picasa for basic editing such as brighten the images and cropping, and to add in the text. I also use PhotoScape to add in the frames/borders. Both are free for download.

Goody Egg said...

Hi,

Can I check with you whether 淡奶油 is Whipping cream in English?

Thanks

Regards, Kium

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Kium, sorry I'm not sure whether it means whipping cream as most books that I have came across will state it as '鲜奶油'. I googled under ' 淡奶油' and it seems like it refers to whipping cream, see here (http://store.taobao.com/shop/xshop/wui_page-cat-36711650-63962864-ta3EzNPNKENyZWFtKc+1wdA=.htm)

Goody Egg said...

Hi,

Thanks for your prompt reply, I saw the website and I think its whipping cream.

Have a good day.

Kium

Anonymous said...

HI,家庭主妇都可以让你做的这么精彩,我大概浏览了你的所有文章,真的很让人惊叹.我刚成为家庭主妇2个月,百无聊赖,原以为这是天下最容易的差事,比上班容易好多倍,看了你的blog却觉得做这样的主妇极具挑战性.希望我的中文留言你可以看懂.呵呵,来个说中国话的给你捧场,我想也不错.

Happy Homebaker said...

hi Elaine, I dropped by the shop yesterday and the cookie bags are not available anymore...anyway the shop is in Toa Payoh.

Hi Anonymous,谢谢你的留言,我都看得懂. 家庭主妇是真的不好当 ;)

brave chickens said...

Wow, such an awesome idea for lunch. I eat a very boring cheese sandwich. I hope I have time one morining to prepare these. Yummy:)

Anonymous said...

I just stumbled upon your gorgeous yummy site, it's a treasure trove. I too have 2 young kids, love baking but not too good at cooking family meals, you have many good receipes and ideas, I'll be visiting often. keep up the good work

Anonymous said...

hi HHB,
thnks for helpin me look out for it.. thnks so much.. =)

elaine

aytee said...

hey hhb! even after my long break from the virtual world, visiting your blog never fail to make my day. seeing how much effort and time you spend to do up your recipes is really commendable! i really love your blog!

btw, i baked the doggie horlicks cookies, it was damn good. everyone loved it. haha! the only complain was that it didn't taste too "horlicky". so i added more horlick powder and it was quite hard to roll them into balls cos it dries up.

i really salute you! i love to do but soooo lazy to clean up after. HAHA!

Jen said...

Winnie the Pooh wraps are cute..also the giraffe =)..This is really interesting and a great idea for packed lunches..

stacey said...

Hi Happy-home Baker

Would just like to ask you a question, something which I am quite curious about.

Is there a particular brand of chocolate you use for your chocolate cakes? If yes, what do you use? And is there actually a difference in the brands of baking chocolate?

Hope you can help me out here:)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Stacey, yes, there is a difference in the brands of baking chocolates.
If you can afford it, use the best quality, like Valrhona. Since I cannot afford it, I usually get dark baking chocolates from Carrefour, their house brand, with the name on the package: "Dessert Corse...chocolate extra-fin". It contains 64% of cocoa content. The price is affordable 2 x 200g for $5. It tastes good too.

stacey said...

Thank you for the heads-up! I'll be looking around for it in Carrefour the next time I go there :)

Have fun baking!

Mahek said...

wow
great great idea!!!!