Happy New Year FoodLovers,

With this hot horrid weather, I am taking salads in for my lunch, but I do a crap job of packing them.
Have you got any innovative ideas please?

Warmest regards,
-Kathie-

You can get "coolie" type lunch boxes /chilly bins bags tohelp while you get to work.
I put my salad into a sealed plastic container minus any dressings. Providing you have a fridge at work, and most people do, you could take a bottle of your favourite dressing and use as needed preventing salad going soggy.
Depending on the ingredients and type of salad, you could take a few small containers with indiv. bits in and combine when ready to eat.I used to take my melon and youghurt separately and combine at lunchtime.
Cant really suggest anything other than that...it works for me.

I put all my non-soggy ingredients in a container (capsicum, beans, cucumber etc) then pour over the dressing, then put the salad greens on top and try and keep the whole thing upright. When I ready to eat it I mix it up so the greens get the dressing on them at that point. It works, mostly!

I don`t know about work but at home if I want to make a salad ahead of time I add the lettuce onion pepers etc, but leave the tomato and dressing until just before serving.

Thankyou Ladies, yes we do have a fridge at work; hmmm, I suppose that it is just a matter of keeping the soggy tomatoes and or whatever away from the other ingredients, I was trying to buy a multi segmented lunch box, but non of them rattled my cage enough to warrant a purchase; they where either far too big or just not right.
I will have to put my thinking cap on for interesting ingredients for my concoctions.
I even thought of sussing out the huge segmented tupperware dip and four segmented container, I think that there is one with individual lids for the segmented portion, but now I am being a tad ridiculous on the size of said container...
I am rambling; must go and do some work.

I have bought my husband one of the Tupperware lunch boxes for his lunch and they work a treat, I am trying not to use glad wrap and now all of his lunch is wrap free. My grand children are discouraged from have there lunch wrapped and they all have the Tupperware lunch boxes at the school now.. my daughter made some sandwiches and left they in the lunch box for a day or so they they were perfect when they came out. not a cheap lunch box but no more wrap. I hope my efforts are helping to save the planet

Thankyou Janette, I tried finding them on their website, but couldn't find a lunchbox to look at?

Hi kathie , I went past a Kathmandu shop today and saw a salad container to keep your salad cool and 1 or 2 compartments for dressings ect . I must go back and buy two they arent large , about the size of a kitchen shaker........Didnt see a price..

I've just received the Homecare Direct catalogue and it has a 4 compartment lunch box for $8.90 or two for $14.80. However, when I look at their website catalogue there is no price on them but it says 'Special offer - 2 lunch boxes -Save $3'. I assume it's $14.80. See a picture here, looks quite good.

[www.homecaredirect.co.nz]

Wow, thankyou ladies, we have a Kathmandu at Manukau - I will try and check it out. And every couple of months a lady drops off the HomeCare Direct catalogue - I will suss that one out also - thankyou again!!!

I purchased something similar to the box shown for my Grandson for his first school lunch box. I got it from the plastic shop in Pukekohe , think it is called Plastic Box shop, but have you checked Payless plastic if you have one handy.

Jean

Thankyou JeanT, I intend to do the search this weekend; if I am not hauled off somewhere else?!?

I am hankering after one of these [www.laptoplunches.com] but they are horribly expensive and don't seem to be available in NZ. I did the rounds of all the plastic shops but couldn't find anything comparable - the best was one at Payless Plastics which had 4 containers but they were all the same size and unlidded. I even tried putting something together myself using some of the small lidded containers I could find but the sizes didn't work. I will have to check out Katmandu.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2009 10:47PM by PennyG.

well. I would use a separate box for the dressing and the salad itself. use a separate bag for the dressing to prevent sauce leaking.

hopes that help

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I checked out Katmandu yesterday and their salad containers resembled, like Ngaire said, a shaker - tall and cylindrical. There was a separate compartment in the lid for dressing. I'm not sure the shape is ideal - you wouldn't be able to eat your salad out of it very easily and the lettuce right at the bottom might get a bit squashed.

Using cherry tomatoes solves the problem of soggy tomatoes in salads

Did any of you actually look at the link I posted for Homecare Direct? The picture shows the bottom segment separated into 3 compartments which are themselves separated from the top lid by another lid that folds across, giving you a whole sandwich size compartment on top. I think it's an ingenious idea. And for $8.90 it's very reasonable.

I purchased a suitable container at Countdown today for $6 99 it is a decor tellfresh 900ml "quarters" food storer system flat lunch box with 4 removable dishes Not sure but may be able to get them at Briscoes Have a look on their website www.decor.co..au product number 149500



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2009 04:28AM by Julier.

That link is not quite right; it should be www.decor.com.au but the product number seems to be a 250g butter box. I can't find the lunchbox Julier is talking about, but there is a good selection in the list.

Thanks Lorna the emailI put a couple of extra dots in it by mistake It comes up as a butterbox but if you click on it you see a picture of it with the quarters segments in it I took the number off the the one I bought I looked it up again this morning it must have a dual use there is a picture if you click on butter box

Wow, thankyou everyone; I am now rocking and rolling to get a fleet of lunchboxes it would seem...

Lorna - How do I purchase the Homecare lunchbox without getting the catalogue? I live in a rural area that doesn't have a Homecare rep. (I actually applied for the local job a couple of years ago but had to turn it down when accepted due to another commitment!)

I use a sistema container (with the blue clips) and I make it up, I dice the tomatoes and havent had a problem yet, but I have purchased a small round lidded container they come in a pack of 4 or 6?? from the red shed, they are probably big enough to put the old 20c pieces in them.. does that make sense? and I put my dressing in that...Also sistema make a container that is halved in the middle, you can out your toamtoes etc on one side and the other greens on the other and just mix on a plate?

Good Luck.

Zee

Rachel, you can order on-line from the website, [www.homecaredirect.co.nz]

Hi Girls
I have just packed my husbands lunch here in Singapore, which I do everyday like the good little wifey I am. He has a small cooler box. I put a chilly pad inside a plastic bag (it is a large one) stands at the back, then in went a can of soda water. Today he took a chicken caesar salad in a flat plastic container he can eat from, with the dressing and croutons in separate little containers. Three rye bread with cheese and vegemite wrapped in glad wrap, an apple, small packet of peanuts and a choc treat biscuit. In went the napkin, knife and fork and down went the lid. If using tomatoes in a sandwich I always slice them and put in a wee plastic container for him to put on at work. Keeps nice and cool all day and he never has a soggy lunch.
Enjoy your day.