In Brazil, if you work more that 6hs a day, the company have to give you lunch. The majority of them, give you a pre paid debit card that can be used in restaurants. This mean that they are a lot of money there that can be used in restaurants, so any office building have lots of restaurants around.
From my union contract, I get 40R daily to lunch, and the restaurant I go they serve “prato feito” (beans, rice, salad, meat) for 25, and use the rest for some icecream or to eat something with my wife at weekends.
That’s actually a very cool concept.
It’s works close with transit costs too, the employee can opt in to pay up to 6% of its salary, then what is miss to cover all the transit costs is paid 50/50 by the employer and the government. For example, if I need to take a bus (5R) and a metro (5R), that sum to 20R daily in transit costs, 20R × 22 working days = 440 at month. Suppose a salary of 2000 * 6% = 120. The employee pay 120, the employer 160 and the government other 160. I’m fortunate to be in a position where I don’t need that benefit anymore because I live in bike distance to the office, but it saved my ass when I had to take a bus to the metro station, a metro and then another bus every day.
Damn, didnt knew that brasil had such bonuses. I don’t know how good your public transport is, but having this option is great.
Sandwiches are never a bad option.
There’s probably some situation where it’s a bad option.
Funeral procession?
I skip breakfast so technically lunch is breakfast but it’s then I eat my main meal and it’s always top notch. Who wants to eat a large meal in the evening?
Me. Can’t stomach a full meal until late noon.
I do, it makes me sleepy otherwise Ill stayup way too late
Mind that stomach valve, they wear out.
Oh shits fucked lol i sleep on like a 45 degree angle
Where is your tupperware lunch box? hmmm?
Yes, it does end.
it ends when you become lunch
Then you realize cooking can be a hobby!
Since COViD, I
- make bread
- “cuisine of the week”, learn to prepare meals from around the world
- replaced teflon cookware with cast iron, stainless and carbon steel, and learned to use them
- got a steel griddle top covering my entire stove and learned to play short order cook. Played a little hibachi chef but made too much mess trying to twirl and flip things
- got a smoker
This weekend I have a 10 lb pork shoulder to smoke. Easily pulled pork for the week and unless my kids come home from school, I’ll likely freeze a bunch
I stopped reading at “make bread”. Waaay too little free time for that
Bread is probably the least time consuming thing on that list though. There’s a whole slew of no-knead recipes out there, and it takes about 5 minutes to measure out and mix together the ingredients. After that it’s just waiting for it to rise, another 5 minutes to shape the loaf, proof it, toss it in the oven and wait till it’s done. For 10 minutes of active prep time, you can have a nice loaf of crusty white bread that’s nearly as good as something you’d find in some bougie bakery. Granted it takes a couple seconds of pre-planning since the rise/proofing times are long, but most basic no-knead recipes are super forgiving on that, and if something comes up before you’re able to bake it, you can toss your uncooked dough into the fridge for short term storage, or freeze it for long term.
If only not stuffing your face for one meal was a thing.
Yes, eventually it ends when you’re promoted to middle management and you have to forage for granola bars and cookies during the few seconds you get between meetings. Stay an IC for as long as you can.
That sounds like a toxic-work-culture thing that I’m faaaar too European to understand. I’m off for a two hour lunch, don’t text me
It’s been years since I’ve eaten food away from my desk. And God forbid I should forget to bring food and need to run downstairs for sixteen seconds to purchase something. That’s truly one of the seven deadly sins.
Is a proper meal period with rest not guaranteed by law?
Or is it, but it’s hard to fight for it because the workplace culture is shaped differently?
I’m in the state of Georgia: no provision for breaks are given at all.
I used to live in the UK: I think the rule was employers are required to give 30 mins per 10 hours worked, cannot be in the first or last hour.
I’m in the state of Georgia: no provision for breaks are given at all.
Oh man that’s brutal.
I used to live in the UK: I think the rule was employers are required to give 30 mins per 10 hours worked, cannot be in the first or last hour.
Yeah here in Switzerland it’s similar to the UK rule. Any shift longer than 6 hours needs to be interrupted by an unpaid but uninterrupted break of at least 30min for eating, such that there isn’t more than a 6 hour continuous work period on either side of the break, IIRC.
Our standard for full-time employment is 8.4h per day. (That’s a bit high in comparison to neighboring countries). It’s very usual that you get your eating break somewhere between 11:30-13:30 o’clock, maybe on rotation with coworkers if you need to keep the phones staffed.
In my office job we all go together from around 11:45 to 12:45.
Combination of being salaried plus industry culture.
TIL I’m European
Someone needs to raise their sandwich game.
Grow the fuck up.
This person’s problem can be solved by a sandwich. Takes like 3 minutes to make, or can be prepped earlier, no cooking necessary, has color, is fresh, not frozen, beats any fast food meal in price and quality. Also can even be healthy if you shop wisely. Can be different every day. Can be hot or cold. The possibilities are endless. Sandwiches are the best.
Or cool a bit batch of your own soup at the weekend. Then microwave it for lunch.
You can even eat it riding a horse!
Sandwiches were literally invented to be home made, portable fast food, for hunters, workers, and the like. Not only are they ok with being wrapped up and carried, if made right they actually get better when wrapped up and squashed.
I agree sandwiches are the best. But my metabolism is just too efficient at turning carbs into fat and high blood sugar. There’s just no substitute for good bread in a sandwich, all attempts at compromise/substitutions ruin the whole thing.
Get some keto bread. It’s basically pure fiber in bread shape. The aldi keto bread is fantastic
wraps are just as convenient and use far less bread, i love a good turkey wrap for lunch
Even a wrap is too much white flour right now. I bought some Low Carb High Fiber Whole Wheat tortilla wraps, but they’re serving the same role as Discworld Dwarf Bread: I look at them and remember the time I tried to eat one, and decide I’m not that hungry after all. I don’t even have to worry about them going stale, because they can’t become less appealing.
I don’t mind the taste of the “healthy” tortillas. I generally prefer the taste of whole grain bread and pasta over white flour variants. My largest complaint is that they all seem to disintegrate when you look at them – probably a gluten thing, but they all just break or shred instead of hold together, which defeats the purpose of wrapping your food in them.
I settled on OLÉ “Xtreme Wellness” high fiber wraps. They’re stretchy and they even toast/grill well. They’re good for sandwich wraps but also soft tacos and small burritos.
… With all currants in it? Just like mother used to forge.
What do you consider ‘good bread’? Don’t buy supermarket bread, go to a good bakery and get some nice, freshly baked whole-grain bread, that should be much more difficult to turn into sugar.
Even homemade whole-grain bread, while delicious and healthy in its way, has too many non-fiber carbs when you’re trying to minimize them. And my body is unfortunately very efficient at converting the starches to blood sugar. As for bakery whole-grain bread, (and of course the supermarket kind) the ingredients almost inevitably include “wheat flour” which is white flour, not necessarily bleached but minus the bran. This is because bread that is not only “made with 100% whole wheat” (which just means it contains SOME 100%-whole-wheat flour!) but is made with ONLY whole wheat flour (plus any other whole grains) doesn’t rise very well. I’ve struggled with it myself and made some bricks, despite being able to bake gorgeous loaves when allowed to include some unbleached bread flour in the mix. Go ahead, ask your baker. And then enjoy the bread, it’s still great for most people.
What type of bread are you using, and how thick are your slices? These work fine for me, but theres also rye versions. https://frutimian.no/2016/08/12/matpakkebrod-i-langpanne/ - note link is in norwegian.
I dont mind spending time preparing if it means i get great taste.
This looks like a nice recipe for later on once I lose enough weight to start adding a few carbs to my life that aren’t from vegetables. No grain or starch right now.
I don’t have this problem, but lettuce wraps are shockingly good too. A good sturdy lettuce, sliced turkey, smoked cheddar and some chipotle mayo (canned chipotle en adobo, pureed, just mix some of it into mayonnaise to make a spread.) Onion if you have it. I don’t understand why it’s good, it sounds like nonsense but I do this when I don’t have time to make bread, but do have good lettuce or homegrown lettuce in the garden. It is delicious and feels good to eat.
You’re right, lettuce wraps are good and it’s been awhile. Next time I look at that dwarf bread I’ll get out a romaine leaf instead.
Don’t forget lettuce sandwiches.
I disagree. I like cooking and since I’m working from home I can make something nice and fast at home for lunch. But I probably would have agreed back then when I worked at the office.
I love the cooking but hate the cleaning up part.
Pro tip: cook in and eat from one pot :D
but what about the 5 knives and 3 spoons i’ve used preparing the ingredients :(
Just use one or two and if really necessary clean them? I cook complex meals somewhat often and never use more than one knife and 1-2 spoons.
Open dishwasher when you start. Instead of putting those things on the counter or in the sink, out then directly in the dishwasher
If you want to minimize cleanup and effort, just use a rice cooker.
- Costs 30€
- Put in rice and lentils at a ratio of your chosing, cook with oil and salt
- Optionally spices and tomato paste
- Put in frozen veggies either in a steaming basket or directly in the rice
- Chuck in an onion (quartered if you’re lazy) and some garlic
- Yoghurt on the side
Congratulations you now have a healthy, cheap meal you can make at home or at work. If you eat directly out of the cooker you only need to clean your spoon. No cutting board needed either.
Old rice/pasta with olive oil, garlic and cheese is great too.
Rice with oil? Doesn’t it make it unsticky?
It depends on how long you cook it, I prefer it not very sticky. Longer cooking times will make it a bit softer and more sticky.
you only need to clean your spoon
Don’t you need to clean the rice cooker?
I’m not trying to be a smartass, I’m just that desperate that I’m hoping to find out you don’t need to.
Mine has a non-stick pan. It all comes down to how quickly you empty it. Emptied immediately, it rinses clean. If it sits around while I eat, I’ll need to scrub a little
I’m a pretty good cook, but I don’t think there’s enough here to get it done. Do rice and lentils take about the same amount of water to cook? How much oil?
I’ve just started with smoothies. Some greek yogurt(has loads of protein), frozen vegetables, honey, and water(to make it a drink) and it’s already goin’ pretty well.
I agree, it’s awful to deal with.
smoothies aren’t very healthy or nutritious though. Blending removes a lot of the health benefits of fruit.
Well it’s good thing that not a single source I could find seems to agree with you or maybe I’d worry! The hell do you think chewing is?
Blending a smoothie is perfectly fine and does not hurt the nutrients at all.
it destroys the fiber benefits and makes the fruit essentially a form of processed sugar.
Chewing is different to blending
it also depends - are you making these yourself fresh or are you buying them? If buying them they are likely pasteurized and homogenized which removes nutrients.
Which may be irrelevant for you, but also for a casual reader any given smoothie does not automatically mean healthy. Like how eating a salad is not necessarily healthy if it’s drowned in Bleu cheese, nuts, cheese cubes, dried fruit and croutons.
I’ve been making my own yogurt lately a half gallon at a time. It’s dummy easy and comes out a bit thinner than most store yogurt. It works really well as a drink or smoothie base
I’ve heard of this homemade yogurt thing. I may have to give it a go depending on how much I need but for now I don’t mind buying the stuff at the store.
I know you didn’t ask for it but I’m really excited about what I’ve been up to so here’s the process: Heat milk to 180-185f basically right as it starts to foam, let it cool to 110, mix in a spoonful of yogurt (I started with store bought Greek then keep a starter from each batch to make the next), let it sit somewhere warm for 6-24 hours. The oven with the light on works well enough but there are lots of options. Then bam you’ve got more yogurt! I like to whisk mine to make it a bit smoother and I’ve been having a glass every morning with some cherry juice mixed in, 2 parts yogurt to 1 part juice
Hmmm ok that doesn’t sound too bad to do. What vessel does it go in, just a pot? Is wider and shallower better?
I do mine in a half gallon mason jar. I’ve got fermenting lids that help me pull the air out just in case but that shouldn’t be needed. I’d avoid letting it be exposed to too much air though so maybe not a pot for the souring stage
Edit to add, I really like bon appetit videos, here is one about yogurt: https://youtu.be/D6IyyFc1RqI?si=NxZTYsx-2l3ED1e5
Ah ok, sick! Thanks!
What’s wrong with Kramer’s method of just bringing a sleeve of crackers to eat at work?
And what do you do down there all day?
TCB. Taking care of business.
