Tuna Mayonnaise Sandwich
Originally uploaded by SeetYing

There is no denying that the current economic climate has made life a little tougher for all of us – if we are in work, our role now feels a little less certain and if we are out of work, the search has tripled in difficulty as the job market continues to be flooded with quality candidates; we are all keeping a tighter reign on our purse strings and considering the cost of things we would have once not thought twice about, like how much we spend each day on our work lunch, we find ourselves proudly touting "Did you know that I saved $20 on last week just by making my own lunch!". Get into the swing of DIY lunches by making your choices a little left of the middle, give yourself something to look forward to at lunch time, DIY lunch does not need to equal dull!

Let us, for a moment, praise the humble sandwich, often slammed as being a boring, unexciting lunch, the versatility of the classic sarnie means that it is only as boring as you allow it to be, right? The possibilities are endless when it comes to sandwich fillings, from hundreds & thousands for a kiddy inspired (though perhaps slightly less than health conscious) lunch right through to salad or left over roast vegetables from last nights dinner.

It's the classic lunch time meal & with good reason. Bread keeps you fuller for longer & gives you the energy your body needs to get through the afternoon. If you're the kind of girl that passes on the bread basket with a coy 'no thank-you' in an effort to downsize your love handles & not so firm thighs, it's time to rethink. Most of us girls have had a love/hate relationship with breads & other carby foods in our time, but the key is to accepting that food deprivation, or cutting out particular food groups, is not the answer. Cutting out bread means you're missing out on all kinds of fabulous at lunch time and it also means you are depriving your body of one of the types of fuel it needs to keep up with your hectic & fabulous lifestyle.

If you're still concerned with the notion of re-introducing bread into your daily diet, your choice of bread need not be white, there are loads of options, including some more health conscious alternatives like Soy & Linseed or the bread your Nan no doubt swears by, brown bread. Pick the bread that is right for you, no excuses!

When it comes to making a killer sarnie, your best bet is to ensure that you are using fresh bread. It need not be a super expensive bakery loaf, but perhaps find out when your local supermarkets bakes its in-store bread and make a trip to grab a loaf fresh out of the oven. If you find that you can't get through a loaf without it getting stale you can either still grab yourself a whole loaf & when it’s a little less fresh, make your sandwiches toasted or alternatively, many stores have 'pick n mix' style buckets of different breads & pastries that you can purchase individually. Why not pick up a single fresh roll each morning on your way into work?

Inspired Sandwich Fillers:

Sweet Potato Mash with a sprinkle of cinnamon

Avocado & Chicken

Roasted diced potato, carrots parsnips & sweet potato with rosemary

Mushrooms & Brie with caramelised onion & chilli jam

Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato (classic BLT)

Lettuce, Tomato, Beetroot, grated carrot, grated cheese & mayo

Baby spinach, semi dried tomato & cheese

Goats cheese & spinach


So, what do you say, yes or no to a back to basics lunch? What is your favourite sarnie filler?