It’s harder to wake up these darker Autumn days and when it comes to Mondays, well, it’s simply just hard to wake up at all. The weekend has been good and we would ideally love another Sunday. But it’s time to climb out under the cosy duvet and brave the cold bathroom whilst waiting for the shower to heat up. Ok, we’ve made it past the warm up and we head off to the kitchen to get our caffeine kick but now oh what to pack for lunch before we face the drive into work?

A Lunch Jar is the answer! Why? Because you can use whatever you find in your fridge and with a few tweaks and nudges layer up a glamorous lunch that is guaranteed to brighten up your Monday. The basic steps to layering are:

1. Start with a sauce or dressing at the bottom of the jar (this can be a bottled sauce you have on standby or quickly whisk together 2 TBS Olive Oil, 1 TBS vinegar – apple cider, balsamic or white wine vinegar, 1 TBS honey & 1 tsp wholegrain or dijon mustard)
2. Then scoop in leftover protein (this could be chicken, or braai meat from the weekend or even something canned like tuna. Slice up the protein for bite sized pieces. Vegetarians can skip this layer 🙂 
3. Now for leftover veggies. These could be cooked or raw (think of slicing up an onion or the spinach lying in the vegetable rack – it could be corn cut from the cob. Just scrummaged around and you’ll be sure to find something in the fridge)
4. How about a carb next? (I always keep rice noodles in the pantry – they’re great as they only need 4-5 minutes in boiled water, drain and scoop into the jar. Leftover pasta, rice or grains will work great too. Perhaps you have some bulgar wheat, cous cous or quinoa lying around. Use it!)
5. Next scrunch or chop up some herbs (here’s where a herb patch comes in really handy)
6. And to end off hopefully you’ll find some pickles in a bottle somewhere in the back of your fridge (you’re looking for the tang. If you move fast in the morning you could make your own quick pickle. Warm 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1 TBS sugar, a grind of salt, 1 bay leaf and 3-4 mustard seeds until sugar has dissolved and pour immediately over cut cucumber or onion or anything you want pickled)
7. Remember, if you want to add anything else go for it! There’s no fixed rules here!

Now seal the deal and remember to pack in a fork and perhaps a spoon to scoop up the yumminess at the bottom of the jar. Add a bottle of water, your favourite tea bag and a fruit and you are sorted!

Enjoy your Monday and take it easy on the road!