MetaChat - Lunch challenge:

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01 July 2010

Lunch challenge: I left my bank card and driver's license at home. Here's how I will improvise. →[More:]
I happen to have on hand:
One box of mac and cheese,
three creamers,
two pats of butter.
1/2 zucchini
1 packet of chunk light tuna in water.

No stove or pan. I figure I can use the microwave to make mac and cheese, leave a little of the pasta water to round out the creamers and butter, put the zucchini in towards the end of the pasta cooking, and then put the tuna in.

Dessert/snack: I happened to bring a big ole container of cantaloupe.

I feel very MacGyver.

What's the most improvised meal you've made that you can remember?

post by: Stewriffic at: 07:54 | 24 comments

Man, I could never manage something like that. I would, like, find a vending machine and eat cheetos for lunch if that happened to me.

posted by leesh 01 July | 09:23

leesh: low on cash.

Actually, a friend has offered to take me out for lunch. May take him up on it. :-)

posted by Stewriffic 01 July | 09:31

Eh, when I had a real office I always had a stash of coins for the vending machine. :) Go out to lunch, that'll be fun!

posted by leesh 01 July | 10:31

You keep half zucchinis at work?

posted by mullacc 01 July | 11:00

Well, i brought in a bunch of zucchinis yesterday from the garden for people to take home. One coworker decided to use hers at lunch. I'm going to reclaim it.

posted by Stewriffic 01 July | 11:02

In the box under my office desk:

crackers
small jar of peanut butter
dried fruit: mango, cherries, apricots
granola bars
tea
hot chocolate
cup o' soup packets
emergency chocolate bar

Just in case I am lunchless!

I think I will add the can of tuna and a box of something like Kraft dinner, but not real Kraft dinner, because I don't like Kraft dinner.

I don't think I could much with creamers and butter, as I don't like creamers and butter.

posted by Savannah 01 July | 11:06

Yeah, this is "you have to use milk and butter to make it" boxed mac and cheese (organic!) from EarthFare (think Whole Foods). They gave it to us for some reason.

Anyway, this isn't an issue anymore because I've talked a friend into treating me to lunch. :-)

posted by Stewriffic 01 July | 11:12

Luckily, my office provides free instant oatmeal, chicken soup (the kind you make from powder in a packet), soda, and hot cocoa. If I ever got really serious about saving money, I'm pretty sure I'd be ok never going out for lunch again.

I also have a backup stash of my own instant soup (a better kind), granola, girl scout cookies (which I've just realized I still have here), and Sixlets from last Halloween. Maybe two Halloweens ago.

posted by youngergirl44 01 July | 11:38

Sixlets? I didn't know they still made those.

posted by box 01 July | 13:09

hmm, on review of my "snack drawer" it appears I have 1/5th of a bag of pretzel rods, 2 cans of Progresso chicken vegetable soup, a box of Larabars, a small tin of beef jerky and some salad dressings in pouches. That's my "emergency rations".

I brought an apple, banana and box of sugar snap peas/mini carrots in my bag today.

The company provides tea, coffee, cocoa and instant soup. We have vending machines too, and I have a change stash but rarely use it. I also have many random assorted packs of mints/gum plus unlimited access to filtered water.

posted by lonefrontranger 01 July | 13:15

Oooooh, Sixlets. A neighbor used to give them away for Halloween, and I probably haven't had 'em since I was a kid.

When I'm in classes, I always carry some emergency snacks in my bookbag: granola bar, plain nuts, dried fruit, whatever. I should probably do that all the time, actually; it's pretty routine for me to be out and about and suddenly plummet into I AM STARVING CAN'T THINK MUST EAT PARADOXICALLY CAN'T THINK OF WHAT TO EAT OH GOD.

Improvised meals: my brother used to send me long letters from Basic Training and usually described his most recent improvised meal made with the kind of stuff you can keep in a foot locker. The only one I remember is peanut noodle salad made with ramen, squeeze-packets of peanut butter, and hot sauce.

posted by Elsa 01 July | 13:30

Actual lunch ended up being a fried-green tomato BLT with pimiento cheese. Much better than what I'd have scared up.

posted by Stewriffic 01 July | 13:40

I have had that peanut noodles. It's good!

posted by By the Grace of God 01 July | 14:12

emergency chocolate bar

This would not work for me to keep around as a staple, because my definition of what constitutes a chocolate-bar "emergency" is pretty lax.

posted by Miko 01 July | 14:23

I eat frequently in hopes of preventing Elsa's Paradox.

Today the dentist told me that it's better for me teeth to eat lots of sweets all at once rather than small amounts of sweets (or other carbohydrated things, like bread) throughout the day.

Some of my favorite food combos have been discovered when there was little left to eat and I had to MacGyver something.

posted by aniola 01 July | 14:48

my definition of what constitutes a chocolate-bar "emergency" is pretty lax.

Ditto. If I know there's an emergency chocolate bar around, I will cheerfully declare a State Of Emergency for no real reason. I do keep bittersweet chocolate around for actual emergency purposes. It's not so tempting that I snarfle it down immediately, but when I feel that intense need for chocolate, it's great on a piece of toast with butter and kosher salt, or broiled on a piece of peanut-butter toast.

posted by Elsa 01 July | 14:54

Some of my favorite food combos have been discovered when there was little left to eat and I had to MacGyver something.

This is one of my favorite ways to cook. At Mom's house, I often play Kitchen Roulette, making the nicest dinner possible from whatever scrids and scrads of food are kicking around the fridge.

posted by Elsa 01 July | 14:56

it's great on a piece of toast with butter and kosher salt

OMG, that's such a great idea. All the flavors of pain au chocolate without the troublesome trip to the bakery.

posted by Miko 01 July | 15:12

Usually have some fruit and a sandwich in the office fridge, as I stash those early in the week. Often I have a container of Pacific or Imagine soup in there too.

But right now all that would be on hand here is the hazelnuts and cashews in my desk drawer.

So, how did your MacGyver dish taste?

posted by bearwife 01 July | 15:46

Never mind! On preview, what did your friend buy you for lunch?

posted by bearwife 01 July | 15:47

On preview, I see you told us that too. DOH! Limited reading skills here, due no doubt to my mere half tuna salad sandwich for lunch today.

posted by bearwife 01 July | 15:48

For a slightly more involved preparation, you can make The Queen's grilled chocolate sandwich. She provides instructions for making it, including "Step 1. Menstruate."

posted by Elsa 01 July | 15:48

We basically have a free 7-11 in our office lunchroom. Free sodas and a bunch of bins full of full-sized candy bars. It's a little crazy.

posted by mullacc 01 July | 16:44

We basically have a free 7-11 in our office lunchroom. Free sodas and a bunch of bins full of full-sized candy bars. It's a little crazy.

oh my. I could never work there! I'd take it as a personal challenge to see if I could empty the bins. No. Not a good thing.

posted by nelvana 01 July | 22:49

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