I can feel the burn

17/10/06

I've been trying to save money by bringing my lunches into work for the past few months, but I'm getting increasingly bored of them. At first I varied the food - from salads made in the morning, to leftovers from the night before, or more usually a selection of toppings for ryvitas - smoked salmon and cream cheese (a pricier option), tuna with a twist (by John West, I recommend ovendried tomato and herb or lime and black pepper) with tomato, or cheddar cheese and cucumber, or cold meats and a veg, but I am now tired of home-arranged lunches. I want to be able to make spontaneous decisions about my choice of tucker. It's especially hard to stick to the homemade when there's a 'restaurant' (canteen) downstairs with a sandwich bar, a pretty good salad bar, jacket potatoes, soup and a couple of hot meals - it's not even as if I have to leave the building to change my mind and buy my lunch. Today my willpower was flaking and I decided to ditch my tuna with a twist, tomatoes and ryvita lunch option, knowing they would last until tomorrow, in favour of the 'restaurant'. I stood in the centre, looking around at all the options, but none appealed. Eventually I chose tomato and herb soup (quite thin but fairly tasty) with a chunk of bread (I wanted brown but the white bread chunks were twice the size so I chose one of those) and as I passed by the fridges on my way to pay, I snatched a tub of grated cheddar. Which really made the difference. But as I sampled a spoonful of soup with melting cheddar, I realised it was too hot. I had made the foolish mistake of taking a spoonful from the middle, rather than nibbling my way around the outside as it cooled down enough to eat. And, in public at least, there's not much you can do about a burning cheesy tomato mess in your mouth apart from swallow. So I did. And now I've burnt my tongue and my throat. They are sore. And I wish I'd just stuck with my boring lunch from home.