Working Summer Lunches by Katie & Jane

The launch of our business at the beginning of the year had a huge impact on our working world. All of a sudden our kitchen tables turned into our work desks, we were rushing from meetings to networking events and trying to find the perfect place to take our clients. Eight months on, we thought we’d share our top tips for keeping yourself happy, healthy and energised on-the-go!

Working from the Kitchen Table

When working from home by yourself it can be very easy to graze all day, or completely forget to eat at all! I like to make up a batch of my favourite Thai Tom Yum Soup for a quick (and spicy!) lunch to eat while reading a few articles from the day’s news or catching up on some of the latest app reviews. Tom Yum translates as ‘hot & sour’ and it's a delicious and nourishing lunch to eat either at home or to make in advance and heat through at the office. I like to add king prawns but it's lovely with beef, chicken or tofu too. Find my favourite recipe here.

A Katie & Jane Perfect Working Lunch at Home

At least twice a week Jane & I will work together at either her house or my apartment. We found very early on that we would have so much to do and talk about that we would forget to eat, surviving only on coffee and green tea... not very healthy. So now we make an extra effort to prepare something quick and easy and of course vegetarian for Jane!

We love these homemade Avocado & Bean Wraps as a fresh and nutritious midday boost. They're perfect for leaving the filling in a dish on the side and helping yourself as and when you want one using crisp lettuce leaves as an alternative to tortilla wraps. The brief time out helps us to make sure we have a break from our laptops to reflect on our work and chat about what's happening in our working week.

Recreate it: After cooking mixed beans (black-eyed beans are my favourite) and quinoa, mix with a little feta cheese, cucumber, avocado, spring onion and sun-dried tomatoes, then fill your romaine lettuce wrap and enjoy!

Brain Food

A social media training day can be long and is filled with a lot of information to take in and many decisions to make. A little while back we were fortunate to work with an exciting new brand called Hattie’s Wines and while we were training on-site we were treated to a gorgeous tapas board featuring continental cheeses, breads, olives, Italian meat and a refreshing summer salad. It was all served on beautiful wooden boards - a great idea for feeding a team of people.

Although Hattie's Wines offers hand-selected wines without the 'wino' waffle, we did refrain from sampling their amazing selection while working but are very much looking forward to their new website being launched soon! Find out more about Hattie's Wines on Facebook and Twitter and join a community of women passionate about having fun and talking about wine in a no-nonsense way.

We love these tapas boards from Bodie & Fou below, perfect for recreating your very own tapas-style lunch! Click the image to find out more...

On-The-Go Eats

In the busy world of running and growing your own business, time is of the essence and most of the time food preparation is the last thing on the list.

For lunch, we love Innocent Veg Pots which you simply heat up in the microwave for a few minutes to fill you up and keep you fueled throughout the day. My favourite pot is the Thai Coconut Curry and Jane’s is Mexican Sweet Potato Chilli - the pots contain around two portions of vegetables helping you on your way to five a day!

A great on-the-go afternoon snack is a Naked Juice which can be easily taken from the fridge and into the car on the way to a meeting and apart from being delicious, they're quite filling too! Find out more about the Antioxidant and Superfood juices here

The Perfect Place to Take Clients

The problem with taking a client out to a working lunch is that it’s so hard to find somewhere that balances a great atmosphere with enough space and a quiet, relaxed environment. The newly opened Fig & Olive in Middleton is a hidden gem in the heart of the beautiful Coppice Garden Centre. Being surrounded by so much nature, while eating indoors is a real treat and the menu caters for everyone with lunchtime delights including Beef Teriyaki Glass Noodles, Pan-Fried Lobster Cake, and a light, but filling Hot Smoked Salmon and Beetroot Salad. Find out more about the gorgeous outdoor area, Barry the turtle and their delicious homemade cakes here.

We hope this post has inspired you to ditch the supermarket sandwich and get creative at lunchtime whether you're in an office or working from home. If you want to know more about anything we’ve included in this post then send us an email at smile@katieandjane.com

Katie x