It’s so easy to get caught up in office madness. Days can go by when you are so busy, you rarely leave your desk. It makes a BIG difference to leave the building for lunch. A great way to enjoy the approach to summer is a picnic in the sun with your work pals.
This week we took advantage of the warmer weather (and a birthday) and each brought in a few goodies to share. We filled the cooler bag with wraps, salad ingredients, fresh bread rolls, a delicious homemade tomato chutney, a big wedge of camembert, strawberries and honey.
My contribution was a jar of Ma’s ‘Eggplant Relishiousness’, a batch of butternut pumpkin and chickpea patties and some sugar-free chocolate bars.
The patties are really simple – cut pumpkin into small pieces, sprinkle with Moroccan seasoning and bake for 20mins. Mash pumpkin with a tin of chick peas and 1 egg (I used egg replacer). Add a handful of chopped parsley, half a cup of Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) and combine. Form mixture into flat balls and coat in Panko. Heat in a pan and serve. Easy peasy!
We headed to a nearby park, found an empty picnic table, laid everything out and happily feasted. It was so much nicer than eating at the office!
One of my work pals recently returned from a month in Spain where they snacked daily on pieces of soft cheese dipped in honey then lightly coated with ground coffee. Sounds a little strange, right? I’m no coffee drinker but it was actually pretty good! Initially I thought the flavour of the coffee might be too much but it really complimented the cheese and honey. It’s an impressive combination.
A few days beforehand I received some Well Naturally sugar-free milk chocolate bars in plain chocolate and fruit and nut. This was quite fitting as one of my work pals is on a sugar-free diet. We shared the chocolate and it was quite good! I really noticed the reduced sugar, especially at first bite as there wasn’t an overpowering sweetness smacking me in the face like some other chocolates. My sugar-free pal was impressed too. I prefer my chocolate dark so I’m keen to check out the sugar-free dark chocolate range.
We unanimously agreed that we should escape from the office on a regular basis to unwind, share delicious food and recharge. I’d love your suggestions dear readers, what is your favourite picnic dish?
omg this is the best idea ever Tara! i’m seriously fwding this to my officemates cos we need to do this more often… I’ve never heard of this Eggplant Relishiousness before but I need to get my hands on a jar.. And these patties look awesome! hmm my fave picnic dishes are usually wraps, or some sort of caramel/brownie slice
although some of my fave picnic memories are in the Philippines with my fam and that usually consisted of boiled eggs, rice, soy sauce and chicken heheh
It’s a fabulous idea and a lot of fun! I’m not sure what’s in Ma’s relish but I’ll find out – she makes big batches so I could probably get you some! A caramel / brownie slice sounds fab, I should make some for our next outing
Love the look of those patties Tara!
It sounds like a dangerous idea, but I think I will try this soft cheese, honey and coffee suggestion – it sounds right up my alley!
Why thank you! I’d love to hear what you think of the cheese / honey / coffee combo, it’s pretty good
Whenever I make patties they just fall apart…I’m going to give these a go and see…how I go. YUMMY.
Oooo, how much pumpkin did you use?
I used a medium sized butternut pumpkin. I also added LOTS of parsley. And the panko adds a little crunch. I think they’d be great with butter beans instead of chickpeas
Oh we do this sometimes
we also do a couple of random things – like last summer we did the tourist choo choo train through the botanical gardens while eating a packed lunch haha such fun!
That’s a great idea, who doesn’t love a choo choo train!
Soft cheese, honey and coffee…….. hmmmmmm…… probably would taste awesome as it is so out there!
It sounds so odd but it really works!
seeing the title i thought you might have been taking your food bloggers picnic further!!! these would be great to take to it
We won’t be having a picnic without you! I’m just getting in early with some tasty ideas