Tag: break

Schiscetta in winter: how to make the break more delicious – Italian Cuisine

In the Milanese dialect it is known as "schiscetta": and the lunch box that students and workers take around with them for an economic taste break. It is simply an airtight plastic, metal food container with several compartments, established in common parlance in Lombardy and in much of the north. In the capital, however, it is better known as "fagottaro", while in the south, especially between Calabria and Sicily, it is called "truscia" (bundle that contains a frugal meal). But, as often happens with linguistic evolution, the literal meaning has incorporated the semantic one and so today by "schiscetta" we mean the contents of the lunch box itself.

The schiscetta: from its origins to today

The curious term "schiscetta" derives from the Milanese dialect "schiscià", Or to crush, precisely because the food was originally crushed inside the container. In fact, initially, before the company canteens could feed the workers, it was up to the wives to prepare the schiscetta, a metal box that contained the leftovers from the night before, for their husbands. Just like the wife of Marcovaldo, the protagonist of the famous short story by Italo Calvino (contained in the collection Marcovaldo, or the seasons in the city) who prepares the "dish" (as the writer defines it) for the laborer consort. But today the schiscetta no longer identifies only the worker's lunch break. Indeed, more and more employees and students (for convenience, savings and even health) prefer to bring food from home.

The schiscetta in winter: what to bring to the office

However, while in summer you can take advantage of the hot season to eat something fresh, such as salads and cold first courses (rice salad, vegetable and chicken couscous, cold pasta, etc.), in winter preparing the schiscetta is more complex. especially if you do not have the possibility to reheat food. What to bring to the office then?

4 suggestions for the winter schiscetta

For a typically winter schiscetta to be enjoyed without using the microwave, you can choose to combine seasonal ingredients in a creative and fanciful way, so as not to give up taste but without weighing down the stomach during working hours. Here are some suggestions.

Savory pies

The savory pie is an "evergreen" preparation: you can prepare it according to your tastes with cold cuts, cheeses or seasonal vegetables. Just buy a roll of puff pastry (or shortcrust pastry), prick it and stuff it as you prefer. If you choose vegetables, however, make sure that they are well dry, so that they do not soften the pastry too much. Also remember that the quiche cannot be kept in the fridge until the time of the lunch break, so for the filling, opt for long-life or cooked ingredients. We offer you our savory pie with spinach, gorgonzola and hazelnuts and the savory pumpkin pie.

Homemade sandwich

Homemade bread is much more genuine and nutritious and can be stuffed in different ways. For a quick break at the office, for example, you could eat two slices of homemade wholemeal bread with walnuts with salami (or other cured meats) and a side of grilled vegetables. Alternatively, if you buy bread at the bakery, choose one with natural leavening, cereals, with sesame or poppy seeds, which is more digestible. The lunch break will be well balanced on a nutritional level.

Fast food sandwiches

If you are a lover of fast food sandwiches and you absolutely do not want to give up a good hamburger sandwich, prepare it at home. Just choose a loaf of soft bread, grill the pork (or chicken) hamburger, add a few slices of cheese and 2-3 dried tomatoes in oil.

Winter first courses

There is also plenty of space for first courses with seasonal ingredients that can also be enjoyed at room temperature, such as quinoa with broccoli, ginger and trio of sprouts or orzotto with apples, turnips and walnuts. Just prepare the dish the night before, let it cool and then store it in the lunch box.

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break with the snack (but without getting fat!) – Italian Cuisine

Being so many hours in front of the computer makes you hungry, especially if you work from home, get bored a bit and the fridge is always at hand. Here are 5 tasty and light snacks

When you work from home, smart working, it is very difficult to keep your concentration level high and keep it at bay want to continually open the refrigerator.
That's why we want to suggest you some light and tasty snack, suitable for appeasing the sense of hunger and perfect for finding the right energy to devote to work.

5 meals a day every day

Don't forget that 5 meals a day are essential whether you work outside the home or at home.
So never skip breakfast, lunch and dinner, but neither do you mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks.
You can also have more snacks a day if you feel the need, but choose carefully what to eat.
Dried fruit, fresh fruit, a yogurt, fresh vegetables, a cube of chocolate they are all things that are part of a normal diet, balanced and correct, but do not exceed in quantities, especially if yours is not hungry, but simply boredom or anxiety.
To appease nervous hunger always sip a herbal tea fragrant and spicy and unsweetened.

Light snacks, but with a taste for smart working

Here are a few quick recipes to be prepared when the stomach grumbles a little and is not satisfied with a simple fruit, but wants to be a little pampered.
Just turn what we usually consume as a snack into something more inviting.
Take a few more minutes to prepare and consume these dishes and your sense of satiety will accompany you for longer.
And then remember that the eye also wants its part, so set the table even for a snack and do not eat in front of the computer.

Yogurt and chocolate

What seems like a slightly excessive idea for a snack because it looks like anything but a yogurt is actually the ideal option for those who are hungry and want something good, but not too heavy in terms of nutrients.
A protein concentrate with few fats and few sugars, if not those of dark chocolate.
How do you prepare this sort of mousse?
Very simple, just dissolve 20 g of 75% dark chocolate in the microwave or in a water bath and let it cool for a few minutes.
Then, in a large bowl, mix everything with a pack of Greek yogurt white and thin.
The quantity of chocolate proposed is the ideal one to consume throughout the day, so rest assured even if you follow a low-calorie diet!
Decorated with coconut flakes if you like them or with a sprinkling of cocoa and enjoy!

Edamame cream

The edamame they are soy beans that are eaten in Japanese restaurants, but which you can now buy in all supermarkets in frozen bags.
They are prepared steamed or simply by heating the closed bag in the microwave for a few minutes.
Once cooled you can consume them with a pinch of salt and munch on them naturally, or you can prepare this spread cream on whole wheat croutons or to accompany raw vegetables in pinzimonio.
Blend the edamame with a handful of pine nuts or almonds peel, a little water, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and then use this sort of hummus as a snack, but also as a sauce for a pasta or a sandwich.
It is a healthy and light idea, rich in protein and nutritionally balanced.
You can also enrich the edamame cream with grated Parmesan and aromatic herbs such as and fresh basil or mint.

Black cabbage chips and pumpkin and sweet potato sticks

These two ideas are perfect for an afternoon snack that feels a bit like an aperitif.
Turn on the oven and in a few minutes you will have crunchy vegetables to munch on.
To prepare the black cabbage chips simply wash the leaves and then cut the softer part.
Dry well, season with very little oil, salt and spices to taste and cook everything in the oven at 180 ° for 5 minutes. If some leaves are still soft, let them cook a little longer.
The pumpkin and potato chips desserts are prepared like baked potatoes, but in the shape of a stick.
Peel the potatoes and the pumpkin, cut everything in thick enough sticks, then season with oil and salt and cook in the oven at 200 ° for about 20 minutes.
You can enjoy these vegetables with a cream made from low-fat white yogurt, lemon juice, chives or mint, mustard, salt and pepper.

Spoon avocado

According to nutritionists, an avocado a day would be a cure-all for our well-being.
We don't want to suggest the classic avocado toast that more than a snack is a single meal, but we want to offer you a very simple and quick idea.
Cut an avocado in half keeping the peel, extract the seed and season with oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Then scoop out the pulp with a teaspoon and enjoy your healthy and energy-rich snack with super good fats.

Cooked fruit

Often in diets a fruit is indicated as a snack, but the idea of the apple cut into wedges or nibbles, of the banana and the orange does not put you in a good mood that's why we want to offer you fruit-based snacks yes, but slightly more inviting and equally healthy.
There cooked apple, for example, often underestimated. Take a beautiful apple of the quality you prefer, wash it, dry it and take it only in a core with the special scoop, or cut it in half.
Place it in a baking dish with parchment paper and drizzle it with the juice of an orange or lemon.
Season with a handful of sliced almonds or walnuts, a sprinkling of cinnamon and a little brown sugar. Bake at 200 ° for about 15 minutes. Eat the apple when it is lukewarm and you will find that it is not exactly a hospital dessert as you imagined!
Bananas and oranges, on the other hand, are excellent caramelised in a panto.
Cut the bananas in half lengthwise and cook them with a little brown sugar and a little lemon juice. Also in this case abound with cinnamon and when they are golden brown taste them maybe with a spoonful of yogurt.
The same applies to oranges, which must be cut in section, with or without peel, deprived of seeds and caramelized also with a drop of Marsala. In addition to cinnamon, in this case you can use star anise.

If you are working from home and you no longer know how to satisfy the desire for something good, browse the gallery!

Smart working: remember your lunch break! – Italian Cuisine

Smart working – According to Eurostat data, over 10 million people in Europe work from home, with a growth of 700 thousand people between 2008 and 2018. In Italy the phenomenon remained muted, with data below the European average, up to 'emergency Coronavirus.

Referring to the Panorama website for information on what the law says about this way of working, here we focus on the suggestions to better enjoy smart working from the point of view ofsupply.

The importance of snacks

If you are a beginner, it is difficult to regulate both from a food and time management point of view. The two main risks are: giving in to domestic distractions (very compelling in this sense are the corners of dirt neglected so far) or, conversely, not being able to detach even one minute from work, going well beyond the usual work to conclude an important step.

In all this, the presence of the refrigerator and the pantry a few meters from the workplace does not help at all: the disadvantage is always having something to nibble on hand, without even the gaze of colleagues who imposes a bit of food modesty.

The dear and old moderation recommended since ancient times by philosophers is the answer. So the ideal is organize the working day providing a mid-day lunch break and, in addition, a few minutes of relaxation with a snack in the morning and in the afternoon.

This is where we speak of the golden rules of the snack. It is worth mentioning that the snack it is a good habit: it should be done every day in mid-morning and mid-afternoon. It must be suitable for people's activities: if it is true that children need more energy to grow and because they are always on the move, adults need fruit, a portion of vegetables, some dried fruit or a slice of a homemade cake. The snack, however, must not weigh down, therefore no elaborate desserts. Better to be varied, alternating sweet and savory snacks.

Lunch break for those who do smart working

The lunch break must be light and nutritious. If there is no time for a good pasta dish or for cooking light, but laborious dishes, the ideal are the salads (here our recipes), the unique dishes based on barley or spelled and, finally, the classics sandwiches.
In the latter case, it can be changed every day, without abusing cold cuts and choosing many gourmet options including veggie burgers, sandwiches with white meats, stuffed with vegetables, classic Mediterranean combinations and even seafood sandwiches (the best sandwich recipes).

If you don't have the time or as a precaution, you prefer to avoid the daily ride in bakery, an idea is to buy fresh bread in quantity, cut the loaves in half and freeze. Simply take them out of the freezer in the morning and at lunchtime they will be soft. If you like you can also pass them in the oven for a few minutes.

The best because they are rich in nutrients are wholemeal and cereals: there are spelled, rye or ancient grain flours. (Here some bread recipes to prepare in advance).

The importance of vegetables

We must never forget vegetables, both cooked and raw. Excellent savory pies that are prepared in advance and, if you choose the sandwich, a complete filling in this sense consists of the omelette, a dish advantageous from different points of view: it is prepared in advance and is complete from a nutritional point of view.

To get organized, just make small omelettes made with eggs, milk, cheese and a pinch of salt and with the vegetables in the house (our omelette recipes).

Sweet snacks?

The rule not to exceed is always valid: therefore you must not weigh yourself down, but you must also gratify yourself a little: therefore go ahead for a snack with a few squares of dark chocolate.

The importance of staying hydrated

An important rule is to keep yourself well hydrated. It seems trivial, but many forget to drink during the day, especially if they are not in the office where the presence of colleagues often encourages good practices.

Nutritionists explain that one should never be in a position to be thirsty. It is necessary to drink about one and a half liters of water a day, to be alternated as desired with herbal teas and, why not, every day with good orange juice, rich in C vitamin which in these days does not hurt (here the other foods rich in vitamin C, to help the immune system).

by Barbara Roncarolo
March 2020