Fancy shmancy
I eat at my desk. A lot. I’m not proud of it. It’s not something I enjoy or recommend or celebrate. There’s a lot to be said for stepping away from your work, sitting down at a table and enjoying a real meal the old fashioned way. But since Americans (all of us, myself included) refuse to do this, it’s at least nice to know we can throw together a meal free of freaky additives and unfamiliar ingredients in less time than it’ll take to heat it up in the microwave.
For me, the secret to eating decent food at my desk is: frozen vegetables. That and Tupperware.
So much Tupperware.
I’ll usually make a big batch of grains (rice, quinoa, millet, etc.) on Sunday to use throughout the week. I then fill my trusty Tupperwares with the grain plus frozen veggies (green beans, peas, peppers, spinach, etc.), a protein (like cubed tempeh or canned beans) and some kind of sauce (usually liquid aminos + nooch, mmmm sauce or tomato sauce).
BAM. A meal.
Since I kind of consider myself to be the master of throwing a couple things in a plastic tub and calling it a meal, I was happy to accept a product review for desk-friendly dining.
Stonehouse 27 features a line of “exotic Indian sauces without the effort” and Lundberg is a family-owned rice business. (I’ve worked with Lundberg before because I love them and their products… see here.) They asked me to combine one sauce, one heat and eat organic rice bowl and no more than three additional ingredients to create a quick, healthy meal to eat at my desk.
I went with the cilantro coconut sauce (despite the fact that I hate cilantro) and the brown rice bowl.
Stonehouse 27 cilantro coconut sauce
Lundberg organic brown rice bowl
To this I added:
- Fresh kale
- Frozen peas
- Cubed tempeh
I microwaved the kale/pea/tempeh/Stonehouse sauce mix for 1 min 30 sec and then the rice bowl for 60 sec on its own before combining the two. Tah dah! A meal.
What I appreciate about these products is that they’re no-nonsense with their ingredients:
Nothing weird.
I could make that sauce, but… who has time these days? Not me, that’s for sure. I used to poo-poo shortcuts like ready-made sauce and especially precooked rice. “It doesn’t take that long to make your own,” I used to say. Yeah well… that was back when I wasn’t working seven days a week. I’ll take this shortcut and run with it, thank you.
Want to try Stonehouse sauces and Lundberg rice bowls?
Check out the sauces here and the organic rice bowls here and let me know which flavors you want to try. I’ll randomly select five winners at the end of the week.
Want more?
Where to buy it:
Here in Charlotte you can find Stonehouse 27 at Earth Fare, Fresh Market and Food Lion and Lundberg products are available at Earth Fare and Healthy Home Market. Not in my neck of the woods? Find a retailer near you…
I must go with Tamarind & Garlic and Short Grain Brown Rice…now I’m hungry!
these do look tasty… i love indian food! i’d love to try the tomato and chilies as well as the dates and tamarind sauces… both seem like very unique flavors.
The Tamarind and Garlic with the Short Brown Grain Rice! yummm!
Spicy Cashew and Cream! Long Grain! Yum!
Cashew cream sauce with short grain brown rice!
Wow, great minds think alike! I would also go with tamarind and garlic with short grain brown rice.
Ooooh tasty! Tomatoes + chile and some long grain brown.. mmmmm!!
that date/tamarind sauce looks OUT OF CONTROL. sauces are something that i never buy because I tell myself I can make them but sometimes they’re seriously worth the $$
I love cilantro, so I’d want to try the cilantro sauce…but the tomato and chilies one sounds good too!
(Also, on a completely unrelated note, I recently started doing yoga partly because of your blog! It has already made a difference in my life in just two weeks.)
But was the combo delicious? Do you recommend that sauce? (For when I return)
Definitely the tamarind and garlic sauce and the countrywild brown rice.
I’d love to try the dates and tamarind sauce with long grain brown rice!
Tomato & Chilies with the Organic Countrywild Brown rice bowl! Yummy!
tamarind & garlic (two of my favorite things!) & countrywild brown rice. yum!
Oooh! The dates & tamarind w/ the long grain brown sounds deeelish!
I’d love to try the tamarind & garlic sauce (I’m a garlic sucker over here) and the countrywild brown rice!
The cilantro & coconut one sounds like a winner, and the dates & tamarind sounds good too. I’d pair it with the brown rice bowl.
I’d like to pour the tomato/chile/cinnamon/agave sauce over the country wild brown rice bowl. Then I’d throw in a few mango chunks, some broccoli, & chickpeas and dig in.
mmmmmm
Tamarind and Countrywild brown
tamarind.and.garlic. YUM.
and the brown rice obvs
Tough choice but I’d go with the tamarind & garlic and countrywild brown rice.
I’d love to try the Tamarind & Date Sauce. I saw raw fresh Tamarind root for the first time recently and I can’t wait to try it again! Thank you!
I eat at my desk all the time and not just to save time but to save money as well. I’m a toss up between trying the dates and tamarind and the tomato and chile sauces. Not particular about which rice bowl.
Dates & Tamarind!
These all sound delicious (and so very convenient!). I’d love to try the tamarind & garlic or the dates & tamarind with the mixed brown rice.
Thanks so, so much for your email, by the way, Katie–I’ll respond later this week when I’m not so swamped with school!
Cilantro and coconut with countrywild brown!
The nearest store selling Stonehouse 27 products is over an hour away from me…..poo, I hate Mississippi. I’d have paid good money to try the tamarind and garlic flavor. I suppose I still could, but shipping costs make me cry.
I would love to try the Tamarind & Garlic Sauce with the country wild brown rice. Sounds so good!
I would try the tamarind & garlic sauce with the country wild brown rice. Mmmmmm
your tupperware is so nicely organized!
Cashew and Cream and the one you tried- cilantro and coconut both sound good and either of the brown rices sound like they’d work with them!
Wow these look delicious! I think I’d want to try the Dates & Tamarind one. And I’m a Countrywild brown rice kind of girl for sure.
PS – I’m SUPER excited to see that there’s a place that sells these sauces within walking distance of our apartment! Yesssss. Thanks for introducing me to these, Katie!
Tamarind and garlic or spicy cashew and cream? It is a tie
I’d love to try the Countrywide Brown Rice Bowl and the cashews and cream sauce!
ALL the sauces look awesome, but i’m curious about the tomato and cinnamon as well as the countrywild rice!
Would it be a cop-out to say I’d like to try all of the sauces? Because I totally would. They all sound so yummy! As for the rice, I’m all about the long-grained brown rice.
Me and my laziness are all about Tupperware and easy meal solutions.
All versions of brown rice are kosher with me, and tomato & chiles along with cashews & cream (with chilies and a touch of lemon) look like a mouthgasm.
That is all.
Tonight I made quinoa, threw in some frozen veggies, sauteed some shrimp, and added the mild cashew sauce with a little of the date sauce (mild cashew wasn’t spicy enough for me, dates one was too spicy, had to find a middle ground) – OMG YUM. Even my healthy food hating husband went back for seconds! So glad to have these sauces in my life!