I often get bored with making packed lunches. I tend not to have sandwiches so usually I try to leave some leftovers from an evening meal or soup to make things easy. Even though I always make the boy’s packed lunch in the evening, it’s not unusual to find me in the kitchen in the morning trying to concoct something at the last minute for myself!

A frequent choice for me is a slice of Unearthed Spanish omelette with some veg sticks. If I’m really short on time I occasionally grab a pack of beans and a bit of bread for toast – which I brown in a Toastabag in the work toaster. (These only cost a couple of pounds, and they last for ages, but they enable you to avoid cross contamination.)

Yesterday and today’s effort for lunch was actually a rather good one, not least because I made two days’ worth in one morning.

These layered tubs of salad were all the rage in summer, and I saw many stylish versions in cute Kilner jars. Mine’s a more functional version, but at least the tub is round so it still looks vaguely appealing. And the tub was a bit bigger than it possibly should be, giving me a hearty Yorkshire portion!

The trick is to layer the crunchy and non-squashable items in the bottom of the container, add a dressing, then put the softer leaves and things at the top. That way, you avoid soggy salad leaves by the time you get round to eating it.

I went for quite a filling mix of tinned beans, sweetcorn, tuna, red pepper, broccoli and spinach leaves. For a ‘dressing’, I poured in some olive oil and lemon juice – not combined, the car journey does that – and a good grind of black pepper.

So I felt very virtuous at lunchtime yesterday and today, with a sprinkling of smugness this morning for not needing to prep anything. I have nothing planned for tomorrow, so I may be back to the beans…