Brown Baggin' it. Suggestions for a working person to help avoid the high cost of food? (hamburger, fast food)

[Nomadicus]

Originally Posted by MidwesternBookWorm

I used to work with someone like that. She was really happy with her little pantry-drawer until we got an infestation of mice in the office, and she found one peering out of her box of oatmeal packets. That kinda changed everyone's mind about keeping stockpiles of food in desk drawers.

Was it anything like the day the squirrel got loose in that MS church? I used to stockpile my drawer full to but never any mice. Had ants come in once but it was weather related. I kept ziplock bags full of cheerios and such along with a box of crackers and a package of cheese slices in the fridge. I even kept a can or two of pork and beans for serious emergencies of long shifts.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

Originally Posted by Nomadicus

Was it anything like the day the squirrel got loose in that MS church?

Not sure, I don't think I've heard of that incident. But the image of my former colleague standing on a two-drawer file cabinet shrieking at the top of her lungs was a pretty amusing one. If nothing else, the mice must have been deafened by her performance, though as I recall, it took multiple visits from the exterminators to finally evict them.

[jtur88]

Here in South Texas, there is a bread called "Bolilla", which is like a miniature Italian bread loaf. About 5-6 inches long, lozenge-shaped like a blunt-ended football, typicaloly 4 or 5 for a dollar. They come in white or whole grain. If you can find such a thing locally, they are perfet for pre-made sandwiches, because they are all soft crust on the outside and they don't mash or soak through or come apart.

I make indivikdual-size New Orleans style Muffuletta sandwiches from them if I need to carry a lunch. In a simplified version, that's sliced meat and cheese (similar to the traditional provolone and Italian meats, but substitutes will do), with a wallop of sliced olives, some of the olive juice, and a liberal pour of olive oil, and a good sprinkle of granulated garlic. The outside crust keeps all the drippy stuff inside, but be sure to pack a towel anyway.

Here's the real McCoy:

http://www.recipezaar.com/184939

[himain]

I take sandwhiches and some chips. A lot of times its leftovers from dinner before. Tasty stuff!! I get gladwear and am pretty happy with it. I also take a thermos with either milk, chocolate milk or water

[mikenbacismama]

Yesterday I bought one of those containers that you can nuke your food in & it's supposed to keep it warm for up to five hours. I hope it works, then I'll be bringing a lot of leftovers to work now!

Can't wait to try my rigatoni with sausage & meatballs at around noon...

[mikenbacismama]

Wanted to edit my last post, but it's too late.

Ate my lunch at noon...still warm! I'm a happy camper!

[southdown]

I just bought my son some noodle pots as he has been pestering for them - his friends take them to school and cook them in the cafeteria microwave.

I wasn't keen as I think they are basically junk food, but I checked the labels and some are actually OK (ish), some don't have MSG, and some even have veggies in them! And they all cost well under a dollar

However, the super cheap 29c 'Instant Lunch' brand contains a huge amount of sodium - 60% of your daily allowance in one serving!

So, not a health food, but a cheap lunch.

[SubaruFiend]

Originally Posted by crazyme4878

Cold meatloaf sandwiches are good! Cold meatloaf is good period. Okay, I only know this to be true of veggie meatloaf, but I'm guessing it would be the same.

I send my husband with wraps. I first put down some maynaise, then some shredded cheese, then spinach, grated carrots, green onion, diced tomatoes, etc. I spray a little olive oil over the top and add some S&P. He always loves it. It would be easy enough to add some shredded deli slices to that as well.

I have thought about getting a tuperware veggie and dip tray (the kind with the snap-on cover) and preparing an array of sandwich toppings the Sunday before. That way everything would be ready and all you have to do is slap the fixings on the sandwich.

isn't that an oxymoron!!! :P haha

if there's no meat in it shouldn't it be called veggieloaf???? :P

[sterlinggirl]

I love taking leftovers for lunch. If they supply plates at your office, just throw your leftovers into ziplock sandwich bags, and heat them up on a plate. If you have taco leftovers, its nice to put the lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, etc. into separate bags.

You can have some fun with your food too....

Take a few strips of bacon and heat them up in the microwave during the morning break. Everybody in the office walks around sniffing.
If you like avocados, they go great with the bacon.

Fried potatoes with sausage and onions smells pretty good too.

Leftover Belgian waffles and raspberry syrup makes peoples eyes get big, and if you pull a can of whipped cream out of the bag they look like somebody stole their puppy.

[NicoleJ]

Originally Posted by crazyme4878

Yes, my husband is sad that he can't take leftovers. He loves them! (he works in the field, so unless it is tasty cold, it doesn't work)

crazy, this is what we use a lot. If you fill it w/ boiling water while preparing lunch, and make sure the food is hot when you add it, it will still be hot/warm @ lunch time. And it packs SOOOOO much food that we usually can't even eat it all. I'm posting the link to the item on Amazon and to the picture group @ flickr b/c it's great way to get ideas. OH - sometimes we even pack breakfast AND lunch in it.


Amazon.com: Zojirushi Mr. Bento Stainless-Steel lined Lunch Jar, Silver: Kitchen & Dining

FLICKR IDEAS FOR THE MR. BENTO:
Flickr: Mr. Bento Porn (http://www.flickr.com/groups/mrbento/ - broken link)