Pack-a-Lunch

Money Saving Mom has a post up about brown bagging lunches.

I brown-bag every day. I'm lucky... we have a kitchen with a hotplate & microwave at work so I can even make grilled cheese or soup for lunch. Hot isn't so lucky... he doesn't know where he will be at lunch-time every day. We are trying to break him of his "stop at Bob's" habit. Bob's is a local gas station/convenience store that has lots of pre-made (fairly tasty actually) lunch options. He gets a diet drink, sunflower seeds, a salad & sometimes a newspaper and spends about $10. Which makes my budget gasp and flutter. It can't be avoided sometimes in the summer but in the winter he can pack a lunch.... or so I think.

I'm getting into the idea of bento lunches. I love this site for her quick and clever lunches... and so cute. (Seriously... did you see the hot dog octopus?)

I'm also trying hard to use pyrex bowls with plastic lids for in the microwave. I have several and could, honestly, use a few more... but my tiny kitchen is already a game of tetris to put things away.... one more bowl might tip me over the edge.

Growing up on a farm has made me something of a master of the packed lunch. During harvest we pack a cooler to last all day. Those little playmate ones. Each of us is assigned a different colored cooler and you are responsible for getting it in the house every night so it gets rinsed out and repacked.

Interesting tips for harvest lunches:

1. It is hot so you are never as hungry as you think you will be... even though you are working hard all day.
2. Pack lots of drinks. I don't drink a lot of pop (soda for the rest of you) but I do love an ice-cold root beer during harvest. And a bottle of lemonade frozen solid is a great ice pack.
3. Pack sandwiches veggies separate. Soggy is not fun. But a gorgeously crafted sandwich piled with veggies on a hoagie is a beautiful thing.
4. You can eat sandwiches every day and still have variety. Deli cold-cuts, shaved ham, smoked turkey, shredded bbq beef, ground beef (I need to get this recipe from my mom), roast chicken, egg salad, tuna, cream cheese and veggies. I don't do pbj but my mom loves peanutbutter and banana sandwiches. Heck, you can even eat Spam during harvest.
5. Harvest is the one time a year you can splurge on those single serve packets. Chip varieties. Maybe those little cheese/cracker packs. Gogurt. Individual fruit cups. Mmm.
6. Oreos are ok but homemade cookies are better. We make up cookies ahead of time and freeze them. Last year my sis-in-law brought over a giant assortment of at least 6 different kinds of homemade cookies for the freezer.... yum.
7. Salad is an option. Last year my dad was on a veggie-veggie-veggie kick. I made him the most beautiful salads with homemade vinagrette dressing.
8. It works for kids. I've done hot dogs in a thermos. Usually it is so hot they just want grapes, carrots & chips.... and, sometimes, you have to be ok with that. They eat more at night when we get home and it has cooled off.... just make sure they get enough liquids. And pack hand sanitizer.
9. Everything tastes better with a little dirt and wheat dust on it.
10. Reuse the baggies.
11. Granola bars pack well. Ice cream bars do not pack well. But... if you are dumping in the bins by the house and you are quick you can win a LOT of points with the combine drivers if you bring them a frozen treat once in a while.
12. If all else fails... grab a can of pork-n-beans, some stewed tomatoes and a can opener. There's actually a bit of a bitter story behind this one. One day I packed a beautiful lunch for myself including powdered donuts, an herbed cheese and veggie sandwich on fancy bread, watermelon, veggies with dip... you get the idea.... well, as fate and truck break-downs would have it.... by lunch time I was in dad's truck and he was in mine. He called me on the radio and I could tell his mouth was full. He did mention how good his lunch was and, by that time, I was starving. I was so happy to roll into the field and see all the combines were empty so I had a minute to eat "my" lunch. I opened the cooler and saw a can of pork-n-beans (which I dispise), a diet coke (yuck... and no ice pack even) and a can opener. Lucky me.