meals for work

For as much as I enjoy cooking at home, I still have the horrible habit of buying meals while i'm out at work.  In many cases this is for both breakfast and lunch. People have been telling me for years that it is a huge waste of money but it it just a habit that I have not been able to break. 

Starting last week I made it a point to always have breakfast at home before heading to work, this has helped me focus in the morning and feel less rush to grab something quick.  It is also infinitely healthier to eat a bowl of cereal and have a piece of fruit than to grab a breakfast sandwich on the go.

My challenge this week is to make sure I have a different lunch item packed every day.  This is where the Zojirushi Mr. Bento comes into play.  It basically is the same idea as packing a bento every day except each stackable containter comes in a insulated carrier. I bought this a couple of months ago and have not used it a ton unfortunately,  this week I am changing that and hoping to make this a frequent routine.

The sizes of the containers are the perfect size for me to pack both breakfast and lunch while being able to stagger meals throughout the day.  This is what I brought with me to work today:

In the front right is my breakfast: steel cut oats that I simmered in some coconut milk and skim milk and added mixed frozen berries to finish.  To the left of that is a morning snack: fresh strawberries and walnuts.  In the top left container is sandwich of turkey, ham, and cheddar on whole wheat.  Finally, in the top left container I have simply mixed greens topped with a few pickles.

I've been getting ideas from the Mr. Bento Flickr group which is very active and has new interesting combinations every day.It was pretty fun and relaxing to put together the bento, it didn't take too much time and already I can see this is a very good way for me to take my lunch every day.