Brown Bag Lunch- Condensed Style

To keep myself from running out during my lunch hour everyday and purchasing unhealthy fast food, I have been "brown-bagging" my lunch for years.

My struggle, though, has been giving myself some variety so I don't get too tired of the same things over and over and getting the lunch prepared and carried to the office in yet another bag to carry with stiff, sore joints.

At the moment, I have solved these problems by stocking a mini-pantry in my desk drawer. Using cost-saving methods, of course, I stocked a jar of the peanut butter mixed with jelly, whole wheat crackers or bagels, healthy cereal/ granola bars, homemade trail mix with nuts, fruit and chocolate, yogurt covered raisins, additional bags of dried fruit, individual servings of applesauce and veggies and some napkins and cutlery. In the morning from home, I will grab a quart ziploc bag with a container of yogurt and if needed either a small amount of cheese, carrots & celery or lunchmeat. It packs in my large tote without requiring that I carry an additional bag. The list of what I have at any given time revolves according to what needed replenishing and what I found on sale but I have a good variety, can eat at my desk (earning overtime, more money is always a blessing) and the sweetness of the pb&j, cereal bars and trail mix lets me skip dessert without feeling deprived. My employer provides free water, cups, ice and tea bags in the breakroom for something to drink. The stash was built over time and by buying quantity I can just replenish a few items with each grocery shopping venture.