BYOL

One of the easiest ways to make sure you eat well and save money is bringing your own food to work.  I’m practically a pro at packing meals to-go because I work at a job that requires it.  As a nurse, I’m often squeezing snacks and meals in whenever I can.  Unlike my days off, when I can eat whenever I’m hungry, the timing of my meals at work is instead based on my patients’ stability. 

In NYC, I brought my lunch every single day.  If you add it up, those 2 1/2 years of BYOL probably saved me hundreds of dollars.  And don’t even get me started on the quality of my food vs. that which I would have purchased instead… 

I’m happy to continue this trend as I’m back in the hospital here in CA. 

Readers have been emailing me asking about how I go about putting together meals for the day, and if people are interested I can do a more detailed post…

To put it briefly, I try to give myself multiple options of flavors, textures, and types of food.  Something crunchy, something savory, something sweet, something that I can eat on-the-go, etc.  By giving myself options, I’m more likely to be satisfied with my packed food, and less likely to turn to expensive, unhealthy choices. 

Like almost every lunch I make, this one featured a big salad…starting with spinach and bell peppers.

Next I added cubed tofu (sprayed with Bragg’s and microwaved like a lazy chef).

I definitely go through phases with my salads, and that usually depends on the season.  Some of my favorite combos include squash or sweet potatoes.  I also really like beans/chickpeas.  However, the main thing I can’t build a good salad without is dark green lettuce.  Spinach and kale are my favorite leafy greens, so those are the base ingredient for 99.9% of my salads.  I love them and it’s rare that our fridge will be without one option or the other. 

After adding in the tofu, I topped it off with avocado.

I usually like to add dried fruit, like dried cranberries or raisins, for a hint of sweetness.  The only reason I didn’t on this salad was because I was all out :( 

All together now, I have a salad, carrots, apple, and Acai Strawberry flavored Trio bar.  Post-photo I realized I forgot to add in a tub of hummus, so I made sure to pack that (otherwise my poor carrots would’ve been so lonely).

I never ever leave the house without an apple, and usually I pack two.

I also usually pack more food, but right now I’m not doing my normal 12 hour shifts (I’m still on orientation so I’m currently rocking 8a-4p work days).

Next week I will be starting regular shifts (12 hours), so you’ll probably notice an increase in the amount of food I bring. 

Just call me the queen of tupperware.  🙂

On the bus ride home I was contemplating the rest of the day…

I ended up getting off a few stops early for the above necessity treat…which I sipped on my walk home.

Back at the casa I snacked on a pumpkin banana muffin.

Remember how I added carob chips and made muffins with the extra batter? 

Half were made with the bread batter, but I didn’t have quite enough to fill out all the muffin tins, so I quartered the same recipe but exchanged the flour for oats.  I was nervous they’d be weird, but they were totally perfect. 

After they cooled, I froze the muffins to have as small but substantial snacks on hand…and this guy was exactly that!

I waited for my tum to digest, and then hit the road for a relaxed 4 mile run.  I was a little slow, but I haven’t really been in the cardio game this past week, so I wasn’t expecting a super speedy session.  Yet.  :P 

For dinner I made hummus with one ingredient: chickpeas. 

Two cans.  Drained. 

Food processorrrrrr

How’s that for the simplest recipe?

And it turned out thick thick thick. 

First off I tried it with Ezekiel’s 7 sprouted grains bread.

Then I made a nice little plate of dippables.

Falafel, carrots, and baby bell peppers.

I love this photo because of the insane height of the hummus. 

Dinner hit the spot, but I still had juuuuust enough room for dessert.

 

Enter Heart Thrive chocolate chip cookie number two. 

After seeing these around the blog world for a while, I was beyond thrilled when reader Courtney sent me some for my birthday.  Such a sweetheart.  They are so much thicker than I expected.  And dense.  I was also expecting them to be sweeter and, well, more cookie like.  I have to say, I prefer the way these were more oaty.  They were a bit dry, but I think it was just the density.  They are packed buggers!

To summarize, I would definitely recommend trying these as long as you know going into it, they aren’t your average cookie.  If you aren’t trying to replace a normal dessert, then you’ll be wowed for sure.  They’re vegan, they’re hearty, and they’re delicious. 

I will be buying them myself if I can ever manage to find them in stores…