Friday Food - The Lunch Conundrum

When you're getting up in the morning and getting ready for work, if you're trying to not spend money, you have to consider what to take for lunch.

I'm a big fan of the peanut butter and (strawberry) jam sandwich on white bread, but - at least for me - that is a warm weather lunch.

I enjoy cold meat sandwiches year-round, but... well... you have to remember to buy the meat for that to work.

I work in an office with a microwave, so cups of soup do well - but only on cold days.

I discovered, a while ago, that there are a bunch of frozen meals that aren't all that expensive and - if you work it right - are only about a buck each. So I stocked up on some of those a while ago, buying what sounded good at the time.

Which brings us back to packing lunch.

Yesterday, when the temp was warm-ish (in the 30s - which is warm this time of year), I was running a little late and had to figure out lunch.

Too cold for peanut butter sandwiches. No sandwich meat in the house. Not really feeling the soup idea. So I opened the freezer and grabbed the frozen meal that sounded best.

Unfortunately, 4 hours later, the Turkey Dinner that I was microwaving just didn't cut it. The peas were fine. The mashed potatoes were okay once they were dunked in the gravy. But the stuffing was just mush, and I actually broke the tine of a plastic fork trying to cut the turkey. Overall, a thoroughly underwhelming one-dollar meal.

Breakfast is so much easier. The office has a toaster with a PopTarts setting, and I always have those on hand in my desk.