Taking Food Along

It used to be that any fast food place would do if I was out on the road during meal time.  Although I usually carry granola bars with me for hunger emergencies, a meal could be found at any restaurant, diner, or drive-thru.  These days, especially after the spouse had a heart attack, I am a bit more picker about the healthfulness of the food I ingest.  That usually means cooking at home and bring food with me if I plan to be out for the day.  It's rather simple to do as well as money saving, especially if you look at the cost difference between eating out for lunch everyday at work and brown bagging it.  Here are some things you need to be ready to bring food with you when you leave home:

• A small cooler and gel ice packs (remember to re-freeze the ice packs each evening).
• Leak-proof bottles to bring hot or cold beverages with you (Contigo is my favorite brand).
• Ziploc bags.
• Re-usable plastic food containers (square, sandwich sized, etc).
• Knife/fork/spoon.
• Napkins/paper towels.
• Package of wet wipes.
• Foil/plastic wrap.
• Insulated soup thermos.
• Bento box/tiffin.

A simple Google search will provide a lot of ideas for brown-bag type lunches.