BYO everything

A couple of weeks ago we had to drive a 300km round trip to a friend's funeral. We didn't take food or drink with us, I'm not sure why we didn't, we usually do, but maybe the thought of laying a friend to rest was the only thing on our minds as we set out that morning. On the way home we were looking for somewhere to have lunch and chose Gloria Jeans as the best of the bad bunch. I won't relate the entire experience, suffice to say when we left, to our shame, we left behind a big pile of "disposable" napkins, plates, coffee cups etc. I vowed never to return and to make sure we always travelled prepared. I've made a promise to myself since then to never buy water or food while I'm out. I've done a lot of travelling and had quite a few bad food experiences on my travels, so it's no great sacrifice.

Like many things in this simple life, organisation is the key. To help me with that I received a great birthday gift from my friend Kathleen. It's a super duper lunch box that has several compartments and, best of all, as everything is packed firmly within the box, you don't need to prewrap anything in plastic wrap. It even has a sandwich vault. Very cool. This is it!

http://www.fit-fresh.com/lunch.html

Yesterday I worked at my voluntary job. It's only 15 minutes up the road but I took everything I needed to sustain me throughout the day. I made my backyard sandwich - mashed up boiled egg with a touch of mayo, salt and pepper, red and green lettuce, freshly picked. I roasted some cashews, put them in one of the small containers, erm, side cars and made a fresh garden salad for the other side car. I added a slice of the date and walnut loaf I made on Sunday and took a thermos of black organic tea. Today I'm making two special napkins to take to work so I won't have to use a tissue like I did yesterday. The lunch was perfect. Later in month, as it gets colder, I'll take soup and other warm leftovers.

Not only did I feel great about having a varied and fresh lunch that I knew was local, it also cost a fraction of what I would have paid for a sandwich at the local coffee shop. Add all those sandwiches up over the course of a year, and it's quite a saving.

Here are some sources of BYO lunch inspiration:

http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/
http://www.fabulousfoods.com/features/brnbag/brnbag.html
http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg0996/bagtips.html