Chaudywogbaaga

Most people that know me, know that I don’t like being hungry. I tend to have a lot of snacks at my desk, I also avoid the vending machines because they are expensive compared to running to the store and picking up drinks in a six pack. I also have avoided the refrigerator here at work. I never trusted that people would leave my food alone.

What I’m getting at is one, I hate not eating lunch and two, I would like to eat decent food that is not expensive. I’ve used a bunch of store bought instant meals but most of the half way decent ones are very expensive for the amount of food in them in relation to if I was cooking a meal at home.

So how can I make a decent meal at work in a very short amount of time (so I actually have time to eat) that is as inexpensive as a meal I would make at home? Some ideas after the link.

Follow up:

One of the main function of a pre-made meal is actually not the food. Really! The main feature is the container. After I’m done eating, I throw away the dish/plate. In the end this is often the source of the extra cost. Usually disposable dishes like Styrofoam doesn’t hold up to cooking a meal in. Maybe paper could but my gut says no. So if we’re not using a disposable dish what can be used? I’ve tried tupperware, sure it works, but for some reason I don’t like hauling it around the office. It’s awkward. I want an iPod of the food world.

I thought about this for a while and realized that I never have a problem walking around with a coffee cup. But a coffee cup is not big enough to hold enough food. I have used bigger Styrofoam cups to make oatmeal in but making lunch is not that easy in one. Either the heat or the stresses I’ve put on the cups made them feel less than solid. Besides, I didn’t like throwing them away. It’s a waste.

I ended up with a ceramic Latte cup. Its tall rather than wide, about the size of a travel mug. It has a handle on the side that makes carrying it even when scalding hot possible. So far the only thing that I’m not happy with is that I have to wash it out after I’m done eating. It doesn’t have the throw away convenience. Still, I’m not throwing away Styrofoam and it’s great for cooking food in.

So thats the container, what about the food?

My first super cheap meal was Ramen Noddles. Not very healthy but it’s food. I was getting the little cups that they sell and you tear off the top and microwave it. Then one day I saw that the Coffee maker at work had a hot water spigot on the side. I used that instead of the microwave. I could nearly instantly fill the cup with hot water and just wait until the noodles absorbed it. Then, one day I ran out of cups and we had some of the noodle bricks at home. I put it in Tupperware and used the hot water like I had before. It worked perfectly. I was saving money by just using the bricks. The Tupperware was awkward as mentioned before and my fingers would burn as I carried it back to my desk. I also didn’t trust washing it at work (I don’t know why on that one, it just felt wrong).

I can easily get tired of Ramen but as an emergency food it’s a lifesaver. It was thinking about the Ramen and how I’d like something with more variety and maybe a bit healthier. This is when I started thinking about my food iPod, which still isn’t perfect, but my Latte Cup is serviceable so far.

With the cup I could use the Lipton Bag of noodles in the cup. It has to be the varieties that don’t need milk and the butter is always optional. This was a trick my friends and I picked up while backpacking in the woods. They don’t require anything but hot water, are inexpensive (especially the generics) and don’t need refrigeration.

I put a little hot water in the cup (this is a little technique to keep things from sticking to the bottom of the cup), pour in the rice or noodles in the package and then fill 3/4 of the way to the top with hot water from the coffee machine. I don’t know if the rice and noodles will cook by themselves at this point because the microwave directions say to cook for 14 minutes (I’ll have to try this one day) so I put it in the microwave for two minutes. Any more and the cup will boil over. I top off the cup with hot water from the coffee machine and let the whole thing sit for five to ten minutes at my desk. A meal in a cup!

I also carry a can opener in my Leatherman Wave. I almost smacked myself when I realized that I could be quickly cooking anything in a can in my cup. Canned spaghetti, Corn beef hash, baked beans and I can add tunafish to Ramen and have something respectable to eat. They’re not gourmet meals but they make it possible to make it through the day and now I have a lot of variety on a very low budget.

So what could be improved? I still have to was my cup and I would like to use my camp silverware to eliminate plastic cutlery but thats more washing. What I’d love is a way to wash my cup without water so I don’t need the sink. I don’t know how to do that yet but I’m working on it.