BROWN-BAGGING IT

My husband's a ship's captain so he goes to work a month or more at a time, and has a cook aboard ship. But when he's home he fills in on our local ferry when somebody needs a day off. On those days, he takes a lunch to work. THIS IS WHY I LOVE LEFTOVERS, which also makes to-go food a suitable subject for a blog about eating in! Kevin's always willing to take leftovers to work, particularly if they're from two nights before, so that he isn't eating the same thing two days in a row.

He's a big salad eater, too, and for the longest time he thought I was slaving over these amazing salads that the other guys were jealously eyeing. He finally figured out that I was buying small containers of different salads at the deli, which I emptied onto a bed of organic greens. If a bit more dressing was needed, I simply picked a complementary commercial dressing from the fridge or used oil & vinegar.

The deli salad might be all veggies, such as a Greek salad, or even a rice or noodle based salad. It gave him a great variety - never boring - and saved lots of time. Dressings I like to keep in the fridge: Ginger-Sesame for Asian salads, poppyseed for fruity spinach salads, Greek or Italian which are good for many salad varieties, and a simple Balsamic Vinaigrette which you can use any time you don't know what else to use - for example, over Moroccan Chickpea Salad on greens. If I haven't been to the deli recently and just have greens left, I top them with Pear-Bleu Cheese dressing - it's so delicious he can't complain about the lack of other ingredients.

Now my son is working, too, and he works 12hr shifts. He gets up at 4 in the morning and never takes time to eat before he's out the door, on the way to the ferry on his bike in the dark, to cross to the seaplane terminal where he has his first real job, as a dockhand. Even packing two meals for him, he comes home ravenous. And I'm finding he's a bit more challenging to feed than his dad. He's not wild about sandwiches, doesn't like leftovers other than pizza. At work he only has access to a microwave and boiling water. Even though I loathe microwaves (I don't trust them, health-wise, and no longer have one in my house), I realize that it's the only way for my son to heat or cook his food at work, so I'm having to be flexible. And I do admit to loving the easy option of sending a frozen entree with him occasionally, but I do not want him eating two frozen packaged microwave meals a day - I'd feel like I was poisoning my child. And a hot breakfast isn't the easiest meal to brown-bag without turning to frozen sausage biscuits or other unhealthy packaged entrees. So I found a variety pack of organic instant oatmeal which he & his dad both enjoy, today I packed a hearty vegan muffin for him, but for tomorrow I'm going to try something different.

He loves eggs - LOVES eggs. So tonight I'm going to use a refrigerator container, or maybe even just a ziploc bag, to hold a couple of raw eggs, scrambled, with a splash of water, salt & pepper, and I'll send a mug or measuring cup for him to cook them in. He'll have hot scrambled eggs for breakfast. I'll fry a package of bacon (free range, no hormones) this afternoon and send a couple of slices with him which he can crumble into the eggs or eat on the side. Less than 2 minutes in the microwave and he'll have a hot, hearty breakfast.

Let me know your ideas for healthy meals to go - dineintable@gmail.com.