Misadventures in Interning: 1
I am terrible at coming up with titles. So maybe this "Misadventures in..." will become a theme every time I do a "personal" post, regardless of whether it's a (mis)adventure or not.
Anyways, the last time I interned was when I was living in NY, and the nearby supermarkets really left a lot to be desired. So I mostly subsisted in the office on the snacks that were made available (awesome) and on food I bought in the cafeteria. But now the place that I'm living in has a gigantic supermarket within a 5 minute walking distance. So I've reverted to being back in elementary school and am having a lot of fun buying food and planning for breakfasts and snacks to bring with me to work. Honestly, I feel like what I'm eating on a daily basis is also healthier than I'm used to at home. (Albeit much less delicious.)
My best friends these days are "snack-size" or "individually packaged" items. Granola bars, hummus and pita chip kits, individual servings of guacamole(!) and peanut butter, etc. It's amazing what's available now. Although the environmentalist in me feels bad about the extra packaging, at least I'm not wasting anything by opening a container of something that I won't be able to finish within a few days. (I'm looking at you, guacamole.)
I'm also planning combinations. Like, I have crackers and apples (to be sliced at the office) that I bring with a container of peanut butter for a surprisingly filling snack. Or pretzel chips to eat with my office jar of Nutella. (Yes, I do have one of those. And it is amazing.) Or carrot sticks to eat with my extra hummus.
I even bought myself Tupperware so that I could individually portion out food items to take with me each day - like trail mix, banana chips, corn puffs.
I also try to be well-balanced. So I'll make sure to have fresh fruits/vegetables. You really can't beat bananas for the convenience. And include some yogurt or a cheese stick or a hard-boiled (cage-free) egg. They're all quite filling and super easy to get together.
I've realized that something I really like in the morning is juice. So I'm going to try juice boxes (I definitely had those Tropicana ones when I was in school) and filling a bottle from larger containers.
I love Trader Joe's so much. I am most sad that there isn't a Trader Joe's closer to me.
Is this me becoming a grown up while planning snacks like I had in elementary school? (Ironically enough, I always hated most of these things when I was young. Most days I would bring back my whole lunch bag uneaten.) But then, if I don't have plans at night, I normally justify having pizza or something terrible for me by thinking about what I had during the day. (Or a frozen meal.) So... meal planning is obviously not quite there yet. I suppose a next challenge would be figuring out how much I spend on food... One thing at a time.