Brown Bagging It

The past three years, I have spent nearly all of my meals eating something that someone has prepared for more...in other words I never cook. People back home would always ask me about this and be surprised that I usually ate out. And it's that I NEVER cooked, but the times I did were so few and far between that they don't really count.

So meals in Taiwan have typically looked like this: a doughnut or prepackaged pastry for breakfast, the school lunch that is delivered to my office, and then going out to supper at a restaurant.

Let me justify myself. Going out in Taiwan is a little bit more economical than in America, so I never really have felt bad about this, plus it is a nice way to socialize. In addition the school lunch is under $1 per day, so it is impossible to argue the dollars and cents about that one. And breakfast...hmmm, breakfast. I never ate breakfast during college or my first 2 years in Taiwan, so I figured prepackaged pastries was a step up from nothing, right?

Now that I have totally justified my laziness, I want to share that I am turning over a new leaf. I have decided to cook my own breakfast before going to school. I am going to make eggs, toast, and have some fruit, in addition to other things that I might be able to figure out throughout the year. I am also planning on bringing a sack lunch most days to school. I have been making sandwhiches, both ham and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly. In addition to the sandwhich I pack some fruits and vegetables.

I came to this conclusion after realizing that I was sick of eating the school lunch, which is always rice, meat, and some vegetables. It's not that it is terrible, and in fact there are some times when I enjoy it. However, I have mostly grown tired of eating it and want to have sandwhiches and fresh fruit, which is more similar to what I used to pack during my days of student teaching.

I have one week down of packing lunches and have started week two. So far so delicious. Now if I would ever start to cook on my own in the evenings...