9 Ways to Hack Your Brown-Bag Lunch

Are you trying to cut costs by bringing, rather than buying, your workday lunch? Kudos to you. It's definitely a money-saver -- in fact, you could save over $1,000 per year just by brown-bagging it three times a week. You can even calculate the cost of your homemade sandwich to prove the savings to yourself.

But let's face it: Bringing your own lunch can get boring, not to mention tedious. After all, you have to do the grocery shopping, engineer your meal every morning (or night before, if you're a planner), and hope your goodies don't get squashed on the commute.

It doesn't have to be that way. Here are some ideas on how to hack your DIY lunch so your meal is a daily treat, not a trial.

Start a lunch pool. Find four other colleagues willing to participate, and have each one pick a day to make lunch for the group. It's a great way to add some variety to the mix and skip four out of five days of prep work.

Spice up your spreads. If a sandwich is your stand-by, add a little sizzle with gourmet mustard, cilantro mayonnaise, sun-dried tomato spread, horseradish, hummus, spreadable cheese, or even salad dressing.

Up the crunch factor. Add seeds or nuts to your soups, salads, and pastas -- even to your sandwiches. The texture will make your food more satisfying and seem more filling.

Warm up to the microwave. Even a boring sandwich takes on more personality when it's got warm, melted cheese inside. And toasty leftovers beats cold sliced chicken any day.

Banish the sog. Wilted salads? Not any more. Just separate your ingredients into plastic containers (or plastic baggies) and assemble your salad at the office. Or invest in a special container, like the Fit & Fresh Salad Shaker, that lets you keep the dressing separate and the salad nicely chilled.

Recycle your dinners. Cook a little extra in the evening and voila -- you'll have tasty leftovers to bring to work in the morning.

Don't skip the soup. A hearty soup can be incredibly satisfying on a cold (or tough) day in the office. Homemade rocks, but there are plenty of "just add water" packaged versions out there that'll do the trick, too.

Go gourmet. If you can cook, there's no reason not to make your bagged lunch a fine-dining experience. Build a panini, create a gorgeous pesto pasta, or grill up some seasoned veggies. Need inspiration? Check out these recipes for a better brown bag lunch from three New York chefs.

Think outside the (sandwich) box. Tired of two slices of whole wheat, mayo, mustard, ham, cheese, and tomato? Sandwiches come in infinite varieties. Try a different kind of bread - baguette, sourdough roll, ciabbata, focaccia, pita, tortilla. Swap out your American cheese for some brie, Havarti, or goat's cheese. How about sun-dried tomatoes instead of fresh? Or turn to the doyenne of food for ideas: Martha Stewart offers 25 great sandwich ideas, plus new takes on salads and lunchbox treats.

If you've got other ideas for improving your brown-bag lunch, share them with the Team Taskmaster readers in the comments section.

(image by Melyviz via Flickr, CC 2.0)