Do you bring your lunch to work?

Since I was in grade school, I have always been a brown-bag lunch kind of person. In school, it was because I didn't like the cafeteria food. In college, I would steal food from the dining hall due to my college student poverty. Now, in the working world, my decision to continue to bring my own lunch is a combination of saving time, saving money, and being comforted knowing what exactly I am eating. I have always been a snacker, too, so I bring a bunch of stuff to keep me going through the day.
I am also a creature of habit, so the above picture pretty much represents what is in my lunch bag each day. I'll have yogurt in the morning, sometimes with granola. Then, for a mid-morning snack, I'll reach for the Odwalla granola bar (Berries GoMega is one of my favorites but their Banana Nut is great too). Lunch is usually a salad of some sort of one of those portable soups you can get from Healthy Choice. Then the rest of the contents (usually consisting of fruit, nuts, some kind of sweets) are spread out over the day... not pictured is my iced coffee which I also usually make at home in the morning. And I try to keep a full candy dish at work since I can't go a day without the stuff! Moderation is key.
Do you bring your lunch or buy your lunch? What do you eat during the work day?

Workout Queen's Spicy Sauteed Garbanzos with Meat

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. ground beef 
  
• 1 tsp. plus 1 Tbl. extra virgin olive oil
  
• 1/2 tsp of your favorite meat seasoning
  
• 2 cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drain and save liquid 
  
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
  
• 1/2 tsp. ground chipotle chile powder, more or less to taste
  
• 1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
  
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
  
• *optional: 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish if desired
  

Directions:

1. Drain chickpeas and save the liquid.
   
2. Heat 1 tsp. olive oil in a large deep trying pan over high heat
3. Add ground beef, crumbling into pieces as you put it into the pan. Add seasoning.
4. As you cook the meat, make sure to break it up into small pieces.
5. When the meat is browning and is broken up, add the garbanzos. 
6. Keep the heat high, saute meat and garbanzos together until meat is well browned and garbanzos start to change to brown. (10-15 minutes depending on stove temperature. (if the mixture starts to stick turn down the heat a little.)
7. Add ground cumin, ground chile powder, and minced garlic. Mix it all around. 
8. Cook for about a minute more. 
9. Add garbanzo liquid now to the mixture. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any meat from the pan.
10. Season with salt and pepper, then reduce heat and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated (about 10-15 minutes)
11. Turn off heat and serve hot.
12. *optional: Stir in chopped cilantro and the 1 T olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Commentary:

I'm BAAAACKKK!! Yes, boys and girls...after just completing a half-marathon, I am back in action and ready to cook for YOU!! During my 8 weeks of training I was trying to figure out ways to give my body the proper nutrition it needs to be energized and ready for super-training action. So I read this book Food for Fitness: Eat Right to Train Right By: Chris Carmichael's, and if there is anything like a training BIBLE...this is it. If you're training hard, pick yourself up a copy because it really helped me to get to know what and how I should be eating, especially to replenish depleted carbs and proteins from my body. This recipe is perfect to boost up the carbs because of the garbanzos and has a great amount of protein as well. The ground beef is high in protein as well, so this meal is quite nutritious and I would eat it as a lunch (before working-out) or a dinner before a good training day to come. It's flavorful, tasty and gives your body what it needs to stay focused and motivated. Don't think I'm going to slack on you guys anymore, cause I'm definitely not! We are just at the beginning of a triathlon season, and it's time to get-in-SHAPE!!! (By the way, my camera broke, so sorry that my pictures are terrible) Comment and let me know what you think!