Packed Lunch and Poodles

we have more than the average number of pets. two orange cats (littermates who are quite nearly identical), a golden retriever, and a standard poodle. they are a massive pain in my rear end often, but i do love them. it's amazing how very different each of their personalities are. today we are going to talk about my poodle. his name is appa (named after the ten ton flying white fluffy sky bison in Avatar: The Last Airbender). he is fluffy and white and loving. he is spring loaded - as in, he gets excited and bounces up and down. it's hilarious. sometimes we get frustrated with him - and this happens.

he was trying to love and snuggle forcefully, resulting in him attempting to climb over skyler. so skyler just captured him and suspended him like this. in the first picture, appa hasn't figured out what's going on. in the second one, he's protesting (he is very...vocal). and can we just stop for a moment and admire how handsome my husband is?!

silly poodle. let's talk packed lunch! since classes are over for the week, i haven't packed any snacks for me, but monkeyman still eats at work. his lunchbox gets plenty of use.

 clockwise from left: turkey spanakopita meatballs and roasted veggies, freeze dried apple snacks, raspberry fage greek yogurt, trail mix with extra walnuts and banana chips, whole wheat blueberry fig snack bar, carrots with peanut butter, and edamame with shichimi togarashi.

all packed up.

i'm so glad we made the switch to glass pyrex containers for his main meals instead of plastic. i would hate to risk scary things leeching into his food whenever he reheated it (he always reheats his meals, thanks to access to a microwave). plus the plastic was gross and stained and gnarly. it would be nice to move towards using less plastic in his lunches - like the baggies the carrots and trail mix are packed in. but honestly i have to be considerate of the fact that it just isn't terribly practical for skyler to be able to bring a zillion little dishes and things home. he often has to grab snacks on the move, and keeping up with dishes and reusable bags isn't terribly practical. i also understand individual snacks are a money suck. the freeze dried snacks from costco are one of his favorite things (they are delicious, though i try to reserve them for his lunches), and the peanut butter to go packs are actually comparable in price per ounce to the jars (provided i buy in bulk from costco). i get the edamame from costco too - a dozen of the bags you see in the picture for about nine dollars. such a yummy and healthy snack. also, sky only likes flavored yogurt. we typically buy individual greek yogurts from trader joe's or chobani greek yogurt from target when it's on sale 10/$10. this way is cheaper per serving for the flavor he loves (raspberry) than getting a larger container of the raspberry chobani which i've never seen on sale.

being conscientious of cost and value is often on our mind. it's important to us to save money where we can without sacrificing quality or health, so that we can have the peace of mind that comes with an emergency fund, and also be able to travel or purchase things when we need/want something. we save money packing food so we can enjoy going to get sushi or pizza more often, or so i can say "i just don't want to cook/eat my own cooking, can we go out or order in?" and not feel bad. things like this (and other bargain hunting) allow us to take care of our pets, purchase quality, dependable things, and have some fun. for example, we bought a top of the line bed just the other day and have a trip to vegas planned with my bestie and her husband. it's amazing what a little planning can help you accomplish!

(those with food intolerances know what i mean by planning. if you want to eat, you plan for it before you leave the house. "i'll just grab something when i get there" pretty much never works.)