Cold Tea does not warm the cockles of your heart

This entire week I have had a cup of coffee in the morning. Unlike the average American, I can not drink the entire travel mug in one sitting. In fact, it takes about four reheatings in the microwave over a 6 hour span to finally finish the cup of joe. Some people find this revolting, I don't see a problem.

However, every morning around 10 am - I don't have time to stop at the microwave, so I am forced to sip freezing cold coffee. This isn't the same as "iced coffee". Do not be fooled. This coffee used to be hot, then warm, moved to average temperature, and quickly slid the slope to freezing. It is not pleasant.
This morning, however, my tea was warm at 10:53 am! How can this be? It was made at 5:55 AM, and I hardly had time to sip it - yet it was still pleasantly warm. Some would argue the steam showed it was hot.

That is because this morning - I used a thermos! What a concept.
The thought of thermos excite me. However, it also seemed somewhat messy. You constantly have to pour your coffee/tea beverage into the lid, then put the lid back on the container if you aren't finished. Needless to say, there are tea rings on my desk. Yet, my drink was warm! My throat enjoyed the beverage. This gave me a new crusade.

After researching thermos, I came across Kate Spade thermos. Now usually I could care less about name brands. In fact, I don't like them because they are usually completely out of my teeny tiny itty bitty budget. But the polka dots in the metal stautue called to me! "Kaarrrraaaa - Buy me!" I loved it!
Now onto food....

The thermos insulates the food keeping it warm so I can still have some of my favorite foods from home!

What's in your Thermos?

The trick to using your thermos for hot foods is to "pre-heat" by putting hot water in the thermos and sealing it for 10-15 minutes prior to putting food in. Now you are ready and here are some ideas:

Tortellini and pesto sauce
Spaghetti
Mac 'N' Cheese
Hot oatmeal
Lasagna
Chili
Chicken nuggets with dip
Rice 'N Beans
Risotto with Chicken
Baked beans & little dogs
Warm chicken salad
Taco meat or beans with chips on the side
Minced meat tofu stew
Sloppy Joes (my picky eater loves this recipe, go figure! Recipe)
Hot Cocoa (what a treat!)

OR you could use your thermos for cold items:

Yogurt and fresh fruit
Tuna salad
Fruit smoothies (Recipes)
Waldorf Salad (my favorite!)

Either way, this concept of using a thermos each and every morning never occurred to me. doof. I think from now on, I will be sporting it - and avoiding the microwave a bit more :)