Oh office lunch. Why aren't you more delicious? I try to bring my lunch to work every day. That's because buying lunch in Midtown Manhattan can run you around 10 dollars. I did the math on what that would cost me per month and then I had my memory erased because the number was so horrific. (No, not really, but it's way too much.)

So what to pack for lunch that's not boring? I'll often just pack leftovers from dinner, but on days when there are no leftovers, I draw a blank. And a blank mind first thing in the morning is not going to get you fed a lunchtime. That's why I came up with this handy list of packed lunch ideas.

Here's a dilemma I hate: I'm hungry for a snack. I don't like what's in the vending machine because it's mostly junk food and I'm trying to be skinny. So I go out -- and that's when my choices start getting expensive. Six dollars for a smoothie, three dollars for a bag of nuts, two dollars for a freakin' granola bar?

Feh! If I just plan ahead a little I could really save some dough.

We grabbed some great tips from FitSugar for homemade snacks that can save us dough (and that won't show up around our waistlines). Then came up with a few of our own. Have you ever made these?

I have been a vegetarian for as long as I can remember. I would cry if my parents tried to make me eat meat. By the time I entered my tweens, I just refused any meat at all, even bits of bacon sprinkled on something. My grandmother, alarmed by this, brought me to a doctor when I was 11. The doctor ran a battery of blood tests. Back came the verdict: I was perfectly healthy, and he told her to let me eat what I wanted. For good measure, he gave her a list of "high protein foods" like beans and peanuts, that I should get, but I don't recall anyone bothering about making sure I ate them.

Fast forward to today, and I'm still mostly vegetarian (I occasionally eat fish) and sometimes vegan. I finally broke down and began eating cheese made with milk again, after years of tasteless vegan cheese. I also eat yogurt. (True vegans don't eat dairy products.)

Big news, Slurpee fans: 7-11 has revealed the new "Slurpee Lite." It's sugar-free, and it comes in mango or wild cherry. Oh man, the 20-year-old me would have flooded all of Provo, Utah with tears of gratitude at the sight of that Slurpee Lite.

I kicked sugar my junior year in college. It wasn't for reasons of skinny -- I just felt like sugar was making me crazy. Too many mood swings and crashes, not enough sleep at night. So I stopped and I felt amazing. Then one fateful day I got a craving for Slurpees. I was overcome with amnesia, forgot all about my sugar ban, and had myself a tall frosty one (Coke, if you must know). An hour later the realization of what I'd done along with the horrific sugar crash sent me into a colossal shame spiral.

If only they'd had sugar-free Slurpees back then. Or maybe they had those saccharine Slurpees already? Anyway, what I'm wondering is which artificial sweetener are they using for Slurpee Lite now?

I'm an on-the-go sorta woman. When I'm in a rush, I'm always jonesin' for great snacks to grab on my way out the door. That's where high-fiber snack bars come in. Helloooo awesomeness! Fiber fills you up, aids with digestion, and with summer rapidly approaching, could be just the golden ticket you need to help beat the bloat.

So what are some of the best options on the market? Not to worry, your friends here at The Stir tried out nine of today's top brands. The big question: If something's high in fiber, does that mean it can taste good too? We had faith!

From Fiber One and Kashi to Luna and Kind bars -- check out which bars came out on top in our taste test, here:

Image via Emily Abbate

Does the label "natural" mean anything to you when you see it plastered on a package of food?

There was quite a dust-up in the cereal aisle over this question last week. A grocer in Portsmouth, RI pulled Kashi cereal from his shelves and posted a sign explaining why:

You might be wondering where your favorite Kashi cereals have gone. It has recently come to our attention that 100% of the soy used in Kashi products is genetically modified, and that when the USDA tested the grains used there were found to be pesticides that are known carcinogens and hormone disruptors.

Someone posted a photo of that sign and it went viral -- which triggered an anti-Kashi backlash online. People were shocked because Kashi cereals have that "natural" health food halo. Was this a case of false advertising? Or is this just another case of food labeling being utterly meaningless?

Are you a fan of meat? Or just eating as if you lived like a caveman, which means, meat? Then perhaps you've been tempted to try the Paleo diet, which cuts out anything (most anything) that was not around during the time period pre-processed foods. On the surface, this sounds kind of good. Processed foods are the devil! Ditch processed foods!

Here's what else you have to avoid on the Paleo diet: Refined sugars, starchy vegetables like potatoes, grains, legumes, dairy, some oils, and some people cut out alcohol. So we're kind of talking about the Atkins diet but with even more restrictions.

Personally, I couldn't do it but I know people who have and they seem to love it. Like this blogger and diabetic, Steve Cooksey who is being threatened with jail time for advocating the Paleo way of life. Seems like an extreme reaction to a diet you don't like, right?

Who makes the healthiest salads? You do, at home, of course. But when you eat out -- ever wonder what the best choice would be?

I was perusing a handly little infographic on eating at the wrong place and time when I came across some surprising information about the Chicken Caesar Salads we get when we eat out. If you had to guess, which salads do you think would be highest in calories -- the salad at a fast food restaurant or the salad at a casual dining restaurant?