I have a microwave at my office space rental, but I'm on the road a lot with my job, so I've looked into many different solutions. There are a variety of options available.

Non-electronic storage:

They make a squattier version of the Thermos you have from RTIC, which is what I sometimes use:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DRP86T1

Spoon for size comparison:

https://i.imgur.com/AR4itKB.jpg

It's not so deep that I can't get a spoon in. It'd be nice if it were a little wider, but it does the job. A bit smaller than your Thermos at 17 ounces. Pinnacle Thermoware sells insulated a pretty nice insulated bowl set, if you specifically want a bowl shape:

https://www.amazon.com/Pinnacle-Serving-Salad-Soup-Dish/dp/B07RT1X47C/

If you need more food than just one bowl can hold, Ailijin makes a 2-bowl, single-tote insulated solution: (kind of a round bento-style)

https://www.amazon.com/AILIJIN-Leakproof-Insulated-Stainless-Portable/dp/B07QQ9JYG3/

If you need to heat up a soup before you go to put into an insulated storage container, I use one of these vented microwave mugs, so it doesn't explode all over the inside of my microwave when heating up:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F5IC478/

Electronic storage:

Beyond that, there are 3 common electronic options, depending on what power you have available: (12V in a car or an A/C wall plug)

1. Crockpot Lunch Crock (A/C power)
   
2. RoadPro 300F lunchbox oven (12V car power)
   
3. HotLogic lunchbox oven (A/C power, car-compatible A/C, or 75w+ inverter for car power)
   
   The Crockpot unit is basically like your Thermos, except you plug it in to heat it, and it has a pretty nice wide bowl size. My buddy has one & it's pretty dang handy! My brother has the RoadPro, as he's on the road all day long, and it's super nice because it does a pretty decent job (heats up to 300F, basically like a mini oven), so you can heat up burritos, melt cheesy stuff like lasagna, etc.
   
   The HotLogic is nice because instead of just being a mini portable crockpot, it's also a mini oven, and can be used from a wall plug, a newer-vehicle 2-prong car plug, or with a 75-watt (minimum) inverter. There's a good Facebook group available as well! It heats up to 218F & then holds the food at 180F, so it's more for reheating food than cooking food, like the RoadPro can do (HotLogic says you can cook chicken breast in it in about 2 hours, but ehhh...), but it's also a bit more versatile as you can plug it directly into the wall an hour before lunch & have your food ready to go without needing a microwave or toaster oven.
   
   Homemade soup:
   
   If you're into soup & haven't heard of Souper Cubes, it's basically a silicone ice cube tray with 1/2-cup & 1-cup markings (4 per tray) & lids, plus a wire frame around the top to hold it together, which makes portioning out bulk soup cooks super easy:
   
   https://www.soupercubes.com/
   
   I mean, just look at this insanity:
   
   https://www.instagram.com/p/B0cU_UFBSQp/
   
   Also, if you're into making soups at home, the Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker) is my BFF...it makes cooking soup a lot faster & more automated (aka easier overall!). Poaching from another one of my posts, here are some soup ideas: (I use the IP for soups, stews, bisques, broths, stocks, etc.)
   
   

• Ham & bean
  
• Vegetable beef
  
• Chili con carne (chili is just thick soup...lol)
  
• Olive Garden's creamy chicken gnocchi
  
• Broccoli cheddar potato soup
  
• Asian chicken noodle
  
  Some ideas for soup toppings & easy no-knead breads:
  
  
• Ranch oyster crackers
  
• Cheese & onion roasted chickpeas
  
• Homemade flavored croutons
  
• Crusty rolls
  
• Ciabatta bread
  
  Also if you're trying to get more veggies in your diet, check out this master guide on making blended soups in the Instant Pot, definitely worth a read:
  
  https://allthenourishingthings.com/make-blended-soup-instant-pot/
  
  I tend to make soup about once a week in my Instant Pot at home, then freeze it in my Souper Cube containers, and keep a stash of different varieties in my freezer so I can just grab one & go. When you have a solid storage system setup (electronic or non-electronic), it makes the whole process pretty dang easy:
  
  

1. Store a variety of soup flavors at home (Souper Cubes or canned soup)
   
2. Heat it up in the vented mug if you need it hot before you leave
   
3. Put it into your container of choice
   
4. Heat up your container (if needed) & enjoy!
   
   For me, it's really about nailing down a solid process & taking care of all of the little annoying details. Like you said, the tall insulated mugs are too small to get a spoon into & eat out of, so you have to find something better that meets the needs of your individual situation better. Then, setting up a system to support convenience means you can always have a variety of soups to grab before you leave the house, whether it's a can that you heat up in a vented mug & store in a food thermos or a frozen Souper Cube that you toss in a Crockpot Lunch Crock & plug in before lunch!

Fall is in full swing which means it's PUMPKIN time! This muffins are made with coconut flour and almond flour and sweetened with monk fruit and allulose. So tasty and just 3g net carb, 1g of sugar, and 170 calories per muffin.

Recipe Source: Low Carb Keto Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (includes pictures, tips, and full nutrition facts)

RECIPE: GLUTEN FREE & KETO PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

SERVINGS: 12 MUFFINS (170 CALORIES EACH)

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES

BAKE TIME: 25 MINUTES

TOTAL TIME: 35 MINUTES

INGREDIENTS

We were able to grab all of our ingredients from a local Walmart, but you can find the ingredients in most grocery stores or online on Amazon.

• 1/2 cup (56g) Coconut flour (we used Walmart’s Great Value Organic Coconut Flour)
  
• 1/2 cup (56g) Blanched almond flour (we used Nature’s Eats Blanched Almond Flour but Blue Diamond Almond Flour works as well)
  
• 2/3 cup (140g) AlluMonk Allulose & Monk Fruit Sweetener (Hoosier Hill Farms Allulose is also a viable choice if you want to skip the monk fruit; Lakanto’s Monk Fruit Sweetener with Erythritol is another option)
  
• 1 Tablespoon (14g) Baking powder
  
• 1 Tablespoon (6g) Pumpkin pie spice (we used Walmart’s Great Value Organic Pumpkin Pie Spice)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon (3g) Sea salt
  
• 4 large Eggs (200g)
  
• 3/4 cup (180g) Pumpkin puree (we used Walmart’s Great Value 100% Pure Canned Pumpkin)
  
• 1/2 cup (113g or 1 stick) Unsalted butter
  
• 1 teaspoon (4.3g) Vanilla extract (we used McCormick All Natural Pure Vanilla Extract)
  
• 1/4 cup (45g) Unsweetened chocolate chips (we used Bake Believe Dark Chocolate Chips, but Lily’s Dark Chocolate Baking Chips or Pascha 100% Cacao Chips could also work!)
  
  

  INSTRUCTIONS
  

  
  

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line your muffin baking pan with 12 muffin baking cups.
   
2. Microwave the butter for 30 seconds to soften, but it should not be melted if possible. Stir in the eggs, pumpkin puree, melted butter, and vanilla extract until completely incorporated.
   
3. In a separate bowl, stir together the coconut flour, almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and sea salt. Make sure there are no clumps. Stir into wet mixture.
   
4. Stir in your chocolate chips.
   
5. Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin cups and smooth the tops. (They should be almost full, not 2/3 or 3/4 full)
   
6. Bake for about 25 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean and the muffins are very slightly golden around the edges.
   
   Recipe Source: Low Carb Keto Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I use 2 to 3 cups of rice which probably makes for about 10 - 18 servings. I typically have a bowl of rice every few days or so, which it's up lasting me about 2 weeks. If I'm sharing with a group it'll last less time of course. This is the exact cooker I have, https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CPC-600-Electric-Pressure-Stainless/dp/B000MPA044/ref=sr_1_4?crid=22OPXIM6VHEJ1&keywords=pressure+cooker+cuisinart&qid=1562420388&s=gateway&sprefix=pressure+cooker+cuisinar%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-4 , but there are others out there. Instant Pot seems to be the most common one out there these days but I've had this one prior to that one came to the market.

​

If you do get one, which you definitely should, i HIGHLY recommend checking out this website, https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/ . It's been a lifesaver in terms of cooking near-perfect meals, like rice, meats, etc. Their recipes are written using the scientific method, meaning they experiment with different techniques (quick release value vs natural release; more vs less time, etc). It's been hugely valuable in terms of getting your food to come perfect. I guarantee if you follow their instructions you'll come out with the same results that they do, or close to it. Serious eats also has some nice articles on pressure cookers.

Gotta get it how ya live it. Also, the cups in the middle for the “sour cream” aka plain Greek yogurt and sauce are 2 oz deli cups. They fit just as well in the containers and are great for storing dressing if you wanted to put a salad or something of the sort in a container. They work pretty well for Jell-O shots too lol. I either hand wash them or throw them in the dishwasher.

I hope you find something!

Amazon also has some decent-priced containers:

[18 PACK VALUE] MiscHome 2 Compartment Meal Prep Containers | 32 Oz. Two Compartment Food Storage Containers with Lids | BPA Free Bento Boxes | Stackable Meal Prep Containers Two Compartment https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BF3KBF9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_0S6mDbGFY2WCW

And

Enther Meal Prep Containers [20 Pack] 36oz 3 Compartment with Lids, Food Storage Bento Box BPA Free/Reusable/Stackable Lunch Planning, Microwave/Freezer/Dishwasher Safe, Portion Control, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072B9F7W4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_eU6mDbCB17HHZ

Some tips/comments for anyone interested in doing something similar:

• Make sure you have enough freezer space. Our fridge freezer can only hold about 30 boxes (and that's if it's crammed full), so we had to buy a small standalone freezer to hold the rest.
  
  
• Pick meals that freeze & reheat well. I didn't do that the first time around, and had a couple of meals that were not so great. Pasta seems to freeze and reheat really well, for example. Cream or cheese based recipes...not so much. This time around I did some research online to get an idea of what works well - lots of people out there with tips and suggestions on freezer meals.
  
  
• Next time we do this, we plan to split it out over two days, just so that it doesn't turn into a whole day effort. Day one: brownies, one meal, and any cutting/prep we can do. Second day will be the rest of the meals, and plating.
  
  
• If you have a slowcooker, that's a good way to do one meal with minimal effort.
  
  
• We basically used every pot, pan, and cooking utensil in the house.
  
  
• The boxes we used are these ones. The lids are a bit of a pain to get on, but once on properly, they work fine.
  
  
• We use a dry erase marker to write down the meal name and the date.
  
  
• Cost: can't be exact, but this was roughly $150 at the store (with some non-prep groceries mixed in that total, so I'd estimate closer to $130 for just these meals). We're still filling in some blanks in our pantry, too, like sugar/flour, some spices, etc., so some of those are upfront costs that will apply to future recipes, rather than being a normal monthly cost. I'd estimate, though, that if this month and last month are typical, that it will cost roughly $100 - $130 a month to do 5 separate meals.

I hate handling raw meat as well and how I get around it is I've purchased a container of the no-powder-latex-free gloves like you see at the doctor's office and wear them when handling raw meat.

https://www.amazon.com/AMMEX-X3D44100-BX-Nitrile-Gloves-Disposable/dp/B00CF4AFQI/

Then you 'proper' sterile removal technique I prefer the double fold:
https://youtu.be/dyLEd9cng5U?t=51

Just an idea; Also you can google easy meal prep ideas. I personally love these ones that are 'no cook' for lunches:
https://sweetpeasandsaffron.com/lunch-box-recipes/

​

Hope this helps!

I box 'em up and put it in a cooler. I have a fridge and limited stove privileges where I stay for the weekdays so that helps. Costco uncooked chapati gets a couple of minutes on a plancha then some hummus and lettuce or other veg. It's quick, adaptable, cheap, vegan, and fairly healthy.

Frittatas also work well for me, they travel okay and can do double duty as breakfast or entree. I pre grind coffee and use a Stanley camping French press. https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-Classic-Vacuum-Travel-Hammertone/dp/B00NONDBXI I think I paid US$30. for mine. Milk is purchased at destination, often lettuce as well.

Big fan of these; definitely go with glass

https://www.amazon.com/Containers-Compartment-BPA-Free-Microwave-Dishwasher/dp/B07GXF1NN5/ref=sr_1_38?crid=3E8RFUL49ZHJH&keywords=meal+prep+containers&qid=1557373930&s=gateway&sprefix=meal+pre%2Caps%2C188&sr=8-38

I use these... They work great prevent balsamic vinegar from leaking

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07GXF1NN5/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1