We all know taking lunch to work means it’s easier to make healthy food choices and save money. But if your last pre-prepared lunch came in your Care Bears lunch box, then you may need some fresh ideas beyond the soggy sandwiches your mum used to make.
Here are some easy tips to get you on the road to lunch box bliss. Your wallet and your thighs will thank you for it...
Tip One: Perfect Pasta
A simple lunch idea which requires minimal preparation is to cook up a big pot of your favourite pasta and store it in the fridge (it will keep for a few days). Then each day add cherry tomatoes, gherkins, feta cheese, olives, some mussels and a bit of lemon juice or vinaigrette and you have a tasty pasta salad. If seafood isn’t your thing you can switch the ingredients for anything you like i.e. chicken works well.
Tip Two: Left-Overs
This works well if you eat a lot of stir-fry like dishes. Just prepare a bit extra the night before, store it in a Tupperware container and put it in the fridge once it’s cooled down. Then all you have to do is remember to get it out of the fridge in the morning! You’ll be surprised at how well these type of meals reheat the next day. Or get inventive, left-over roast veges make a great salad, just add a bit of feta cheese and a touch of balsamic vinaigrette.
Tip Three: Healthy Snacks
It’s so easy, especially in an office environment to spend the day munching, so if you’re trying to shape up for summer, then make sure you’ve got low-fat snacks in your top drawer so you won’t be tempted by the vending machine. We’ve been scoffing through a whole lot of the new Hunts Snack Pack Puddings lately. The fat free one gives you that sweet chocolate fix without the calories – perfect for avoiding the 4pm sugar binge. The puddings come in convenient packs of four and are an easy no-preparation way of making sure you’ve got a low-fat snack on hand.
Tip Four: Add Some Protein
I had a protein check with Maria Deveson Crabbe, CEO of Aussie Bodies and author of Your Body Your Life, and was surprised to find my body was getting about half the protein it needed. So while my bagel and hummus made for an easy lunch it was also causing me to crash out mid-afternoon. If this sounds like you, try grabbing a wholemeal pita bread, a small can of salmon or tuna, a tomato, and some avocado. Then at lunch time, toast the pita till it’s crunchy, then cut it in half and stuff it with the fish, tomato and avocado – hmmm, so yum! You’ll be amazed at long you feel full.
Tip Five: Raid the Fruit Bowl
Make sure you’ve always got plenty of fresh fruit at home, so you can grab a banana and an apple as you head out the door. If you find fresh fruit goes off too fast then go for the dried variety, it still does the trick. If you’re really keen, make a tasty fruit salad with whatever you have on hand and add some yoghurt. Summer’s just around the corner which means there’ll be plenty of fresh melons, strawberries and stone fruits, which all taste delicious mixed together.
So there you have it – by taking just a bit of time out of your busy day to be organised you can easily prepare food for work or uni. Believe me you’ll love it when you get the weekend and you still have cash in your wallet.
We all know taking lunch to work means it’s easier to make healthy food choices and save money. But if your last pre-prepared lunch came in your Care Bears lunch box, then you may need some fresh ideas beyond the soggy sandwiches your mum used to make.
lemon juice or vinaigrette and you have a tasty pasta salad. If seafood isn’t your thing you can switch the ingredients for anything you like i.e. chicken works well.
whole lot of the new Hunts Snack Pack Puddings lately. The fat free one gives you that sweet chocolate fix without the calories – perfect for avoiding the 4pm sugar binge. The puddings come in convenient packs of four and are an easy no-preparation way of making sure you’ve got a low-fat snack on hand.
amazed at long you feel full.