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RE: Health Lunches

CelticGhal — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:43:52 GMT

[quote][b]bella83 (6/27/2008)[/b][hr]Here are a couple salads that I make a batch of and take for lunches over a couple days (they keep well in the fridge). I am not a sandwich person, so they are perfect for me. Has a good balance of protein, fat and carb...so you don't have that crash halfway through your day. I also take snacks like cheesestrings (good for portion control) and fruit like apples, apricots, grapes, cherries, strawberries - really depends what is in season at the time.

Lentil feta salad
Sauté a small onion and some fresh garlic in 1 tbsp olive oil...once onion becomes translucent, add asparagus, diced red bell pepper and zucchini. Add a splash of low-sodium chicken broth and cook veggies. Add salt and black pepper if desired. Add lentils (you can use canned, just rinse well or dry- you just need to cook them to rehydrate first) and heat for about 5 mins to combine flavours. Remove from heat and let cool. Once cool, add halved cherry tomatoes and sliced black olives and some light feta cheese (crumbled or cubed). Toss and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Macaroni tuna salad
Dice a red bell pepper and a zucchini and sauté in some olive oil. Add some minced fresh garlic. Sauté until veggies become cooked. Remove from heat and let cool. At the same time, you can boil some whole wheat macaroni (1.5cups) and drain. Let cool. Cook some green peas (about a cup) in microwave - take probably 3-4 minutes. Combine macaroni with veggies and add one can of drained packed-in-water tuna. I use light miracle whip and calorie-wise ranch dressing to make the sauce to hold it together - equal parts. Just enough to hold it together - probably a tbsp or two of each. Mix thoroughly to evenly distribute sauce. Enjoy!

Tomato & Cucumber salad
Cut a couple fresh tomato into wedges and slice up some cucumber. Put some fresh olive oil over top (maybe a tsp or two). Sprinkle the salad with some oregano and a dash of salt to taste. This is a nice light salad and can be paired with some leftover grilled chicken or some boconncini cheese. Enjoy!

[/quote]

that sounds yummy

RE: Health Lunches

bella83 — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:03:34 GMT

Here are a couple salads that I make a batch of and take for lunches over a couple days (they keep well in the fridge). I am not a sandwich person, so they are perfect for me. Has a good balance of protein, fat and carb...so you don't have that crash halfway through your day. I also take snacks like cheesestrings (good for portion control) and fruit like apples, apricots, grapes, cherries, strawberries - really depends what is in season at the time.

Lentil feta salad
Sauté a small onion and some fresh garlic in 1 tbsp olive oil...once onion becomes translucent, add asparagus, diced red bell pepper and zucchini. Add a splash of low-sodium chicken broth and cook veggies. Add salt and black pepper if desired. Add lentils (you can use canned, just rinse well or dry- you just need to cook them to rehydrate first) and heat for about 5 mins to combine flavours. Remove from heat and let cool. Once cool, add halved cherry tomatoes and sliced black olives and some light feta cheese (crumbled or cubed). Toss and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Macaroni tuna salad
Dice a red bell pepper and a zucchini and sauté in some olive oil. Add some minced fresh garlic. Sauté until veggies become cooked. Remove from heat and let cool. At the same time, you can boil some whole wheat macaroni (1.5cups) and drain. Let cool. Cook some green peas (about a cup) in microwave - take probably 3-4 minutes. Combine macaroni with veggies and add one can of drained packed-in-water tuna. I use light miracle whip and calorie-wise ranch dressing to make the sauce to hold it together - equal parts. Just enough to hold it together - probably a tbsp or two of each. Mix thoroughly to evenly distribute sauce. Enjoy!

Tomato & Cucumber salad
Cut a couple fresh tomato into wedges and slice up some cucumber. Put some fresh olive oil over top (maybe a tsp or two). Sprinkle the salad with some oregano and a dash of salt to taste. This is a nice light salad and can be paired with some leftover grilled chicken or some boconncini cheese. Enjoy!

RE: Health Lunches

sarahandrob2010 — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:14:06 GMT

If you google "school lunch ideas" or "kid friendly lunch", you'll get TONS of ideas. Here are a couple I have bookmarked:

http://www.vegfamily.com/vegan-children/lunch-ideas.htm (This one is vegetarian, but still has lots of yummy ideas)

http://www.healthychild.com/healthy-school-lunch-ideas.htm

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nm_articles.asp?id=222

http://www.todaysparent.com/schoolage/article.jsp?content=753096&page=1

RE: Health Lunches

MrsSofaQueen — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:02:24 GMT

Salad! Then fruit for snacks.

Be careful with the canned soups (and other canned good) b/c the sodium content is very high in most of them.

RE: Health Lunches

KatherineR — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:52:45 GMT

Oh, I don't miss nights. Used to eat french fries and chicken wings at 4am. :P

I usually try to make a little extra dinner if it's something I enjoy and portion it out (so it doesn't get eaten up if DH goes for seconds).

I'm a HUGE soup fan (esp Gardennay).

I also love my divided container - I bring all the filling for a pita/wrap/sandwich (some kind of protein - chicken, pork, beef; veggies; a piece of cheese) and warm up the protein so it melts the cheese. The best part about the divided container is that if I can make it the night before and the sandwich doesn't get soggy.

For the afternoon crash I go for yogurt mixed with fruit (make my own apple/rhubarb/whatever is available sauce or just a handful of mixed berries that thaw through the day) and homemade granola. BIG fan of this as you control everything that goes in it.

Hope that helps!

RE: Health Lunches

smurf993 — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:02:12 GMT

great post... i am the worse lunch packer in the world. I usually end up with leftovers that i really don't want, or bring a pile of crap. Nights shifts are really bad!! Thats when the 3 am pop and chips come out. I never wonder why a lot of nurses are big... we eat when time allows and when get time... HOLY do we ever eat!

RE: Health Lunches

Beltsie — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:19:07 GMT

I take Gardennay soups for lunch. They are yummy! Along with yogurt, fruit/veggies, and granola bars for snacks.

Oh! And AllBran bars or bites are really goot broken up into the yogurt.

RE: Health Lunches

jmhein — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:12:55 GMT

I buy pre-packaged salads and add chopped chicken breast! So yummy! I buy a brand from Safeway called "Eating Right" and they come with various "healthy additions", like Italian Medley has packets of sundried tomatos and shredded mozzarella, there is a type with frosted almonds and dried cranberries, etc. The night before I cook chicken breast in the oven, wait for it to cool down, chop it up, add to the salad in a tupperware container and take it to work the next day. Add some calorie-wise salad dressing and VOILA! Really tasty too, and you'll find you dont get the mid-afternoon "Carb Crash". Bring baby carrots and a cheese-string to snack on too.

If you get sick of the chicken, I will sometimes add imitation crab meat as well.

I've gotten everyone in the office doing the same thing! :)

RE: Health Lunches

junedoll — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:54:13 GMT

I usually have boiled veggies (cauliflower & broccoli) with Knorr/Lipton "SideKicks" Rice and a 0% fat Yoplait "Source" Yogurt.

Health Lunches

CelticGhal — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:29:43 GMT

Any ideas on healthier lunches that I can pack for work?

I would love to have some idea so that I will stop buying lunch at work every day and so I will not end up eating crap being it is easier.