Lunch Packing Part 2: Tips & Supplies

My Last Post was on Why to Pack you lunch (snacks / meals), so now here are some more tips on the How- tos


Tips:

•  Small steps add up! Packing a meal once a week or packing one snack a day can also make a difference. 

• If you have a desk/ locker etc at work- keep a few healthy items there, this will make it even easier!

• Canned or dried soup
• granola bars

• nuts
• trail mix
• dried fruit
• cereal
• oatmeal

•  Get in the habit:  Pack your lunch and snacks the night before,  saves you the hassle of doing it in the morning

• Freeze left overs in individual portions:  easy to grab and go at a moments notice

• Prep ahead: Don’t have time to pack a lunch every night? Prep part or all of your meal over the weekend.  Check on my post on Healthy Eating for the Busy Person 
•  Portioning veggies and dip into baggies
•  Cut up fruit and make a fruit salad for easy picking
• Prep sandwiches (you can keep bread on the side to keep it from getting soggy)

Considerations about bringing your meals: 

• Food Safety 
• If you bring anything perishable be sure to have an insulated bag and cold pack. Or refrigerate if possible.  
• Ease of carrying: 
• Especially if you are on the run, having a bag that is easy to carry is key! Try one with shoulder straps, or small bags that fit into other bags you already carry.  
• Leak Proof: 
• Invest in good Tupperware. A spilled or leaking lunch can ruin all of your food, or get on your clothes.  
• Some recommendations: Rubbermaid, Lock &; Lock, Pyrex storage 

What You’ll Need:

·      A lunch box/ bag

·      Good leak-proof Tupperware in various sizes

o   Small containers are great for bringing dips and dressings on the side

·      Plastic or Re-useable baggies

o   Try Snack Taxis or Lunchskins

This is my adorable gnome snack taxi!

·      Re-useable water bottle

·      Travel Beverage Mug

I love my BPA free Aladdin cup- it never leaks! 

·      Cold Packs

o   Recommend having two to freeze one everyday 

Frozen water bottles, or frozen yogurt can also be used in an insulated bag   

A Few Lunch Box Recommendations:

·      Thermos Brand:

Trusted name brand with great insulation.

Many different sizes and styles

·      BuiltNY  (BuiltNY.com) 

This company offers a variety of classy totes, laptop cases, lunch boxes, water bottle and wine bottle carriers.

Their bags are soft neoprene material and insulated.

Have accessories such as shoulder straps

·      LunchBots

Take on the Japanese style Bento Box

Can be carried alone or in another bag 

See my love of Bentos Here as well 

Reasons to pack your lunch

Still buying your lunch at work, or going out most days of the week? Here are a few of my favorite reasons to start bagging it :)

Reasons to bring your own meals & snacks:

·      Economical:

o   Spending $10+ a day on lunch/ coffee and snacks adds up fast!

o   You get much more value shopping at a grocery store and prepping food yourself than you do purchasing convenience items.

·      Saves time and hassle:

o   Yes, packing a lunch can take some time, but will save you the time of having to go and purchase your lunch during your work day.

o   You can eat it anywhere! Save the time and hassle of going somewhere to eat.

·      More nutritious:

o   Frequently “forget” to eat because you are so busy? Regular meals and snacks help improve your metabolism and help maintain your weight.

o   Planning and packing lunch more likely to get well rounded meals.

o   If you wait until you are hungry, more likely to give into temptation.

o   Food companies and restaurants often load their food with salt and unhealthy fats to improve taste.  Bringing your own food allows you to control ingredients.

Versus

·      Eco-friendly

o   All of the packaging associated with buying food out adds up! 

(The Average Office worker uses 500 disposable cups a year¹)

o   You have much more control of the sources of where your food is coming from (organic, local, sustainable sources) 

Broiled Grapefruit

For the past weeks Supper Club we had breakfast for dinner! It was full of eggs, sausage, pancakes and coffeecake. Thus- I was recruited to make something healthy-ish.

I tried a new recipe I heard of for broiled grapefruit. At first it sounded very odd, as I had only ever had grapefruit raw- either cut in half and eaten with a spoon or peeled and eaten like an orange. But I heard rave reviews and decided to try it. The results were excellent! Super sweet and juicy.

Served with yogurt topping.

Grapefruit Recipe:

1.  Set oven to broil
2. Slice Grapefruit in half, or quarters. Place on Baking sheet. 
3. Sprinkle with Cinnamon  
4. Pop in oven: broil ~7-10 minutes, until they looks slightly puffy and the skin is peeling away from fruit a tad. 

Yogurt Dip/ Topping:

1. Mix ~ 1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt (Greek or European) with a bit of fresh or ground and a tsp of honey or agave nectar. 
2. Serve on top of cooked grapefruit 

Supper Club and Polenta Pizza

Some of my friends and I have form a "Sanity Supper Club" in which we meet once a week/ every other week at someones house and cook meals and have an awesome girls night.

I hosted this weeks dinner: and I made Polenta Pizza and had a salad bar!

This was admittedly the first time I cooked with polenta, so for the sake of not totally screwing it up I used Trader Joe's organic pre-made polenta in a tube.

In my head the plan was to roll out the polenta like dough, but it isn't as roll-able as I thought it would be. Since I wasn't sure how it would turn out I made some individual polenta pizza by cutting the loaf of polenta into circles

Individual polenta circles for individual pizzas

I also tried mashing some up, mostly using the heal of my hand, to press them together, which worked pretty well to create a larger 'crust' 

For the large Polenta Pizza I used: 

Sauteed red onion

portobello onion

spinach

fresh roasted red peppers 

Marinara sauce, (Trader Joes) jazzed up with some yellow onion and pizza seasoning

Mozzarella Cheese 

Goat Cheese

For the individual polenta pizzas I made a huge array using various toppings such as:

the ones listed above

fresh tomato

basil leaves

mozzarella

pesto sauce

The Pizza was served with the salad bar including:

romaine

baby spinach

red peppers

green peppers

mushrooms

tomatoes

carrots

peas

corn

salsa

hummus

raisins

dried cranberries

walnuts

cage free hard boiled eggs

goat cheese

And of course we celebrated with some wine (for the antioxidants of course)

Smoothies

Having trouble getting enough fruits/ veggies and low fat dairy into your day?

Try a Smoothie!

Add in lots of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. Mix in non fat milk/ soymilk, yogurt or ice and water to help boost calcium and hydration.

Be sure to leave on the skin of the fruits and veggies for added fiber and nutrients! Unlike juice, which removes the fiber, smoothies are great because it is just a blenderized version of the foods so you are still getting all of the good stuff!

 Try mixing in veggies including leafy greens- the sweetness of the fruit often compliments well with the vegetables, and its another great way to get a vegetable into a meal or snack you might otherwise have skipped it on.

Of course, don't forget, smoothies will be a sum of the calories and carbs you add to them. A large smoothie should be considered a meal. Adding in skim milk/ vegetables and water will help give you more volume while keeping down the total calories and carbs. A smoothie made with all fruit and juice can still add a hefty calorie toll toyour day, despite providing you with lots of antioxidants and vitamins. 

Smoothies are a great option for people having trouble getting in enough calories: have a child who is  picky eater? A sick member of the family? Elderly relative or friend struggling to get in enough calories? Try a smoothie! 

That being said, a small or watered down smoothie is great for anyone trying to boost nutrition including those trying to lose weight. Again, just add in more low cal foods (veggies) and be mindful of the total calories you are consuming :)

If the smoothie still isn't tasty enough for you, you can always add in a packet of sugar, honey or sugar substitute. Also try adding in your favorite spices like cinnamon and cayenne pepper for a kick!

Unfortunately, smoothies you get out at smoothie shops and other fast food joints aren't always healthy- featuring tons of added sugar, ice cream, and who know what else:
Check out this article for "health food frauds!"

Dinner time!

As usual, I’ve been a terrible blogger, but here is what I had for dinner tonight!

My internet has been down for the past few days, it has been terrible. Honestly, I wouldn’t care if I did not have so much school work that requires blackboard and other methods of reading/ communicating and passing things in online. Plus not getting to check my email is maddening.

So of course I have been taking trips to Starbucks, Gourmet, and other places with free wi-fi. The dilemma is then that I have to buy something (usually coffee), which then makes me have to pee a lot. Having had my purse stolen at a dining establishment before, I am very wary about leaving anything out, so every time I go to the bathroom I take my computer/ purse etc, which can become quite an annoyance.

Plus, the fact that it feels like it is -10* outside certainly is not motivating me to make any extra trips outside than I have to.

Salmon: Marinated in low sodium soy sauce and chili and garlic paste, and lemon juice broiled on low. 

Tofu: Extra firm, marinated in: soy sauce, chili and garlic paste, toasted sesame seed oil, honey. Baked. 

Spinach: Fresh bagged spinach cooked in the microwave.  No seasoning. 

Onion: Stir fried with olive oil and garlic powder. Mixed in with spinach.

Carrots: Whole, unpeeled, well-washed, steamed on the stove top. Seasoned with a little lemon juice.

Brown rice: (an afterthought) I decided maybe a grain would be nice at the last minute so I just threw in a bag of brown Minute Rice.

I actually ate dinner before the rice was done, but everything else was delicious! 

I ate by myself, but Jordan is usually starving when he comes home from work, and if I do not specifically put something out for him, he usually winds up eating cheese and crackers or cereal, so I took all of the work out of it for him and plated the food and everything.

Autumn Squash Soup

With My CSA- I feel like I can barely keep up with all of the vegetables I am getting each week! 

My recent solution: Soup. Soups are a great way to use up a variety of veggies, and make something warm and delicious. I love the fact that soups are so diverse and you can put essentially anything in them and get a some wonderful product. 

Here is my most recent creation, which came out quite well! 

I'll have to add a picture later.

Autumn Squash Soup

1- medium Onion – finely chopped

~ 1 tb Olive oil

1 tb butter

1 clove Garlic – minced

1- Butternut Squash

1- Acorn Squash

2- Sweet Potato

1 head Green Cabbage

2- Apples (I used macintosh)

1 quart Vegetable broth

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Sage

Pepper

Salt if desired

2 cups Low fat milk

* Peel and chop all ingredients

* In a large pot, simmer onions, garlic, olive oil, butter and a splash of water for about 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent.

* Add in all other chopped vegetables and apples, and vegetable broth, and spices. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring periodically.

* Once ingredients are soft, use an immersion blender (or portion out and use a regular blender or food processor) to blend ingredients until pureed.

* mix in enough milk until desired thickness. Dry white wine could also be added if desired (~1/2- 1 cup).

Notes:

 I just used whatever vegetables I had on hand, I’m sure any yellowish squash/ pumpkin would be good.  I used fresh, but canned would work fine too. 

Other recipes used white potatoes… I thought the sweet potatoes kept nicely with the color scheme, and I enjoy sweet things.

 I do not think the cabbage did anything for taste- I just had it on hand and wanted to use it, but nice way to sneak in a green vegetable and add some more fiber and nutrients J  

This made a very large portion of soup, you may wish to scale down.