Although breakfast is known as the most important meal of the day, lunch is just as important as it supplies you with the energy needed to complete your most time-consuming and difficult work-related, school-related, and home-related tasks. Before packing your lunch bag each day, think about what you’ll be doing throughout the day. You may want to start by asking yourself the following questions.
When is your lunch break? What time does your energy dip? Do you resort to snacking from the vending machine when hunger strikes or do you keep food in your bag or desk for emergencies? What do you enjoy most about bringing your lunch to work or school?
The following brown bag lunch ideas are packed with nutrition and offer you the boost that you need to be successful at whatever you set out to do:
- A ‘sandwich’ made on a whole wheat tortilla. Tortillas don’t get soggy the way that bread does. Pile on your favorite meats, cheese, and veggies. Don’t forget a light spread of your favorite condiment. Peanut butter and jelly is often a winner with kids and adults. Make a grown-up PB&J by adding slices of apple or banana to the tortilla before rolling it.
- Homemade vegetable soup. Put your favorite vegetables in a slow cooker overnight and wake up to hot, fresh soup in the morning. Put a serving in a thermos to enjoy later in the day. It’s a light meal but one packed with flavor, vitamins, and nutrients.
- Layered salad in a glass jar. Don’t want your salad to get soggy before you eat it? Layer ingredients in a glass jar and keep your low-fat dressing in a separate container. Combine the two at lunchtime for a powerhouse meal. You can make any type of salad you like best but make sure that it has some type of protein in it whether it be lean meat, cheese, tofu or beans.
- Last night’s leftovers. If you have access to a microwave, reheat last night’s leftovers. Casseroles always taste better the second day! Make sure to pack eating utensils with you so you can dive into your food right away.
Not sure how healthy food benefits you? Why not download the free INRFOOD app for iOS or Android today. Learn what vitamins and nutrients make up your favorite foods so you know what to include in your diet and which items to steer clear of.
Log your meals through the app and see how you can reinvent your lunchtime meal. The key to good nutrition is information. Seeing that the team at INRFOOD did the hard work for you by classifying over 500,000+ foods and their ingredients through rigorous research, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose from downloading and using the app regularly.