HEALTHY LUNCH BAGS

Packing healthy lunches and snacks to take to work or school offers many benefits. Healthy brown-bag meals can reduce fat, calories, and sodium in our diet, improving overall health. Smart choices can help us maintain a healthy weight. And brown-bag lunches just may improve your child’s IQ. A diet high in fat, sugar, and processed food starting at age 3 may lower IQ in later childhood, while a diet packed with whole foods and important nutrients may do the opposite. To move lunch and snack time into a healthful direction:
Choose foods with higher amounts of the nutrients we need: fibre, protein, calcium, and vitamin C. Avoid foods loaded with things we need to eat less of: saturated fat, sodium, and added sugar. An easy way to accomplish both goals is to include more whole foods — and less processed foods, junk food, and fast food at meals and snacks.

Here are some quick lunch and snack picks.

COLD CHEESE AND FRUIT KIT
Make your own “Lunchables” by filling a reusable container with  assorted cheese slices, easy-to-eat fruit like apple slices and grapes, and whole wheat crackers

FISH 
For a satisfying snack, toss some tuna or salmon with balsamic vinaigrette and enjoy with whole grain crackers.

LOVE YOUR LEFTOVERS
One of the easiest ways that corporate nutritionist , makes sure  a healthy lunch tomorrow is to start with dinner tonight. Before serving dinner,  packs some of it away in portable containers, stores them in the refrigerator, and then takes one to work the next day.

PASTA SALAD 
Make cold pasta salad with leftover pasta from lastnight. Toss chilled whole grain pasta with cheese cubes, lots of vegetables, and a homemade dressing made with olive oil or canola oil.

PIZZA BAGELS 
Bake a mini pizza in 5 minutes by spreading pizza sauce  on wheat pita pockt. Top with shredded cheese and your favourite veggie
toppings (green onions, tomatoes, chopped red peppers,onions, olives, sliced mushrooms), then bake in aoven until the cheese is bubbling.
Wrap it up for your bag lunch or, if your office has a toaster oven, bring it to work unbaked and bake it there.

STOCK YOUR WORK FRIDGE WITH SALAD DRESSING
To make it easier to enjoy salads at the office, keeps your favourite salad dressing in the work refrigerator. Look for saladdressing with the least amount of sodium and made with canola or olive oil.

WRAP IT UP
Make your sandwich wrap the night before, using a whole grain flour tortilla and spreads like green or sun-dried tomato pesto, olives or honey mustard. Layer it with slices of cheese, assorted vegetables, tomato, onion, and lettuces

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About Balvinder Kaur