One of the greatest advantages of working from home is the ability to cook lunch for yourself. You just move to the kitchen and prepare the wood the way you want. Still, when you're in the office, you have fewer options. You can go to a nearby place to have lunch, or you can bring something prepared beforehand. In most cases, people choose the second option, as they want to have a healthy and nutritious meal that gives them the energy to keep going through the day. So, what can you bring to the office to have a nice lunch? What foods should you prefer to feed your body and restore energy? This article contains answers to these questions, as well as other valuable information. Keep up to discover how to pack a perfect lunch kit.
What Makes a Good Lunch Kit?
The most common practice about packing your lunch kit is having 1 serving of your favorite meal (for example, chicken salad, pasta with meat sauce, or tortillas with chicken and cheddar cheese). That may work, but this is not what you may want to have all the time. When you have the same type of lunch all the time, it becomes boring. What can you do instead? Create a lunch that consists of multiple components. The initial goal is to create a well-balanced and easy-to-eat kit. What your optimal lunch kit should have?
Well-balanced meal with carbs, fats, protein, and fiber. Add some veggies on the side if you don't have enough fiber in your pasta or chicken-rice mix.
Fruits. They add extra fiber and sweetness to your meal.
Drink (optional). If you want to drink during lunch, get tea, iced tea, or something similar.
Snacks. Crackers, cookies, or something similar could be taken an hour or two after lunch to keep the blood sugar level normal and stay focused during work.
In case you don’t have time to cook meals during the day, try our balanced meal plans. For example, a weight maintenance meal plan helps you control the amount of calories throughout the day and have a variety of meals from week to week. Moreover, you will get lunch delivered right to your office, so no worries about packing.
The table shows how lunch boxes can be formed, and what components to include in your meal.
Tasty Healthy Lunch Kit Recipes to Pack for Lunch
Since we identified key elements that should be in your lunch kit, let's bring down some packed lunch ideas that should only be warmed up in the microwave. The first on our list will be fried rice cooked with eggs and vegetables. For 1 cup of long grain rice, you'll need 1 chopped onion, 1 capsicum (green or red), a large carrot, 1 can of sweet corn, 1 can of green peas, and spring onions. Use sesame or olive oil for cooking, and add soy sauce for flavor. Start by cooking omelets on a pan. Once it's done, transfer it to the plate, slice, and put aside. Next, cook vegetables and toss them well Add cooked rice and fold in omelet slices. This will be your main meal. Add celery sticks as a source of natural fiber. Also, chop fruits and mix them in the tube. Additionally, get a serving of popcorn, choosing the taste you like the most; these will be your snacks. For a drink, get water.
As a second option for lunch, we offer tuna sandwiches with mayo and cucumber. Mix tuna and mayonnaise in a bowl, adding salt and pepper for a better taste. Chop cucumber into small slices. Make your sandwiches by adding tuna-mayo mix on one slice of bread. Cover the ingredients with the second slice of bread and but the sandwich on a grill to get crusting. Get apples and crackers as snacks, and take water or iced tea as a source of liquid. If you're OK with dairy products, replace crackers with a small carton of milk.
The third option on our list is pasta salad. It takes around 20 minutes to cook this meal, but it's definitely worth it. A well-balanced meal that contains all the needed nutrients to keep you up throughout the day. For this salad, you'll need cooked pasta and vegetables (cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and green onions). Olives are optional, but if you don't include them in your meal, it won't be a disadvantage. Also, use parmezan or mozarella for flavor.
Start by cooking your pasta. Next, prepare all the vegetables in a big bowl. Chop them, mix, and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. It's needed to mix the flavors of the ingredients, as it will make an impact when combining with the pasta. Finally, mix pasta and vegetables together, and add some cheese on top. For dressing, mix vinegar, dried oregano, and olive oil. Spread it on top of your salad and mix well, so all the ingredients will be filled with taste. What to add to the pasta salad? As it's work lunch, you may need more vegetables and fruits to feed your brain. You can have baked veggies, a mix of berries, or peanut butter muffins with bananas. For liquid, you can use water once again.
Is Lunch Meal Prep Hard?
When you don't have an understanding of what you want to eat, the meal-cooking process gets tough as you hesitate about the ingredients or the way you want to combine the elements. Still, when you have a plan and set priorities about the ingredients, any lunch is easy to prepare. Just take your time and get things done, so you can put your food in the box and get it down during the lunch break. However, if cooking is not an option, think about using food delivery. Main dishes available in our restaurant will help you get the variety of foods and balance the calorie intake, so you won't eat too much.
FAQ
What is the best food to eat for lunch at work?
For lunch, choose the food that is easy-to-eat and keeps you full for the rest of the day.
What is the best method to pack lunch?
Choose a lunchbox divided into multiple sections. Add your food to each section in the selected proportions and depending on your preferences.
What to choose as snacks for lunch?
Consider getting healthy snacks like whole grain crackers, fruits, dried fruits, popcorn, etc. Avoid sweets and simple carbs like chocolate bars, cookies, etc.