Gourmet Lunchboxes for Grown-Ups

One soggy sandwich, some questionable cheese, and a bruised banana - anyone for a packed lunch today? We thought not.

If the stale smell of your sticker-clad school lunchbox still lingers in your nose every time you consider bringing your lunch from home, it's time to erase those memories with some gourmet adult lunch ideas!

Packing your own lunch instead of eating out is a great way to cut excess calories from your diet and control what you eat more effectively. Not to mention, it can save you a dollar or two (or fifty) a week.

Read more :

• Lunchboxes have fewer calories
• Take your lunch to the next level
• Great ideas for grown-up lunches
• The mighty microwave
• “But packed lunches are so anti-social!”

Lunchboxes have fewer calories

So it's 12:30 and your stomach is starting to talk. There's a Dominos five minutes away, a McDonald's just around the corner, and a food court next to that. What's it going to be? It's so hard to choose! If you're concerned about your waistline at all, the best answer is "none of the above."

When it comes to excess calorie consumption, eating fast-food or restaurant meals for lunch can be a weight-control nightmare. Fast-food, as you know, is notoriously fat-laden and unhealthy, but even with a reasonably nutritious choice from a restaurant, you can wind up eating almost all your calories for the day in one sitting. Once you add a soft drink, garlic bread, an oversized serving of salad dressing, and perhaps a piece of cake and a cappuccino to finish your meal, you can be looking at an extra 1000 calories or so that you really didn't want or need.

When you pack your own lunch, or even just take a frozen meal to heat in the microwave, you have far more control over how many calories you consume and what size portions you eat.

Take your lunch to the next level

This gourmet lunch could be yours!

So, a healthy homemade lunch is better for your waistline than eating out. But what about your taste buds?

When it comes to packed lunches, most people's imagination stops short at vegemite-and-cheese sandwiches - and then makes a fast u-turn to the nearest kebab shop. However, if you can stretch your imagination past the vegemite jar, you're in for some delicious surprises.

Start by stocking your fridge and shelves with foods that are healthy and that you enjoy, and that can be easily used for packed lunches - and remember, if you're saving money by not eating out, you can spend a little more on gourmet ingredients. Pestos, olives, hummus, low-fat gourmet cheeses, whole-grain gourmet breads, gourmet salad ingredients, low-fat dips, yoghurt, fresh vegetables, and fresh "splash-out" fruits such as strawberries, peaches and mangoes are just a few examples.

If you can store things at work (or wherever you usually are at lunch time) or take them in an esky or cooler bag, even better. That way, you can make fresh sandwiches and salads on the spot.

Great ideas for grown-up lunches

Sushi rolls make a great low-fat lunch

"I recommend brown-bag lunches to clients for weight and health reasons" says CalorieKing.com.au dietitian Joan Bushman. "When you make your own lunch, you can better control the type of food you eat, the portions you eat, and even the amount of money you spend," she explains. "Of course, you still need to count your calories!" she adds.

Joan describes her favourite packed lunch as something simple, with an extravagant touch. "One of my favourite lunches has a very 'French' theme. A baguette with lean ham, cheese, sliced tomato and fresh basil, some veggie sticks, and a small piece of gourmet chocolate."

Try some of Joan's other top recommendations for gourmet workday lunches:

• Homemade or canned soup (take in a thermos or heat in the microwave) with some protein added, such as a small tin of tuna or salmon. A small side salad.
  
  
• Sushi (nori) rolls, and raw veggies or fruit.
  
  
• Homemade salads with protein such as hard-boiled egg, lean ham, chicken, tuna/salmon, and avocado. Whole-grain crackers.
  
  
• Brown rice or couscous salad (you can prepare a large amount at the start of the week) with currants or sultanas, chickpeas, pine nuts, sliced sun-dried tomatoes or similar, and other raw veggies.
  
  
• Toasted sandwiches using whole-grain bread and low-fat fillings, with salad on the side.
  
  
• Fresh Vietnamese rice-paper rolls.

The mighty microwave

Have microwave... will have soup

If you have access to a microwave at lunchtime, your lunch just got a whole lot more interesting. Soups, frozen vegetables, leftover pasta dishes, baked beans ... all nuke-able delicacies are at your command!

"It's so easy to keep a bag of frozen veggies in the freezer," comments CalorieKing.com.au dietitian, Allan Borushek (the "Calorie King"). "You can also freeze cooked brown rice. Just throw some veggies and rice together, add some protein such as canned tuna, cooked chicken, or leftover roast meat, and heat in the microwave. There you go - you have a tasty, healthy meal just like that."

Try some of these other ideas:

• Asian-style instant noodles (low-fat varieties) with added veggies and tofu.
• Low-fat leftover dishes.
• Microwave a potato, split and top with corn kernels, diced tomato, fresh basil and a sprinkling of low-fat cheese.
• Small tin of baked beans heated in the microwave served with a whole-grain bread roll.
• Warmed up homemade low-fat veggie slices, such as zucchini slice.
• Freeze a loaf of whole-grain bread. When needed, pull out 1-2 slices and toast, add a slice of low-fat cheese and tomato and microwave for a mock grilled cheese sandwich!

Allan strongly recommends stocking up on fresh fruit as a snack or lunch food, otherwise "you'll be looking for a high-calorie, high-fat finish to your meal such as biscuits or chocolate" he says. But don't just stick to apples and bananas, tempt your taste buds with more exotic choices, such as kiwi fruit, strawberries, cherries, mangos, papaya, pineapple, custard apples, passionfruit, and nashi pears - or make a fruit salad with all your favourites!

"Also beware of calories from soft drinks and juice," he adds. "Quench your thirst on water instead."

“But packed lunches are so anti-social!”

Use your lunch break to get some fresh air and relax

One of the great things about having lunch out is that you get to socialise with others, and take a break from your office or home space. But just because you take your own lunch to work, or eat lunch at home, doesn't mean you can't still socialise or have a break.

If your colleagues are going to a food court for lunch, it's totally acceptable to take your lunchbox with you. If you feel like you need to buy something, have a coffee (low-fat!), tea, or diet soft drink. You can't take your lunch to a restaurant of course, but you can always eat your lunch beforehand, and go just for a drink (diet soft drink, tea, low-calorie coffee).

Perhaps the best thing to do, though, is to set an office trend; you might be surprised how many others will join you in bringing lunch from home. "What's in your lunchbox today?" can become something of a competition in work places - a healthier (and cheaper) one than comparing sale-price shoes from David Jones!

One of the bonuses to not eating out at lunch time is the freedom to spend your lunch hour doing something other than buying food. You can:

• Take a walk
• Do some shopping
• Read a book
• Go to the gym
• Call a friend
• Take your lunch to a park and dine in the sunshine

Whatever you decide to do with your bonus hour, and whatever delicacies you take for lunch this week, enjoy!

Related articles :

• Drive to Survive (Your Diet) – Healthy eating on the road
• Work: A ‘weighty’ obstacle?

Last updated: September 26th, 2006