Back to School Healthy Lunch Ideas

Happy Friday everyone! I am excited to share with you another back to school healthy lunch post! Last week I posted my favorite wraps that can easily be brought to school or work. This week I am switching it up with some more delicious meals! I love seeing what people are bringing for lunches because I am always looking for new ideas and recipes to try.

Lunches have never been a meal that I’ve wanted to spend much time preparing or cooking (who else is with me!?). Some of my top tips for preparing a healthy lunch would be 1-to pack and prepare the night before. 2- Make more food at dinnertime so that there is leftovers and also 3-batch cooking! I love preparing hummus, salads (without dressings), cutting up vegetables, etc. on weekends and portioning them out throughout the week. This will save you a lot of time during the week!

Lunch #1

Pasta Dish
Boil water (while steaming brussel sprouts!) and add whole grain pasta or brown rice pasta. Once the pasta is finish, drain water and mix the pasta with marinara sauce. Choose a pasta sauce that is free of added sodium. I like to get mine at a health food store (where there is normally healthy options than regular grocery store pasta sauces) or make it yourself! I topped this pasta dish with some tomatoes!

Sides
Steamed brussel sprouts with a side of berries & nuts! Save time and steam brussel sprouts over boiling water for the pasta. Use a vegetable steam like this one!

Nutrition

Brussel sprouts are high in fibre and protein (although it is not a complete protein–meaning it does not contain all essential amino acids).  They are a great food for weight loss as they will fill you up quickly but are low in calories and high in nutrients. This cruciferous vegetable is also a great source of vitamin A, potassium, calcium, vitamin C and so much more!

One thing to keep in mind when preparing healthy lunches is to focus on incorporating carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, whole grains), fats (nuts, seeds, avocado) and protein (green vegetables, lean meats). This will allow you to have a balance meal and get a variety of nutrients!

Lunch #2

Lettuce wrap
Filling: Quinoa, spinach, corn and edamame beans. I like to boil water while steaming the spinach, corn and edamame beans. Once that’s done, add quinoa and bring water to a simmer and cover. Once all the water is absorbed add the vegetables.
Dressing: Mix together lime juice and cumin in a separate bowl and dress the quinoa mixture.

Sides
Raw peanut butter with an apple! I love this snack because it’s sweet and filling.

Nutrition

Quinoa is one of my favorite foods! If you’ve never tried you’re definitely missing out! I actually did a whole post dedicated to quinoa (you can read that here) so I won’t go into too much detail but this grain is a complete protein and packed with so many nutrients! Edamame beans are a legume high in fibre, healthy fats (omega-3 fatty acids), iron, vitamin C and vitamin A. The raw peanut butter is also a great source of healthy fats (containing both polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats).

What are some of the challenges you face when trying to eat healthy at lunch time? Hope you all had a great week back to school or work!

Thank you for reading!
-Brittney

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