Ideas for work lunches

Thinking about what to make for lunch during work can be tough. We've come up with a few suggestions.



Try 2 minute wraps

Get pita bread or Turkish bread, slap on some hummus, rip off some lettuce, grate on a bit of some parmesan or tasty cheese, roll up and wrap in foil or lunch paper.

For variations, cook extra potatoes and kumaras at dinner and mash onto the wrap with black pepper. Or put orange slices with kumara and sunflower seeds.

2 minutes to make, 5 minutes to eat - that's fast food!

Reaching for cakes?

You'll be looking for these because you're hungry. Not because you neeeed a muffin!

Eat an apple on the way to the cafe or have a glass of water. You'll get to the cake section without the hunger pang that drives cravings plus you'll save some fat in your day and about $20 in your week.

Get drowsy in the afternoons?

This is due to 2 major factors. Dehydration and low blood sugar. Sugar gives you a rush of energy but after it's gone you feel drowsy and sleepy. If you have been downing coffee and tea in the morning you'll be dehydrated too which makes you even sleepier.

To combat this;
• For every coffee have a glass of water
• Make your lunches salad and fruit based
• Throw in some mixed grain bread and good protein

Try
• Wholemeal crackers and fruit
• Crackers, humus and salad or
• 5 Grain bread open sandwiches (Bean sprouts, tomatoes, lettuce and tuna piled on top of 1 piece of wholemeal bread)

A meal like this feels lighter in your stomach, is full of water to keep you awake and empties nutrients into your blood stream slowly, so no sugar slump.

This week's shopping list

Here's this weeks shopping list for your work lunches that work for you not against you.

Lettuce
Go fancy, try the different types available, they all have different tastes and textures.

Carrots
Great lunch snacks, full of water, vitamins and better than chewing gum for cleaning teeth.

Tins of tuna
These come in flavours like basil and tomato, lemon and chilli. They are in small tins with peel back lids so you can fork it straight on to a cracker.

Tomatoes
Large, juicy and great for layering on crackers. Eat them as a fruit when they get sweet at Summer.

Bean sprouts
Cheap, full of nutrients and water and come in their own container.

Crackers
Buy big wholemeal crackers. Large enough to carry a decent amount of goodies and low on extra fat. Keep an eye on the salt content.

Wraps
Try Turkish breads, wholemeal pitas or wholemeal bagels