Healthy Packed Lunches

For many busy professionals, finding healthy meal options near the workplace can be a challenge. While convenient, fast food is often bursting with extra calories.

The best way to get a healthy meal is to make it yourself. Instead of settling for your usual take-away, why not try a healthy packed lunch? With just a little preparation the night before, you can save on the cost of eating out, and get a healthy lunch too!

Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Jazz up any leftover chicken from dinner with some yogurt and spices to create a light but tasty dish! Sauté chopped red onions and red peppers in olive oil, and mix with some yogurt and a dash of chilli powder. Dice the chicken and toss with the yogurt mixture, then refrigerate in a sealed container overnight. In the morning, simply grab the container, along with some whole wheat bread. When you are ready to eat, just fill your sandwich with the chicken mixture and enjoy!

Tip: With a little spice, leftovers from dinner make delicious fillings for sandwiches and wraps for lunch the next day!

Easy Pasta Salad

Pasta goes great with almost anything, packs easily, and can be enjoyed hot or cold. Top some macaroni with olive oil, sautéed mushrooms, red and green peppers and red onion. You can add tuna or salmon flakes and chopped hardboiled eggs for more goodness. Keep refrigerated in a sealed container. Before eating, simply shake the container to toss the ingredients together!

Tip: Tuna or salmon flakes and hard-boiled eggs are good sources of protein.

Rainbow Fruit Bowl

Maybe the simplest healthy food you can find, fruit is delicious and requires almost no preparation. Different coloured fruit contains different amounts and types of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that are good for you so mix it up! Fill an airtight container with a rainbow of fruits like watermelon, mango, papaya, pomelo, orange and pineapple slices. Be sure to have fruits as part of your packed lunch each time.

Tip: Keep the container refrigerated to keep the fruit crisp and deliciously cool!

As you can see, making your own healthy packed lunch can be easy! Here are some tips for filling your lunchbox:

• Prepare the night before to avoid rushing in the morning
• Separate the sauces/dressing to keep ingredients crisp
• Invest in a good lunchbox/container to keep food fresh
• NESTLÉ® treats like KIT-KAT® 2 Fingers (only 88 kcal) are delicious snacks between meals
• NESVITA® 3in1 Cereal Drink and NESTLÉ® Yogurt Drinks make convenient light snacks