[tabs slidertype=”left tabs” auto=”no”] [tabcontainer] [tabtext] Welcome! [/tabtext] [tabtext] 5 Tips [/tabtext] [tabtext] Equipment [/tabtext] [tabtext] Transporting Your Lunch [/tabtext] [tabtext] Portable Lunches [/tabtext] [tabtext] Lunches to ‘Assemble’ [/tabtext] [tabtext] Lunches to ‘Cook’ at Work [/tabtext][tabtext] Leftover Lunches [/tabtext] [/tabcontainer][tabcontent] [tab]
Welcome to ‘Beyond the Sandwich’!
[/tab] [tab]
5 tips for developing your healthy lunch habit and setting yourself up for success
Much of what we do in life is guided by our habits. In some ways this is a little sad, but in other ways it can be a big opportunity. If there’s something we want to change about our lives, we just need to focus on replacing the habit we don’t like, with a new healthier habit.
5 tips for developing your healthy lunch habit
1. invest in some decent containers
Just because it’s lunch doesn’t need you have to slum it in the food appearance (and appeal) department. Since I invested in a heap of glass pyrex containers with blue lids, I’ve been much more excited about my lunch packing and eating experience. We’ll cover more on this in our discussion on lunch equipment.
2. make some effort
If you just slop some random leftovers in a container, like I have done on occasion, there’s no way you’re going to enjoy your lunch nor are you likely to be keen to cultivate your healthy lunch habit. A little bit of effort can make all the difference to your enjoyment the next day.
3. make extra at dinner
When you’re cooking dinner, it doesn’t take much extra effort or planning to double your meal. Just make sure you then serve up into your lunch containers when you serve your dinner so you’re not tempted to eat more than your normal portion. Too easy.
4. plan in the evenings
If you’re anything like me, there is never any time in the mornings to do something crazy like make your lunch. If it is going to happen, it has to be the night before. Get in the habit of thinking about your lunch while you’re planning your dinner and it will soon be part of your routine.
5. calculate the potential savings
Depending on your situation. Buying lunch every day can have a big impact on your finances. Have a think about your usual daily spend and then calculate this as an annual figure. The results might be just the motivation you need to start cultivating your lunch healthy habit.
Setting yourself up for success
1. Make a commitment to start
One of the first steps to developing a new habit is to promise to yourself that you’re going to develop a new habit. While committing to yourself is all well and good, actually making a public commitment, or at least telling one other person can make all the difference to successfully adopting your new habit. So take action now! Tell someone about your new habit and ask them to keep you accountable.
2. Start small – make it as EASY as possible
Let’s face it. Forming or changing habits is HARD WORK in the beginning. So the best way to set yourself up for success is to make it as small, manageable and easy as possible. I think of it as the first major step is just forming the new habit. Focus on this first.
Don’t expect to miraculously start bringing lunch 5 days a week. Just commit to a few days or even one day a week at first and ease yourself into it.
Then once you feel confident you’ve ‘adopted’ your new healthy lunch habit, it’s time to start getting better bringing your lunch and expanding to 3 or more days a week. No rush though.
3. Develop a ‘backup’ plan
Have a think about your current lunch situation. Identify the biggest challenge to you having a healthy home made (or office made) lunch. Then formulate a plan to overcome this challenge next time it arises.
Erratic schedules and lack of time are probably the most common factors, so one solution might be stocking your desk with a can of chickpeas and a jar of tomato pasta sauce so you’ll always have a tomato & chickpea soup at your fingertips. Or maybe you’d like to keep a bag of frozen peas in the freezer to be able to whip up some hot minted peas. Or maybe keeping some eggs in the fridge for a last minute ‘bachelorette eggs’. You get the idea.
4. Don’t expect to be ‘perfect’ from the first week
Perfection can be scary. And the thing is we don’t need to have a ‘perfect’ healthy home made lunch every day. I prefer to aim for ‘mostly’ to keep it realistic AND make it much more likely that I’ll keep going, rather than giving up because it’s ‘all too hard’.[/tab] [tab]
How to make the most of your work kitchen AND the number 1. piece of equipment you need for your healthy lunch habit
How to make the most of your work kitchen
1. stock your work ‘pantry’
Dedicate a small shelf or a drawer to lunch things and kit it out with the basics. At the very least some salt and maybe a little disposable pepper grinder. I’d also include some olive oil and vinegar so you’re always prepared for an impromptu salad. A packet of dried chilli and your favourite spice are also great to have on hand.
A little bag of nuts can also double as a snack. You could even get super organised with cans of tuna, chickpeas, beans or other good shelf-stable essentials. And think about keeping a few eggs in the fridge or a packet of frozen peas in the freezer.
2. stock up with the tools you’ll need
Depending on your work set-up, you might like to include a little chopping board and a pocket knife in your work lunch arsenal. If cutlery and crockery are scarce it might be a good idea to get a little lunch bowl and fork or spoon. Cheese fans might like to include a spare microplane grater – but this could be overkill!
3. figure out the best storage options
Most workplaces provide a fridge you can store your lunch. But if not, consider investing in a little chiller bag. Or if you have access to a good food shop nearby, maybe allow time to pick up whatever you need in your lunch hour. We’ll cover more on this in [The best & easiest way to pack and transport lunches for maximum freshness & flavour.]
4. allocate the time you need
I always find cooking or preparing food a great way to relax and unwind. If you’re already using dinner time to relax, why not think about adding a couple of minutes to your lunch break for a little cooking relaxation. It’s a great opportunity to add a little de-stress in the middle of the day.
The number 1. piece of equipment you need for your healthy lunch habit
So what is the number 1. piece of equipment you need? For me it’s good quality containers to transport your lunch.
I’m a big fan of the Pyrex* bowls with plastic lids pictured above for the following reasons:
1. They look good.
You’ve heard it before, we eat with our eyes. Food must look appealing for it to get our taste buds excited.
One of the biggest problems with home made lunches is when the don’t look as good as the takeaway option. It really makes it a lot more difficult to get excited about lunch if it’s packaged in a crappy container.
2. They don’t leak.
I used to carry my lunch to work in my hand bag. I can’t tell you how many times I used to have a leaking lunch situation and a stinky handbag for days if not weeks afterwards. No fun at all.
All that changed when I finally invested in my Pyrex* containers.
3. They are versatile and safe.
It’s very convenient to have a container which can go from the freezer to the fridge to the microwave or oven. Saving on washing up!
But more importantly, Pyrex glass is safe to use in the microwave. Some plastics are not and have been linked with increasing the risk of cancer. If you’d like to learn more about this I recommend reading ‘Anticancer’ by Dr David Servan-Schreiber.
4. They don’t stain or get smelly.
What is it about tomato based dishes that causes plastics to discolour? I love that even if I have a super yellow turmeric based curry, my glass containers are easy to clean.
*Note: I’m not affiliated with the Pyrex corporation in any way. I just love their containers 🙂 Feel free to invest in any container brand you prefer, just try and find something with glass bases so you’re not microwaving food in plastic.
[/tab] [tab]
The best & easiest way to pack and transport lunches for maximum freshness & flavour
Here’s the thing, we all have different requirements for our lunches.
While most people in offices have access to some sort of refrigeration, school children (and winemakers) often need to store their lunches in their lockers.
And then there’s the difference in the seasons. In Winter time most lunches will sit in the car or in your bag happily for a few hours without any problems. But mid Summer lunches will be wilted and icky if given the same treatment.
1. Choose the appropriate temperature.
Temperature is the most important factor for maintaining freshness.
Think about the season and your situation and plan accordingly. You may be fine at ambient temperature or you may need to invest in a chiller bag. My Mum used to pack our lunchboxes with a frozen drink in the middle of Summer to keep everything cool.
Also remember some dishes are more delicate and need cooler temps to stay fresh. A salad will wilt out of the fridge for long but a hearty stew will be fine out of the fridge for a day or at least until lunch time.
2. Choose the appropriate coverage.
Exposure to air can decrease freshness due to reactions to the air and moisture transfer. Crisp things tend to pick up moisture and go soggy if not protected. And of course moist food can dry out and go hard.
For most food it’s as simple as keeping it in some sort of container. So no need to over think this one, just wanted you to be aware of these factors.
For more recommendations on the best containers, see the ‘equipment’ tab above.
And that’s it! [/tab] [tab]
Make Ahead Portable Lunches
Making lunch ahead of time and packing in a ‘brown bag’ to take with us is what we’re all familiar when it comes to the concept of work lunches. While it may require a small amount of organisation, it need not take loads of time. A quick 5 or 10 minutes should have you out the door with a super delicious lunch.
If packing your lunch seems way to organised, you don’t necessarily need to resort to unhealthy takeaway. Just find somewhere to pick up a few fresh ingredients and then ‘assemble’ them either back at the office or in your favourite outdoors lunch spot. Note these recipes are also wonderful to have for when you’re traveling and feel like making something healthy in your hotel room with limited equipment.
Most workplaces have somewhere you can access boiling water and a microwave. All you need is a little imagination to turn this space into a quick lunch kitchen.
There aren’t many dinner leftovers that can’t be ‘recreated’ as delicious lunches. Leftovers always have and always will be my favourite lunches. You’ll be amazed at how many dishes actually improve with a little time in the fridge. The trick is to make sure you serve up your ‘lunches’ at the same time as you’re serving your dinner. This makes sure your lunch leftovers don’t mysteriously disappear as seconds! Here are a few of my favourites.
Right Click and choose ‘save link as’ on the cover above to download page copy..
questions & comments
If you have any questions, comments or you just want to share your experience cooking a particular recipe, please do so in the comments on the bottom of each recipe and page.
your favourites!
Don’t forget you now have your very own SVCS ‘favourites’ page. There’s now a link (with a little star) at the bottom of each page you can click on to add that recipe to your favourites. To access your favourites just go to the link in the Nav Menu above. Enjoy!
I liked the format of this with the videos. I could get something done whilst listening to the video which was great. Look forward to trying out some of the lunches since I’m always on the lookout for new ideas.
These lunch ideas are awesome! Being a university student (a very lazy one at that) I started to eat sandwiches for 5 of the 7 days in a week.
I’ve started to try out these recipes and the ones I’ve tried are the veggies & yoghurt and the hummus & veg. The hummus one wasn’t the best, but the yoghurt & veggies really hit the spot!
[/tab] [tab]
I liked the format of this with the videos. I could get something done whilst listening to the video which was great. Look forward to trying out some of the lunches since I’m always on the lookout for new ideas.
Fab Sandra!
Hi Jules,
These lunch ideas are awesome! Being a university student (a very lazy one at that) I started to eat sandwiches for 5 of the 7 days in a week.
I’ve started to try out these recipes and the ones I’ve tried are the veggies & yoghurt and the hummus & veg. The hummus one wasn’t the best, but the yoghurt & veggies really hit the spot!
Thanks for these wonderful recipes!
Thanks for sharing your experience Jeevan!
Funny I love hummus and veg… wonder if you tried a different hummus whether you’d like this more?
Jx