Healthy snacks for my lunchbox - suggestions please!

The request is in the title really - I now take a packed lunch to work and I need some suggestions on how to fill my lunch box with healthy stuff :slight_smile: I used to take porl pies, sausage roll, etc. along with my sandwiches but I’ve decided to cut down on that kind of thing and eat more healthily in the daytime.

So, apart from apples, bananas, etc. (which I’ve always eaten) what is there I can fill my lunchbox/stomach up with?

Pretzels
Popcorn (without a bunch of salt and butter)
Veggies and dip
Fat free pudding cups
Juice boxes
Maybe dried fruit?
Non super-sugary dry cereal

I like dates, they’re very good for you, and when you need a quick sugar hit, they’re sweet enough to do the job.

I usually keep a container of dried fruit in my desk drawer, it will vary but things like raisins, apricots, pears, nectarines and apple. Or you could take nuts, I love raw almonds and pecans, but a handful of raw nuts of any kind is both nutritious and delicious.

On the slightly less healthy side of things I make myself muffins to take to work, usually banana with wholemeal flour and added rolled oats or wheat germ. I freeze them and pull one out of the freezer for my lunch … by the time I get around to eating it, it is thawed.

Maybe a piece of cheese? Although I’m not normally fond of processed cheese, I still like cheese sticks and those little wedges of cheese, reminds me of being a kid.

Or a tub of yoghurt. If you like fruit yoghurt, stir a couple of spoonfuls of fresh or frozen fruit into the tub … it will taste better and have much less sugar than other flavoured yoghurts.

I am eating Fat Free (or Low Fat, which ever) Triscuits as we speak. Quite yummy. You could put stuff on them, if ya wanna get crazy.

Those mini carrots are good, as are celery sticks. My husband particularly likes celery sticks filled with cream cheese. Sometimes I slice up bell peppers and send them along in his lunch. I’ve had popcorn cakes (like rice cakes, but made of popcorn) which were not totally disgusting, though I will rarely choose them. Grapes are wonderful snacks, as you can eat some now and some in the middle of the afternoon.

If you’re like most Americans, you don’t get enough veggies. So take a salad and dressing. Anything that you might find at a good salad bar is fair game, unless it’s too terribly messy. Or pack a tiny can of V8 or tomato juice, if you like those drinks. Any time you can get another serving of vegetables in, without getting too many carbs or fats with it, is a healthier step.

Fresh fruit, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, carrot sticks, mandarins, yum yum :slight_smile: A few pieces of grapefruit are fun too, if you have the time to peel them.

No to fruit juice - stick to whole fruit. Juice has no fibre and the same sugar content as beer or Coke. Dried fruits likewise are concentrated fruit sugars and need care - some are 45% sugar.

Grape tomatoes
Yogurt
Applesauce (no sugar added)
Nuts
String cheese sticks

Whole grains are very nutritious and also a good lunchbox choice because they fill you up and they give you sustained energy. The easiest way to carry them in a lunchbox is probably in granola-bar form, but watch out–some granola bars really pack in the calories and fat so read the nutrition label carefully. A ziplock bag of breakfast cereal is also good to munch on, with the same caveats. If you have access to hot water at work, some instant oatmeal or multigrain instant breakfast cereal are very nice, especially on a cold day.

If your goal is to eat healthier foods, check out the snacks in the natural food aisle at the grocery store, or if you’re feeling adventurous, try a natural or whole-foods grocery. For example, the organic hippy granola bars and instant cereals are usually lower in sugar and sodium than the ones in the regular cereal aisle.

I don’t know what sort of freaky sugar beer you drink… Perhaps you meant same amount of carbs?