Hi, everyone!

I am excited to share this post with you all, as it will benefit you in the long run! Today, I will guide you on how to create a healthy lunch, and for those of you who pack, that is easy to make. Some of my favorite videos are going to be featured below as well to give you ideas that go along with making some healthy and delicious lunches!

First, I’m going to show you how to construct a lunch that works for you. Then, I will give some examples that you can use or alter to show you what a healthy and balanced lunch looks like.

This blog works for both the person who packs their lunch and the person who buys their lunch. Learning how to make good choices is so important!

How to Create & Prepare a Healthy Lunch

We must know how to create a healthy meal overall. The Choose MyPlate example is the best guide to follow. Here it is below:

Basically, we see here that you need a little bit of everything into your meal. When you select the foods to pack into your lunch, reference back to this picture.

Tips for Packaging Lunches:

• Pack your lunch when you are not rushed (you can see the food you put in to avoid unhealthy choices)
• Make half your lunch consist of fruits and/or vegetables
• Remember to get some dairy into your meal! (ex: yogurt, milk, etc.)
• Avoid sugary drinks

Now, we can move on to making the meal with examples!

Examples of Healthy Lunches

You can pack these lunches either on the weekend and put them in the fridge, the night before, or possibly even in the morning!

What You Might Need (Besides Food):

• A lunch box or bag to take your lunch in
• A few containers to store food in
• A water bottle

Are you ready? Let’s get to the examples!

Example #1: LEFT-OVERS!

Did your mom make yummy spaghetti last night? Left-overs (food that is leftover after another meal) makes for an awesome part to your lunch!

When you pack left-overs, classify them under a food group- it may fall into more than one. For example, if you plan to eat spaghetti and meatballs from the night before, you can count this toward grains and protein. Make sure to still balance your meal. Now, add some fruit and/or vegetables, possibly some dairy if it’s not too much, and there you have a balanced and delicious meal! PLUS, you are making sure no food goes to waste!

Example #2: Meal Prep WITHOUT Cooking 🙂

The video here is a 3 Minute Video of how to prepare snacks and school lunches without any cooking involved. You can make these really simple meals (with or without sandwiches) either on the weekends, the night before school, or in the morning. It is done by Tasty, and it seriously involves no effort! Check it out by clicking here or use this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rts_NC5D0AU

Example #3: Meal Prep WITH Cooking

These two videos are perfect for those of you who want to cook your lunches for the week on the weekends.

The Domestic Geek does an excellent YouTube video with different lunches to cook. She is straight forward, really helpful in the directions, and has a variety of lunches for all different tastes. Check her video out here or use this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SffWUBxXQ9E

The next video I recommend is from Mind Over Munch. She incorporates lots of different flavors and cooking styles into these lunches, which are also known as BentoBox lunches. To see her video, click here or use this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVKMrz4-H4o

 

 

And… That is a wrap for this week’s post! PLEASE let me know in the comments below if this helped you or gave you insight into how to create a healthy lunch for school. You can also follow me on Instagram and let me know there. OR you can also send me an email at talkbyvictoria@gmail.com. 😉 Share this post with your friends!

Thank you all so much! Your feedback, comments, and suggestions are so appreciated. Have a lovely week! (Oh! And for those people who are going back to school- you got this!)