What can you put in a lunch box and eat with your hands? Simple ideas are given in this article.
Now is the time that everyone is used to snacking on candy bars like snickers, hot dogs, and other useless food. Some simply have no idea what can replace these everyday foods. But, for sure, everyone wants to stay healthy and energized. This article contains a number of products that will be useful and pleasant during a snack at work or school. These meal and snack ideas give you sustained energy, so you can easily focus on the academic assignments. In the College years, I preferred to write my paper after a nutritious snack.
So, all you need is to stock up on the products offered below in the morning and go to work or study with a clear conscience. Frankly tasteless lunches in the school or university canteen force children to spend money on buns and chocolates or go hungry at all. A simple and universal solution is to take food with you from home. However, it is not always and not everywhere possible to warm it up, and sometimes there is not even time for lunch itself. So what to do? Assemble the lunch box!
What can be a great snack?
The first rule of assembling a lunch box: all food should be such that it can be taken with your hands. Therefore, make sure that the child always has wet and dry wipes with him, so he can clean his hands before a meal. It is also important that the contents of the lunch box are delicious in cold form, do not dirty everything around, and do not crumble.
Do not place together wet foods and the rest of the food, use special dividers or choose containers with multiple compartments. If you have made a sandwich, cut it into four parts, a roll of pita bread or a “pocket” of pita bread – in half. If you want to give your child a casserole with you to school, prepare it in muffin molds. Do not stuff pancakes and pies with crumbly or juicy berry filling, make them small, just for a couple of bites. To prevent pastries and sandwiches from getting wet, wrap them in foil or cling film.
What should I put in the lunch box?
Sometimes children get hungry and decide to eat a snack only by the end of the day, so perishable foods like boiled sausage, sausages, sandwiches with butter, redfish, mayonnaise sauce should not be put in a container. Also, glazed cheeses, drinking yogurts, and pastries with cream are poorly stored in a warm room — it is better to eat them at home.
If you think that fruits should be given to the child entirely, choose small solid fruits — they are more convenient to eat. Soft fruits like peaches, apricots, and plums should be put in a container right away, otherwise, they risk being smeared on school notebooks and textbooks.
When preparing lunch for school, do not forget about the preferences of the child. If no one else in the family eats celery or turkey meat, please do not put them in the children’s lunch box, even if you consider these products tasty and healthy.
Ideas for simple snacks
A full-fledged snack of a student or student should consist of a hearty main course, vegetables, fruits or berries, and snacks. Based on the experience of moms from different countries, we have compiled an approximate list of ingredients and dishes suitable for eating with your hands. If your baby has not yet learned to eat carefully, choose from the lists what gets dirty the least.
Main dishes:
- lavash roll with boiled or baked chicken fillet and cottage cheese;
- baked tofu;
- small meat or vegetarian meatballs;
- farm cheese + whole-grain crackers;
- sandwich with ham, cheese, lettuce leaves;
- tortillas with cheese filling;
- hard-boiled eggs + whole grain bread;
- pita with vegetable filling and hummus.
- Vegan burger.
Fruit. Vitamins, fiber, satiety, and a feeling of freshness – you will get all this by snacking on fruit. If you are very hungry, choose high-calorie bananas and dates. They will provide the body with magnesium, which gives vigor. In autumn and winter, the risk of colds increases. To protect yourself from them, choose fruits with a high content of vitamin C – grapes, oranges.
Fruits and vegetables:
- oranges or tangerines (peeled slices);
- apples or pears (whole or in slices);
- strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, black currants;
- peaches, apricots, plums (slices, halves);
- seedless grapes;
- kiwi (without peel);
- bananas;
- carrots (with chopsticks);
- cucumbers (sticks or circles); cherry
- tomatoes;
- sweet pepper (rings or boats);
- celery stalked;
- fresh vegetable salad;
- radish;
- olives.
Snacks and sweets:
- almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, coconut chips;
- dried fruits and candied fruits (raisins, dried apricots, dried cranberries, cherries, mangoes, dates);
- natural fruit pastille;
- fruit or vegetable chips;
- energy bars;
- home-made cookies;
- whole-grain flour crackers;
- vanilla crackers, crisps, bagels;
- biscuits or cookies in individual packaging;
- homemade cakes (muffins, oatmeal cookies, dense non-crumbly pie, etc.);
- chocolate bars;
- marmalade.
Nuts and dried fruits. This is a real vitamin bomb. You will get calcium, selenium, iron, vitamins C, A, E, PP. The minus of such a snack is the high-calorie content. But there is also a plus: nuts and dried fruits give a feeling of satiety, so it is impossible to eat a lot. Choose any nuts. Among dried fruits, give preference to prunes, dried apricots, figs, raisins, dates. Don’t forget to soak them!
Wholegrain crisps and crackers. Whole-grain bread has a lot of vitamins – groups B, E, A. They also contain essential amino acids and fiber, which improves intestinal peristalsis. As an addition, you can use hummus, cottage cheese, herbs, fish, low-fat cheese.
Don’t forget about the drink!
A bottle of still water is the best option for a schoolboy, especially a small one: unlike bright fruit drinks, sweet compotes and juices, it does not need to be washed in case of an “accident”. Some mothers give their children drinks made from nuts or cereals, store-bought smoothies, and fruit purees in convenient spider packages to school. Older students prefer to take a thermos with tea or coffee with them.