No need to be overwhelmed with packing the kid’s lunches. Packing a healthy lunch doesn’t require one to be a dietitian or a nutritionist it just takes label reading and a little planning. You will save money and build your young one’s health.

One of the challenges of the mid-day meal is that if it is too heavy it interferes with mental work. After all, nodding off in the classroom will lead to other problems. Have the children start off with a healthy breakfast of a whole grain cereal, such as steel cut oats. It’s good for mom and dad too. The oats have plenty of fiber and b-vitamins which are excellent for the nervous system, the brain and emotional stability. Add a protein shake for extra nutrition. Eating a nutritious breakfast cuts down on cravings and will enable you to make it to lunch time with out feeling famished.

Less Healthy Lunch Options
For lunch avoid processed meats, the salt, the sugar, the additives, the source of the meat itself all lend it to be not a great choice. Avoid white bread and sugary snacks. Avoid items with artificial colors. Repeatedly these substances, although labeled by the FDA as “generally recognized as safe” , have been implicated in aggravating hyperactivity and mood disorders. One last thing to avoid are sugary drinks. Young people are developing diabetes at an astounding rate and even fruit juice has been implicated as a factor. Consider diluting fruit juice with mineral water for a tasty lunch beverage.

Healthier Lunch Options
Prepare sandwiches made with whole grain bread. Use a tasty home made spread. It is cheaper and you have better control over the quality of the ingredients. And of course nothing can substitute for the love you put into it. Slice veggies like carrots, celery, broccoli and cauliflower with a dip. Use delicious nut butters for sandwich spreads. Bean burgers are very easy to make and are tasty alternatives to meat as are grain burgers. Adding a few nuts and seeds or a home made trail mix to the lunch box is tasty and nutritious too.

The love affair the nation has with fast food is not over. One may be tempted to think that the only buyers are teens and kids screaming for happy meals, but rushed adults in need of a quick meal frequent fast food establishments. That being the case there is controversy going on regarding providing the nutritional information of these items. New York City recently won a court challenge and fast food restaurants will list the calorie counts of foods on their menu.

I for one welcome this. If you purchase a latte, and you have to choose between 120 calories vs. 340 calories, at least if you select the higher count item, you know what is in it know. As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. Calorie count info is a tool that can help one to spread out their daily quota in a more balanced way. To learn calorie count and nutritional content of the menu items for the chains listed below click here.

Arbys ®
Burger King ®
Domino’s Pizza ®
Dunkin Donuts®
KFC®
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts ®
McDonald’s®
Pizza Hut ®
Starbucks ®
Subway ®
Taco Bell ®
Wendys ®

Is this helpful? I hope so.

Basically tempeh is a cake of cooked soybeans, bound together by a white mycelium, similar to Camembert or Brie which have soft, white mantels. The spore culture is rhisopus oligosporus. The mold penetrates the beans and makes them more digestible. It results in a very nutritious product, high in vitamin B12, it is also a source of complete protein.

Good quality tempeh should be firm, dense and covered completely with white mycelium. It should have a pleasant, clean, subtly sweet or mushroom-like aroma.

Tempeh is often enjoyed fried. It can be marinated first, it can also be steamed and then incorporated into dishes.  Typical condiments used with tempeh are chilli, coconut milk, cucumber, and raw or steamed vegetables. Tempeh can also be pureed and used as a part of other dishes or baked goods. Keep tempeh refrigerated and use according to package directions. It can even be left unrefrigerated for about a day. Just wipe or rinse off any spores.  Dark spots on tempeh are signs of maturity and ‘increase nutrition and flavor’.

Tempeh is a traditional Indonesian food. For more info on tempeh, click here

References:

Downes, John 1987. The Soy Source, 1987: A practical guide to cooking with soy foods.
image credit: brownie points

• you have a better chance of knowing the quality of the ingredients used in the food preparation.
• your meal will have fresher ingredients
• you can control your portion sizes
• a restaurant or fast food place may use cheaper quality oils, or use rancid oils in the food preparation.
• you can eat in a relaxed manner, as you don’t have to rush during your lunch hour to hunt for food.
• and you can put the money you have saved towards, your savings, towards a vacation or some other special item.