Take-along Lunches Take-along Lunches What goes in? More and more kids and adults pack lunches for Just as breakfast gets you through the morning, school or work. The portable lunch can satisfy the lunch will keep you alert throughout the afternoon. need for food and relaxation even in a relatively brief Hungry people have trouble concentrating on 30-minute lunch break. schoolwork or jobs and may not perform at their highest levels. A good lunch includes these parts: Why pack a take-along lunch? 1. Protein-containing food – Protein Economics: Pack-your-own lunches should be less comes in many forms including milk expensive than eating out, but if wise choices are not and milk products, meat, fish, cheese, made, they can be more expensive. This is especially eggs, nuts, beans and peanut butter. true for children who could eat lunch prepared as part Using leftovers to provide protein of the school lunch program. If the child’s take-along may require less preparation than lunch is made up of purchased packets of individual a sandwich. When milk is not the servings of food such as chips, cookies and puddings, beverage, cheese or yogurt may it may cost more than the cafeteria meal. provide calcium as well as protein. Adults with access to a company cafeteria also 2. Grains – Bread, cereal, rice or pasta may find it more expensive to carry a lunch. Cost can 3. Fruits be kept down by using leftovers. 4. Vegetables Nutrition: You can control the nutritional quality 5. Beverage – preferably milk of a lunch if you select, prepare and pack foods so for children they will be safe, flavorful and nutritious. Proper planning can give you bag lunches low in sugar, salt, Sandwich ideas fat and calories. Meat: Time, convenience, energy: Having a portable – Chopped cold roast beef lunch means not having to spend time standing in or pork with chopped fruits or vegetables like cafeteria lines or waiting for food to be served. This is apple, celery, radish or cucumber mixed with important if mealtime is limited or other errands must mayonnaise. be done during the – Dried beef mixed with cheese and horseradish. lunch period. – Corned beef mixed with mustard and Taste: Some mayonnaise. prefer the flavor of Fish: a take-along lunch. – Salmon or tuna with grated raw carrots, hard- Favorite foods can be cooked eggs and mayonnaise. included. Remember – Sardines plain or with mayonnaise. to provide a variety Chicken: of foods every day. – Sliced cold chicken with cranberry jelly. – Chicken spread mixed with toasted almonds or pecans. LSU AgCenter Pub. # 2259 Take-along Lunches Cheese: Grains – Bread, cereal, rice and pasta: – Sliced or grated with pickles, These provide energy, vitamins and fiber. More nuts or onions. fiber is found in whole-grain breads such as whole- – Cottage cheese with minced wheat, rye or cracked wheat. green pepper and chopped, Calorie watchers should not completely cut out dried prunes or apricots, breads. Remember, most of a sandwich’s calories accompanied by chopped come from the filling, not the bread. beet, pickles or parsley and In addition to enriched white and whole-wheat salad dressing. breads, try others such as French bread, pita bread, Egg: biscuits, tortillas, English muffins or bagels. – Mix chopped, hard-cooked egg with mayonnaise Other foods from this group that are good if or salad dressing. Add one or more of these: they can be kept cold include macaroni and cheese, onion, celery, raisins, green pepper, carrots, nuts, spaghetti, pasta salad, rice salad and potato salad. olives or grated cheese. Fruits and vegetables: – Cold scrambled eggs with salad dressing. The best take-along lunches Nuts: will have at least one fruit and – Chopped walnuts or pecans with cream cheese one vegetable. Fresh fruits and and raisins. vegetables are high in vitamins, Baked beans: minerals and fiber. – Plain or mashed beans mixed with chili sauce, When served raw, fruits chopped pickle and minced onion. and vegetables need little preparation. Drain canned fruits packed in syrup before Peanut butter: packing them in tight containers. – With sliced apple or mashed Use zippered bags to ensure banana. freshness and prevent leaks. – With sliced dill pickle. Fruit or vegetable salads – Mixed with grated raw carrots, are good choices. Pack cut fruits raisins and mayonnaise. such as apples, pears or peaches with dressing or fruit juices to prevent Other ideas (rather than sandwiches): darkening. Pack the dressing for green salads – Hard-cooked eggs in the shell. separately to keep greens crisp until ready to eat. – Deviled eggs with chopped peanuts or ham All fruits and vegetables must be kept cold (stored added to yolk mixture before stuffing. in the refrigerator or packed with ice packs) once they – Cold meats. A pork chop, fish fillet or baked are cut or peeled. Already cut fruits and vegetables chicken. bought at the store also should be refrigerated – Cheese cubes. Try varieties like Swiss, taco cheese immediately or kept cold. or jalapeno pepper cheese as alternatives to the Beverages: standard cheddar, if you’d like. Milk is a good choice because it contains calcium – Soup or stew. and other nutrients needed by everyone. But it – Leftover pizza. needs to be kept very cold. If a vacuum bottle is – Stuffed vegetables or not available, look for individual cartons of milk or fruit. Green pepper, containers of sterile milk (plain or flavored milk that banana pepper or apple has been processed at a high temperature so it can be stuffed with a sandwich stored at room temperature). filling. A 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice is another – Yogurt. Plain or with good beverage choice, especially if the meal contains chopped fruit or cheese or yogurt, which has the same nutrients as vegetables. milk. Check labels for the term “fruit juice.” These – Lettuce sandwich. Roll the sandwich filling in a contain more juice than fruit drinks. large leaf instead of using bread. Avoid fruit drinks and soft drinks. They are high in – Wrap-arounds. Wrap sliced meat or cheese sugar and low in other nutrients. Other choices are around pickles, cheese, celery or cucumber slices. tea, coffee, broth or water. LSU AgCenter Pub. # 2259 Take-along Lunches Freeze milk and juice in containers. They will thaw Most schools provide cold milk by mealtime and help keep other foods cool until for a minimal cost. If you choose to then, too. send your own, keep milk cold in a Snacks and desserts: well-insulated thermos. Pour cold Try to choose those low in sugar, salt and fat. milk into a well-insulated thermos Fruits, both fresh and dried, nuts and seeds are good that has been rinsed with ice water choices for both snacks and desserts. Buy large bags to keep it chilled. of these items and repackage them in sandwich bags Put hot foods in a thermos that has been heated. or plastic tubs. Before placing the hot food in the thermos, place hot Individually packaged chips, cakes and other water into the thermos. Let hot water sit for two to snacks you can purchase may be convenient, but three minutes, empty and fill with hot food. To keep many offer little nutritional value and are expensive. food hot, do not open the thermos until ready to eat. It is OK to have a cookie or other sweet as long Other equipment you may use are plastic as the rest of the meal is eaten and calories are not a containers and cups with tight lids, small glass problem. Cookies with oatmeal, nuts or dried fruit are jars, plastic forks and spoons, miniature seasoning more nutritious. Keep serving sizes small. One or two containers, plastic sandwich bags, plastic wrap cookies should be plenty. or waxed paper. Consider equipment costs when Food safety guidelines that will help keep foods comparing the cost of a home-packed lunch with a safe to eat include: bought lunch. Start with clean hands and a clean work area – If it’s not possible to keep perishable foods at Wash hands, utensils and work surfaces with hot, a safe temperature, select foods that can be soapy water before preparing food. If hot, soapy water maintained safely at room temperature. Some is not available, use anti-bacterial wipes or lotions. examples are: Package your food to prevent foodborne illness. Meats and beans: Peanut butter, nuts, serving- Food should never be allowed to stay at room size cans of meat spreads, lunch meat, jerky or temperature for more than two hours. Keep hot foods fish. hot and cold foods cold (140 degrees Fahrenheit or Milk: Hard cheeses, canned pudding and above for hot foods and 40 F or below for cold foods). individual packages of packaged milk. Insulated, soft-sided Grains: Bread, crackers, rolls and bagels. lunch boxes or bags Fruits: Whole, uncut fresh, dried or individual are best for keeping cans of fruit. perishable food cold, but Vegetables: Whole, uncut vegetables, such as metal or plastic lunch cherry tomatoes or individual cans of vegetables. boxes and paper bags Store cut or peeled fruits and vegetables in the also can be used. Wash refrigerator. Already cut fruits and vegetables lunch boxes or bags bought at the store also should be refrigerated inside and out and wash immediately. Use an ice pack to keep them cold ice packs after each use. in an insulated lunch bag. Pack foods only in paper bags purchased for that Others: Jams, jellies and individual packets of purpose. Other bags may be dirty or contaminated salad dressing or condiments. with bacteria that could cause foodborne illness. Use Time savers paper bags only once. When using paper lunch bags create layers by double-bagging to help insulate the Convenience foods save time but also may be food.