Lunchbox ideas that don’t cost the earth
September is here (who would have believed it?), the summer holidays are over and the kids are back to school. So it’s time to once again get back into the routine of life, work and packed lunched for yourself and the kids. So here are some economical lunchbox ideas that don’t cost the earth.
Coming up with winning ways to pack healthy, easy and financially economical packed lunches can be challenging. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut, packing the same old things days in, day out. It’s even easier to reach for those oh so convenient pre-packed choices from supermarkets. You know the ones we mean. The little bag of apple slices and the pre-packaged nuts.
These convenient packs might be saving you a few minutes of your time, but what is the cost to your pocket and worse still what is the cost for the environment?
A minute in your hand, forever in the land
Apart from being super expensive, all those mini snack packets and pouches have a huge cost on our planet. Many contain plastics that can’t be recycled, and the rest clog up our recycling bins with additional plastics and packaging.
So it’s time to ditch the pre-packed snacks in favour of healthier, more economical and planet-friendly lunchbox ideas that don’t cost the earth.
Fresh fruit hacks
Little packs of fruit hardly ever contain the whole apple. So ditch the little packs of apple and instead slice your own apple.
Slice a whole apple and hold it back together again with an elastic band. This way your apple doesn’t change colour, you know you’re eating a while fruit and you don’t have any excess waste. Use coloured rubber bands for extra fun and zero waste.
Use small plastic boxes for cut up softer fruits and berries. Takeaway meals often come in lots of small plastic boxes, recycle these boxes for your fruity snacks and give them a new lease of life.
Dried fruit and nut hacks
Dried fruits and nuts are super healthy. They are filled with vitamins, minerals and are packed with fibre. They provide an energy boost when needed most and are delicious and fun to eat. Buy your dried fruits and nuts in bigger packs and make your own mix or buy raw healthy mixes. At Medfood we sell a variety of dried fruits and nuts and also make our very own special fruit and nut mix.
Medfood special mix is a very special selection of our most popular products. It contains raw cashew nuts, pistachios, almonds and walnuts as well as green raisins, baby yellow figs and raw hazelnuts.
Our mixed fruits and nuts contains papaya, strawberries, golden yellow and black raisins and cranberries. As well as raw cashews, hazelnuts, almonds and brazil nuts.
Use little boxes or small resealable bags for dried fruit and nut snacks in your lunchbox. You can use the resealable bags over and over again and they come in many sizes, so you can find the perfect snack size for you and your family.
10 olives a day keep the doctor away
Olives are the secret superfood that no one is talking about. But did you know that olives are packed with healthy fats, antioxidants, vitamin E and fibre. Research from Tufts University in the US showed that olives are one of the healthiest foods you can eat due to its natural health properties. Olives make perfect snacks and they fill you up, so you don’t over eat. Marinated olives are not only delicious, but also come in many flavours. Again buy larger packs and decant into smaller boxes. Add a cocktail stick so you don’t get oily fingers and recycle your cocktail stick when finished.
Taking you back to Italy, the Bella Napoli olives are a joy to eat and very popular. This delightful mix is made of black olives and green Nocellara olives and is marinated with red peppers and garlic cloves in oil. Delicious. Why not explore our range of olives.
Have a sweet tooth – clever chocolate hack
If you have a sweet tooth and find yourself reaching out for a bar of chocolate in the afternoon, here is a chocolate hack that will definitely satisfy your sweet tooth in a healthy way.
Swap your chocolate bar for dark chocolate covered nuts. At Medfood we have a delicious range of dark chocolate covered nuts from delicious almonds to fun and giant Brazil nuts.
Dark chocolate is packed full of important minerals, including iron, magnesium, zinc, copper and phosphorus. In your body, these minerals are used to support factors such as immunity (zinc), can help keep your bones and teeth healthy (phosphorus), and contribute to better sleep quality (magnesium). Combine these with the benefits of nuts and you are getting a double dose of sweet goodness in your diet.
Buy in larger packs and control your portion sizes by weighing them out in small resealable bags. Kids might find dark chocolate too bitter, however why not give them a handful of giant chocolate Brazil nuts to try. They will love their giant size.
Homemade fruit water
Swap out sugary drinks in disposable cartons and bottles and instead make your own fruit-infused tap water. Use reusable drinks bottles or flasks and add fruits and herbs, topping up with tap water. Your can experiment with different flavours and use this fun and delicious way to keep you and the kids hydrated throughout the day.
Making these changes might take more time to start with, but you will find that over time they become a habit. A habit that keeps you and your family healthier, saves you tons of money and saves the planet unnecessary plastic. Try out these lunchbox ideas that don’t cost the earth and before long you will wonder how you ever did things differently.
Reference:
Healthy lunches – BBC Good Food
Dark chocolate – The Cleveland Clinic
Photo attributes:
Recycling – Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik
