Sep. 08, 2017

Healthy Lunch: 3 Tips to Build a Lunchbox in under 15 minutes

My idea of a healthy lunch is a big nourish bowl. You’ll get why it’s called nourish bowl as you read on 😉 It’s a lunchbox that will satisfy not just your taste buds but your tummy as well. And best of all, it is not going to be a meal that will leave you feeling hungry at 3pm, or give you the dreaded “noon crashes”.

Before we get into the 3 tips to build a lunchbox in under 15 minutes, would you first like to learn how to build a delicious nourish bowl?

Ok let’s get started..

Always have these 3 main components in mind; and these components are the essentials you want to think of whenever you are preparing any meal, not just nourish bowls..

Component #1: Base (Greens/Veggies):

healthy lunch: fresh spinach healthy lunch: fresh broccoli healthy lunch: carrots

We are all familiar with phrases such as these:

“Eat Your Veggies”

“Eat Your Rainbow Colours”

“Eat your 5-a-day”

Vegetables, known as the nutritional cornerstone, are your main source of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals; they keep diseases away, and essential to maintain a well functioning body. Choices are aplenty Eg: Brussels sprouts, broccoli, peppers, spinach, cauliflower, zucchini, carrots. sweet potato, pumpkin..

Component #2: Protein

Protein from food is needed to build proteins in your body, it makes up part of our DNA and our body. Every function of our organs, cells and systems is controlled by protein. Great sources of protein are such as these: Meat, eggs, quinoa, tofu, beans, peas...

Component #3: Healthy Fats

Fat has always gotten bad press, but it is essential in our diet for growth development and cell functions. It is also needed for absorption of oil soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) into our body. So guys, make sure you dress your salads with some form of fat. Think Homemade/Natural dressing, avocado/guacamole, nuts & seeds..

There you go; the 3 components that are essential in a nourish bowl. Just keep that in mind when you're building your meals.

And we've got an additional tip here for you. Do you want to know how we keep our lunches always exciting and interesting?

The dressings & toppings!

Dressing and topping ties up your entire dish. Just switching up those two can give you a whole new meal even with your greens and protein remaining the same. Having said that, mixing up your greens (eat your rainbow colours!) is very important and highly encouraged so that you’re nourishing your body with a variety of nutrients and vitamins everyday.

Try stepping out of your comfort zone, pick up something from the fresh market that you normally do not reach out for, explore the abundance we are blessed with, and most of all, have fun and enjoy eating.

So how do we prepare all these in under 15 minutes you ask?

It’s easy!

Here are our 3 simple tips:

Tip #1: Batch cook your protein (boiled eggs, quinoa, grilled meat, beans) for the week and store in your fridge - each in its own container

Meal prepping is all the rage right now, but it has its limitation. Who wants to get stuck eating the same dishes throughout the week right?

Batch cooking gives you variety! It gives you the option of mixing up your dishes however you wish with the different components you have so you can listen to your body - feed it what it wants on that day.

Tip #2: Use snap frozen veggies (just pop it in the steamer or microwave for 5-10minutes and it’s done. No cutting and chopping required.. Can we hear a hooray?👏)

Now, don’t be afraid with the idea of using frozen vegetables. If you follow us on instagram or facebook, you would have already seen this fact;

"Based on an independent study which include 40 tests shows that in two third of the cases, frozen vegetables had higher level of antioxidant-type compounds compared to fresh ones!"

Vegetables are snap frozen soon after they are picked so nutrients are intact. Whereas some fresh produce may take a long time travelling from when they were picked till they reach the supermarkets. The longer this takes, the more nutrients are lost in the process. #frozenveggiestotherescue

Tip #3: Dressings, toppings, dressings, toppings. Have them ready to go in your fridge/pantry.

Whip up a few different sauces and dressings, keep it in a jar, refrigerate and use it as and when needed. Mix and match as you please.. Best thing about dressings? You can use it as a dip with chips or even as a pasta sauce! That’s what we do with our dressings.

Store your favourite toppings (we love sesame seeds and seaweed flakes!) in a jar where you can reach for them easily..

So with all that, what’s left to do?

Assembling! Your base (veggies) takes 5-10mins to heat up, your proteins are ready to go (or few mins to heat up) whenever you need them, and dressing & toppings are good to go too.

There you go, 3 Tips to Build a Lunchbox in under 15 minutes. You can even call this your healthy lunch fast food!

Guys,

I can’t begin to tell you how building my lunches this way has changed the way I eat, the way I feel post-lunch and how it sets the tone for the rest of my day.

Here are some of my favourite healthy lunch recipes for work and healthy packed lunch ideas..

Lunch #1: Broccoli-Quinoa Bowl with Spicy Roasted Pepper Dressing

healthy lunch: quinoa nourish bowl