“Look at that flattened peanut butter sandwich!” my friends would say as I pulled my lunch out of my backpack during graduate school. Yes, a backpack filled with textbooks will crush a sandwich quite well, I thought to myself.

“It’s safe, though,” I replied, as I pretended to enjoy my compressed sandwich. I was on a tight budget and I didn’t have time to go back to my apartment and prepare food during the lunch hour. An apple and a peanut butter sandwich was my standard lunch.

It got a little boring.

These days I don’t find flattened sandwiches very appealing. Now my lunches usually consist of leftovers with an occasional off-campus lunch. I like to think of my leftovers as “planned-overs.” Making a little extra food for the previous evening meal saves time and money.

Bringing your own lunch allows you to control your portions, which can help with weight management. A well-planned lunch adds variety to your diet and helps you meet your daily nutrition needs.

If you bring your own lunch, ask yourself a few questions to see what kind of variety you’re getting:

• Do you include a fruit? How about some grapes, an apple or strawberries? If you have canned fruit, look for fruit that’s packed in juice instead of heavy syrup.
• Do you include vegetables? How about some crunchy carrots or broccoli, a container of vegetable soup to warm up or a can of vegetable juice?
• Do you include a grain food, such as pasta, bread or crackers? The current recommendation is to “make half your grains whole.” That means to look for whole- grain foods by reading food labels, especially the ingredient label. For example, is the first ingredient “whole wheat” or “oatmeal”?
• Do you have low-fat yogurt, milk or cheese in your lunch? They add calcium, protein and many other nutrients to your lunch. Explore the many types of dairy foods.
• Do you include lean meat or other protein-rich foods, such as dry beans, peas, lentils or eggs? How about a bean burrito on whole-wheat tortillas with some cheese?

Think safety as you pack your lunch, too. Do you have a refrigerator to store your food at work? Remember that perishable food, such as cut fruits and vegetables, should spend no more than two hours at room temperature.

If you don’t have a refrigerator, use an insulated lunch bag or box and freezer packs. Meat sandwiches can be frozen and kept in an insulated lunch bag, too. By noon the sandwich will have defrosted. Don’t freeze sandwiches that contain mayonnaise as a condiment or as part of a salad mixture because the mayo is likely to separate during freezing. Pack the lettuce, tomatoes and condiments separately, too.

If you tire of cold food and don’t have cooking facilities, consider bringing hot food with you. Invest in a good vacuum bottle. How about some hot soup, chili, baked beans or casserole to liven up your lunch?

Include an occasional treat, too, such as these tasty low-fat cookies.

Oatmeal Applesauce Cookies

1 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. margarine or butter
1/2 c. sugar
2 egg whites
2 c. rolled oats, quick-cooking
1 c. unsweetened applesauce
1/2 c. chopped raisins

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease or coat baking sheets with a nonstick cooking material. Mix flour, baking powder, allspice and salt. Beat margarine or butter and sugar until creamy. Add egg whites and beat well. Add the dry ingredients. Stir in oats, applesauce and raisins. Mix well. Drop ingredients by level tablespoonful onto the baking sheet. Bake 11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on rack.

Makes about five dozen cookies. Each cookie has 45 calories and 2 grams of fat.

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Source: Julie Garden-Robinson, (701) 231-7187, jgardenr@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.nodak.edu

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