It is a daunting task to prepare a healthy and an attractive lunch box every day for your children or yourself, be it for school or the office. Generally due to the lack of time and knowledge, people get in habit of both ordering and eating food from restaurants, take always, junk foods or just completely ignore the meal. Thankfully with little imagination and time management skills, you can design your lunch box in a nutritious and a palatable way.

For creating a healthy lunch box you will need to have healthy fats, protein, carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables. Such food combinations don’t just create nutritious values but also serve them with an appealing and an interesting choice for kids and adults. From the office to school, preparing lunch would help in increasing your energy level and keep your focus better.

Benefits of cooking food at home

Cooking lunch at home, when compared to junk and packaged food, offers quite a number of benefits:

• More health-conscious choices.
• Suitable serving sizes.
• Saves a good sum of money.
• Home-cooked meals that are fresh.
• Adaptable to your tastes.

With home cooked meals at hand, you are sure to include more amounts of fruits, vegetables, whole grains etc. and cut down on amounts of refined sugar, artificial ingredients, and other unwholesome foodstuffs.

Attractive Color Combinations to make your sandwiches more delightful

Sandwiches are considered a perfect food to make at home to fill a lunch box but, it can be made interesting in an assortment of ways to add to its charm.

Healthy and Nutritious filling ideas for a Sandwich

• Paneer and crisp vegetables.
• Grilled chicken and lettuce.
• Peanut butter and banana slices.
• Egg salad with mint and finely chopped celery.
• Cucumber slices and cheese.

Whole wheat bread or whole grain bread should be considered as they are considered very healthy, you can always cut sandwiches into fun shapes, that would really appeal to your little ones.

• Wraps and Rolls – An Quick and Versatile Lunch Idea
• Wraps and rolls are perfect for lunches both in the school and the office because they are handy, quick to make and highly customizable.

Popular and Tasty Lunch Box Wrap Combinations

• Vegetable wrap with tortilla.
• Chicken tikka wraps.
• Mint chutney with paneer wrap.
• hummus and salad wrap.

Bright-colored veggies like bell peppers, carrots and many other similar items would enhance the looks and the taste of your wraps.

Filling Rice Dishes to be included in lunch boxes

• Rice dishes are always filling. You can prepare some of these dishes the previous day.
• Innovative Rice Dishes for lunch boxes:
• Vegetable fried rice.
• Lemon rice with peanuts.
• Paneer pulao with peas.
• Chicken biryani.
• Mexican rice bowl.

You can have these rice dishes with some curd or green salad or even a boiled egg to be with it.

Healthy Pasta and Noodles for Lunch

• Pasta and noodles are loved by kids, try to make them in an unusual way and don’t use a lot of spices or sauces.
• Tips to make your Pasta Lunch-box health-friendly.
• Choose to use whole wheat pasta for your meals.
• Use different kinds of vegetables like, spinach, sweet corn, broccoli etc..
• Use light and less spicy sauce. Use leaner options for protein like chicken if required.

A chilled pasta salad also makes up for a delicious lunch.

Snack box meals as an additional option

Snack based meals to fill your lunch boxes have become incredibly popular among school kids and office going workers as they provide for a variety in meals and also make eating a relaxed affair.

Contents which can be included in your Snack box

• Fresh fruits such as grapes, berries, oranges, apples etc.
• Cheese cubes.
• Nuts and seeds.
• Whole wheat bread pieces or crackers.
• Curd.
• Boiled eggs.

These types of boxes work great with children who do not like to eat food that is rich in a larger volume but prefer a large variety of items and dishes to eat.

Traditional Home-cooked Food Items

• A home-cooked meal often makes the most filling meal in a packed lunch box.
• Popular traditional items that could be packed for lunch:
• Roti and a vegetable dish.
• Idle with chutney.
• Paratha with an assortment of fillings.
• Khichdi.
• Dal and Rice.

These items can all be easily made and are extremely nutritious.

Creative lunch box ideas for children

Children always relate with vibrant and colorful things and they love to eat anything that looks appealing to them.

Tips to create attractive presentation for a kid’s lunch box:

• Fruit skewers.
• Sandwiches in fun shapes.
• Smiley face made from carrot slices and cucumber pieces.
• Homemade muffins.
• Pasta in imaginative shapes.

If you desire, you can add a healthy sweet treat to their lunch box.

Lunch Box tips for office working professionals

Office workers prefer quick, nutritious and an energy-packed lunch that can be easily consumed at their work space.

Smart suggestions to pack for office lunches:

• Quinoa with protein sources such as lean meat and colourful vegetables. A bowl of rice with a piece of grilled chicken.
• A portion of vegetable stir-fry and rice.
• A thermos of soup for lunch.
• Sandwiches or wraps made with whole grain bread.

Such meals would definitely retain their freshness and would not spoil in few hours time.

Five smart ways to pack your lunch box

• Plan and prep food ahead of time.
• Invest in high quality leak-proof containers.
• Ensure the meal consists of the right amount of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber.
• Add variety in your daily diet by changing food items.
• Healthy drink alternatives for your Lunch Box

Instead of buying fizzy sweet drinks for lunch you can add one of these to your box.

Fruit juice which is freshly squeezed

• Buttermilk.
• Coconut water.
• Smoothie.
• Lemonade.

These would be some of the best healthy options that would help you in keeping up your water level and also help in maintaining your energy levels throughout the day.

Final thoughts

You can make your lunch boxes both entertaining and healthy for your school children or professional co-workers with some imaginative concepts. With food items presented artistically, your lunch box can turn out to be an aesthetic feast. No idea is out of bounds when it comes to creating a delicious home cooked meal, be it spiced rice or creative wraps to whole some snacks and traditional dishes. So be creative with your cooking, save a lot of money, time and have a filling healthy lunch!