Is this the year that you’ve resolved to finally eat healthier and save your money instead of spending it? Packing your own lunches each day for work and school is both cheaper and healthier, and Her Campus is here to help inspire your culinary genius! This week, we’ve compiled a list of ten lunches that can all be made using twenty cheap ingredients. So grab a friend and head to the grocery store – healthy and delicious lunches await you! Bon Appétit!
Your Shopping List:
- Peanut Butter
- Honey
- Mayonnaise
- Mustard
- Unsweetened Greek Yogurt
- Olive Oil
- Granola
- Crackers
- Bread
- Lettuce
- Tomatoes
- Cucumbers
- Grapes
- Bananas
- Apples
- Cheddar Cheese
- Tuna
- Sliced Deli Salami
- Feta Cheese
- Sliced Deli Chicken
1. Fruity Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip
This yummy dip makes for a great snack and a fun lunch! If you like it with unsweetened Greek yogurt, try it with flavors like strawberry or raspberry too. It keeps well in your fridge for about a week, so make a big batch and take part of it to work or school in a little Tupperware container. It tastes great with bananas, apples, crackers and little pieces of bread!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup natural runny peanut butter
1 Tablespoon honey
Fruit/crackers for dipping
Directions: Mix together yogurt, peanut butter and honey, making sure there are no lumps. Transfer to small container. Eat with crackers and fruit.
2. Tuna Salad Sandwich
Tuna is a healthy lunch food and it’s also easy to make! Adding grapes to tuna really enhances the flavor, but feel free to substitute the grapes with other fun ingredients like cantaloupe, celery and apples.
Ingredients:
2 slices of bread
5 oz cans of your favorite tuna
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Grapes, halved
Lettuce
Directions: Drain tuna and place in mixing bowl. Mash and break up tuna with a fork. Add mustard and mayonnaise to tuna and mix well. Add halved grapes to mixture. Place tuna mixture on bread slices. Add lettuce. Top with second slice of bread and cut in half.
3. Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich
I know, I know – the PB&J sandwich is way overdone. But try this variation on the classic brown-bag edition and you might be swayed. Experiment with different types of bread to mix it up even more!
Ingredients:
2 slices of bread
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 banana, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup granola
Directions:
Spread peanut butter on bread slices. Top the peanut butter with thinly sliced bananas and honey. Sprinkle granola over honey and top with remaining slice of bread.
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4. Tuna Apple Salad
Apples are also surprisingly complementary to tuna, and a salad containing both ingredients is healthier than a traditional tuna sandwich! Put the dressing in a small container and add it to your salad right before eating – that way the spinach won’t get soggy.
Ingredients:
5 oz can of your favorite tuna
Apples cut into small squares
Cheese cut into small squares
Grapes, halved
Lettuce
Olive Oil
Mustard
Directions:
Put lettuce in large Tupperware container. Add cubed cheese and cubed apples. Drain tuna and place in separate bowl. Mash and break up tuna with a fork, adding olive oil to taste. Throw halved grapes into tuna mixture and add tuna mixture to salad. In a separate container, add olive oil and mustard for dressing. Always add 3 times as much olive oil as mustard, otherwise mustard will overpower salad. Sprinkle salt and pepper, if available, into dressing.
5. Fruit and Cheese Plate
The traditional soups, sandwiches and salads of lunch can get old, so add some variety to your diet by packing a fruit and cheese platter once in awhile!
Ingredients:
Cheese
Apples
Grapes
Salami
Crackers
Directions:
Put two handfuls of crackers in Zip-loc bag. In additional bags, add cheddar cheese, grapes and slices of salami. Also grab apples and knife for cutting cheese.
6. Mediterranean Sandwich
This do-it-yourself version of the traditional Greek gyro is a great way to mix up your lunchtime routine. Throw it together in the morning before class – as the sandwich sits, the flavors get even better! For a twist on traditional sandwiches, try buying pita bread instead of normal bread during your next visit to the grocery store.
Ingredients:
Deli sliced chicken
2 slices of bread
Olive oil
Greek yogurt
Feta Cheese
Cucumber, diced finely
Lettuce
Tomatoes, diced
Directions:
In a small bowl, mix 3 T yogurt, a handful of diced cucumber, a dash of olive oil and 1 T feta. Add 2 slices of meat and lettuce to bread. Sprinkle diced tomatoes over lettuce. Add yogurt mixture to sandwich between layers of meat and veggies to avoid soggy bread.
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7. Greek Yogurt
Sure, Greek yogurt might be a great ingredient in sandwiches and dips, but it’s also good all by itself! To make this high-calcium, high-protein, low-carb treat into its own meal, doctor it with fruit, granola and honey.
Ingredients:
Greek Yogurt
Honey
Apples, cut into chunks (or blueberries seasonally)
Bananas, sliced
Granola
Directions:
Put Greek yogurt in large Tupperware container. Add apples and bananas. Drizzle honey over ingredients and mix together. Put two handfuls of granola in Zip-loc bag. When eating, mix granola with rest of ingredients.
8. Salami Sandwich
Salami, a cured Italian meat, stays good for weeks so it’s a great thing to keep in your refrigerator. It makes a good snack when rolled up with cheese and it also tastes great in sandwiches and wraps. This recipe is for a traditional salami sandwich, which can be doctored up with peppers, spinach and different kinds of cheeses depending on your most recent trip to the grocery store!
Ingredients:
2 slices of bread
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Cheese
Salami
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Directions:
Add mayo and mustard to slices of bread. Slice cheese and add to bread. Add slices of salami. Top with lettuce and tomatoes.
9. Greek Salad with Chicken
After spending a semester in Athens, Greece, Clare Brogan, a Bucknell University collegiette™, eats Greek salads almost every day. She loves that they are fresh and easy to throw together. Plus, Greek salads are substantial, so you won’t be hungry for hours! Traditional Greek salads contain the ingredients below as well as onions and olives. The salad is great without those two ingredients, but if you decide you’d like them, then substitute two of the 20 ingredients above (perhaps grapes or mayonnaise) for the two you’d like to add!
Ingredients:
Lettuce, chopped
Chicken, sliced into thin strips
Feta Cheese
Olive Oil
Sliced cucumbers
Tomatoes
Directions: Finely chop lettuce and add to Tupperware container. Cut chicken into thin strips and add to lettuce. Slice cucumbers thinly and dice tomatoes. Add both to salad. Sprinkle with feta cheese. In separate container, mix olive oil with salt and pepper, if available. Add olive oil to salad immediately before eating.
10. Gourmet Chicken Sandwich
Apples and cheese have complementary flavors, and adding them to a sandwich with chicken can add a dash of gourmet to your normal lunchtime routine. If possible, throw this sandwich on the grill or in the microwave to melt the cheese before eating.
Ingredients:
2 slices of bread
Sliced deli chicken
Mayonnaise
Apples, thinly sliced
Cheese
Lettuce (optional)
Directions:
Spread mayonnaise on top slice of bread. Add slices of chicken to bottom slice of bread with thinly sliced apples and cheese. Add lettuce if desired. Assemble sandwich, cut in half.
So there you have it, collegiettes™! Ten easy, do-it-yourself lunches to try for the next few weeks – and they only require you to buy 20 cheap ingredients at the grocery store. Happy lunching!
Sources:
www.allrecipes.com
www.momscookingclub.blogspot.com
www.food.com
www.thewannabechef.net
www.cooks.com
www.parenting.com
www.webmd.com
www.marthaswewart.com