Tag Archives: lunch

Healthy Seafood Recipes For Lent

During the Lent season, or the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, many people who observe these holidays abstain from eating meat on Fridays. While this might sound tedious to dedicated carnivores,  Friday doesn’t always have to be a pizza night. If you’re already tired of spaghetti and scrambled eggs, think about incorporating seafood into your breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

If you observe Lent, keep your meals interesting on Fridays throughout the season with these spectacular seafood recipes that are filling, healthy – and even family-friendly.

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Posted on March 18, 2024 by Maris

Eating Healthy on Valentine’s Day

Historically, Valentine’s Day is a day full of boxes of chocolates, fancy dinners out, candy hearts and chocolate candy roses. For someone trying to lose weight or maintain a healthier lifestyle, being bombarded by high calorie foods can be tough. Sure, one candy or one dinner won’t do an enormous amount of damage – but you really don’t need to sacrifice yourself on the altar of St. Valentine. Not only that, but one day has a sneaky habit of becoming another day, and another and another. Do yourself a favor and don’t start.

One of the primary ways that we show love to each other is with food. It’s biologically innate in our make up, but it isn’t confined to high calorie/high fat foods. Here are some ways to celebrate the love that you have for your significant other in a healthy manner.

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Posted on February 7, 2024 by Carmen

Easy Super Bowl Beef and Bean Chili Over Wagon Wheels

When a lot of us think of chili, we think of indulgent bowls of cornbread topped with juicy beef, beans and tomatoes. We think of mounds of cheddar cheese, sour cream topped with crushed tortilla chips.

If you’re feeding the family on Super Bowl Sunday and you want to keep your menu on the healthier side, opt for a lighter chili loaded with blood pressure-lowering fiber and no-salt-added beans and tomatoes.

Instead of serving with bread or chips, serve chili over whimsical wagon wheels for a fun, lighter spin on a hearty winter favorite.

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Posted on January 31, 2024 by Maris

Healthy Lunch Meat Brands for a Better Sandwich

By Emily Fonnesbeck RD, CD, nutritionist for the Biggest Loser Resort.

Generally speaking, I don’t really like lunch meat. Most are high in sodium, contain fillers and byproducts, and are processed with nitrates and nitrites. But I realize they are convenient so if you are willing to spend a little more money, you can control the quality of the product.

Specific brands I recommend are Boar’s Head, Applegate Farms, Nature’s Promise and Wellshire Farms. These will be 100% meat without the fillers and may have low sodium varieties, which I would recommend if you can find them. They are most likely be found at the deli counter rather than prepackaged on the shelf. Choose turkey, chicken, lean ham or even lean roast beef over pastrami, liverwurst, pepperoni, salami or bologna. (more…)

Posted on January 5, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Delicious Atkins-Friendly Lunch Ideas

The Atkins Diet is a popular, yet controversial, diet that helps users shed pounds while eating all of the protein they want. What’s the catch? The Atkins diet requires users to eat a low-carb diet, which is not known for long-term effectiveness. However, if your New Years Resolution is to lose weight with the Atkins diet, then you’re going to want to check out all of the Atkins recipes DietsinReview has to offer. You can also take some of the stress of meal-planning out of the way by trying two of our yummy Atkins lunches!

Lunch #1

This lunch is quite tasty and everything can be made the night before to take to work with you. Start by sipping on a frothy Italian Cream Soda (1.4g carbs). Your main entree will be Spinach with Chicken and Apricots (3.7g carbs), which combines the sweetness of fruit with the zing of balsamic vinegar for a taste explosion. For dessert, get to know the tempting step-sister of your traditional brownies, a low-carb version of Blondies (2.3g carbs). This lunch will have a total of 7.4g carbs. If you are allowed 30g carbs every day, this means you will save 2.6g carbs from your lunch meal to use at snack time or dinner time.

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Posted on January 4, 2024 by Health Buzz

What is The 1,200 Calorie Diet?

It’s generally accepted that, for most people, a 1,200-calorie-a-day diet is a good way to lose weight. While probably too low of a calorie amount for those who are extremely active or for men and women who are taller with larger builds, many people can and lose weight on a 1,200 calorie day.

The key is to select the right foods and exercises to make sure that you’re getting all the vitamins and nutrients that you need, along with improving your fitness. Notice in the meal plan that you consume most of your calories at breakfast and lunch to give you energy throughout the entire day. You also want to be sure to eat small snacks so that you never go more than three to four hours without eating.

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Posted on January 3, 2024 by Jennipher

Fast Lunches for When You Don’t Have Time to Eat

When the day seems to slip away from you, full of  meetings and deadlines, lunch is the last thing on your mind.  Studies have proven that skipping meals can hurt weight loss efforts, not to mention affect your physical health and concentration.

Instead of skipping your midday meal in favor of a marathon status meeting, keep these mini-meals at your desk for when you need a healthy lunch in a pinch.

Starkist Tuna Salad Sandwich-Ready Pouch: For just 100 calories, the pouch comes with with low-fat mayo, water chestnuts, celery and relish already mixed in—just pack whole wheat crackers or bread for a quick tuna salad with all the fixings.

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Posted on November 24, 2023 by Maris

Bento Lunches are Healthy Meals in a Box

The word “bento” or “obento” is Japanese for a meal served in a box. If you’ve noticed the compact lunch boxes popping up on cafeteria tables near you, than you’d likely agree that the bento trend has officially reached Western culture.

According to Deb Hamilton’s popular bento blog Lunch in a Box, a bento lunch is a “compact, balanced, visually appealing meal packed in a box.” Hamilton, who lived in Japan for nine years and speaks fluent Japanese, began creating bento boxes as a creative meal option when her husband was diagnosed with celiac disease.

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Posted on November 22, 2023 by Maris

Re-Do Your Lunch to Win $5,000 with California Raisins

Think that you pack a lunch that  deserves an A+ in nutrition? Do you proclaim that your healthy snack could ace a taste test? If so, then the new California Raisins’ Let’s re-Do Lunch contest may be just the thing for you!

From now until  Nov 8, healthy lunch and snack photos and tips can be added to the California Raisins Facebook page for the opportunity to win a $5,000 cash prize, a year’s supply of California Raisins and a donation in your name to the food bank of your choice. What do you think your community could do with the help you can give, all just by making a few small changes to your lunch?

California Raisins make an amazing snack, a truly awesome addition to salad,  and even taste divine added to dessert. But don’t let these ideas be the ending point for your creativity: using bento boxes, pack a lunch of lots of small bites. Try new options for sandwich fillings including peanut butter and raisins, or even egg salad with a bit of hummus and raisins (yes, really!) mixed in. Raisins are a great source of fiber, naturally sweet with no added sugar, and rich in iron, which make them a fabulous addition to just about any meal. (more…)

Posted on September 24, 2023 by Carmen

We Love Healthy Choice Steaming Entrees! [GIVEAWAY]

Rosemary Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

I’ve been a fan of Healthy Choice Freezer Entrees for years. They are delicious and filling, with appropriate portion control. Recently, I was sent coupons to sample the newest addition to the line, Steaming Entrees.

From their website: “Enjoy bigger, more vibrant ingredients in a smaller, lunch-sized portion. Steaming unlocks the delicious flavors of quality ingredients so you can taste and see the difference.”

Offered in eight new varieties, these 8-10 ounce all-in-one meals are much like the original Steamers, except that they are prepared in one dish, as opposed to two. I had a tough time finding these entrees, as they were always sold out when I went to the grocery. And with good reason – these meals are delicious.

I sampled three – Chicken Romano Fresco, Honey Balsamic Chicken, and Rosemary Chicken and Sweet Potatoes. I found all three to be of an adequate size for lunch, although I do admit that I needed to have a fruit or vegetable with the meal in order to feel completely satiated. Of the three, Honey Balsamic Chicken was my favorite. Chicken Romano Fresco was delicious as well, but with only three visible pieces of chicken in the meal, it felt as if I was eating a pasta meal instead of a chicken meal. It was flavorful and the vegetables were large and identifiable – always one of  my favorite points about any Healthy Choice Entree. (more…)

Posted on September 15, 2023 by Carmen

Video Series: How to Pack a Healthy School Lunch

With back to school kicking off around the country, a healthy lunch may, or may not, be on your supply list. With a few kids of my own, I’m all too familiar with sending them off to school each day with a lunchbox that satisfies my desire for nutrition and their desire for delicious.

In this video series, I explain how you can pack a healthy lunch that does the same for you and your kids, including beverages, sandwiches, fruits and vegetables and even snacks that everyone will love!

Sandwiches: The Main Goodness of the Packed Lunch

Check inside any packed lunch and, most often, you will see a sandwich. A sandwich fits the criteria of a packed lunch well – it’s portable, compact and filling. The ingredients that you choose to create your sandwich can make your meal healthy and satisfying or cause blood sugar spikes and dips. Here are some great options to keep in mind: (more…)

Posted on August 12, 2023 by Carmen