Breathe Magazine

Do you know the letter and number for every candy bar in your office vending machine? Can you name the drive-thrus with the best French fries in town? Maybe you are the Queen of Healthy Eating in your own kitchen, who turns into the Burger Queen when you’re starving and stranded while out running errands far from your fridge? Your house may be a sanctuary of wholesome ingredients, but you don’t have to undo your hard work when you’re away from home.

breakfast

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but that’s not an excuse to eat donuts and coffee cake every morning! Many breakfast foods are relatively portable, so getting in some of your food groups shouldn’t be hard.

A popular breakfast item easy to take with you is a smoothie. Rather than relying on the super sweet store-bought versions, make your own the night before and all you have to do is shake (to ensure it’s mixed through) and go. Smoothies come in as many styles as there are fruits, but a classic combination is a blend of banana, milk, and frozen berries. You can play around with your tastes and try yogurt, flax seed, frozen tropical fruit, and even a handful of baby spinach (I promise you won’t be able to taste it). Green smoothies make life more exotic! To include some whole grains in your smoothie, try adding a quarter cup of either dry rolled oats or cooked oatmeal. Both add a doughy flavor and a hint of chew.

OATMEAL SMOOTHIE
Mix the following in a blender:
• 1 small ripe banana
• 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
• 1/4 cup rolled oats

Don’t ignore one of the world’s most transportable foods—the sandwich! Both sweet and savory creations can make great breakfasts. Try a banana and almond butter between two slices of whole wheat toast; get veggies and protein with scrambled eggs and spinach rolled into a wrap; or a pumpkin cheese sandwich: canned pumpkin, cottage cheese, and cinnamon spread onto bread or stuffed into a pita pocket.

Other easy-to-grab breakfast items include whole fruit, individual yogurts, dry cereal pre-portioned into baggies, and instant oatmeal. There are also a handful of peanut and almond butters now available in to-go packets. Squeeze them on a banana, a bagel, or just enjoy out of the packet for a quick snack.

lunch

When lunchtime rolls around, you’ll get more bang for your buck by brown-bagging it. One of the best lunch bags around is the Built NY Gourmet Getaway Lunch Tote. Made from wet-suit neoprene, these totes are machine washable, expand to fit odd-shaped Tupperware, fold flat when empty, and come in all kinds of fun colors and patterns.

The worst time to pack a lunch is during the morning rush, so get organized on a Sunday afternoon or the night before when you’re making dinner and the cutting board is already out. Use the weekend or a free afternoon to prep lunchbox components. Chop raw veggies and portion them into containers, make a bean salad that you can nibble on all week, pour trail mix into containers, or stuff baby spinach into a bag so you can add dressing, and shake and pour onto a plate on a busy Wednesday.

For a more elegant lunch, roast a sheet pan of sweet potato, carrot, mushroom, and bell pepper in some rosemary, olive oil, and salt. These should stay fresh for a few days in the fridge for a quick lunchbox addition. You’ll have delicious roasted vegetables while your co-workers nibble on potato chips. Yogurts, string cheese, and whole fruit are simple add-ons to any lunch. And don’t forget about leftovers! Plan to cook an extra portion of your dinner, fridgerate or freeze in a separate container, and a few days later you’ll have a healthy, homemade lunch waiting for you at noon.

QUICK LEMON + FETA BEAN SALAD
Combine the following in a to-go container:
• 1/2 cup garbanzo beans
• 2 tablespoons feta cheese
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 teaspoon capers
• Pinch kosher salt
• Dash of hot sauce,
such as Sriracha

snack time
These days, there are oodles of wholesome foods that come prepackaged for convenience, such as hummus to-go, 1-ounce bags of almonds and trail mix, raisin boxes and dried fruit, tuna and salmon that come in packets, and pre-chopped veggies. When you are away from home, a focus on whole foods and short ingredient lists will help to keep processed snacks to a minimum and your body as happy with your choices as your mind.

NUT, SEED + FRUIT SNACK BARS
• 1 ½ cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped mixed nuts + seeds
(any kind you like: walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds)
• 3/4 cup dried fruit (any kind you like:
raisins, dates, apricots, cranberries)
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup ground flax seed
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 ¼ cups skim milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375˚
2. Mix dry ingredients.
3. Mix wet ingredients.
4. Pour wet into dry. Stir to combine.
5. Pour into a 9×9 baking dish either coated in cooking spray or lined with parchment.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.
7. Cut into 10 squares.

If you’re caught on the run with no snacks on hand, there are grocery stores all around where you can pick up some real food in lieu of the drive-thru. In addition to single serving items like yogurt and whole fruit, many grocery stores have salad bars and pre-made sandwiches and wraps. If the weather is nice, take your to-go fruit salad to a park and enjoy an al fresco meal.

bar code

There are hundreds of nutrition bars on the shelves these days. Look for bars composed of real food, such as Lärabar, PROBAR and CLIF Nectar. The ingredients in a Pecan Pie Lärabar are: dates, pecans, and almonds. Ask yourself: “Could I have made this bar at home with real food?” The ingredient list evaluation goes for items like chips and crackers. FoodShouldTasteGood chips have a simple ingredient list and are made from stone-ground corn, which is a whole grain. If you’re in the mood to create your own bars, the Nut, Seed + Fruit Snack Bars are chewy and filled with nutritious ingredients.

Maintaining healthy eating patterns while on-the-go is all about thinking through your options and making good decisions. The more planning you do, the more options you have and the more opportunities there are to make good choices. Put a little time into ensuring you have healthy food to eat wherever you are, and you’ll set yourself up for success. •

Kath Younger writes the popular healthy food blog Kath Eats Real Food, which you’ll find at katheats.com. Having lost over 30 pounds since graduating from college, Kath is now studying to become a registered dietitian and lives in Charlotte, NC.