Give Brown Bag Lunches A Nutritious Makeover

Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Give Brown Bag LunchesA Nutritious Makeover (NAPSA)—There’s no reason to rely on the same old brown bag lunch every day. Create simple, wholesomerecipes and “out of the box” lunches to help beat brown bag lunch boredom and give you and your kids more nutritious choices. Let’s face it, the main staple of most brown bag lunches is a sandwich made with lunch meat. In fact, according to ACNielsen research, lunch meat is purchased by 85 percent of U.S. households. With the new, great tasting sandwich meats on the market and some fun and interesting recipes and a few additions, you can easily take the boredom out of brown bag lunches. Jackie Newgent, RD, CDN, rec- ommends the following simple tips to give the brown bag lunch a nutritious makeover: * Use bread alternatives. Prepare sandwiches using a different type of bread each day of the week. Try a flour tortilla, French baguette, flatbread or sesame seed bun. Use alternatives to bread, such as lettuce wraps. Or skip the sandwich or wrap idea altogether and make meat and cheese kabobs on toothpicks or small bamboo skewers. Spice up your sides. Pack imaginative fruit and vegetable sides. Add peanut or almond butter and raisins to celery to build “ants on a log.” Create a dazzling fruit salad by combining three or more colorful, flavorful fruits. Make a multicolored pasta salad from green, orange andred pasta. Brown Bag Boredom? There are some simple and nutritious ways to liven up your lunch. Keep it natural. Instead of using lunch meat with preservatives, try a more nutritious, great tasting alternative, such as Hormel Natural Choice Deli Sandwich Meats. They’re 100 percent all natural, with no preservatives and noartificial colors or flavors. Add some fun. There are other ways, besides switching up ingredients, to add some fun to your child’s lunch. Try putting an entertaining trivia question or educational fun fact on the lunch bag. Throw in stickers, a toy or an easy game. Use something besides the basic brown bag to hold the lunch, such as a lunch box or brightly colored sack. Even more tips and recipes to make over the brown bag lunch are available in a brochure called “Nutritious Brown Bag Lunch Makeovers: Simple Steps to Liven Up Lunchtime.” This brochure is free and available to consumers by calling (800) 771-0463 or downloading it at www.hormelnatural.com.

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