This post is sponsored by Helga’s
Lunches are hard. Granted, I work from home most days, but even then if I was rich enough to pay someone to bring me a gourmet, nutritious lunch every day, I totally would. I spend a lot of time staring into the fridge so it would be a time saver more than anything.
Lunches are much harder if you work in an office. Transporting fridge items is difficult, work fridges are universally disgusting (I found actual spiders in my work fridge once) and packing lunches usually requires a good 20 minutes of prep in the morning, time I think we would all rather spend yelling at morning TV. Having said that though, buying your lunch every day can be expensive and is often not as nutritious as bringing something in from home.
I’m pretty nutritionally savvy (salad = good lunch choice, chocolate bar = hungover lunch choice) but my knowledge of healthy foods is based around carbs, calories, proteins and sugars. More recently I’ve been freaking out a touch about salt – in large quantities it’s nasty stuff. The National Health and Medical Research Council have set a suggested dietary target of 1,600mg sodium per day and an ‘Adequate Intake’ of 20–40 mmol (460–920 mg) of sodium per day1.
The chaps at Helga’s commissioned a report by the University of Newcastle to check out some of the wraps that are currently on the market. The report found that swapping to a lower salt wrap like Helga’s Traditional White Wraps, which contain 430mg of sodium per 100g, from Mission Original Wraps (790mg of sodium per 100g), can reduce your salt intake by 40% per wrap2 with the bonus of not containing any artificial preservatives. That’s pretty good in the land of wraps.
Dietitian, Susie Burrell recommends avoiding wraps that have more than 600mg of sodium per 100g. That would be a fair portion of your whole daily intake of salt! And just think about how much salt is in a ‘healthy’ cafe wrap.
So what’s the solution to all this?
I’m so glad you asked!
Yes… you’re going to have to pack lunch for work. BUT it doesn’t have to be time consuming or painful. Plus, if you pack it in a little freezer bag you can even avoid the spider fridge. Bonza. But what to pack in your lunch box?
I’ve teamed up with Helga’s this month to bring you some awesome lunch box ideas using their wraps. I’m so stoked to be working with Helga’s – they do amazing fluffy gluten free bread that’s been a life changer in our house for Mr Smaggle – it’s also proper sized so he doesn’t feel like a giant eating his tiny slices of gluten free bread. Helga’s also has Wholemeal Lower Carb Wraps, which I’m pretty excited about. I know a lot of people get concerned about calorie counting and watching their carb intake but I’ve never made a secret of the fact that monitoring my food intake works for me.
Here are some delicious lunch box wrap recipes! Actually except for the first one – that’s a breakfast one – but it’s delicious so I know you’ll forgive me.
1. Breakfast Wrap
Ingredients (Serves 1)
• 1 egg
• 2 slices of low salt ham
• Handful of baby spinach
• 1 teaspoon fruit chutney
• 1 Helga’s Wholemeal Lower Carb wrap
Method
Fry egg in a frying pan for two minutes on each side, fry ham in the same pan until it’s slightly brown. Remove egg and ham and place on a paper towel. Gently wilt spinach in fry pan. Spread fruit chutney on wrap, add spinach, ham and egg. Fold up and enjoy!
2. Grilled vegetable, goats cheese & pesto wrap – by Susie Burrell
Ingredients (Serves 2)
• 1 tbsp light Greek yoghurt
• 1 tbsp basil pesto
• 1/2 large red capsicum, cut into 4 thick strips
• 1 red onion, cut into thick wedges
• 150g peeled pumpkin, thinly sliced
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 Helga’s Mixed Grain Wraps
• 1 1/2 cups baby rocket
• 75g goats cheese, crumbled
• Ground black pepper
Method
1. Combine yoghurt and pesto and set aside.
2. Place capsicum, onion, pumpkin and oil in a bowl and toss to coat. Place a stovetop grill over a medium heat (see tip). Cook vegetables for 7 minutes, turning frequently, until tender. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Place wraps in a microwave and heat on high for 15 seconds or until just warm. Spread wraps with pesto yoghurt and top with rocket, grilled vegetables, cheese and pepper. Roll up wrap to enclose filling, leaving one side open.
Tip: You can pack all your bits and pieces separately and pop them together when you’re at work.
Tip: This recipe makes two wraps, so why not take one for your best work buddy? They might just love you forever.
3. Curried Egg Wrap
Ingredients (serves 2)
• 2 Helga’s Mixed Grain wraps
• 2 boiled eggs
• 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
• 1/4 tsp curry powder
• 1 small Lebanese cucumber
• A handful of alfalfa sprouts
• Pepper
Method
1. Mash up the peeled, boiled eggs and mix with yoghurt, curry powder and pepper. Spread egg mixture evenly onto each wrap. Thinly slice cucumber and place on top of egg, sprinkle with sprouts, wrap and enjoy.
4. Turkey Salad Wrap
Ingredients (serves 1)
• 1 Helga’s Wholemeal Lower Carb wrap
• 2 slices of low salt deli turkey
• 1/2 cup of shredded romaine lettuce
• 1 tsp of cranberry sauce
• 40g blue cheese
• 1 grated carrot
Method
Place all ingredients in the wrap, wrap it up and eat it!
NB: This is the easiest wrap in the world. Make it often.
5. Roast Beef Wrap by Susie Burrell (serves 1)
Ingredients (serves 1)
• 2 tsp light Greek yoghurt
• 2 tsp bottled horseradish
• 1 Helga’s Mixed Grain wrap
• 1 cup baby spinach
• 100g sliced rare roast beef
• 1/4 cup carrot, grated
• 1 cooked baby beet, thickly sliced and drained on kitchen paper
• 1/4 small red onion, cut into thin wedges
• 1/2 tomato, chopped
Method
1. Combine yoghurt and horseradish. Spread over wrap. Top with remaining ingredients.
2. Roll up wrap to enclose ingredients, then cut in half.
For any cheeky vegetarians out there, you can replace any meat with things like chickpeas and tofu and if you’re in a huge rush, just grab some cheese and tomato and make a sneaky little Helga’s Wholemeal Lower Carb toasted wrap in your work’s sandwich press. Boom.
[divider type=”standard” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]
What’s your favourite thing to pack in your lunch box? Any wrap recipes you’re into?
[divider type=”standard” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]