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Nutritious can also mean quick and tasty

Published 10:52 am Wednesday, August 29, 2007

By Sharon Salyer Herald Writer

Do you want to pack a healthy school lunch for your kids but aren’t sure where to start?

“I think people are interested in eating healthier,” said Karen Lamphere, a certified nutritionist who works in Edmonds.

“It’s just the misconception that it will take a long time or that healthy food is boring and bland. That doesn’t have to be the case.”

Lamphere has taught an “Eating on the Run” class at least 30 times, including at parks and recreation departments from Marysville to Edmonds, through the University of Washington’s Experimental College, and at adult education classes at Discover U.

The course gives students the principles of healthy eating, and the food samples help underscore that nutritious can be tasty as well.

Although some parents tell her they don’t think school lunches are very healthy, they still often don’t pack a homemade lunch for their child.

“I think it comes down to just not taking the time to put together a healthy home lunch,” she said. “It might be because they don’t realize that it doesn’t have to be that difficult.”

Parents should be alert when buying prepackaged foods, she said, carefully checking the ingredients. For example, some packaged juice products have high amounts of corn syrup and water.

Healthy eating has to become a family habit, and anyone can adapt, Lamphere said.

But imagine the challenge presented at a class earlier this year. Her audience was filled with Shoreline firefighters, folks whose preferred cuisine can be best summed up in two words – comfort food.

“I see all these guys sitting around the table with their arms folded and that ‘Here we go again, guys!’ look on their face,” said Battalion Chief Rick Ashleman, chuckling at the memory.

“After their first sample, she broke through the ice and they said, ‘Hey, this isn’t bad for being healthy. ‘†”

Ashleman asked his wife to sit in on one of Lamphere’s classes, presented in June as part of the department’s wellness program. “If you want to make lifestyle changes, you have to get the whole family involved,” he said.

Lamphere gave handouts to firefighters on healthy diet guidelines and what foods to limit, and facts on fat and cholesterol and how to read nutrition labels on food products.

Despite their initial reluctance in the course, “it went over well,” Ashleman said. “We had people recommend bringing her back.”

Make time for health

Here are some tips on how to juggle healthy meal preparation with the demands of an on-the go family:

  • Use the weekends to think about meals for the upcoming week, make a list of items you’ll need, then go shopping for just those.

  • Make a double serving of food for Sunday night dinner and freeze the remainders.

  • Keep your kitchen stocked with the basics needed for quick meal preparation: canned beans, tuna, whole-grain pasta, canned tomato products, frozen chicken breasts, spices – bought in bulk to cut costs, such as basil, thyme, oregano, cayenne pepper or chili pepper flakes, freshly ground pepper, and sea salt-parmesan and feta cheese, and hard-boiled eggs for quick snacks.

    Healthy lunches

    Here are some tips from Karen Lamphere on how to make homemade lunches both quick and healthy:

  • Keep string cheese stocked in your refrigerator. With whole-what crackers, they make a healthy snack.

  • Stock individual servings of apple sauce and fruit cups, or buy easy-to-pack fruits like apples, oranges and pears.

  • Buy whole-wheat tortillas and fill them with ingredients such as cream cheese, humus and peanut butter. Kids especially like the combination of humus and turkey for a roll-up sandwich.

  • Use spinach as an alternative to lettuce in sandwiches.

  • Yogurt and breakfast bars are great snacks, but read the labels. Check for sugar in yogurt and trans fats in the breakfast bars.

  • Trail mix, such as the prepackaged variety at Tader Joe’s, provides quick protein.

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