Beyond the Apple: 5 Ideas for Eating More Fruit at Lunch

Hull and slice strawberries, nectarines, or peaches (depending on the season) and toss them with a tiny drizzle of balsamic or fruit vinegar.

I am a lazy fruit eater. If I just pack an apple or an orange in my lunch bag, I'm not likely to stop and eat them. When I'm sitting in front of a computer, the last thing I want to do is get my fingers sticky or spray juice all over the keyboard. But I do want to eat much more fruit during the workday; it's a great snack and lunch accompaniment. So here are five ways I like to prep fruit ahead of time for easier on-the-go snacking.

Hull and slice strawberries, nectarines, or peaches (depending on the season) and toss them with a tiny drizzle of balsamic or fruit vinegar. Strawberries are about to come into season, and they'll be juicy and flavorful. So pick up a carton at the farmers market, and hull and chop them ahead of time. Portion them out into baggies or half-pint jars for the office. After the strawberries are done, cut up nectarines or autumn peaches and do the same.

Snip grapes into smaller clusters, or pull them entirely off the stems. - I find that grapes last longer in the fridge and are also easier to grab for a snack if I wash them ahead of time, then snip them into smaller clusters. Sometimes I pull the grapes off the stems entirely and make up small bags of loose grapes for quick snacking.

Peel a few clementines and put them in a small bag. - Clementines and oranges are easy to peel, but a little messy. Again, I find that I just eat more of them if I think ahead and take a baggie of peeled clementine segments.

Cut up a honeydew melon and a cantaloupe into bite-sized pieces. - In the summertime, this is my favorite way to eat fruit! I buy melons, cut them up, and put them in a big container in the fridge. It makes really delicious snacking!

Take a little container of peanut butter and make a banana sandwich. - This particular tip may actually mean more more work at the office, not less, but it's also one of the most filling, satisfying snacks I know! I just take a tiny container with some peanut or almond butter (or better yet, leave a jar in the office refrigerator) and sandwich between banana slices for a mid-afternoon power snack.

These are all tiny, simple ideas, of course. But I do find that when I do one or more each week I end up eating a lot more fruit. What's more, when it's conveniently packaged, I reach for fruit instead of a cookie or a more processed snack food. It just takes a little forethought and planning.

Do you have any favorite tips or good ideas for packing more fruit into your lunch or your snacks?

More Good Fruit Ideas:
• How To Select the Best Produce: Fruit
• Recipe: Lemon and Honey Fruit Salad
• Simple Pleasures: Ricotta with Honey and Fruit
• Quick Tip: Add Fresh Fruit to Green Salads
• Good Idea! Homemade Fruit Leather at Simply Recipes

(Images: Faith Durand)

Comments (15)

great ideas. Love the banana sandwich one also. Going to go buy bananas just for that. I've been sick, so my body would appreciate extra potassium

As this post popped up, I was happily munching on a few strawberries!

I've got a few clementines kicking around my office, and by Friday, I force myself to eat that week's crop. Sure, I sometimes chuck a soft looking mealy apple... but its getting less and less frequent.

Dude - mason jar filled with sliced strawberries or peaches or berries tossed with a bit of sugar and then covered in light cream? Best way to eat fruit EVER.

A few months ago I was keeping a little container of pomegranate seeds at work, they were sweet and gave me something to crunch on.
I also like snacking on kumquats. In addition to being bite-sized and tasty, they freshen your breath.
Other portable fruit suggestions are cherries, longans, lychee, rambutan... or cherry tomatoes if you want an umami snack.

I just recently started doing this... hulling strawberries and bringing a weeks worth to the work fridge and snacking throughout the week. Its lovely. And beats an apple by a mile.

Pineapple works great too!

Been making a fruit salad for my lunches this week. Mango, blackberries, frozen blueberries, papaya, plain goat's milk yogurt, bit of honey, and a frozen cube of meyer lemon juice. The juice and blueberries defrost nicely, and the jostling of the lunch container mixes everything up.

I have noticed that you use jars for a lot of your food storage. What jars do you use, where do you buy them? Also, do you put them in the microwave and dishwasher?

So hungry for bananas and peanut butter right now!

@tlg, I can pickles and take food in my glass jars for snacks. Kerr or now known as Ball jars are sold at Wal-Mart, Kroger, Target, Craft stores... basically anywhere that women shop ;) kidding, but a grocery or big-box store.

I have never put them in the microwave. They come with the jar, ring lid, and flat lid. The jar and ring lid can be re-used, after washed in the dishwasher, but the flat lid cannot. It will rust after the first use and go bad.

Ball also sells their own spices for canning. You can also buy every part for the cans separately.

http://www.freshpreserving.com/

I'm not much of a fruit eater either, and have found I'll eat way more if it's in a smoothie. I blend up fruit, yogurt and a bit of agave in my Magic Bullet, slap a lid on it and find I'm looking forward to it around 11 am.

I have the same problem (fruit = sticky and a pain to peel/clean up at work). I'm also a big pineapple fan, going through one a week I can get them (I have a teenaged son, and he eats most of it). If you cut the rind off oranges or grapefruit and cut them up (fruit salad style), they also make an easy fruit snack.

I've never had trouble with jar lids rusting, as long as I get them out of the dishwasher quickly and set them someplace where they can dry.

tlg, I put canning jars in the microwave all the time (without the lids, of course), and they're fine. These jars are made to be filled, then boiled on the stove, after all, so they're tough.
If you can find them, get the "wide mouth" jars and lids, as they're easier to use for lunches.

yeah i've had my Ball jars for years and not once has any part of it rusted.

As long as you hand-wash the lids and rings and dry them properly (even air-drying) they won't rust.

And I put my mason jars (sans lids) in the microwave all the time. They are great for soup and other watery things because they are pretty darn air-tight when the lid is screwed on properly. And you can get mason jars at Walmart, hardware stores, and many grocery stores year-round. Even Lowe's sells them seasonally.