How to create a “desk pantry” for easy and healthy last-minute lunches

• Whole grain, nut or seed-based crackers (such as Mary’s Gone Crackers, Van’s Say Cheese! or Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers )
• Unsweetened, individual oatmeal cups (such as Bob’s Red Mill Organic Gluten Free Oatmeal Cups)
• Individual bags of popcorn (such as Skinnypop)
• Whole grain rice cakes (such as Lundberg Family Farms Organic Red Rice & Quinoa Thin Stackers)

• Canned or pouched wild tuna or salmon (such as Wild Planet No Salt Added Albacore Wild Tuna)
• Bean-based soups (Such as Amy’s Organic Light in Sodium Organic Lentil Soup or Dr. McDougall’s Organic Tortilla Style Vegan Soup)
• Roasted chickpeas (such as Biena Chickpea Snacks)
• Almond protein powder (such as Noosh or Barney’s Powdered Almond Butter)

• Dried fruit (such as Made in Nature Apricots in the Buff or Peeled Snacks Much Ado About Mango)
• Whole fruits (such as bananas and apples, which can sit on your desk for a couple of days)
• Whole dried veggies (such as Rhythm Superfoods Carrot Sticks or Bare Baked Crunchy Veggie Chips)
• Roasted Seaweed (such as Gimme Snacks Organic Roasted Seaweed)

• Single serve packets of olives (such as Oloves or Gaea)
• Nuts & Seeds (such as Wonderful Roasted Almonds or Pistachios or Super Seedz Pumpkin Seeds)
• Avocado (which can ripen on your desk; after you cut into it, store the remainder in the office fridge)
• Packets of nut butters (such as RX Nut Butter or Justin’s Classic Cashew Butter Squeeze Packs)

Most of your desk drawer staples can serve as mini meals or snacks, depending on what’s called for. However, grazing isn’t advised; studies link over-snacking with trouble managing your weight, and on top of that, it’s hard to get your hunger under control if you aren’t filling your belly with an ample serving of food. A desk-side mini-meal is a more substantial way to curb hunger and limit an all-day snacking session.

Now it’s time to get creative with desk-side dining by combining foods from the different categories. Here are some examples to get you going:

• Rice cakes + roasted seaweed + canned tuna + olives. Use the rice cakes as a canvas for the roasted seaweed and tuna and serve with a side of olives. Or mix the olives with the tuna before you top the rice cake.
• Soup + crackers + pumpkin seeds + dried fruit. Add some crunch and flavor to your soup by topping it with the pumpkin seeds. Serve with a couple of crackers and have the dried fruit to finish off the meal.
• Popcorn + roasted chickpeas + dried fruit + nuts. Instead of grazing through your day, make a snack platter or trail mix bowl with these hearty ingredients. Having the combo at one sitting will be much more satisfying compared to spreading your intake out throughout the day. If you’re snack-sizing it for in-between meal times, drop either the roasted chickpeas or the nuts.
• Oatmeal + protein powder + fresh fruit + nut butter. Oatmeal on its own doesn’t have enough protein—the macronutrient that helps curb hunger and preserve muscle tissue (which helps keeps your metabolism humming along). Unsweetened almond protein powder takes care of that and makes this a more filling dish. You can also use this desk drawer ingredient to make your soups more substantial; it’ll make your soup look creamier, but you won’t really notice any difference in taste.
• Rice cakes + canned salmon + avocado + dried veggies. Here’s a twist on toast Tuesday: Use the rice cake as the base for mashed avocado and canned salmon and have the dried veggies on the side. Or use an avocado half as a boat to serve the canned salmon, and then enjoy the rice cakes and dried veggies on the side.
• Salad greens + tuna + olives + crackers. You can skip the dried produce if you start with a fresh base, like salad greens from home, the office cafeteria, or a nearby eatery. If you brought a full salad from home (say, with protein, like chicken or chickpeas) and you just want to liven it up a bit, add your nuts and dried fruit, which bring texture, color, and flavor (note to mention a nice dose of nutrition). If you want to go savory instead of sweet, swap the dried fruit for the olives.

If you’re lucky enough to score some space in the office fridge, you may want to keep a few condiments, like hot sauce and mustard, handy. Both will dress up a number of mini-meals.

If you have a little freezer space, a frozen entrée can be a great, last-minute option. If a frozen entrée feels a little skimpy, doctor it up with your desk pantry foods. Almonds and cashews add crunch to Asian-inspired entrees while pumpkin seeds bring texture to Mexican-style meals.