A tin of butter beans for lunch?

socks_uk

I start work at 7:30am and admit that I am lazy when it comes to preparing lunch for myself. Just lately I have been taking a loaf of bread, a cucumber and a squeezy bottle of salad cream to work on Monday and, with just 30 minutes at lunchtime, I have enough time to make my cucumber sandwich and eat it before I am back at my desk.

I'm trying to not eat so much bread and I love butter beans straight out of the tin and would be happy for just that for my lunch or maybe also a banana too. I know it would gross some people out, just like cold baked beans, but putting that aside, would the tin of butter beans be nutritionally better for me than the cucumber sandwich.

I'm thinking of maybe alternating the days to have butter beans one day, cucumber sandwich the next.

Any thoughts (apart from those who hate butter beans cold!), thanks.

Nutritional Information of Tesco Butter Beans taken off their website.

Typical Values 100g drained contains
Energy 340kJ (80kcal)
Protein 5.9g
Carbohydrate 13.0g
Sugars 1.1g
Fat 0.5g
Saturates 0.1g
Fibre 4.6g
Sodium* trace
*Salt Equivalent trace

Fire_Fox

There is nothing wrong with butter beans per se, they are nutritious but eating one or two things for one meal makes it very difficult to hit healthy eating targets. Pulses plus a banana will give you two portions of fruit and veggies towards your nine a day, but both are fairly high in carbohydrates (assume is why you want to limit bread), limited protein, little fat, both are white (eat a rainbow of colours) and it's only two foods (eat a wide variety).

Depending what your breakfast is I would wonder if you are getting enough complete protein, healthy fats and dairy products throughout the day. The one saving grace is that it is better than the even less balanced/ nutritious cucumber sandwiches. If you wish to eat vegan or borderline vegan meals it is important you research nutrition.

rosie383

On a lighter note, a daily tin of butter beans may have an unfortunate effect that your work colleagues may not completely appreciate :-))

socks_uk

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Depending what your breakfast is I would wonder if you are getting enough complete protein, healthy fats and dairy products throughout the day.

Well... at the moment? Yet more bread, in the form of peanut butter sandwiches or marmalade on toast (I only buy wholemeal though even though I absolutely love Tiger bread!)

Now you can see why I am trying to cut down on my bread intake. At least I cook from scratch for our evening meal. Mainly fish or chicken with veg & potatoes or salad, spaghetti bolognaise & wholewheat pasta, omelette & (Phillips Airfryer) chips. No ready meals or anything deepfried.

I am losing weight, gradually, but my main reason for cutting down on wholemeal bread is because we are all told that eating too much bread is bad for you. I'm looking for quick things to prepare for a lunch on the run.

sweaty_betty

Hello there - I've cut out bread completely and know that this can be a pain when you're thinking about a quick lunch. Things I do are:
- make enough food in the evening to allow you to take a serving to work for lunch
- prepare something like egg mayo or tuna mayo the night before (it'll keep for a while in the fridge) then have that with beans/cucumber/salad or whatever you fancy
- take/make soup (especially as it's getting colder) - if you get the "big soup" or the chunky ones with enough veg in you might not miss the bread
- if you eat pasta/noddles you could do a pasta salad or paste dish which could last you for a couple of days worth of lunches. Plus there's always noodles (just add hot water type)

Unfortunately if you're not eating bread you may have to prepare more, but you can do enough prep for a few days so hopefully it won't make a big difference.

trumpton

For a bit more variety have you tried salad beans? Both Tesco and Sainsbury do them for about £1.20 a tin. With a bit of hummous on they are really nice.

Fire_Fox

socks_uk wrote: »

Well... at the moment? Yet more bread, in the form of peanut butter sandwiches or marmalade on toast (I only buy wholemeal though even though I absolutely love Tiger bread!)

Now you can see why I am trying to cut down on my bread intake. At least I cook from scratch for our evening meal. Mainly fish or chicken with veg & potatoes or salad, spaghetti bolognaise & wholewheat pasta, omelette & (Phillips Airfryer) chips. No ready meals or anything deepfried.

I am losing weight, gradually, but my main reason for cutting down on wholemeal bread is because we are all told that eating too much bread is bad for you. I'm looking for quick things to prepare for a lunch on the run.

Well done for losing weight! :T Instead of focussing on what you think you should not or cannot eat, try focussing on what you can and should eat - this is the route to both weight management and general health. You are not told by mainstream healthcare professionals that bread is bad for you, it is not unless you are eating the stuff made with refined (white) flour, excessive portion sizes or have a gluten allergy. No one foodstuff should be eaten more than once a day, not just bread but any form of wheat.

Your breakfasts and your lunches are probably low in protein, little fruit or veggies, no dairy products, little variety. I suspect from that that you are not meeting many of our government's recommendations for healthy eating, these are minimum targets not ideals. I also note that your chosen carbohydrates - white potatoes and wheat - are largely higher on the glycaemic index, that means they turn to sugar in the body very quickly. This effect is worsened if you are not eating enough protein or fat, and causes hunger, cravings and weight gain especially in the abdominal area.

Try basing your day around three portions of reduced fat dairy, nine portions of fruit and vegetables, protein little and often starting with breakfast, at least one portion of healthy fats, small portions of lower glycaemic index carbohydrates (beans, lentils, sweet potatoes, barley, steel cut oats, tree fruits, berries, etc). Research suggests dairy products and the fatty acids in oily fish may help with weight management.

Do you have access to a microwave? A favourite easy lunch is half a can of beans or lentils plain or in chilli sauce, half a jar Loyd Grossman tomato and chargrilled vegetable sauce, frozen peas or sweetcorn or Value mixed veg, grated Wyke Farms Superlight cheddar. Three portions of vegetables, much more protein, no saturated fat, plenty of minerals, little preparation. :cool: Can substitute canned pink salmon or canned pilchards in tomato sauce for the cheese to get healthy fats without extra hassle.