Making a healthier sandwich

aless820
aless820 Posts: 101 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm in college so I don't have many options considering I'm limited on how frequently I can go to the grocery store. I often have
paninis for lunch at the sandwich station. I have wheat bread, turkey, one slice of american cheese, and lettuce, and then it's grilled. I feel like even though it sounds healthy, it could be a lot better. What suggestions do you have for the bread, meat, and cheese?
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Replies

  • punkypump
    punkypump Posts: 32 Member
    Tuna is a healthy meat choice with plenty of Omega3's
    Try to make tuna salad with greek yogurt (plain) instead of mayo, more nutirional and lower calories.
    :)
  • Empty_Calories
    Empty_Calories Posts: 81 Member
    Turkey, cheese, lettuce on wheat sounds pretty healthy to me. It's one of my staples. If you're grilling it, just be careful about adding butter or oil. I guess you could also consider cutting out the cheese but I like it as a source of calcium and always put some on my sandwiches.

    Tuna salad is also a good suggestion (I just personally don't care for tuna unless it's raw sushi).

    You could also try chicken which is a nice lean source of protein.

    What are your other options at school? Is it all deli meat?
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    What do you mean by "better"?
  • DYELB
    DYELB Posts: 7,407 Member
    It depends on context and what you are getting/lacking at your other meals throughout the day.
  • Mcmilligen
    Mcmilligen Posts: 332 Member
    Another tuna/egg salad option!

    I mash either hard boiled eggs or canned tuna with 1/2 avocado, Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, salt and pepper, and onions or chives.

    I like to toast a piece of quinoa or Ezekiel bread and just pile everything on that one slice (usually with a few kale leaves underneath). I suppose you could also put a small amount of cheese on top too and place it under the broiler for a minute for a tuna melt as well!
  • sjohnny
    sjohnny Posts: 56,142 Member
    Getting rid of the American "cheese" and replacing it with real cheese would definitely make the sandwich better.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    There's nothing unhealthy about what you're doing. I like to add spinach and tomatoes to my paninis.
  • Mr_Starr
    Mr_Starr Posts: 139 Member
    I generally prefer soups and salads. Or a half sandwich and soup...

    But for best sandwiches I recommend avoiding the "traditional" condiments, and use healthier and more nutritious alternatives. For example: avoid mayonnaise and go for hummus instead!

    Also don't forget about vegetarian entries... the same deli meats and cheeses can get boring every day. For example : eggplant parmesan panini, or roasted butternut squash panini. See links below.

    I am only thinking about this because of a recent trip I made to the southern states of US. Normally (at least locally in my area) you must request mayonnaise... but during my trip majo was put on everything regardless. Normally i had to send food back at least once (during my trip) because they always got the order wrong (they do love the majo), but once I had to send a sandwich back 3 times, and finally ended up just walking out, because they kept on putting mayo on it.
  • Mr_Starr
    Mr_Starr Posts: 139 Member
    Getting rid of the American "cheese" and replacing it with real cheese would definitely make the sandwich better.

    +1
  • beamer0821
    beamer0821 Posts: 488 Member
    you could do more veggies on it.
    or if they have a veggie panini all together?
    other than that it sounds ok to me?
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    What do you mean by "better"?
    bingo.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Add some onions, take off the cheese, add some bacon, add some mayo and it can't really can't get much better than that :)

    ETA: before anyone says "why take off the cheese?", it's only because I don't prefer cheese on my sandwiches. No other reason. If you like it, leave it.
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
    What's the lettuce? If it's iceberg, you could improve that since it's pretty much a waste of everyone's time. The process it takes to grow. The person putting it on the sandwich. You eating it. It's like the mosquito of the food world.

    At LEAST go for romaine, if not spinach or arugula.
  • tuneout
    tuneout Posts: 12
    Our sub shop is the only healthy option on my campus as well, I usually go for a whole wheat bun, grilled chicken, spinach and avocado! I don't trust the cheese from there since I have no idea where it came from so I often leave it off.
  • pps7
    pps7 Posts: 46
    I would make sure you use the thinnest bread available. Maybe look at the caloric content of the different options. I eat my deli meat sandwiches with tomatoes, cucumber, arugula, red onions. I would get rid of the lettuce and add more nutritional produce. Other than that- I'm not a huge fan of American cheese bc it sound overly processed to me and tend to go with swiss.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    I would make sure you use the thinnest bread available. Maybe look at the caloric content of the different options. I eat my deli meat sandwiches with tomatoes, cucumber, arugula, red onions. I would get rid of the lettuce and add more nutritional produce. Other than that- I'm not a huge fan of American cheese bc it sound overly processed to me and tend to go with swiss.

    Why thin bread?
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    I would make sure you use the thinnest bread available. Maybe look at the caloric content of the different options. I eat my deli meat sandwiches with tomatoes, cucumber, arugula, red onions. I would get rid of the lettuce and add more nutritional produce. Other than that- I'm not a huge fan of American cheese bc it sound overly processed to me and tend to go with swiss.

    Why thin bread?
    because FAT bread makes you FAT! It's full of bad jujucarbs. It also causes you to not know how to do percentages!
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    I'm in college so I don't have many options considering I'm limited on how frequently I can go to the grocery store. I often have
    paninis for lunch at the sandwich station. I have wheat bread, turkey, one slice of american cheese, and lettuce, and then it's grilled. I feel like even though it sounds healthy, it could be a lot better. What suggestions do you have for the bread, meat, and cheese?

    Choose white bread to avoid the evil phytates in the whole wheat bread.
  • aless820
    aless820 Posts: 101 Member
    Sorry I went MIA for a bit.

    Better as in healthier.

    Tuna isn't an option because I don't eat any seafood.
    I don't eat tomatoes or onions
    I have no choice but to have iceberg lettuce because that's all they have.
    Avocadoes are not an option.
    They have pesto sauce but I'm not sure of the nutritional facts
    i don't put any condiments on my sandwiches. I hate nearly all condiments

    The only food options I have are:

    bread- rye, wheat, whole grain, tortilla wrap, kaiser, sub roll, white bread
    meat: turkey, ham, roast beef, and chicken
    cheese: cheddar, american, swiss, occasionally provolone or pepperjack
    extras: shredded iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, onions

    They make the sandwiches for us. They do not put anything on the outside of the bread, just put it on the panini press.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    I think people are confused. Do you want healthier? Cause healthy is relative.
    Or are you going for lower calories?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Add some onions, take off the cheese, add some bacon, add some mayo and it can't really can't get much better than that :)

    And then add some tomato and avocado...and voila...you have something pretty special right there...
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Add some onions, take off the cheese, add some bacon, add some mayo and it can't really can't get much better than that :)

    And then add some tomato and avocado...and voila...you have something pretty special right there...

    I don't like the slime in a sliced tomato :( The seeds remind me of little larva swimming around in their own vomit. I can't get past it.
  • aless820
    aless820 Posts: 101 Member
    I think people are confused. Do you want healthier? Cause healthy is relative.
    Or are you going for lower calories?

    As healthy as possible. So if t's low cal, low carb, any of it :)
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    I think people are confused. Do you want healthier? Cause healthy is relative.
    Or are you going for lower calories?

    As healthy as possible. So if t's low cal, low carb, any of it :)
    calories nor carbs are inherently evil.

    next question?
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Again, healthy is relative. Can't really tell you what to put on a sandwich for your health. What macros/micros are you trying to hit?
    You can't really have a low carb sandwich so not sure how to get there on that one.

    If you want low cal, ditch the cheese.
    If you want low carb, ditch the bread. (but don't call it a sandwich then...lol)
  • aless820
    aless820 Posts: 101 Member
    I have no idea how to set my macros so I don't have any. i just noticed that when I put in sliced turkey in my diary, my seemingly okay sandwich had well over 1000mg of sodium. I didn't know if it was from something else or if I'm just not making good choices.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    I have no idea how to set my macros so I don't have any. i just noticed that when I put in sliced turkey in my diary, my seemingly okay sandwich had well over 1000mg of sodium. I didn't know if it was from something else or if I'm just not making good choices.
    yeah, processed sandwich meat has sodium in it. So do most breads.

    and you have macros. They're already set.
    Protein / Fats / Carbs.. etc.
  • smelius22
    smelius22 Posts: 334 Member
    I make turkey and pepperjack cheese roll-ups with no bread, and add spinach. mmmm
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    I have no idea how to set my macros so I don't have any. i just noticed that when I put in sliced turkey in my diary, my seemingly okay sandwich had well over 1000mg of sodium. I didn't know if it was from something else or if I'm just not making good choices.

    Yea, sandwich meat has a ton of sodium. I don't track sodium though.

    All I mean about healthy is that everyone has different goals and ALL foods are healthy in moderation. So when you say "healthier", that is very vague. I eat 3200-3400 per day and try to get a lot of protein but one of my "healthy" sandwiches could put you over your calorie limit for the day making it "unhealthy" for you.
  • iwtfytj
    iwtfytj Posts: 41 Member
    You can buy 35 calorie/slice bread at the grocery store. I love it! No taste difference from "regular" bread and is the same size and thickness.

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