LUNCH IDEAS FOR KIDS » vegan + healthy (bento box)

Today on Pick Up Limes we're going for round three of bento box meal ideas. The theme? Lunch boxes for kids. If you're new to the channel, hi, I'm Sadia. When I worked at a children's hospital as a dietician and nutritionist, I very often had parents come to me and ask me what kinds of food they should feed their children and asking for lunch ideas. Personally, I don't think it needs to be rocket science or anything complicated. A healthy balance of some whole grains, some fruits and vegetables, and some plant sources of protein, omega-3 fats, and some calcium is really all they need and I'm going to share those with you in this video. If you see this little recipe alert sign, it means that the recipe already exists up on the Pick Up Limes blog. So I'll leave the link to each recipe in the description box down below so you can go and check those out if you'd like. All right, I'm really excited to share these recipes with you, so let's get started. We start by making lunch number one and these adorable chocolate and banana sushi rolls. I personally make my own chocolate spread at home, which tastes just like Nutella, but this recipe is actually super healthy. I start by blending some roasted hazelnuts in a food processor with some other whole food ingredients like cocoa powder and dates to naturally sweeten. On a whole grain tortilla, I then spread on a generous amount of this homemade Nutella. Of course, if you don't have time, you don't have to make your own. You can always purchase a dairy-free chocolate spread from a grocery store. Then I like to sprinkle on some hemp seeds for the extra protein and healthy omega fats and place on a ripe banana and roll it up. Then cut it like you would sushi. And then just place these in your lunch box. I also added some fresh strawberries that I dipped into this chocolate spread. It's a fun way to get kids to have extra fruit, plus there's extra fiber, healthy fats, and protein from the nuts that are in that chocolate spread. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy this lunch, that's a guarantee. Now on to making the snacks, which is a fruit and yogurt dip with some homemade cookies. I made these fruit skewers using fresh grapes and mango, but of course you can use any fruits that you have on hand. After you've prepared the fruits and placed them on the skewers, I also chose to cut off the ends so there's no sharp bits going into the lunch box. Then on the side, I poured in some calcium-fortified plant-based yogurt. Here I used an unsweetened soy yogurt and this can serve as a dip for those fruit skewers. I also included these one bowl peanut butter and chocolate cookies. I've mentioned these in a previous video and I absolutely love making them because they have no added sugar or oil and they can be made easily and in one bowl. It takes only 15 minutes to make from start to finish so you can batch make this on the weekends to enjoy as a snack throughout the week. And that's it for lunch box number one. Moving on to lunch box number two, we begin by making this super adorable nut butter and fruit bear sandwich. To make, start off with two pieces of whole grain bread and you can use a cup or cookie cutter to cut circles out of the bread. Then using about half of a ripe banana, peel and slice some banana coins. After you've spread some peanut butter or other kind of nut butter onto the bread circles, place the sliced bananas on top like so, as well as three blueberries to make an adorable little bear sandwich. Then stack the pieces and place it into the lunch box. I also added some veggies on the side like baby carrots, cucumber slices and cherry tomatoes. To make the cucumbers even more fun for the little ones to eat, you can peel it as I did before you cut them up so that they get this striped pattern. Now to make the snacks. On the other half of the banana that you didn't use, you can write a message if you'd like before adding it to the lunch box. Then I also added some fresh blueberries as well as these chewy peanut butter no-bake granola bars. Like the previous cookie recipe, these are made with only whole food ingredients, so no added sugar or added oil. They too can be made all in the food processor, so very little cleaning up required. I also like to make this on the weekends, add different kinds of nuts and dried fruit to keep it interesting each time, and then wrap it up and store it in the freezer so they can be taken as a to-go snack or added to lunch boxes throughout the week. And that's it for lunch box number two. And finally for lunch box number three. We begin by making this bread and chia jam dip. So first start off by cutting off the crust from a slice of whole grain bread, and then roll it out to flatten using either a cup or a rolling pin. Then cut shapes out of the bread using cookie cutters. I cut out two large hearts as well as two small heart shapes. Now don't throw away the remaining pieces of bread that you don't use. You can always blend these in a food processor or blender and then freeze them to use as bread crumbs in future recipes. Then repeat this with another slice of bread so you end up with four large and four small shapes of whatever shape you chose. Add this to your lunch box and on the side add some homemade berry chia seed jam. Now this takes only five minutes to prepare and uses just four ingredients, two of which are different types of berries. And then I also added a little bit of juice and some chia seeds. After you let it sit for 30 minutes your jam is ready, packed with health benefits, antioxidants, fiber, omega-3 fats, all without any of the added sugar and preservatives that come with store-bought jam. Then on the side I added some fresh grapes and some baby tomatoes. To enjoy your little one can either spread the jam onto the bread like so, or do a fun dip and dunk. As for the snack on this day, I made this trail mix popcorn. Begin by coarsely chopping some roasted almonds. Then in a large pot on medium-high heat, melt about half a teaspoon of coconut oil and add a quarter cup of popcorn kernels and give it a stir. When it starts to pop, shake it periodically so it cooks evenly and doesn't burn. When the popping quiets down, remove it from the heat. Of course to speed this up you can always use butterless microwavable popcorn too. Popcorn is a whole grain source so it's a great and fun way to get fiber into your little ones. I also added about a teaspoon of nutritional yeast which gives it a cheesy flavor and also adds vitamin b12. Then you can add the almonds and some goji berries, or use raisins or dried cranberries if you'd like. And that's it for lunchbox number three. Now there's a few things I'd like to mention. You don't need bento boxes to make this. Any lunch container will do. If your kid happens to be quite young, you might want to consider chopping up any choking hazards like grapes, cherry tomatoes, or some of the nuts that I share in these recipes. As well if your kid happens to be in a nut-free school, you might want to consider using some kind of nut-free spread like wow butter anytime I use something like peanut butter. Now weren't some of those ridiculously adorable? I personally loved making the little bear sandwich. I hope that you found some ideas and some inspiration and if you want to try any of the recipes, like I said, the link to them can be found in the description box below. If you liked this video, if you found any of the suggestions helpful, share that in the comments below as well. Give this video a thumbs up. Be sure to also subscribe so you don't miss out on any future videos. And if you want to check out some of the other bento box videos I've made, you can go and check that out on my channel as well. Alright, thanks for watching. I'll see you in a few days.