Practice English Speaking&Listening with: 4 Plant-Based Meals for Kid's LUNCHBOXES! | Bunches of Lunches

- [Jennifer] Hey, guys, welcome to The Family Fudge.

I'm Jennifer and in today's video,

I'm going to be sharing four simply delicious

school lunch ideas that are all plant-based.

I have been getting so many requests

to share both meat free and dairy free lunches recently

and today I am super excited to share four easy options.

If you have a lunch request to send in,

best way you can do that is by using the link

in the description box below and now, without further ado,

let's get on to these super fresh lunch ideas.

Okay, guys, so with this lunch and all of the lunches today

I'm making this with kids and teens in mind

but these could definitely be made for people of all ages

but you'll probably need to modify the quantity

in each lunchbox.

So for lunch idea number one, I'm going to start by making

some ultra delicious peanut butter protein balls.

Now, I know there are a ton of different recipes

for protein balls or energy balls

as they're sometimes called but I really like this recipe

because number one, I can make them in less than 10 minutes

and number two, this recipe doesn't call

for any unusual or hard to find ingredients.

Now, I will go ahead and put a link to this recipe

in the description box below if you wanna make 'em yourself

but basically, this is just a mixture of peanut butter.

Of course, you could substitute almond butter

or even Wowbutter if you have a nut allergy.

To this, I'm going to be adding just a little bit of honey.

This is gonna add the perfect amount of sweetness

but it's also nice and sticky

so it's gonna help keep these protein balls together.

Next, I'm gonna be adding in some vanilla extract.

Seriously, you guys, when these are done,

they almost taste like cookie dough.

They are that good.

Next, I'm adding in some rolled oats

and I just happen to be using some gluten free oats today

but you can use any kind that you have

and then this next part is optional

but I also like to add just a handful or two

of chocolate chips and you guys,

if you're looking for a dairy free chocolate chip,

I recommend these ones.

Their brand is called Enjoy Life.

Now, these do tend to be a little bit more expensive

than regular chocolate chips.

Like I said, these are dairy free

and I can usually find these at Target.

So now, last but not least,

I'm also gonna add about two tablespoons of water

then I'm going to stir it all together.

Now, if your dough is looking a little bit dry,

you could go ahead and add just a little bit more water

and if it's looking too wet, you can go ahead and add

a little bit more of the rolled oats.

Basically, you want these to be moist enough

that they will form a ball

but you don't want them to be too wet either

otherwise they might be a sticky mess.

So now to form these protein balls,

I'm going to use my cookie scoop here

to scoop out about a one inch ball

and then once I have these all portioned out,

I am gonna go ahead and just roll them in my hands

just like this.

Now, this recipe will make about 24 of these little balls

and I like to keep all the extra balls in the fridge.

In this back section of the lunchbox,

I'm going to add some of these cucumber carrot slices.

Now, I know I've shared exactly

how I make these quite a lot on this channel

but basically, if you're new,

I make several slices of cucumber

and several slices of carrot

then using a small vegetable cutter,

I'll punch out the center of all of the slices

and then I swap out the centers.

This is really easy to do.

It doesn't take a lot of time at all.

These just add a really cool design to the lunchbox

and it's a great way to encourage kids to eat more veggies.

Now, to go along with these veggies,

I am also gonna be adding in a little bit of ranch dip

but instead of using my regular ranch recipe,

I'm going to use some of this store-bought

High Omega Vegan Ranch

and I'm pouring this directly

into the center of the lunchbox.

This center section is perfect

for things like sauces or dips.

Now, to go along with this,

I'm also adding in a handful of fresh raspberries

and since this lunch doesn't really require

a fork or a spoon, I am gonna go ahead

and add in one of these cute little reusable food picks.

My kids love to use these to pick up their food.

So they are cute but they're also functional

and now for this last section,

I'm going to fill it up with some fresh blueberries.

Whoops.

I accidentally got a few blueberries

into their ranch section

which definitely does not sound delicious to me

so now I'm gonna go ahead and fish these out

and now I'm going to finish off the blueberry section

with another cute reusable food pick

and then there you have it, guys.

This is a super fresh and tasty lunch

I know my kids will love but honestly,

I would love this lunch too.

It is so good especially those protein balls.

You guys should definitely give those a try.

For this next lunch, I am breaking out my OmieBox.

That's the one with the built-in thermos

because this one is going to be a hot lunch

and you guys, to make this lunch super quick and easy

to throw together in the morning,

I'm going to be taking some help from the store.

These meatless meatballs.

Now, these ones happen to be from Aldi

and they are honestly very tasty.

Also at Aldi, I was able to find this meatless

ground plant protein.

So if you wanted to,

you definitely could make your own meatballs from scratch.

So these meatless meatballs

are actually already fully cooked but they are frozen

so I'm gonna go ahead and just heat these up

and to go along with them, I'm also going to boil up

some of this whole wheat thin spaghetti

then I'm gonna top both of those

with a good amount of spaghetti sauce.

So this is kind of like classic spaghetti and meatballs

with a plant-based twist.

So as you guys can see, this whole wheat spaghetti

is ready to be drained.

I found that it is a lot easier

to actually take the uncooked spaghetti noodles

and break them in half

before I get them into the pot of water.

That way, when they're done cooking

and I go to put these noodles in the lunchbox,

they fit a lot better

and it's actually easier for my kids to eat as well.

So now that I have the noodles and the sauce in here,

I'm gonna top it off with a few of the meatless meatballs

and then usually I like to add a little bit

of Parmesan cheese on top but I'm gonna go ahead

and use some of this vegan mozzarella instead

and I'm just going to sprinkle a little bit right on top.

Now, in the back section of the lunchbox,

I'm going to add a different combination

of cucumber and carrots.

Today, for this lunch, the cucumber slices are cut

and for the carrots I'm just adding in whole baby carrot

and to make these look interesting in the lunchbox,

I'm just going to alternate these in a really fun pattern.

You guys know what they say

about eating with your eyes first?

So even though these are just veggies,

I wanna make them look as appetizing as possible.

Now, I'm going to scooch these veggies over

just a little bit so that I have enough room

for some of this vegan ranch dip.

This little container only holds about one teaspoon

so it's not very much at all

and I'll have just enough room to add this in on the side.

Next, I'm adding in some cherry tomatoes.

Now, I am definitely making this lunch

with my son Jackson in mind

'cause he loves cherry tomatoes but my girls don't.

So for their lunches, I would put something else

and now to dress these up just a bit, I'm also gonna add in

some of these reusable food picks in here.

These picks definitely tend to be

more on the decorative side

and now in this back section

I'm gonna go ahead and fill it up

with some of these potato lentil curls.

I get these at Trader Joe's.

They are also dairy free

so they're perfect for this lunch

and I think they look really fun.

Now, I'm gonna finish off this lunch

with a little box of organic apples juice.

I'll make sure to add a fork on the side

for the spaghetti and meatballs and there you have it, guys.

Okay, guys, now for this next lunch,

I'm going to start by making the main course first

and this time I'm making my version of a rainbow wrap

which is definitely gonna make this lunch

the most colorful of the bunch.

To make these rainbow wraps,

I'm going to start by preparing all my veggies.

Today, I'm using carrots.

To get these nice and thin,

I'm very carefully using my mandoline slicer.

This just makes the perfect little matchstick carrots.

For the red color, I'm going to be using

some very thinly sliced sweet red bell pepper

and for the yellow, I'm using a yellow sweet bell pepper.

Again, I thinly slice these as well.

For this wrap, I'm not actually adding anything that's blue.

I'm just going to skip that color.

For the purple color, I'm going to be using some very,

very thinly sliced purple onion.

Now, I know a lot of you guys are probably saying

but what about the green?

Well, for the green, I'm actually gonna be using

two different things and the first is a green tortilla.

Now, these ones are dairy free

so that's perfect for this lunch

and the reason that this tortilla is green

is because it's actually a spinach and herb tortilla.

So to this tortilla, I'm going to start by adding

a good layer of hummus.

Now, to make this quick and easy,

I'm just using some store-bought hummus

but definitely you could make your own if you have the time.

Of course, hummus has a lot of good

plant-based protein in it

but my kids just like it because it tastes good.

So once I have this all spread out,

it's time to add some color.

First, I'm gonna add in the thinly sliced red pepper

followed by the carrots.

Next, I'm adding in the yellow bell pepper.

This is looking so good already.

For the secondary green color,

I'm also adding in just a few leaves of baby spinach

and then like I said, for the purple color,

I'm just adding a few slices of the purple onion.

So now I'm going to very carefully try to roll this up

as tightly as I can and then if you wanted to,

you could just cut this in half

and add it to the lunchbox as is

but I'm gonna go ahead and cut it

into about three or four pieces

and to make sure that these pieces don't unravel

in the lunchbox, I am gonna secure each one

with a little reusable food pick and check it out, you guys.

I just love that rainbow color inside

but it's also packed with so much fresh flavor as well.

So it looks like I'm going to be able to fit about three

of these pieces into the lunchbox just like that

and then in this back section,

I'm going to be adding something

I know my daughter Lily will love

and these are kind of like orange smiles.

Just a little bit smaller.

This is basically just a navel orange

that I first sliced into rings and then sliced into wedges.

So now that I have this back section filled up,

I'm going to fill this next section with some celery sticks

and I've cut these nice and small

so that they would fit perfectly in here

and then you guys probably guessed what's coming next.

Fill up this little dip section

with more of the vegan ranch

but you also could fill up this section

with peanut butter or almond butter.

That would go really well with these celery sticks too

and then last but not least,

I'm gonna fill up this last section

with some good old pretzels.

These little square ones just fit perfectly

and there you have it, guys.

I think that this lunch turned out so beautiful.

It's almost like a work of art.

Okay, guys, next up, I have a lunch idea

that could be served either hot or at room temperature

and for this lunch, I'm going to be making

a dairy free version of one of my kids' favorite foods

which is pizza.

Now, for these little pizzas,

instead of using regular dough,

I am gonna go ahead and use some of these Bagel Skinnys.

Now, these ones came from Aldi

but you can basically find the exact same thing

at regular stores.

They're just called bagel thins instead.

So essentially, this makes two pieces of pizza.

So now, for these mini pizzas,

of course I'm going to start by adding some pasta sauce.

This is actually the leftover pasta sauce

from the spaghetti that I made earlier.

So I'm gonna go ahead and spread that out

and now I'm gonna top these off

with some more of the vegan mozzarella cheese

and now instead of adding pepperoni

to the top of these pizzas,

I went ahead and cut out some sweet bell peppers

in some really fun shapes.

These are actually leftover peppers

from the rainbow wrap I made earlier

and now I'm gonna go ahead and stick these in the oven

for just about five to seven minutes

or until the cheese is nice and melted

and speaking of nice and melted cheese,

look at these, you guys.

This vegan mozzarella cheese melted beautifully.

It really does look like regular cheese.

It's slightly browned on top.

The bagels themselves are crispy on the edges.

These look delicious.

So now I'm gonna go ahead and add these into the lunchbox

and then move on to the back section.

In this back section, I'm going to add

some of these little itty bitty Mandarin oranges.

These seriously are some of the tiniest

Mandarin oranges I've ever seen

and I think I can fit probably three

of these little tiny oranges into the lunch

because they're just that small.

Now, moving on to the front section,

I'm gonna go ahead and fill this up with some edamame.

My kids love this stuff and then finally,

for this back section, I'm going to fill it up

with some of these multigrain tortilla chips.

Now, I got these ones at Aldi.

These chips are gluten free, they're dairy free.

You can pretty much find these chips

just about everywhere these days.

They are such a tasty snack but to go along with them,

I'm also gonna be adding in just a little bit of guacamole.

These little individual cups are perfect

for throwing into lunches.

Okay, guys, I hope this gave you some new ideas

on lunches you can make.

Whether you eat plant-based or not,

these lunches are super easy and delicious

but you guys let me know in the comments down below

what your favorite plant-based lunch is

because I'm always looking for new lunches to try.

Now, don't forget to give this video a big thumbs up,

hit that red Subscribe button if you are new.

Thank you guys so much for watching

and I'll see you in my next video.