Video:5 Easy Meals to Pack in a School Lunch

Transcript:5 Easy Meals to Pack in a School Lunch

Hi, I'm Katherine Lee for About.com. And this is Danielle from Cooked in Brooklyn. And today we're gonna show you five healthy and easy lunch ideas.

Turkey With Avocado Is an Easy Meal to Pack in a School Lunch

The first is super, super simple. It's a turkey sandwich with avocados in it, cut into a fun dinosaur shape 'cause kids love that. That's super cute. Yeah. So, Danielle, would you mind just putting some avocado on there? Sure. And this is thinly sliced avocado.

Mmm-hmmm. And then you just take a fun cutter -- it could be any shape -- you know, whatever your kids will like. And then -- hopefully I can do this -- voila! So then you have these two wonderful dinosaur shapes, or whatever shape that you want. And then you can serve it in the lunch box -- put it with a little bit of healthy cherry tomatoes and a hard-boiled egg, which is a little extra protein, and then, like a little sprig of grapes. So pretty. And then pack that all up.

A Bento Box Is an Easy Meal to Pack in a School Lunch

Our second lunch idea is a bento box. Don't get ... I know it looks kind of overwhelming and daunting but actually, if you order, say, Chinese food the night before or Japanese food the night before, get the leftovers, get a little extra rice, and make a little mold out of it. You can buy it online or at a specialty online Asian store or something, supermarket. Really? It's super cute. Yeah.

So how did you make the face? I made the face using something that's called nori. These are like seaweed sheets. People make sushi out of this. So you just use scissors and you cut the little face out. Just marinate some chicken -- if you wanna make your own chicken just marinate it the night before. Cook it the night before, and then you just warm it up and stick it in the lunch box like this. That looks really good. I know, right? And then I actually wanna eat this right now 'cause I'm hungry. And then some edamame or some other green that you want that your kids will eat. So you have a complete meal, huh? Exactly.

English Muffin Pizzas Are an Easy Meal to Pack in a School Lunch

Another great lunch idea is just English muffin pizzas. It's so simple. It does look simple. Yeah. Bake at 350 for, like, about 15 minutes. Not even, right? So you take some whole wheat -- just to be a little bit healthier -- whole wheat English muffin. You put some jar sauce on it, and you put mozzarella on it. And you just melted it? You just melted it. That's it. Great. And then you can add a little extra protein with, like, a boiled egg, you could add some cherry tomatoes and some fruit, and boom! You're good to go.

Chicken Nuggets Are an Easy Meal to Pack in a School Lunch

Yeah. So what's next, Katherine? The next one is also very, very easy. Chicken nuggets, which you can buy at the store, right Danielle? Yeah. You can buy good quality ones. Or you can make your own. So just some chicken nuggets and some baby carrots and broccoli that's been steamed, and an applesauce. Yeah, that's pretty portable too.

Right. And you have a complete meal and it's a wonderful lunch. I think most kids will eat that. I think so too. I would eat that too.

Quesadillas Are an Easy Meal to Pack in a School Lunch

So, Katherine, I think that for the last segment that we're gonna do is just a whole-wheat flour tortilla with some ham and some mozzarella that I just did on a pan. Just a basic quesadilla. And it's healthy, and the kids get some protein, and some calcium. And just a side of strawberries, and you pretty much finish off with that. That's beautiful. That's great. That's a great lunch box.