5 sandwich ideas for kids — with just 10 ingredients

What’s for lunch? If you’re a parent, this might be your least favorite question. What lunch with some nutritional value can you pack for kids? Is there a sandwich that will sit in a lunchbox for three hours? One that they will they actually eat and not trade? And not just skip over for the snacks? And can it be easy to make, too? Turns out — yes!

Care.com and Whole Foods Market partnered to take only 10 ingredients — and make 5 fun, healthy sandwich ideas — a different one for each day of the week. Better yet, each recipe has a video to go along with it.

Watch the demonstrations of all these recipes:

Here are the 10 ingredients you’ll need all week:

• Turkey.
• Bananas.
• Nut or sunflower butter (any flavor).
• Tomatoes.
• Whole wheat bread, wraps or waffles — you choose!
• Hummus.
• Cheddar cheese.
• Baby spinach.
• Green and red apples.
• Jam or jelly (any flavor, cranberry today).

Sandwich #1: The Banana Jam-Wich

The bananas are the bread. Amazing, right?!

Ingredients:

• 1 banana.
• Nut or sunflower butter (any flavor).
• Jam or jelly.
• Apples, chopped.

Directions:

1. Carefully cut your banana in half, vertically and horizontally, so you have 4 even halves.
2. Lay them out seed-side up and spread nut or sunflower butter on all four slices.
3. Drizzle jam on top of 2 slices and then sprinkle those with chopped apples.
4. Close them together like a sandwich or serve open-faced.

Sandwich #2: The Croc N’ Roll

When bread becomes a roll-up and a sandwich becomes a crocodile.

Ingredients:

• 1 slice whole wheat bread.
• 1 slice cheddar cheese.
• 1 slice turkey.
• Baby spinach.
• Apples (a mix of red and green, preferably — and leave the skin on!).
• Hummus.

Directions:

1. Take one piece of bread and lay on a cutting board. Use a rolling pin — or canned good — and roll it flat.
2. Lay cheddar cheese and turkey on top. Then take a handful of apple strips and place them on the bottom half of the bread, sticking two green ones out for fangs and one red one out for the tongue.
3. From the bottom, roll the bread upwards to enclose the apples and keep rolling until the end.
4. Fasten with hummus or a toothpick.
5. Fang-side facing you, place two dollops of hummus and stick on two apple chunks for eyes. Then line the top of the bread with more hummus and add pieces of green spinach as scales.

Sandwich #3: Flower Power

Now here’s an easy and colorful way to spruce up a turkey sandwich.

Ingredients:

• 2 slices whole wheat bread.
• 3 slices of tomato.
• 2 slices of turkey.
• Hummus.
• Baby spinach.
• Small cookie cutter (we used a flower).

Directions:

1. Lay out both slices of bread, and use the cookie cutter to cut out a flower shape from the center of one.
2. Now spread both slices of bread with hummus.
3. Take the piece of bread without the flower cut-out and layer turkey, spinach and the tomato slices.
4. Place the other piece of bread on top and let the red tomatoes shine through the flower cut-out.

Sandwich #4: Tomato Soup Grilled Cheese

It’s a gooey-grilled cheese with the benefits of tomato. Add a Thermos of tomato soup for dipping! (Tip: Wrap both the Thermos and the sandwich in tinfoil to keep them warm).

Ingredients:

• 2 slices whole wheat bread.
• Cheddar cheese.
• 2 slices of tomato.

Directions:

1. Add a dollop of butter to a hot frying pan.
2. Then butter one side of both slices of bread. Place the non-buttered side down in the hot pan. Flip once toasted.
3. Now add the cheese to the toasted side of both pieces of bread. Once cheese starts to melt, add tomato. Combine and keep flipping to prevent sandwich from burning.
4. Remove from the pan and cut into 4-dipping strips.

Sandwich #5: The Gobbler

Everyone has their version of this post-Thanksgiving favorite. Here’s one you can make year-round – and on a waffle. Tip: Use cranberry sauce if you don’t have jam.

Ingredients:

• Apples, sliced.
• Cranberry jam.
• Turkey.
• Cheddar cheese,
• 2 slices whole wheat bread (we’re going to use frozen whole wheat waffles, toasted).

Directions:

1. Spread jam onto both slices of bread.
2. Top one slice with cheddar, apples and then the turkey.
3. Finish with the second slice of bread.

Get recipes and store locations at WholeFoodsMarket.com