Share your best lunchbox recipes for children with Lidl - chance to win one of five Lidl £50 vouchers NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

As part of their #LidlSurprises campaign, Lidl would like to find out about your best lunchbox recipes or tips to make the humble packed lunch more of a surprise for your children.

So what recipes/ combinations do you use for your children's packed lunches that mean they always come back empty? What's your most successful lunchtime creation?
Do you ever add a little surprise for your child which makes them (or just you) smile?
Do you have a tried and tested sandwich or wrap filling?
How - if at all - do your children get involved with lunchbox creations? Does everyone make their own or do you juggle numerous boxes in a production line fashion?

Everyone who shares their lunchbox ideas, inspiration and recipes on this thread will be entered into a prize draw to where 5 MNers will each win £50 of Lidl vouchers.

Please note your comments may be included on Lidl's pages on MN, their social media channels, and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

DS loves a packed lunch (or picnic as he calls it!).

He loves a small pot of yogurt and a mini box of raisins (his sweet treats!).

I'll also make sure there is some sort of fruit & veg in there - favourites are carrot sticks, pepper sticks, grapes & blueberries. I put them in little pots with lids on to keep them fresh & less likely to get squished!

Sandwich wise he loves bread / bagels / pitta etc. but is not a huge fan of whatever filling I put in!!! He will eat some cheese and ham but usually he just dissects it and has the bready bit!

If he's been really good I'll sneak in an extra treat for him which could be an oat bar, rice cake or Bear Paws fruit snack.

I make up some Cous Cous and chop in cucumber, tomatoes, red or yellow Pepper and feta cheese- pop in a small Tupperware pot and you're away!

The kids love it and it's cheap, easy and healthy!

Mini pizzas are fun to make shapes on.

You can use a muffin, spread with tomato paste and then cut shapes with olives, pepper, etc. Sprinkle with cheese and grill to hold it all on.

A jack o'lantern is easy, for example. Two slices olives for eyes and then pepper triangles for the mouth.

DD2's favourite lunchbox treat is cold pasta. If we have pasta for tea I always make extra, and she has it for lunch the next day. She really loves pesto pasta, with chopped ham and some mini mozzarella balls.

Ds (12) has a lot of input into his lunch - he was embarrassed to take his out recently as everyone else had crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks!
Now he has lump French bread, butter, tub grated cheese and chunk of cucumber.

Snack or picnic lunch! That's what my daughter likes to call it, and it'll include anything that's interesting to eat like halves of corn on the cob, sandwiches cut into shapes with cookie cutters, something we've baked together, mini rice cakes from a small pot and fruit on sticks like lollipops or kebabs.

A pot of salami (from lidl)
Pasta and pesto (made by me)
Squeezy yogs ( far less mess)
Banana loaf
Cucumber cubes (never gets eaten)
Brioche rolls (lidl)
Apple juice carton (lidl)
Melon cubed in a pot

That's a typical lunch box for my 6 year old. Quite picky and won't eat much!

Son will only eat cheese sandwiches. He doesn't mind what kind of bread, so I change types of bread and rolls around.

Daughter loves Diced Cheese and Tomato, with bread and butter on the side. Just remember to deseed the tomatoes, or by lunchtime the cheese will be swimming in tomato juice.

Homemade savoury muffins always go down well - cheese and chive or cheese and ham are favourites here!

I make summer rolls (spring rolls without the frying) stuff them with carrot, avocado, salmon and cucumber. With a little pot of homemade houmous on the side.

My son's other favourite is not so much a recipe, but bacon and brie in wholemeal wraps or ciabatta

My little man loves humous and things to dip in it!

Lunchbox Pizza Quesadillas my son loves them, gone are the days of boring ham sandwich's his lunch box is always full of homemade fresh food and he always comes back with an empty lunch box so I must be doing something right :)

How to make:

Make these just like any other quesadilla or grilled cheese sandwich.
Spray the bottom of a non-stick skillet with cooking spray and preheat.
When the pan is fairly hot place 1 Flour Tortilla in the pan.
Fairly quickly (because you want to get everything on before the bottom starts to brown) spread on a few tablespoons of sauce.
Then add a layer of Pepperoni (and anything else you like).
Then top with shredded cheese.
Top it off with the 2nd Flour Tortilla.
Just like any other quesadilla or grilled cheese let it brown then flip it over. If all of the cooking spray was absorbed you can spray on a little more, but you usually don't need to.
After both sides are browned and the insides are hot and melted take the "pizzas" out to cool.
Once cooled slice in 1/4 like a pizza and wrap snugly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

Can Freeze them too x

I freeze yogurt pouches to keep food nice and cool throughout the day

Pots of guacamole (with a thin layer of water on top to stop it browning which can easily be drained off), hummus or tzatziki with carrot and cucumber sticks (with the middle cut out to stop it going soggy)

Boiled eggs in the shape of bunnies (using a mold)

Homemad pizza/leftover chicken and salad

Couscous with cinnamon, a little honey, garlic, raisins, squeeze of lemon, pumpkin and sesame seeds

DD1 quite likes taking soup with a roll/jacket potato with little pots of tuna or cheese.
Dd2 loves taking a lunch with egg, ham, cheese (cubed)

Both love taking a fruit salad and will eat most sandwiches but prefer thinner bread/wraps or thins

My daughter is quiet artistic and always gets involved in making her lunch which helps massively we make shaped sandwiches , her latest fave is an apple swan we learned to make from a youtube video. Once packed I put little notes in which will make her smile, she always eats all her lunch

Mine all like to take a salad.

I freeze chicken drum sticks so they defrost during the morning.

If you put things into pots, ensure the DC can open them.

If I buy sausages/sausage rolls etc, I split into individual portion bags and freeze so they are fresh all week

My children are allergic to dairy, so I make pizzas using a dairy free cheese and then put slices in their lunch boxes

My other trick is to make a big pasta dish for an evening meal that works well cold too and then the left overs pasta makes a nice change from sandwiches

Asparagus & Potato Frittata

Ingredients

250g baby new potatoes (in their skins) cut into 1cm cubes
250g asparagus tips, cut into 3cm pieces
100g petit pois
½ large onion, finely chopped
½ red pepper, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
5 large eggs
1 tbsp Borderfields Garlic Infused Rapeseed Oil
1 tbsp dried mixed herbs
Salt & ground black pepper

Boil the cubed potatoes for approx. 8 minutes or until tender. Remove from water with slotted spoon & set aside. Blanch the asparagus in the same pan for 2 minutes. Drain & set aside

In the meantime whisk the eggs in a large bowl, season & stir in herbs

Heat oil in an ovenproof frying pan, add the onion, peppers & garlic & stir fry for approx. 6 minutes, or until soft.

Add the potatoes, half the asparagus & the peas & stir fry for a further 2 minutes

Pour the eggs evenly over the asparagus mixture & scatter over the remaining asparagus.

Turn the heat to medium & cook for approx. 12 minutes or until the base has started to set.

Preheat your grill to high. Place the frittata under the grill in the frying pan for approximately 4 minutes or until the top is golden & set.

Remove from the heat & allow to cool slightly then loosen the edges with a spatula & carefully slide onto a large chopping board.

Cut into squares & serve warm or cold

Dd comes up with a theme and we think of fun lunchbox ideas

Two best so far are 'English picnic' and 'nana party buffet'

English picnic is;
egg salad sandwich fingers
Cucumber batons
Mini scone with jam/mini trifle
Strawberries

nana party buffet;
A slice of quiche
Cocktail sausage
Cheese and pineapple cubes
Greek yoghurt with a few hundreds and thousands on top to look like ice cream

It's brilliant fun!
Some times I draw her little pictures of our cat at a picnic or in Italy or France etc and stick them on top.
I am dreading when she comes up with Norway themed or south pole themed!

Homemade falafel. Feta salad. Hummous & veggies to dip. Crackers and cheese. Fruit.

My son really likes carrot sticks as they have a sweetness to them. Plus they are cheap and healthy which is always a bonus

My children love ham and cheese sandwiches on raisin bread/hot cross buns.

I always pack them with 'finger sticks' too such as carrot, cucumber, celery, a fruit of their choice and a yoghurt - along with a dried fruit snack and a bottle of water

DD (and her brother when he was little) love the idea of a 'picnic' with lots of bits and bobs. Neither like sandwiches but prefer something like mini cheeses, breadsticks, veg sticks with houmous dip, cocktail sausages, olives and chopped up fruit with a yogurt dip. I usually freeze yogurts to use to keep the lunch cool and by the time lunchtime comes they have defrosted

Home made tomato sandwiches. White bread, real butter, crusts off, thibly sliced tomatoes and loads of salt and pepper. Individual fruit pie for afters and in the winter cheddar cheese fingers and hot tomato soup in a flask.

DS will have cream cheese and ham sarnies every day, where DD prefers cheddar cheese or ham sarnies, though she always leaves the crusts. She also varies these with crackers and Brie, she loves Brie, cocktail sausages, cheese strips and hard boiled eggs. They always have fruit and often a packet of crisps.

I make dc cheese and bacon muffins for their lunchboxes. They are quick and easy to make and I make a batch and freeze them and then put one in still frozen which keeps everything cool.
Recipe here
250g self raising flour
150g strong cheese, like mature Cheddar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (optional)
1 teaspoon mustard powder (optional or to taste)
3 rashers any bacon (optional)
100ml natural yoghurt
100ml milk
2 eggs

Put all dry ingredients together, mix all wet ingredients and combine. Cook for 15 minutes at gas mark 6. makes 10 muffins cupcake size