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

I also make banana bread with chocolate chips or sometimes I cut two thin slices and sandwich them together with Nutella
Recipe here140g butter, softened, plus extra for the tin
140g caster sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
140g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
50g icing sugar
handful dried banana chips, for decoration
chocolate chips optional (replace a tbsp flour with a handful of chocolate chips)
Cook on gas mark 4 for 30 to 35 minutes.

My DDs like a ploughman's/picnic type lunch. I put in a selection of small bpa free tubs with cheese, ham, crackers, salad, carrot sticks, olives, hummus (basically anything I can find) so they can put them together themselves. They don't even realise how healthy their lunches are!

Mini quiches made in a muffin tin. If you are feeling virtuous you can make your own shortcrust pastry in a food processer or use shop bought.
Use mug to cut pastry circle and line muffin tray - no need to blind bake.

Whisk some eggs together and season.half fill muffin case, add some grated cheese plus anything else you fancy - ham, tomatoes or chilli sauce!

Bake for about 20 mins at about gas 6.

heart cheese shaped sandwiches are a hit with my DD. She loves cheese so there's usually a cheesestring thrown into the mix plus a fruit bag (they seem more exciting than a random apple!) and a couple of 'Frozen' yogurts (what else for my frozen obsessed child) plus a drink of fruit juice.

I've found little ones prefer deconstructed sandwiches - so some bread, cheese, cucumber all separate. Basically as many separate tubs of things as possible!

polenta sticks with cheese, nuts and raw carrot batons

Gauda in home made bread ( we use the lidl bread flour, 1.5 kg for something like 80 p).
The german egg pasta (yellow package) with the herb cheese.
Roasted aubergine salad (40 p per aubergine- and it tastes amazing) with Lidl extra virgin olive oil.
Whenever it's greek week we stock up on eridanos frozen mini cheese/feta and spinach pastries.
The mini pork pies are apparently very nice according to DD.
Ready made cous cous salad for then the time is tight, she loves it.
Cashews by the handful, same with almonds, I am yet to find better ones than in Lidl.
Apples, bananas, seasonal fruit.
The cooking chocolate in Lidl is very good for brownies, I also use their cocoa, another favourite of DD.
The also likes the chicken kievs.
In fact, all my DD's lunch boxes come from Lidl come to think of it.

my kids love cold pasta so I always make extra when i am making it for dinner then pop some in a tub the next day with cooked chicken and sweetcorn or some tuna.

I make Nigella's breakfast bars -- not just for breakfast any more! Everyone loves them in their lunchbox. I send the smallest size of storage box, filled up with pieces of carrot, or cucumber, or cherry tomatoes, or grapes.

Everyone's favourite sandwich is cold roast chicken with 'pestonnaise' -- equal parts pesto and mayonnaise.

There's always a tiny little treat; either the smallest imaginable piece of chocolate, or some dates or semi-dried apricots.

Ham and cheese wraps are my daughters favourite. She has a lunch box with compartments and she loves to see whats in each one. Grapes and yoghurt always get eaten :)

Oh and she loves it when we draw faces on bananas and oranges

My boys love wraps with cream cheese and ham that is probably their favorite thing, sometimes they have pasta with cheese, and everyday they have little fruit pots with a selection of strawberries, blurberries, blackberries, raspeberries, mango or melon chunks. I make them at home rather than buy them ready made as it's much cheaper.

Crayfish rolls with lemon and mayonnaise.

I love the margherita swirls from Lidl there are a winner in my house, cold or warmed in the oven. They both love pasta salad with cheese, cherry toms, bits of cucumber or if I am feeling lazy peanut butter sandwiches with the crusts cut off.

My daughter loves wraps with cheese and ham on them. Little pots of grapes and carrots are always a favourite. She also loves anything heart shaped in her lunchbox and a little surprise (preferably a Lidl's marshmallow!!) :)

Muffin tin omelettes are popular here as you can vary the fillings. Dead simple too as all you do is oil/grease the muffin tins (or use silicone ones if you have them), add some chopped omelette type fillings (eg, onion, tomato, ham, sweetcorn, mushroom, broccoli, courgette, peppers) and then pour in the beaten egg and grated cheese mixture. Pop in the oven and bake until cooked (browned and springy to the touch).

When cool pop them out and keep in the fridge or freeze.

I've been making packed lunches for 17 years, I don't mind as there's always something different to try,
We usually do ciabatta fresh from the bakery with Parma ham and beef tomatoes with a little salsa or relish cut into thin slices, she usually eats about three of these.

Another fave is a chunk of French stick and a pot of pâté or Boursin and a little plastic knife so she can spread her own as if I do it in the morning it dries up and isn't as nice,

Or cooked pasta with sundried tomatoes and a little olive oil stirred through it.

On the side she likes sugar snaps peas, radishes and peppers.

As a little dessert we make our own rocky roads with melted caramel/ choc bars and mixed up with lidls version of rice crispies and mini marshmallows with some nuts and cherries. Cut into squares and they last the week.

Drinks are usually water or foil juice pouches.

My DS likes things in pots/tubs and then he will eat things he wouldn't normally eat. So I tend to use little plastic boxes inside the box with things likes grapes, raisins, chopped carrots and nuts in. he then likes home made pizza slices or cheese sandwiches. plus a little piece of home made carrot cake or shortbread. Wont go near tomatoes of any kind but loves all other round fruit likes peaches, apricots, nectarines etc so he always has one of two of them.

Anything kid sized- cherry tomatoes, grapes, chopped up fruit. Sandwiches never seem to go down that well- something like mini bagel and a lump of cheese is much more likely to get eaten

To ensure they don't come back empty I don't put too much in. Too much and they will ALWAYS leave the apple.

My combination (that wins with my two) is:

1. Carbs of some sort - bagel, wrap, pasta pot, leftover pizza.

1. Two portions of veg or fruit, eg: apple always chopped (see above) or grapes off the stalk or just a handful of cherry toms or strawberries or cucumber chopped.

1. Protein for ds2 (he can't eat dairy), - usually chicken legs. Dairy for ds1 - chunk of cheese or a yoghurt (not a crappy sugar one).

1. Something sweet like a jammy dodger or a plain biscuit or a piece of malt loaf or a kit kat (not necessary for nutition but nice).

I never add a little surprise - but have been known to cut up sandwich shapes or make bagel snakes.

My only inspirational sandwich filling is ham and jam. DS (aged 3) decided this was a delicacy.

I make all lunches and the children don't really get involved.

make your own pittas.

Pittas cut in half, and ingredients all seperate (in tubs) so they put them in as they want.

They get ham, chicken or Cheese, or cut up salami then some cucumber slices, bit of sweetcorn, cut up pepper, a sauce sachet - they Make it on the fly :)

For a sweet treat they get a lucky dip small choccy biscuit (I unwrap the bars and put it in foil)

THey choose a piece of fruit for every day of the week ( they normally choose 2 x banana, 1x apple, 1 x Orange 1x grapes!) but sometimes I'll add in strwarberrie sor something.

They love it when they get pizza or quiche instead of a sandwich :)

They love pizza made from pitta breads spread with tomato purée and veg toppings, cubed mozzarella and tomato salad, slices of cooked chicken breast.

Also olives, green or black, though I limit due to salt content.

We eat lots of bagels in our house so my little ones also ask for them in their lunch box smothered in marmite, cheese cubes, veggie sticks & hummous

Us hi with my oh so easy press and wrap maker. It is great. Also salmon and cream cheese bagel is a winner. I love fitting little laughing cow cheeses and frozen froobs in too.

Sorry that is sushi, not ushi....