Share your homemade sporty kids snacks with Lidl - chance to win vouchers NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

Lidl, as a proud partner of grassroots football across England, Scotland and Wales, are encouraging children to get involved in football and lead an active healthy lifestyle, but they know that fuelling budding sports stars can be tricky.

So they'd love to hear how you keep your DCs fuelled after charging round a football pitch, netball court, or each other! Maybe you make a mean energy bar to stick in a sports bag - or a super quick supper you can have on the table in minutes after a long game? Whatever it is, share all the details of your recipe, and of course any photos of your food in action would be great too!

Share your ideas below and you will be entered into a prize draw where you could win one of five £50 Lidl vouchers.

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply.

It's homemade veggie burgers for a very quick lunch on swimming day here as the session clashes with his usual lunch time. DS is still small but really gets rid of some energy splashing and kicking around the pool and he makes sure DH and I get rid of lots of energy too!

I serve them with a sauce made from coconut cream and almond butter, some cucumber and a sesame bagel.

Our recipe is:

A cup and a half of any chopped veg covers with water and microwaved until a little soft, a small tin of any kind of beans, half a pack of Lidl pumpkin seeds (really the best price and nicest ones I've seen), half a cup of chickpea flour and herbs or spices (different each time).

I blend it with the crushing blade of a Bamix blender, leaving it slightly chunky, and make the burgers in a one egg sized mini frying pan with just a drop of olive oil until they are a bit brown. I add a little salt for the adults while I cook.

They freeze really well and defrost very quickly in the microwave if they aren't too thick.

Either 'rocket fuel' sandwiches:
preferably multigrain loaf slices, spread with butter (or spread of your choice, jam and crunchy peanut butter, topped with slices of banana. Keeps you feeling full, and full of energy for hours.
Or muesli yoghurt:
some greek yoghurt mixed with porridge oats, one of the Crownfield cereal toppers (I like the ground linseed mix) and your choice of dried fruit (the Alesto dried berry & cherry mix has a good mix of flavours). Leave overnight, or at least a few hours. You can add chopped fresh fruit such as apple or banana just before serving (no need for any added sugar).

You can't beat a simple, freshly made banana milkshake. Just what's needed for tired muscles.

I generally go for something fast and protein rich after DDs been very active (it's more running and clambering about than actual sport). She usually gets ham and cheese as a ready-to-go starter to keep her going while I cook up some fish or eggs (alongside some simple veg and carbs of course)

My son loves eating oat crackers topped with nut butter and slices of apple for a healthy snack that gives him energy - Simple and quick to make too.

Inspired by this thread I made fruit and nut flapjacks last night. Easypeasy using your simply porridge oats , dried apricots and mixed nuts-- thanks mumsnet

DC lead an active, healthy lifestyle, although neither of them have ever liked football, so agree with Micah in her previous post. Why is it always football that spurs on these debates? DD is now a swimming teacher and lifeguard, DS has always participated in Motocross. DD is allergic to nuts and celery, so clearly anything nut- or celery-based for her was always going to be a definite no-no. So stone-based fruits (like peaches, cherries, apricots, etc, also off the menu for her, as they are of the almond family). And she doesn't like bananas!

I tended to do things like tuna (or chicken) pasta salad with lots of vegetables: pepper, radish, tomato, cucumber, sweetcorn. Or smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel, or a bagel with avocado and something. Brie cheese and grapes is actually a nice filling for a bagel/sandwich.

A wrap with tasty chicken or beef and salad (obviously leave out the meat element for any of those if you're a veggie). Bread/rice cakes/crackers/oat cakes/whatever and a flask of soup for when you're on the go in winter. DS likes tuna sushi - so easy to do (he normally eats this for his breakfast whilst travelling to his sporting venue in the van ... it's meant for his lunch)!!

Couscous or bulghar wheat-based salads - high energy. Eggs always good to start off the day (although my DC have never been too keen on eggs)

A smoothie for breakfast containing various fruits (eg, blueberries, peaches allergies permitting, strawberries, Greek yoghurt, apple juice, honey, handful of pumpkin seeds.

Football is one of the most popular and crucially low cost/ no cost sports available in this and other countries. Motocross and swimming to my knowledge cost a lot more.

So it's about accessibility I'd guess rather than some perceived favouritism towards one sport in particular.

Ergo- perhaps all the money going to football is what makes it low cost.

Maybe if lidl "proudly partnered" the asa swimming lessons would be availiable to all at low or no cost?

Ergo - what about rubgy? DD loved rugby. You can't make a child like a sport (eg, football) if they just don't like it. ALL sports are worthy of attention. Not just football. Swimming is a far more important skill than football. Swimming leads to all sorts of other sports, aside from being a life-saving skill in it's own right. Once you have learned to swim, you can then scuba/deep sea dive, surfboard, waterski - the list is endless. Football is football. Exercise, yes, but not enthralling.

I am/was very co-ordinated and sporty, however my hand/eye coordination for ball sports is not good at all.

Tennis, netball, hockey, football, squash I was fairly bad at. As are my DC. I was on various squads for gymnastics and swimming though.

If all my kids could access was football they'd not be doing any sport. We tried DD in football actually, she was far too high energy and impatient when it came to skills- especially compared to all the little boys that a) got all the instructors attention. Girls tend to be on a back foot with football because they are perceived as not as good, and they might well not be to start as dads don't play/teach football with girls like they do boys.

Fortunately we can access swimming lessons etc, and now DC is fast tracked to the GB squad system. Problem is now it's getting very expensive, and there's no grass roots support for these kids. Lottery funding only kicks in 14+ and GB squad.

There are swimming pools, gymnastics clubs, martial arts clubs everywhere. There are no less than football clubs. Triathlon is an easy participation sport, without much need for a club even. Running and athletics are accessible to most kids.

So why is it always football that businesses like Lidl put the money into? There are already sponsored football academies everywhere.

Fast oat and raisin snacks
4Tbsp Jumbo Oats
4tbsp Milk
Few raisins
Mix everything together and pop in the oven on 180c for 20 mins.
Cut into slices while still warm.
Leave to cool and then gobble !

I'm just answering the point made comparing football with motocross and swimming. You have to pay to access those, you don't with football. From my experience, gymnastics and swimming cost a lot of money.

And Micah what a disingenuous comment re the money going into football making it low cost. It's low cost because you just need a ball. Look at most of the Premier League players: do they come from middle class, UK, privileged backgrounds? The Winter Olympics makes me laugh the most. And rowing, and sailing, and equestrian. Elite sports available to the few.

My lot have Football, Hockey, Beavers & Cubs, and are all really active, and all starving when they get home, and for once, all four of them love their dads One Pot Chicken & Veg!
With chicken breasts, mini corn, courgette, onion, red & green peppers, mushroom, grated carrot and a little garlic, its so flavoursome, and takes next to no time as its all thrown in the slow-cooker in the morning with a little water, and by the evening when they're home & hungry, we either do a little cous cous to go with it or eggy rice, and they finish dinner actually feeling full! Its such an easy yet mouth-wateringly tasty dinner!

what a disingenuous comment re the money going into football making it low cost. It's low cost because you just need a ball. Look at most of the Premier League players: do they come from middle class, UK, privileged backgrounds?

With rugby, you also only need a ball and a field and some goalposts - just the same as football. Oh, hang on, the ball is a different shape, that makes it more expensive then. Netball and basketball - a ball and a court. Tennis - a ball, a court and a couple of racquets. Hockey - a court, a ball and several hockey sticks. Truth is, most companies want to plough money into easy sport (like football) because it needs not much and is perceived to be more popular, but they forget about all the others, most of which could actually do with a bit of support and sponsorship. Swimming and the like could really do with a bit of a leg-up

Anyway, whichever the chosen sport, the energy-high foods are useful for all.

Netball and basketball - a ball and a court. Tennis - a ball, a court and a couple of racquets

Our local park has tennis and basketball courts. Also a bowling pitch and a cricket pitch. No children ever use them- there are no organised activities for them to join. The field though has saturday and sunday organised footie leagues, as the clubs get funding to set them up.

I agree: lots of sports are "low cost" and it does get irritating, the continual focus on football on TV too

Our local rugby club costs £60 per annum for Junior membership (up to 18) and for more than 2 kids, only £100 p.a. For family membership which also gives the parents social membership of the club. We even allow a "free" few weeks to see if they like rugby.

That's it barring voluntary donations of home baking for the cake stall on the weeks when there is a visiting team for a game

Coaching is free - all delivered by volunteers.

Club Kit is supplied for games, so the only real expense (apart from the annual sub) is shorts and boots - and even there, because we operate a kit and boot bag, where people hand in boots and tops/shorts (kids just need to be comfortable but they often buy the training kit or choose to buy or get given for Christmas/birthday replica kit of the pro/national team) that their kids have grown out of but are still in good condition, there's often no need to buy new boots.

That's much cheaper than the football club that ds used to go to. We used to pay £2.50/hour for coaching and/or pay £60 a term - plus match fees and you had to buy game kit.

Pre match energy snack
Slice 1 banana into 1cm approx slices
Dollop on a spoon of peanut/ almond/ cashew butter and top with another banana slice to make a sandwich
Drizzle with dark chocolate to help hold together
Chill!

My home made flapjacks with jam sandwiched in the middle!

Lots of protein style snacks- slices of chorizo, sticks of cheese, chicken chunks etc.

Red onions chopped really small, grated cheese, mayo combined then spread onto a tortilla. Roll and slice - we all love them, so easy, tasty and perfect for little hands to hold x

Sliced fruit like grapes and strawberries with whole raspberries and blueberries combines in a little pot for a quick fruit salad x

Flapjacks & fruit like bananas

Pancakes - sweet or savoury. Easy to make and delicious.

My kids love energy balls
Peanut butter
Cacao powder
Flax seeds
Almonds(whatever nuts you have in the cupboards)
Coconut
raisins
Whizz all the dry ingredients up so date and nuts are small
Mix all together roll to make balls refrigerate then eat v yummy and healthy too.

Simply mash a banana and mix in two fresh eggs.
Fry the mixture in a little butter or coconut oil to make super simple banana pancakes.

Fine by themselves, but can also be topped with chocolate, peanut butter or even a little lemon juice and a sprinkle of sugar.