Share your never-fail playdate food tips with Lidl - chance to win vouchers NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

We've all been there - trying to find something to cook for your child’s fussy friend during a playdate. Lidl are after your tips and recipes for the kind of food that always goes down a treat when you're having kids over for playdates. Do you play it safe with fish fingers and chips? Or do you have some other less conservative recipes and meal suggestions that are guaranteed to please? Maybe you have a pasta and sauce combo that no child has yet turned their noses up at.

Share your ideas, tips and recipes 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

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weve had mixed results.play it by ear but don't panic or get tense angry or annoyed lol. you quickly leanr every child and parent is different to how they are brought up or are willing to try new or 'normal' perhaps meals.
ours have always love tuna splodge! pasta.a tin of campbelss condensed tomato soup.and a tin of tuna all mixed in and sprinkled with cheese.yum,doesnt sound it though but yes a definite winner.
always go the normal way first as in get them to have a every day meal you want to give or are eating yourself.weve had so many round ours that we've been told wont eat this or will only eat that and they've been overjoyed almost when we sit them down with us and just have a proper meal,no fuss,no pandering just sat with us and had what we had.
but often also on play dates if they are not something that's done everyday for babysitting swapping then we like to let them have a bit of choice or treat.pizza.fish fingers what they want.
popular choices are always
beans eggs and chips.
poached egg
pizza
make your own pizza baguettes
shephards pie
open sandwhiches with all different topping:salami,ham,cheeses
and on new friend playdates a take away is always nice.

make pizza always works for us

I usually do a picnic lunch of mini sausages, sandwiches, crisps and fruit. The DC then eat this in the garden or on the floor of the living room as a 'carpet picnic'. I also have a big drinks bottle with a tap that I fill with juice so they can help themselves to drinks.

I always give them pizza and ask what flavours they like before they come. Sometimes we will make our own which they always enjoy and they always get eaten.

I find finger food like cocktail sausages and cut up fruit and grapes are good for play dates. Kiddies can't get enough. Yum

I'm constantly hosting play dates and I never feel I get this right! Homemade pizzas, picnic style teas, spaghetti, hot dogs, fish fingers... I tend to ask what they would like to make life easier.

Mostly they eat almost no savoury and scoff loads of homemade cake and brownies that we make together.

And I serve up bowls of berries and grapes to make it seem better!

Homemade pizzas, that way there's fun, mess and some veggies

A text to the parent of the child guest before they come is always a good one and then when you present them with their favourite food, as if by magic, they are happy. I always think it's good when you have an idea of the types of food they enjoy to offer something in addition that they may like, but I believe play dates are predominantly for the children to have fun, and not a time to be educating them about food - think this is for their parents to do, so let em have what they enjoy to eat. Something like pizza or chicken can be made healthy so they think they're getting a treat but you know they are also getting nutrition too - win win!

Making our own pizzas is always a big hit. I get the kids to help me make pizza dough and then they cut out their own pizzas. I put out a range of toppings and they make their own - cheese, ham, mushrooms, onions, pepperoni, chicken etc etc. Obviously I do the cooking but the kids seem to enjoy them all the more as they are their own creations!

Pizza.

On the rare occasions we've had kids here for a meal, I've done pizza which has always gone down well. Usually it's just snacks, in which case fruit is always a winner, preferably berries which are devoured in seconds.

Some useful ideas here - like the sound of tuna pasta bake and the roast chicken thighs.

I usually do macaroni cheese bake.

Or Shepherds Pie (a ready meal) with baked beans/peas (I ask the visiting child which they would prefer)has never been refused.

I always play it safe with either sausages, chips and beans or fish fingers, chips and beans with jelly for pudding.

No-one's ever gone home hungry, but one child did spit the jelly out once!

My daughter and her friends like anything made with chicken. Fajitas, pasta, currys , Spanish chicken.

I make pizzas with the kids and get them involved with everything, they love the fact they've "made" their own!

I'm not adventurous. Always pizza and chips here. I once tried something else and the visitor wouldn't eat it so I ended up doing her pizza anyway!

When we have children for a playdate, I'll ask their parents what their children like to eat. My own son is a fussy eater, but he loves carrot, sweet pepper and cucumber sticks. I offer a selection of foods like Babybel cheese, cheesy breadsticks (sometimes homebaked, sometimes bought - my guys love Italian grissini), French fries (cooked in the oven), fish fingers or tuna pate sandwiches. Then an ice lolly/Cornetto or a homemade cupcake. My younger one loves decorating homemade cookies or cupcakes, and will be very proud to show his "artwork" to his friends.
I have a foolproof recipe for choc chip cookies, which are very easy and fast to make, they tend to disappear very quickly.
For Choc chip biscuits you will need 100g soft margarine, 100g caster sugar, 160g self-raising flour, 65g jumbo oats, 1tsp vanilla essence, 1 medium egg, 50g of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate. That's it, couldn't be easier.
Cream the margarine with sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the flour, oats and the beaten egg, mix well, forming the dough. Add vanilla and choc chips, mix again. Knead lightly on a slightly floured surface, roll out to 6mm thickness, cut out the biscuits with cookie cutters, place them on the trays lined with parchment paper and bake for about 15 minutes until golden at 180C. Don't overcook, they are still very soft when you take them out.

Tortilla pizza. Get a tortilla wrap and get them to put on it what they want; tomatoes, peppers, cheese, ham, pineapple etc. Then grill it to melt the cheese. It's so quick to football and gets them involved.

I normally make pasta and a selection of sliced sausage and chopped raw vegetables and let them help themselves and for dessert I chop up lots of fruit and let them make their own fruity skewers, and If they're really lucky they get a dash of squirty cream too

Finger food is ideal, mini sandwiches and cakes, all presented on pretty cake stands! Goes down a treat!

Pizza pinwheels, the kids love making them too so it's an activity as well as lunch!

Homemade pizzas. The kids can add their own toppings so have control over any likes and dislikes. Never fails

Pack of x10 tortillas, passata and cheese makes fab, very thin pizzas - even better if you get wholemeal ones. other toppings if you want - veggies or ham. Get them to help if old enough. Takes minutes to cook and easy to do pepper smiley face

Dessert - breasticks rolled in chocolate spread then raisons, pop in fridge to chill. Made their own 'wands/sword/sparkler

making dinner in to faces/animals

• ketchup lots and lots of