Mumsnet users share their healthy lunch ideas with Lidl

[JustineBMumsnet]

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It’s lunchtime! So how do you make sure your children are opening their lunchboxes to something healthy? We all want to encourage our family to eat well, but with the endless packed lunches the summer holidays call for, plus the reappearance of the lunchbox police come September, now might be the time to step up your lunchbox game. Soggy sandwiches just won’t cut the mustard, so Lidl would love to know your go-to lunchbox ideas that will keep little ones happy and healthy.

Perhaps you like to keep it simple with some vegetable sticks, pitta and hummus. Or maybe you’re children just can’t get enough of your homemade falafel or energy balls. Whatever your healthy lunchbox ideas are please share them below and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win £100 Lidl voucher.

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs Apply

I am fairly straightforward but healthy ish I think! Usually sandwich tuna sweetcorn or cheese something like that. Piece of fruit. Cucumber sticks. Yogurt. Done!

Wrap or toasties.

Fillings- cheese, tomato, ham or chicken or tuna or pickles. With spinach. Sometimes we do pizza wraps- homemade sauce cheese pepperoni and put it on the sandwich toaster and make it like a quesadilla ( requires 4 wraps).

We usually have carrot sticks, cucumber rings or flowers... and peppers on the side.

Snack- Greek yoghurt and fruit with a little honey or granola.

Satsuma or other type of fruit for later or some oat cake biscuit or if DH bakes then some cake.

And only water.

It is really hard to get healthy food into my children's lunches because they are both fussy as anything. One thing they like is nuts but these are understandably banned due to but allergies so even peanut butter is out. Dd1 is vegetarian so protein can be difficult without nuts as she only eats a couple of types of cheese (and not in sandwiches or wraps or pasta) and no beans, etc. I often put in some cubed cheese. My dd2 doesn't like sandwiches so has sesame breadsticks. I would love to put in healthy home-made flapjacks with seeds and wholemeal blueberry muffins but they won't eat them. My elder one has rocket and my younger one two or three of cucumber, tomatoes, satsuma, berries or olives. I would also like to make healthy wraps etc.

My son hates sandwiches and wraps etc so he takes left over pasta dishes (from our evening meals) or soup for lunch.

I batch cook soups at the weekend and freeze them in portions. He especially likes minestrone, turkey and barley, chicken noodle or beef broth.

We bought Thermos King Food flasks -expensive but they keep his food hot until lunch.

Add a chunk of bread or a savoury scone (batch cooked at the weekend and frozen individually) and he is very happy.

Ham and cucumbers sandwich packet of crisps. Yogurt and a cake

Cold cheesy sweet and regular potato wedges. Some avocado and tomato salad with fruit. Ooh and a sugar free orange, strawberry and vanilla muffin for pud 👍

Fortunately I don't have to do packed lunches very often, so sticking to sandwiches works OK as it's not all the time. I used to make savoury muffins when the toddler had to take a packed lunch to the childminder - they froze well and one taken from the freezer in the morning was defrosted by lunchtime. Nowadays cheery tomatoes go down well with both my kids.

Lots of pic n mix veg, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, pitta strips , hummus, cheese cubes....

I am actually very lucky as both of my children would eat any fruit and vegetables (apart from onion, of course if they know is there 😂).
I usually shop at Lidl's as they truly are "big on quality and Lidl on price".
I buy lost of them every week. Therefore I pack plenty of chopped fruit and veg and everyday I vary a little to make it more interesting. I add some eggs, pasta salads, peanut butter and banana bagel and all sorts of sandwiches depending on what I have in my fridge.

Here are few of my examples 😉

Surprised to see so many people talking about Pesto pasta - aren’t most schools but free??

Sandwiches with various fillings (helps to have different breads - seeded rolls, thins, wraps, mini pitta). I have one adventurous DC and one who wants the same ham or tuna mayo every day.
Adventurous kid likes snack packs with olives, hard boiled eggs, veg sticks, hummus, crackers. She likes leftovers eg. Cold pasta, fritatta etc.
They also like homemade English muffin pizzas. Plus some fruit, a cereal bar and water to drink.

Brown pasta, tuna, cooked corn and Greek yogurt:)

I shop at Lidl. I usually make sandwiches (the kids love the in store bakery) and they really like the multipacks of brioche bread rolls. I also put some of the Lidl mini sized fruit and veg in, them seem to not notice its fruit and veg because they are excited it’s tiny

I just make my own variation of a lunchable as i know the kids will eat it.
I use wheat crackers/cheese crackers/cream crackers whatevers available.
Then i use salami slices or pepperoni if i have them if not i cut slices of ham into small squares, i slice cheese into squares.
Then i add sliced cucumber, raddishes. Cherry tomatoes always go down well too.
i do similar with wraps pop chicken, ham, cheese and salad bits in a tub add wraps so they can assemble their own.
They dont really like sandwiches as they often go soggy by lunchtime.

Pasta.

Feta salad.

Hummus & things to dip (carrots,cucumber, breadsticks, cherry toms, pita bread, peppers)

Quiche. Mini pizzas.

Falafel.

Wraps. Bags.

Quorn cocktail sausages & pineapple on cocktail sticks

Quorn picnic egg.

Quorn sausage rolls / cheese&onion rolls.

Soup in a flask with crackers for dipping.

Cheese & crackers.

Nt

U
BZ

NUT free my previous message was supposed to say!

Cold pizza, McDonald's and a cup of Starbucks latte. She's 5.. she's fine...

My DC love a sandwich to be honest. DS1 has to have cheese, always. DS2 likes ham best (especially braesola, v swanky!), but will also eat cheese or tuna mayo. I alternate white and brown bread, wraps and bagels, to keep it more interesting.

They’ll also have mini scotch eggs/sausages, lots of fruit, cucumber and carrot sticks and a cereal bar/soreen.

I think there is so much to do with a childs lunchbox. It might have something in that Miss disagrees with, but usually Miss teacher does not know what the child had bor brekkie, or going home to for tea/supper.
There is so much fruit and veg around (Thank you Lidl) that is cheap enough to achieve the 5 a day plus so chopped carrots, are a hit so in a wee container by them selves or with corn, peas in the pod, You can't gibv them a sandwich everyday the kids get fed up the bread, so they is biscuits , wraps, and even a cous cous , or rice n things, some cherry tomatoes, the more colours you put in the better it is, berries are great for lunch . I ask if she wants a yogurt, or a small jelly with fruit made at home in a wee tub, not forgetting the spoon, I lways put in a wipe for her hands afterwards, but a square of kitchen roll for her lap, just to catch anything.. I don't usually put crisps in, feel she has plenty without.

We use a Yumbox - it has little compartments and I find it always comes back empty! We normally have chicken “snails” (wraps cut up) or carrot or cucumber sticks with dip or hummus. Lots of fresh fruit and yoghurt, too. I will sometimes put in leftover pasta made into a salad, the same with cold chicken.

Chorizo/cucumber wraps
Cherry tomatoes
Satsuma
Apple
Water

Lidl seeded flatbreads are yummy accompanied with hummus , then small containers of cucumber, tomato, carrot. With another small container for grapes, melon chunks, strawberries , whatever is in season. Small apple juice carton frozen keeps it all fresh.

I cook a chicken on Sunday, and carve and keep in the fridge, I then use the meat to add in to small wraps with shredded lettuce, sweetcorn and chopped mini peppers, a squirt of low fat mayo/BBQ or sweet chilli sauce makes them extra tasty. I add a frozen yogurt, which defrosts in the lunchbox in time for eating, and also acts as a chiller for the food.