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

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Slices of homemade pizza with loads of veg in the sauce. Pancakes with fruit. Mini cucumbers. Sandwich thins with leftover roast meat.

I’m new to packed lunches, I need ideas for September so great thread.

I also make homemade donner meat that the kids love in pitta, but it looks so realistic I’m scared the teachers will think it’s leftovers from the kebab shop

Homemade coleslaw - carrots, cabbage and onion in the food processor, mixed with mayo and vinegar. DS will eat any amount of it!

My children used to love hummous , carrot sticks and cucumber sticks in yumboxes. Then life got busy and the crap stuck in..

Need to make lists of what they like with Tim and get adventurous. Think they'd like falafels, wraps. Just need to convince them....

I boil up some quinoa the night before. Let it cool. Add a dash of lemon juice and olive oil. Then some pomegranate seeds, chopped up pepper and some chopped up mint leaves. Stick it all in the fridge and then it’s rresdy to grab the next morning to take to work.

Wholemeal pita with chicken, baby bel, grapes, tomatoes and a yogurt. DD usually eats it all up.

My children have packed lunches but they are so fussy it drives me mad, trying to think of new ideas. This thread has given me lots of ideas though so thank you.

My 2 usually take either
Pasta salad, with sweetcorn and cucumber and some booked meat/
Hummous with bread sticks, carrot and cucumber sticks.
Wrap with some kind of meat and chopped vegetables.
Home made pizza.

They also take fresh fruit each day and a sweet treat.

Pitta bread, homemade pizza or pasties are a good alternative to sandwich loaf.

My son’s favourite is sweet potato falafels which are easy to make and perfect for a packed lunch. I always carry fruit in my bag for a snack when we are out and about.

Cucumber, carrots and pepper sticks along with a piece of fruit - an apple or pear. I tend to stick with ham sandwiches or wraps, and usually a cereal bar or banana bread or similar for something sweet .

Usually left overs with salad or chucked into a pitta bread.

Mine loves pesto pasta, and smokey bean salad with cut up rainbow tomatoes and cucumber in

My daughter is quite fussy in that she doesn't really like bread and only likes certain fillings, so it tends to be the same format. She likes wraps, plus they don't go soggy and wrap up nicely, and I go for the half and half wheat versions. Her favourite fillings are tuna mayo with cucumber/sweetcorn or salami. I try and improve it being healthy with veggies sticks too. And if I'm lucky some strawberries or cherries. A treat of a bag of crisps and cake bar finish her lunchbox or picnic box off.

Ham, salad and bfree pitta. Perfect!

Chicken pasta salad with a sweet mustard dressing. Easy, quick and delicious.

Peas in pods or raw runner beans go down well. Or a small pot of sweetcorn (from a tin). One child will eat vegetable crisps so sometimes put some in a small pot. Cheese slices and oatcakes (wrapped separately). For a healthy ish treat banana and oat muffins made with coco powder and Yoghurt go down well. Or vegetable gnome cupcakes make with carrot.

My daughter likes cous cous amazingly, so hat with some sweet roast veg like carrots and peppers works for us.

Mine are fussy but will always eat veg sticks and mini peppers. Plain crackers and mini sausages.

Frittata, salad, cous cous, raisins, chopped apples, chunks of cheese, feta salad, olives, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, chicken, smoked ham.... All makes for more interesting picky lunch than usual!!

Wraps are a hit for us, ham sandwich, veg sticks, and fruit of most kinds.

Hummus and roast beef sandwiches.

The big success in my family seems to be my variety of Tunisian salad:

You must make up couscous then add chopped fresh tomatoes, chopped cucumber, chives, peppers, and mix them together.

Make a bottle of dressing using fresh squeezed lemon, a dash or two of white or balsamic vinegar, virgin olive oil, fresh ground pepper, a pinch of salt, chopped chives, chopped basil, finely chopped garlic and chopped mint.

Mix them together, enjoy it like I do while the couscous is warm, chill the rest in the refrigerator and put into little lidded pots for lunches, served with pitta, crusty rolls or crackers. Any dressing remaining can be kept chilled to go on salads.

I usually do pasta salad, wraps and sandwiches with strips of carrot, cucumber, peppers etc. I put one treat item in too. I often pack a small pot of plain popcorn, which I make myself.

I make wraps with the usual sandwich fillings then roll them and cut them into pinwheels - a bit more exciting than a 'boring' sandwich. Apparently they taste SO much better too

My DC’s do get bored with sandwiches, so a good pasta goes down well, tuna, sweetcorn and mayo, or simple pesto.

They like little pots of fruit, different fruit each day, if it’s cut up and in a it they eat it!

They like simple crackers, with cheese and ham they can stack up.

For the summer a yoghurt stick, frozen, so by lunchtime it is nice and cold still, and keeps other things chilled too.