Share your healthy tips and hacks for your children’s school lunches! - £200 voucher to be won!

[EllieSmumsnet]

Every parent wants their child to be happy and energised during the school day, and ensuring they have a nutritious and delicious snack for that much needed pick-me-up during the school day is vital. But as busy parents, preparing healthy, interesting lunches every day can feel like a challenge. However, it doesn't have to be difficult!

Whether it's through creative flavours, fun snacks, or child-friendly healthy lunch recipes, we want to hear your tips and tricks for making lunchtime enjoyable and nutritious for your kids.

Do you swear by bento boxes or batch-cooking on a Sunday? Have you found your holy grail quick and easy tasty snacks that are also school friendly? How do you ensure your child’s school lunches are fun and healthy? Share your secrets with us!

• Share your tips and tricks in the thread below to be entered into a prize draw
• One lucky MNer will win a £200 voucher

Here is what Soreen has to say:
"At Soreen we understand the pressure on parents to provide their children with snacks that are enjoyable and tasty, yet healthy and nutritious. There are so many snacks targeted at children and families that don’t provide that vital pick me up that children need from their snacks during the school day, and instead are high in sugar and fat which are not only unhealthy but also cause dips in energy shortly after being consumed.

It’s for this reason that we offer Soreen Lunchbox Loaves, an ideal solution for parents looking to provide a nutritious yet delicious pick me up for their children that are available in 4 fruity flavours. They’re school friendly and Good Choice approved, meaning they won’t get confiscated from the school lunchbox police or be returned at the end of the school day. Our Lunchbox Loaves contain deliciously squidgy energy, providing that much needed reboot to the day, leaving your child energised and happy for the day ahead!"

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!
MNHQ
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Bento boxes are a game changer.

Use flasks for soup, stews and food your child loves. A brilliant way to keep them energised for the afternoon sessions, especially in the autumn and spring term in those cold months. Add some bread and butter for some extra home comfort. A great way to get more veg in, can be hidden too!, by blending togther.

I use those cookie cutter shape makers so boring cucumber and pepper becoming fun stars and hearts!

I have three children who all have different preferences! But I usually give them each a bread roll- they like the par baked ones which then take a few mins in the oven so they are fresh and crispy, fruit of their choice- apple, grapes or raspberries, some crackers and cheese, dried mango and a mini salad of cucumber and pepper. Sometimes a smoothie, yo-yo or yogurt too and a chocolate biscuit. Not all those things for each child but a selection.

Bento boxes and hotpots are definitely the way to go! None of mine will eat sandwiches, so I make things like chicken stir-fried noodles, tortelloni, beef bulgogi lettuce wraps, butter chicken & rice, and of course the usual cold tuna pasta. I use the Thermos funtainers to keep everything hot or cold, and they’re a perfect portion for the kids.

I batch bake for the ‘carb’ instead of sandwiches and then add whole fruit/veg/a dairy item and one junky thing around the sides - I make my own recipes for snacks that include a bit of every food group so the nutritional balance is baked in. Carrot cake-type power bars using lower GI sugar than normal caster, savoury muffins, that kind of thing. I swap out wheat flour sometimes and use other grains as well. All of it freezes so I don’t need to be baking all the time.

Mini tortilla wraps freeze great, so I would always have some in to alternate between sandwiches and quiche for example to maintain some variety.
Just keep them flat and they prise apart easily when you need one and also defrost super fast.
Saved on waste too.

How about making a frittata for a change? With added vegetables they are healthy and filling. Good for picnics too.

I wish they could take cashew nuts. The no nut policy eliminates a lot of things my fussy eater will actually eat

I am currently on a cucumber sandwich, chicken sandwhich, pasta and passtta loop!

I use a bento box and add crisps, fresh/dry fruit, oat bar, carrot/cucumber sticks, yoghurt pouches, quorn eggs or cocktail sausages etc.

We use a Omie Box best of both worlds - bento with compartment for hot food. Expensive but a good investment.

My lil one is still small, so it's all about the novelty value atm..Healthy sandwiches cut in cute shapes, ants on log, veggies in a smiley face shape. Makes her laugh and she eats it (mostly lol)

Bento boxes, colourful silicone cake cases to hold fruit or cut up meat etc, cutters to shape salads or cheese ❤️

I freeze portions of our evening meals. In the morning I defrost and heat them pop in a flask.

Don’t get me wrong I love Soreen, practically grew up on it, but isn’t it UPF, or contain palm oil? Not my first go to for a healthy lunchbox.

Is this the equivalent of ‘greenwashing’ - sponsor something positive and bask in the association?

We use bento style lunchboxes, it makes lunch a bit more exciting and fun. I put things like crackers ham cheese so they can Co strict their own lunch at school. They seem to be more likely to eat it then!

Bento box fans here too. I make my grandchildren favourite foods up.

Snacks must include fruit and raw veg they like. Melon, chunks of cucumber, apple and carrot sticks are their favourite.

They also prefer things like sausage rolls, sausages or/and the use of flat bread wraps for sandwiches cut into shapes ofcourse. Tortilla type breads are easy to shape.

I ofcourse don't usually do the main school packups. However I make our pack ups when we go out.

We always have our monthly trip to the cinema. I call our pack ups "picnic in the cinema" there as that's what we do. They have there healthy savoury stuff before the rubbish as I call it. They love it

We use a hot flask and I make wholemeal cheesy pasta with green beans or broccoli. I slightly undercook it all so it’s still got bite to it.
I mix it up some days with red or green pesto and a side salad.
If having pizza I save a few slices to warm up and put in the box for lunch
Always include a ‘crunch box’ of carrots, peppers, cucumber etc
I have a child who doesn’t like sandwiches so wraps feature a lot, with soft or cream cheese.
I aim for things which won’t go off assuming it will be sat on a hot classroom for several hours!
I time supermarket runs so I can grab discounted veg sushi or fruit or veg pots for an easy fix.
Always have a treat such as the dried fruit wiggly worms, one of the new Soreen flavours (white chocolate and raspberry is a favourite!)
Sometimes include a low yoghurt or custard pot.

Leftovers from the night before. My DD only has a packed lunch on a Wednesday so Tuesday is always pasta night. That way she can have the leftover pasta in her lunchbox on Wednesdays.

I pack sandwiches and freeze a frube or yoghurt, adding this to the lunch box keeps the sandwiches fresh and not soggy, in winter a wide flask of soup and bread, with a oaty flapjack.

My dd loves her bento box, She has a mixture of school dinners and packed lunches, the day before packed lunch days I'll make something like pasta which dd can take the next day for lunch and I'll then just add a yoghurt and fruit to finish it off, this works well for her and easy for me too.

We use bento boxes for cold food- and our motto is to eat a rainbow as the more colourful the lunch is, the more appealing it is to eat.

we also use thermos flasks for hot food, so soups or leftover pasta meals and they always come back empty 😁

I use bento style boxes as well, lots of different compartments so no need everything to be wrapped in separate bits of plastic. Pasta salads go down well, tomatoes/cucumber/peppers/sugar snap peas for veg. I try to vary it a bit but still haven't managed to get the kids making their own!

My top tips for healthy and delicious lunches:

1. Wholewheat couscous made with chicken stock, lemon juice and a little olive oil, then forked through with raisins, olives and whatever veggies your child likes (sweet corn, red bell peppers, etc.) Delicious!
2. Hummus or another bean dip with a little paprika sprinkled on top, along with a selection of sliced carrots, cucumber or bell peppers.
3. Mini wraps made with soft corn tortillas, filled with cream cheese, chives, crunchy lettuce, grated carrot and apple, or mashed avocado with lime juice, strips of chicken, spring onion and sweet corn.
4. Finally a nice snack for that midafternoon slump is essential - my favorite for myself and my child is a homemade sugar-free no-bake brownie made using just dates, almond butter, raw cocoa powder, walnuts and a sprinkling of mixed seeds. It tastes so chocolatey and sweet you don’t miss the sugar!

Put it together and you’ve got a winning lunchbox, super filling, nutritious and tasty. Job done ✔️

Bento box all the way! Gives my little one choice, variety of healthy snacks and sense of accomplishment finishing each section