5 Fun Back to School Lunchbox Ideas

There's less than a week left until my kids are back at school, and I've been working with Iceland to create a few lunch ideas to beat the monotony of lunch boxes, and make them more fun.

These are all simple ideas that require little or no cooking, and if your kids are anything like mine, they will love them. The freezer comes in very handy as it's easy to grab a few ingredients that can be cooked straight from frozen to make a quick meal. It's also great when batch cooking as extras can be cooked up and stored in the freezer to grab when time is short, or add straight to a lunchbox, with the added bonus of keeping other lunchbox items chilled. Frozen ingredients such as vegetables, for example, can also save you money as nothing goes to waste - and they are full of more goodness than that past-its-best broccoli lurking at the back of the fridge too!

First up are these chocolate dipped strawberries topped with a few sprinkles. These can be made in just a few minutes and will brighten up any lunch, as well as helping kids get their 5 a day.

Next up are these bbq meatball pops, made using Swedish meatballs, which can be cooked from frozen. 

I always try and keep a pack of puff pastry in as you never know when you're going to need to make an emergency pie or tart, and these twin packs of ready made puff pastry are convenient to keep in the freezer and defrost overnight before using.

BBQ Meatball Pops - makes 9

250g puff pastry

9 Swedish meatballs

bbq sauce

1 egg, beaten

wooden lollipop sticks

• roll the pastry out into a rectangle approx 2-3mm thick
• cut 9 squares from the pastry, approx 8-9cm
• add approx half a teaspoon on bbq sauce to the centre of each square of pastry
• pop a frozen meatball onto the sauce
• hold a wooden lollipop stick on top of the meatball and fold up the sides of the pastry and squeeze together around the stick
• repeat with the remaining meatballs and lay onto a baking sheet
• place in the freezer for 10 minutes whilst the oven preheats to 200C
• brush the parcels with beaten egg and bake for approx 25 minutes, until golden brown

These traffic light sandwiches are fun to make and eat, and you could get the kids involved with choosing fillings, and making the sandwiches. You just need a couple of round cookie cutters and some red, orange and green fillings. I chose strawberries, orange cheese and lettuce. 

Fourth on the list are these interestingly shaped triangular sausage rolls. They're made with frankfurter sausages and only take a few minutes to cook. They can easily be prepared in advance and kept in the fridge until you're ready to bake them. Try experimenting with shapes and see what else you can come up with.

triangular sausage rolls - makes 8

250g puff pastry
8 frankfurter sausages
1 egg, beaten

• roll the pastry out into a rectangle approx 2-3mm thick
• cut a rectangle of pastry wide enough to sit 3 frankfurters on, with space in between
• cut out 3 further pieces, with 2 of them being slightly smaller
• lay 3 frankfurters onto the first piece of pastry, and brush the edges with beaten egg
• lay another piece on top and press down to seal the edges
• brush the top with beaten egg and lay a further 2 frankfurters on top, with one of the smaller pieces of pastry on top of those
• brush beaten egg over the top before laying the final frankfurter on top, and the final piece of pastry on top of that (see image below)
• place in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up, as this makes it easier to slice
• using a sharp knife cut slices approx 1.5cm wide
• brush beaten egg around the edges and return to the freezer for 10 minutes whilst the oven preheats to 200C
• bake for 15-20 minutes, until puffed up and lightly browned
• cool on a wire rack

The final recipe is for a popular one in this house, and something that Jack is looking forward to taking to school in his lunchbox. He likes to dip them in ketchup so I'll be popping a little pot of sauce in with these. These polka dot fritters are predominantly sweetcorn and dotted with peas. If you're feeling more artistic than me, you could try making faces with additional ingredients.

polka dot fritters - makes 6

40g plain flour

pinch of cayenne pepper

pinch of garlic granules

5 tbsp semi skimmed milk

125g frozen sweetcorn, thawed

handful of frozen peas, thawed

olive oil for frying

• mix together the flour, cayenne, garlic and milk to a smooth batter
• stir in the sweetcorn
• heat the oil in a frying pan
• spoon some of the corn batter into the pan and allow to spread
• scatter a few peas into the batter
• cook over a medium heat for a few minutes each side, until cooked through and lightly browned 

What will you be putting in your kids lunch boxes this term?

Check out these great lunchbox ideas from other bloggers also taking part in the #PowerOfFrozen challenge :

Hijacked by Twins - Rice Salad 

Foodie Quine - Cheesy Sweetcorn Muffins
Charlotte's Lively Kitchen - Lunchbox Ideas

This post has been commissioned by Iceland #PowerofFrozen

Getting Yourself Ahead and Avoiding the Stress of Back to School Lunches

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 

All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias

The end of the summer holidays are sneaking up on us, and within a couple of weeks children across the country will be starting the new school term. There are no big changes in this household, with all three children staying in their existing schools. School uniforms have been bought and labelled and a mortgage has been taken out for new school shoes!

Apart from new teachers, the only change this year is with Jack's school meals. For the past two years he's been enjoying free school dinners as part of the Government's scheme that started in 2014. To avoid rushing around in the mornings, I was happy for him to continue having school dinners, however he's informed me that he would now prefer to take a packed lunch. [groan]

I need to remind myself that making a packed lunch isn't really too bad, and all it takes is a little organisation.

The first step to being organised is to have the correct equipment, so we took a little trip out to find the ideal lunchbox.

If you visit Tesco at this time of the year you can't miss the back to school range, with uniform aplenty, displays of stationery, school bags and lunch boxes. We located the display of lunch bags and boxes easily, in the seasonal aisle at the front of the store, and picked out a football lunch bag from the top shelf that comes complete with a water bottle.

The next step is to stock up on ingredients. 

• It's a good idea to make sure you have everything you need to last throughout the week, to avoid additional trips to the supermarket.  You won't need all of these items, but by selecting a few different ones each week will add a bit of variety into the lunchbox, and hopefully avoid boredom. Some of these, like the chocolates, biscuits and crackers could last a few weeks if you make sure to keep them away from other family members!

carbs : breadsticks, bread, wraps, flatbreads, crackers, rice cakes, savoury pancakes, bagel

protein : ham, chicken pieces, cocktail sausages, falafel, hummus, boiled egg, savoury muffins

dairy : cheese, yogurt

fruit/vegetables : olives, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, grapes, satsumas, melon, cucumber, raisins

sweet treats : chocolate buttons, chocolate covered raisins, chocolate biscuit, small cake, chocolate dipped fruit, no added sugar flapjacks, sweet pancakes

• If you can set aside some time at the weekend it doesn't take long to get yourself ahead and bake a few items for the coming week. The recipes below are easy to make, and produce quite a few child sized portions which can be frozen if necessary (savoury muffins) or stored in an airtight container (flapjacks).

no added sugar flapjacks - makes 18-20

My kids love flapjacks, and I love making them, as they're so quick and easy. The only downside is that they are packed full of sugar. It's ok for that occasional treat, but if you're looking for something to pop into lunch boxes then these no added sugar alternatives are a better choice (and for the record, I think they taste just as good).

200g dates, chopped

150g boiling water

100g butter, melted

200g porridge oats

• add the dates to a heatproof bowl and cover with the boiling water
• leave to soak for at least an hour
• blend to a paste in a food processor
• stir in the melted butter and then the oats
• press into a 11"x7" baking tin that's been lightly greased and lined with baking paper
• bake in a preheated 180C oven for 20-25 minutes
• leave to cool fully in the tin before slicing into bars or squares

• veggie sticks can be prepared a day or two in advance so you'll only need to do this a couple of times per week, which can give you a few extra minutes in bed each morning!

ham, cheese and tomato muffins - makes 12
These savoury muffins are like mini crustless quiches, and are perfect for small appetites. For the larger appetite pack 3 or 4 of these in a lunchbox.

2 large eggs
tbsp semi skimmed milk
pinch of oregano
1 large slice of ham, chopped
3 babybel's, quartered
6 cherry tomatoes

• beat the eggs, milk & oregano together
• lightly oil a 12 hole mini muffin pan (I use a silicone one)
• divide the egg mixture between the cells of the muffin pan (approx 1tbsp in each)
• drop a few pieces of ham into the egg mixture
• pop a piece of babybel and half a tomato onto the top
• bake in a preheated 180C oven for 15 minutes, until puffed up and slightly browned on the top

What will you be adding to your lunch boxes? and do you have any other tips to make back to school lunches stress free?