The Crazy Kitchen: 5 Fun Back to School Lunchbox Ideas

5 Fun Back to School Lunchbox Ideas #poweroffrozen

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