Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

lunch box

Healthy Packed Lunch Ideas

I recently reviewed a Robbie the Robot lunch box, made by the British company Pink Lining, who also offer other beautifully designed children’s lunch boxes, satchels, bags and holdall bags, as well as baby changing bags and accessories. With the summer holidays approaching, there will be plenty of trips to the park and opportunities for outdoor eating. The start of the new school term will also, no doubt, be here in no time at all. With this in mind, I’ve been challenged to create a healthy packed lunch or lunch box recipe, incorporating plenty of fruit and veg.

Pink Lining Lunch Box

Children can quickly get bored of ham or egg mayo sandwiches, so to ‘liven up our lunch’ boxes, I very often make a new potato-based salad or a pasta salad, which can be portioned up into smaller containers ready to go. Our favourite is a miniature new potato salad, with cooked salmon flakes, topped with brightly coloured pomegranate seeds and cubes of fresh cucumber. Other healthy packed lunch ideas include small pieces of cold quiche or tartlets with seasonal vegetables, wraps, homemade fruity banana bread, cheese and marmite swirls and dips, such as hummus, with pita slices, carrot and cucumber sticks. I always add in plenty of fresh fruit, such as strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, or a large piece of fruit such as a ripe peach or pear. My children also like chocolate coated rice cakes as a sweet treat and a drink of either whole milk or oat milk.

Healthy Packed Lunch

You can buy lots of different types of lunch box containers these days, I like the ones with separate compartments, but little pots or plastic cups with lids will also do the trick. Most of my containers are baby weaning pots, perfect for little people’s lunch boxes, too.

Pink Lining Packed Lunch

Pink Lining Lunch Box

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You can read a full review of the Robbie the Robot Lunch Box by British-brand Pink Lining, here.

Pink Lining -8

This is a paid recipe commission on behalf of Pink Lining. Lunch box – Robbie the Robot RRP £15

More healthy packed lunch ideas

Review: Pink Lining Children’s Lunch Box

So, in my dream life, whilst on maternity leave, I’d be running a gorgeous and useful website, offering pretty baby changing bags with matching bottle holders, children’s satchels and lunch boxes and handy holdall bags for chic weekends away. As I said, in my dream life…instead, I’m lusting over such websites, whilst trying to keep up with the demands of organising a busy household and a newborn baby! Happily, Pink Lining (one such website with a range of goodies designed by Charlotte Pearl for PL Child) have sent me a distinctive children’s lunch box to review. When I have a few extra minutes spare, I’m looking forward to browsing the rest of their website (and pretending) that I need yet another changing bag.

Pink Lining Lunch Box

The packed lunch debate is currently highly active in our house. My junior school-aged son has decided he no longer likes school dinners and instead wants to take in a packed lunch. My daughter, who currently takes a packed lunch into nursery, starts big-school in September and will benefit from the Government’s new free school meals scheme. If truth be told, I was quite looking forward to not having to get up and make any packed lunches at all and I’m still trying to convince my seven-year old that school dinners are the way forward. In the meantime, there is still a week or so of school to get through, with a couple of school trips to cater for. So, in comes this lovely Robbie the Robot lunch box. He’ll also come in handy for our summer holiday to Wales too, as we like to take easily transportable lunch boxes, rather that clumpy picnic baskets, with us on the beach.Pink Lining Lunch Box

At £15, the Robbie the Robot lunch box isn’t cheap, but it is well made and very sturdy. It is thermo-insulated, with a zip open front. Inside there is a blue mesh pocket to keep cutlery or food separate, such as packets of dried fruit, and an elastic loop to store a water bottle or drink. It’s a good size, so you can pack in quite a big container. Inside, it’s wipe clean and outside it is made of a laminated cotton canvas. There’s also a handle and a clip on top – handy to attach to a buggy whilst walking to school.

Pink Lining Lunch Box

There are a few designs to chose from –  Little Lady (with a ladybird design), Robbie the Robot (shown in my photos), Dinosaur Walk, Damsels and Unicorns, and Knights and Dragons. The designs and character repeat throughout the range so you can buy matching mini and large rucksacks, picture satchels which are classic yet unique, as well as larger sports bags and duffle bags. I really love the fact that this range is a little bit different, and a little quirky – not everyone likes Disney Characters or Spiderman! These unique lunch bags would be very easy for a small child or toddler to spot in an amongst other lunch boxes in the pile.

Pink Lining are a British-based company, who have been featured in Vogue and Tatler. Their PL Child children’s bags and lunch boxes are also stocked at Mamas and Papas. Pink Lining changing bags are stocked in John Lewis, as well as online at PinkLining.com in the USA.

With many thanks to Pink Lining/PL Child for sending me the Robbie the Robot lunch box for review. All opinions my own, links editorially given, the review is unpaid.  

Do school dinners or packed lunches rule in your house?