lunchbox – The Review Studio

St Michel Choco Snacks

Children, chocolate, Family Life, Home, Lunchbox Fillers, snacks, Summer

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

The St Michel Muffin, Waffle, Burger and Donut Choco snacks have recently been launched in the UK and we were sent a sample of each to try for this summer.

Made completely free from palm oil with no preservatives, interestingly they are made with cage-free eggs, giving a better life to the hens. St Michel is France’s premiere cake and biscuit brand, in business since 1905 and very proud of how they select the best quality ingredients.

Each box has 6 individually wrapped cakes, each one weighing around 30 grams each. Each variety has a different shape and use of the chocolate, so you’ll soon have a preference as to whether you like your chocolate in the middle (Choco Burger) or a Choco Donut, dipped in chocolate instead. The Choco Muffins are just as tasty and probably more suited to adults wanting a snack in the office or on the go and the Choco Waffles make a fun treat for anyone.

They’re made in France with French ingredients including French wheat with each sponge cake in a different shape or formation and topped or filled with smooth chocolate. They certainly have that chocolate-y taste which gives you the sweet hit when you need it. The sponges are feather light and contain sunflower oil instead of palm oil to not only save the palm oil forests but the sunflower gives a different hit to the texture of the sponge. The chocolate, which is made of hazelnut paste, is deliciously decadent and just what you would imagine from French patisseries. Just keep them less than 25 degrees centigrade otherwise you’ll end up with a sticky mess this summer!

St Michel Choco snacks are a fabulous snack idea for anyone who loves cake, needs a snack or wants something with a bit more goodness than sweets during the day. Perfect for chocolate lovers too.

Available from £2.00 at Tesco, Waitrose and online at Ocado: https://www.ocado.com/products/st-michel-doomino-chocolate-584037011

Sistema’s Ocean Bound Plastic Lunchbox Range

camping, Children, Family Life, Home, Home & Garden, Lunchbox Fillers, Summer

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Watch any news programme, documentary or read social media about the changes in climate this summer, especially in Europe, and you’ll know that we are heading for self-destruction. Plastic in the ocean is one of the reasons that ocean life is being destroyed and affecting the temperatures, and there’s a lot of plastic out there.

New Zealand company Sistema makes food storage containers from recycled ocean bound plastic. That means that 35% of the plastic used in their products would have been sent to the oceans but are instead recycled and made into new. They’re also BPA free so have less of the nasty chemicals that can leach into food and be harmful when ingested.

We were sent two products to test as part of our Back to School coverage; the Bento Cube to Go (dark blue) and Ribbon Lunch To Go (turquoise). Each of the cute boxes comes with compartments inside which make them easier to use. The Bento Cube has one long (half) compartment and one quarter compartment which sit on top of compartments in the Cube of the same size, making 4 different areas. They are completely removeable so you can make the areas bigger if you don’t need to separate them. There’s also a small screw-lid pot which holds 150ml. The Ribbon Lunch To Go box similarly has compartments but this time the box is separated in two, with the smaller compartment housing another box which is divided into two, therefore making 3 compartments in all. There’s also another 150ml pot which is removeable and can be used for dressings, yoghurt or housing something that might affect the other contents.

All of the pieces for each set are dishwasher safe and the pots can be microwaved up to 100 degrees centigrade. These are a great size to go into a backpack for back to school, especially for older children who need something more generic and might be heating things up in the microwave. Adults will love these too with all the different removable compartments so you can adjust what you’re lunching on – leftovers one day and sandwiches the next. They’re built to last too so you can guarantee they’re still useable by the end of the school year as well as durable!

Available at Amazon, Asda, Tesco, Waitrose and other retailers from £5.62.

https://www.sistemaplastics.com/uk/1-1l-ribbon-lunch-with-mini-bite-recycled

https://www.sistemaplastics.com/uk/1-25l-bento-cube-with-yogurt-pot-recycled

KIND Caramelised Biscuit Nut Cereal Bar

Family Life, Food & Drink, health, Lunchbox Fillers

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

I’m a big fan of cereal bars. They’re great for snacks at home, or in your bag to go to work and children love them. KIND have a variety of cereal bars of different flavours, but all of them are high in fibre, high in protein and have no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. They’re gluten free too!

The team at KIND send us a box of their new Caramelised Biscuit Nut flavoured KIND bars to try, which have the same high fibre, high quality ingredients. The main food factor in these Caramelised Biscuit Nut KIND bars is nuts making up 81% of the bar overall. They actually contain peanuts, almonds and cashews with added spice biscuit and caramel. The result is a sweet, slightly sticky cereal bar with a honey coating and nutmeg and cinnamon flavouring. Despite the cinnamon, they don’t taste ‘Christmassy’ at all, more like the coffee biscuits you get in cafes when you order a latte.

I really enjoyed the KIND Caramelised Biscuit Nut bars and found them really filling as either a snack or part of a lunch. They have the added bonus of being high in fibre and have all the nutrients you find in nuts but with all of the flavour. The bars are great for protein too, although at 226 calories it’s not really a health bar, but will pack in the energy if you need a sugar rush in the afternoon.

As with all KIND bars, these became addictive! Everyone in the office loved them for both their flavour and texture, which is more for adults than children due to containing nuts. If you’re a fan of KIND bars, you’ll love these too!

More details at: https://www.kindsnacks.co.uk/products/kind-bars/caramelised-biscuit-nut

Purchase from Ocado, Waitrose and other stores from £1.30.

Ohso Chocolate and Livia’s Vegan and Gluten Free Chocolate for Easter

Children, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gluten Free, health, Lunchbox Fillers, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

If you’re vegan or gluten-free, Easter doesn’t have to be miserable without descent chocolate. We were sent a selection of chocolates from Ohso and Livia’s to try as an alternative to the usual Easter treats.

Ohso chocolates differ to usual High Street brands due to their healthier aspects. Not only are they nut free, have no added sugar and contain only naturally occurring sugars, but also have added live cultures which work with your gut health. You can’t taste the live culture in the chocolate so it’s a hidden benefit, but the ‘good’ bacteria helps feed the bacteria in your gut to give you a better chance of building your immune system. Sugar often destroys gut bacteria in healthy people, so the added goodness is probably very welcome for most of us.

We were sent two flavours of Ohso Chocolate; 70% Dark Raspberry and 54% Dark Orange. Each box has 7 little bars of 13.5g, individually wrapped and presented in an oh-so-cute tiny little square mould, as if they are shrunk down into miniature size! Ohso Chocolate may contain live culture, but it doesn’t detract from the taste of each of the bars as the raspberry or orange taste is definitely there, as is the dark chocolate taste. The bars don’t taste much different to ‘normal’ dark chocolate, they’re just a bit richer on the chocolate and with only natural sugars and no added sugar, they aren’t sweet either.

Livia’s Free-From Treats, apart from being free from lactose and vegan are 100% natural and plant based. We were sent some 35g Nugglets in Raw Cookie Dough and Choc Brownie flavour and the Livia Millionaire Squares in Salted Caramel and Chocolate Orange. Both are excellent for either snacks or lunchboxes and their size makes them easy to pack too. The Nugglets are chocolates about the size of a Malteaser with the centre more like the consistency and texture of a cake, coated with chocolate. They’re not overwhelmingly ‘chocolate’ but they still don’t taste as if they are made of gluten free or dairy free chocolate and the raw cookie dough makes a change from the usual chocolate fillings. They do give you the certain chocolate hit you sometimes need though which is reassuring!

I was pleasantly surprised by the Livia Millionaire Squares which are also Vegan and Gluten/dairy free. They are packaged in little cardboard trays which make them easier to pick up especially on car journeys. The squares are exactly like Millionaire shortbread squares with the chocolate on top and a crispy biscuit base underneath. Again, they taste and have the texture of any other chocolate and you forget that they are gluten and dairy free!

Between Ohso and Livia, these are great additions to lunchboxes or snacks and can be enjoyed by the whole family!

Ohso chocolates available online from £4.99:

Locako Keto Collagen Brownie Bites

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Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

With the new year comes thoughts of New Years’ Resolutions, turning over a new leaf, and of course, better fitness for a new you! One of the diets which have been popular for a few years is the Low Carb (previously Atkins Diet) or Keto Diet. The thought behind each of the diets is that lower carbs and higher protein not only allows you to lose weight, not only because you are not ingesting sugar, but because when the body is in ketosis, more fat is burned.

Over 20 years ago I started on a Low Carb diet, which at the time consisted of just the minimum fruit and vegetables, and any cheese, meat or fat which you could get your hands on. There was very little in the way of commercially available snacks which you could buy in supermarkets or have as lunchbox snacks. Instead, you had to make do with a packet of ham, or make something yourself.

So when I was offered the Locako Keto Collagen Brownie Bites to try, my interest was piqued. The lovely people at Locako sent us three flavours to try; Chocolate Orange, Peanut Butter Jelly and Almond Butter Cookie Dough. They don’t sound like low carb flavours do they?

Made with nut butters and coconut oil they contain less than 3grams of carbs and 2grams of sugar per bar, they can be snacks, lunchbox additions or even as desserts for anyone on a Low Carb diet.

What are they like though? Well they’re not like the dry, tasteless Low Carb or Keto bars of times gone past. Instead, the bars are more like sticky fruit bars, with a fine texture that gives them more of a sweet taste but also deliciously dense and satisfying. They aren’t cakes or a bread but instead more like a really thick carrot cake, without being baked which probably comes from the coconut oil. Each of the bars was rich in taste too, with the flavours of the chocolate orange, peanut butter and almond butter coming through. I can’t tell that these snacks are low carb at all because they don’t fit my previous experience of snack bars, which is refreshing!

Would I buy these again? Yes I would. They are low carb enough to be able to be incorporated into an everyday diet, and tasty enough that you will both enjoy them and won’t get bored. An excellent addition to your New You diet!

Available for £2.25 each at: https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/locako-keto-collagen-brownie-bite-chocolate-orange-60062890?skuid=062890

Bodyhero Madagascan Vanilla Plant Based Milkshake

Children, Fitness, Food & Drink, health, Summer, Vegan, Vegetarian

Disclaimer – We received this item for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Nowadays, even protein can be vegan. Bodyhero produce lots of different vegan products which are also packed with protein including protein bars, protein powders and these shakes. Their newest is the Madagascan Vanilla shake, cleverly called a M*lkshake to distinguish it as being plant based and not dairy!

Made from European yellow split peas, the shake are completely vegan and dairy-free, with a massive 20grams of vegan protein in each one. There’s also 5grams of prebiotic fibre and only 5grams of sugar per 330ml serving. Oh, and 137 calories too!

As each carton is the same net amount as a can of fizzy drink and the drinks have a shelf life of up to 12 months, they make excellent lunchbox replacements for children’s packed lunch, or for picnics out. They are best consumed from chilled though, and shaken well to make sure the flavour evens out throughout the drink.

You can’t tell that each drink is vegan and not dairy based; the Madagascan vanilla taste shines through with the texture only being slightly thinner than a normal milkshake. They definitely taste better cold though, or ideally, over ice!

Available online for £2.95 each or as part of a bundle:

BODYHERO MADAGASCAN VANILLA SHAKE 330ML

Wicker Lunch Box from Kikkerland

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Disclaimer – We received this item for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Summer is upon us, and I for one, do not have the full ‘summer kit’ I usually have, since being in lockdown for the past two years. Kikkerland come to the rescue with their Wicker Lunch Box as part of their picnic range.

The lunch box has a unique wicker texture to it, free from any childhood cartoons or branding, giving children a clean canvas to take this box to school, or to make an impact when taking lunch to work. It zips up all the way around and has mylar lining to keep food either cold, or hot, when carrying it around.

It arrives flat pack and can be folded back into a flat shape when not needed (so great for picnics!) and is extremely lightweight when not in use. Measuring 22cm width, 12cm height and 15cm diameter it is also washable and reusable. The handle makes it easy to carry too and is sturdy and roomy enough to carry any lunch!

Available from Fred Aldous online for £5.40, there is also an accompanying Wicker Picnic Cooler Seat Bag (£23) and Wicker Cool Bag (£6.31) as part of a picnic set, all made by Kikkerland.

Who’s ready for summer now?

Link to buy:

Wicker Lunch Box