Packed lunches, no fridge ideas

Mrs_Imp

We were fed up with not eating bread before it went mouldy, so started freezing it and only getting out what we needed. So if you don't fancy freezing sandwiches, try making them in the morning with a couple of slices of fozen bread. It'll be defrosted by lunch. I've never noticed any change in the flavour.

My sandwiches at school were always fine and had never been frozen. I now work if portacabins quite often, and in summer have come in to a melted cheese sandwich. Never been ill from it.

Oh, and never make egg sandwiches for your child. They will hate you forever, because they stink then they get warm and all the other children will make fun of them.

eta: I recently did a food hygeine course. You are right to exercise some caution. At a demonstration not too long ago several policemen had to be taken to hospital. Not because they had been injured, but because their lunch had been in the minibus all day. The bus was parked in the sun and the food got very hot and spoiled and the policemen got food poisoning. I very much doubt that your child's lunch will be left in such conditions, but if you're unsure, check with a teacher where they leave their lunch boxes.

Charlies_Mummy

My 2 eldest children each take an insulated lunchbag with an ice pack in it; I try to make sure that any items that need to be kept cool are packed on top of or right next to the ice pack. The girls say that their yoghurts and sandwiches are always really cold at lunchtime each day. I do tend to avoid ham, egg etc in hot weather as sometimes their lunchbags are on trolleys out in the playground for an hour or so before lunch.

RadoJo

Don't remember anyone at school ever having an insulated lunch pack, just plastic lunch boxes, and nobody was ever ill from eating a ham sarnie, so your child's school lunches should be fine in a chill bag.

ilovecushions

Please do not freeze mayonnaise. My mum used to make up sandwiches and freeze them. She nearly killed my Dad when we were little with an egg mayo sandwich. I don't think he's eaten mayonnaise since!!!

4 hours with no refridgeration (sp) is fine especially if using a cool bag/ice pack.

rmiller

I am an advocate for taking packed lunches as it saves loads of money!

Best trick I've learned...get one of the cool bags you can get for lunches.

Then, if you make the lunch the night before and keep it in the fridge overnight with the lunch in the cool bag, it stays cool! Not really how they are supposed to work, but worked for me!

Also, my mum when I was younger used to partially freeze my juice/water in a plastic bottle and throw that in with my lunch.

Good luck!

PS hate warm ham sandwiched too!

VK-2008

i would not think there would be a prob with sandwiches being out fridge. it would be diff it was a day long but 3 hours is ok i would say espesh with a wee cold pack. get the insulated pk lunch box and gd ice packs and you will be fine. millions of people just shove them in box and they are fine.

Mayflower10cat

My favourite packed lunch when I was at a school was homemade vegetable soup in a metal vaccuum flask (the non-glass ones from the camping type shops). With some homemade brown bread and a few dairylea triangles - yum!!

ailuro2

HappyMJ wrote: »

I NEVER freeze meat straight out of the oven....I always let it go cold first then freeze it. If you are talking about sliced meats such as ham there's no problem just don't microwave it to separate the slices then put the warm slices back. Much easier to put the slices onto the bread first then freeze the sandwiches.

Agree with everyone else. If the kids don't like defrosted sandwiches then freeze something else like the frubes or the yoghurt and that'll keep the sandwiches cold.

I was talking about cold meat as in the stuff sold in packs or at the deli.:rotfl:

ailuro2

LittleTinker wrote: »

You can buy HAM and pineapple pizza, frozen CHICKEN or BEEF dinners etc.
.

Ah, but you're cooking those before you eat them.

I'd never take cooked meat out of the freezer and eat it without heating it up again to kill off any bugs.

Foods that can be frozeon always have the "freeze on day or purchase" advice on them. The meat I buy doesn't.

liney

I regularly freeze cooked, boiled ham and roast chicken, defrost it and use for sandwiches.

The only time anyone in our house has had food poisoning is from a prawn sandwich bought out and about. It could have been worse: it could have been me