food flasks?

ChocClare

I got this one for my daughter (though I bought hers in Aldi when it was one of their special offers). I notice that reviews of the Stanley are mixed, but she took pasta in tomato sauce to school with her when she had an all-day rehearsal, and said it was hot at lunchtime and still hot enough at about 4.30. I guess you wouldn't want something like that absolutely boiling...;)

I must say, being useless, I didn't follow the instructions - I started heating the pasta through on the hob and chucked a load of boiling water in the flask. Then I thought I'd better check, saw I'd done it wrong, emptied out the hot water, put the pasta in the flask and put the whole lot in the microwave. So it was VERY heated!

funkymonkey849

I have bought a thermos food flask with a wide top so I can take hot meals to work. I have a skinny flask at the moment but I'm sick of soup!

Anyone got any ideas or recipes for things I can take in my flask? I need more variation because I take lunch every day to work and am getting bored of the same things!

I am a vegetarian, but will swap meat for veggies or quorn in a recipe...

Thanks xx

Kimitatsu

There was a thread on this here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2182677

Other ideas though I send my boys to school with leftover chilli and rice, bolognase and pasta, chicken and pasta, fried rice, shepherds pie - they love it!

You could make chunky soup yourself too, doesnt have to be tinned soup, we make really thick soups for them to take, almost stew like really.

ubamother

my veggie daughter heats up veggie hotdogs and fries some onions and puts these in a flask, and takes a couple of hotdog buns with her.

funkymonkey849

Excellent thank you!

Pink.

Hi funkeymonkey,

My son takes chunky soups, stews, casseroles, chilli etc in his. There's an earlier thread with more ideas that may help so I'll add your thread to it to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

The_One_Who

I know there have been a few threads about food flasks, but none have really answered my questions. Feel free to merge this with another one if you want though.

I usually work evenings so I am planning on getting one of these flasks instead of having to queue to microwave food once there, and in the hopes of it being slightly healthier since it's usually a ready-meal for me. What size do people suggest would be adequate for a reasonable meal size? Would 0.5L be enough?

I have been looking at the Thermos as well as the Stanley, does anyone have any experience/thoughts on either of these? Any other recommendations?

I have heard differing opinions on whether or not these flasks manage to keep solid foods hot. I think I'd get a bit sick of always having soups, so was thinking of things like baked potatoes (even if a bit cut up), roasted veg, pasta and meatballs, sausages etc. Will these stay hot for a few (maybe 5+) hours?

Finally, I was hoping to be able to cook things the evening before and just reheat in the morning using the microwave, but does this work? Will veg, pasta, rice, etc still be edible? Do things like macaroni cheese 'set' in the flask?

Again, I'm sorry if these have already been asked, I couldn't really find what I was looking for with the search.

lsp3

I am particularly interested in this post too, my partner cannot have gluten/dairy/soya/egg and so eating out is a nightmare. We are off to France for a week in October, self catering and while we're visiting different places I know that I can just grab something to eat, but he can't do that, so we're looking for something that we can take with us to keep some food hot for him, such as his pasta bolognese or something!

All suggestions very welcome!

clarabell13

Sorry if this in the wrong place - I tried searching but didn't come up with anything! I've started really trying to improve packed lunches for my 3 DDs while trying to keep costs down. I've been making soups this term to put in their food flasks. They all have this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001F514U4/ref=s9_simh_gw_p79_d1_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-5&pf_rd_r=0561DZY0QCZ8N9PKKJ4J&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128293&pf_rd_i=468294

The problem I'm having is the mess I make when filling them with soup each morning. Sounds stupid I know, but if I pour it out of the pan it splashes everywhere, especially if it's got chunks of veg etc in. I've tried ladling it in but that takes ages in the morning to fill 3 flasks.

Have any of you clever OS people come up with a speedy mess free solution?

TIA

Greatgimp

Use a funnel?