School lunchboxes....

[AmyBelle]

Does anyone else here pack a lunch for their kids to take a school? I know its not the norm in the U.S, but it is here and I need a bit of help at the moment.

Rebekah's school has one day of 'tuckshop' which is where the school provides them with lunch, thats every friday, but for monday-thursday aswell as morning tea on friday I need to pack her a lunchbox.

The issue im facing at the moment is the weather, her kindergarten used to refridgerate the kid's lunchboxes, but the school dosent, and were currently in summer here in Australia and damn, the heat is getting to her food. She's been sent to sick bay twice this year for eating things that have gone off in the sun.

So far ive found that fruit for morning tea is fine, and a tin of tuna with crackers and a frozen juice box keeps well, but she's really sick of it, she's one for variety with her food.

Can anyone think of any lunches / morning tea foods that will keep well in the heat? They have to be nut free aswell as her school has a strict no nuts policy.

 

[16th ave.]

Try wholesome & nutritious lunches for kids. | Lunchables
emmy likes lunchables when she needs a something.

 

[Jeremy+3]

We either make, pasta, rice, cous cous or potato, then mix it with other things, then they have some fruit and a bottle of water.

 

[AmyBelle]

Ive seen those lunchables in the shops closer to the city, problem with them is that they contain meat and cheese, which would go off.

 

[Jeremy+3]

You can get lunch boxes that come with a lid full of liquid, you put the lid in the freezer over night, then clip it back to the lunchbox, , otherwise you can get little blue things that you freeze. Personally though you should complain to the school, here a school wouldn't dream of leaving food outside the fridge.

These are the freeze blocks

 

[AmyBelle]

Hmm, I havent seen those, i'll go into the suburbs sometime this week and see if I can find one.

Its pretty standard in Australia really, lunchboxes stay in bags, which stay in corridoors. Ive never heard of any school doing it differently unless theyre a really posh private school.

Im just trying to remember what my dad used to give me... I think I just ate a shitload of sultanas when it was hot...

 

[16th ave.]

ooooh. ok.when you said lunchbox i thought you meant these instead of paper bags. oops! sorry.
Lunch Boxes for Kids - dozens of kids lunch box styles - Cars, Dora, Elmo, Spiderman, plus many more
yeah in the heat, lunchables wouldn't really work if you're using a paper bag
well, if ya did the lunchboxes and not paper bags then you could use freezer packs like jeremy mentioned. all kinds of grocery stores sell them. you could even just use a frozen bottle of water or juice for the same purpose like you were doing already. before i forget, the kids lb's are insulated which helps alot.
there's also your basic cooler/ice chest. they're just as cheep as a lunchbox and come in all sizes too. some of those come with the freezer packs too.

before i forget, what is a sultana?<EMOJI seq="1f615"></EMOJI>

only other things i can think of are fruit and vienna sausages and cereal items. those aren't really a lunch. but several together could work in a pinch. you could also use a thermos for hot or cold things like chilli or soup or spaghetti, or fruit salads.

 

[TabascoNatalie]

my son always has yesterday's supper leftovers or wraps. never complained about them

 

[bssage]

Maybe double or tripple lunch bag. ice in those double ziplock bags (crushed works best)

I can't believe "No Nut". That's crazy our kids have PB&amp;J all the time.

Also dehydrated stuff. You can purchase a dehydrator those pretty cheap and dehydrate whatever they like. Meats Veggies, fruits.

I think if you double bag or somehow otherwise insulate the pack you should be good. It only need to hold for three or four hours right?

The "No nuts" really holds you back. I would have suggested breakfast bars. But most of them have nuts.

I really think finding a good way of insulating the pack would do the trick. There a ton of creative ways you could do that.

If you have those little water bottles freeze them and put in your double or triple pack. Yep I've decided thats what you need to do.

 

[AmyBelle]

The no nuts policy is standard in Australia, 1 in 10 kids are severe anaphylactics and the government put the policy in place, honestly, I think it makes sense, even if it wasnt in place, I wouldnt dream of giving Bek any type of nut product especially since I know that she has two anaphylactics in her class.

I'll try the double/triple packing tomorrow.

 

[TLD]

There are japanese lunch boxes called Mr.Bento - they keep the food cold/hot at the same time - you can have warm lunch with cold fruit, etc. These are very convenient and are working great guaranteed.
Search for Zojirushi Bento box. They come in different sizes/modifications.