My son starts camp tomorrow and will out doors a lot. Apparently lunches are not kept in a refrigerator, they just suggest sending in an ice pack. Normally I would send some kind of lunch meat to school, but do you think that would survive and not go bad with just an ice pack on a hot day? I would do peanut butter but I am not sure if this is a peanut free place yet. Suggestions?
It was always peanut butter for me. If they haven't told you already "no peanut butter", then send peanut butter. I also sent a fruit like an apple or tangerine, a granola bar, and a drink. I had a frozen pack in the lunch bag too, to help keep things a bit cool. I also sent 2/3 full frozen water bottle, and filled it with water before they left so that it was pretty nice for at least half the day.
I don't know if you have fresh fruit, but if so, you could cut it in chunks and freeze them together as a fruit salad. They should thaw and be perfect by lunch time. Or the Uncrustables frozen PB&J sandwiches. That with some nuts, crackers, or granola bars should be a healthy, filling meal.
Yes a lunch meat sandwich will be OK if it's placed next to an ice pack. My daughter has sent lunches for field trips that did not include a sandwich. Include fruit and veggies, crackers and cheese along with a drink that's been frozen the night before. It helps to keep the lunch cool and will have melted by lunch time.
Her daughter is allergic to peanuts and so they use other nut butters. There is also sun butter which is made from sunflower seeds. You would be safe sending those in a sandwich.
Or how about a cheese sandwich?
Later: if you're going to freeze sandwiches do not use mayo. It separates when frozen. You can use the salad dressing that looks like mayo.
Fried chicken put in the freezer overnight. It will thaw out in the lunch bag or box by lunch time.
Other sandwiches will work fine, just don't use mayonnaise. To keep the food cold, just take a bottle of water and freeze it, put it in the lunch and it will keep everything cold. Especially if you double bag the lunch bag.
BTW, when I was a kid, before bottled water, parents just put the lunch in a bag with a cold apple or orange and we did just fine.
Good luck to you and yours.
I pack my three turkey and cheese almost everyday. I even pack milk and yogurt. I use an insulated lunch box and some ice packs and its fine. They will not leave the lunch boxes out in the sun so just being outside a fridge will be fine. I love thermos brand stuff, if you want cold milk or juice those things are worth every penny, I carry them around all summer for me and my kiddos and the beverage is still cold at the end of the day, even being in a hot car.
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I pack my three turkey and cheese almost everyday. I even pack milk and yogurt. I use an insulated lunch box and some ice packs and its fine. They will not leave the lunch boxes out in the sun so just being outside a fridge will be fine. I love thermos brand stuff, if you want cold milk or juice those things are worth every penny, I carry them around all summer for me and my kiddos and the beverage is still cold at the end of the day, even being in a hot car.
CW:
An insulated lunch box with an ice pack in it should work. You are dropping off at what, 0800? and they will be eating lunch around 1130 to noon? It should last 3 hours.
Fresh fruit, a tortilla wrap or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Even the fruit cups will work well.
Freeze the drink you are going to give him tonight. Take it out and put it in a plastic bag so the rest of the lunch doesn't get wet and soggy - and it will defrost/unfreeze by the time he eats lunch.
HAVE FUN!
Does he like tuna sandwiches? These can be made ahead and frozen - just pop one in his bag and it'll thaw by lunch (and be really cold if he uses an insulated bag). This is something I took for school lunches eons ago - and we didn't have the insulated bags then!
Look into this lunch bag. It's got built in gel inside the bag, so you freeze it overnight. I think they sell them at Target now. But I don't think they last 10 hours in the heat. Probably half that. Still I like it.
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com
That's a mom blog and she posts photos of her kids lunches.
Another good photo idea one is
http://pinterest.com/easylunchboxes/easy-lunch-box-lunches/
we have an insulated lunch bag.. and one day my son forgot to eat his lunch and everything was still pretty cold at the end of the day.
I think with a ice pack and starting the day with everything good and cold it will be fine.
My girls are starting ballet camp tomorrow, and I'm gearing up for the same thing. The girls eat lunch outside in the courtyard, and their lunches are kept out there, too (in the shade, but still). What I did last year was to freeze a plastic bottle of Gatorade (or you could do water) and put it in the lunch bag at the beginning of the day. Most of the things I pack are "snacky" in nature: almonds, turkey jerky, grapes - so if those things are in the heat, no big deal. As long as I put the sandwiches right near the frozen Gatorade bottle, we found that the sandwich stayed plenty cold until lunchtime. And then, at the end of the day when the girls were tired and thirsty from dancing all day, the Gatorade was still nice and cold, and helped revive them a little bit. I imagine if your son will be outside all day, he will be pretty active, so he may want a sports drink at the end of the day, as well.
Anyway, that's what I did last year that worked, so I'm going to do it again this year.
Just partially freeze a water bottle or juice box. It keeps things cool and thaws out enough to be a nice cold drink for lunch!
Just a thought--when we have to do a bag/all disposable lunch, I slwAys add a Baggie or two of ice cubes. Then they don't have to worry about bringing anything home.
But in an insulated lunch bag--should be fine. Skip the condiments though.
A wrap might be better!
If it's a peanut-free place, you could try Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) instead of PB. My son brings it to lunch at school and camp, and it keeps just fine in a Pack-It or with ice packs or frozen water/drinks.
I buy it at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.
Ice packs last all day. With those you can pack anything. The way this summer is going, we won't have to worry about heat!
Kind of a bummer. The camp can't even keep the lunches in a large cooler?!
What time do they eat? Can you put your sons' lunch in a mini cooler?
I think an ice pack would be okay depending on what time they eat, and if they even bother to put the lunches in the shade or something. If the ice pack says it stays frozen for 4 hours, that should be plenty of time to keep the meat cold. Even if it has started to thaw, the lunch box would be fairly cool.
Try it out today. See how the meat holds up. That's the best way to know.
LOVE the idea of freezing a bottle of water and sticking it in there!
