Brown Bag/Lunchbox Meals for Kids & Adults

[Rachel Perlow]

Since you just put the bottle of water in the freezer, this probably isn't too late... pour (or drink) some of the water and leave the cap ajar. When water freezes it expands and you need to leave room for the air to escape.

[jgm]

I'm getting tired of the same old lunch stuff. Please help! I like to bring a lunch that will be something to look forward to all morning. (All afternoon, I look forward to going home and cooking.)

Here are the parameters:

--I am willing to spend up to 1/2 hour in the morning preparing a lunch to take to work, plus additional time the night before, if necessary. I'm willing to cook the night before (no time limit) and have things to pull out of the fridge or freezer.

--After arriving at work, I have a refrigerator and a microwave at my disposal. Any kind of sandwich grill or other appliance, is out. No place to use it and co-workers don't appreciate cooking fumes.

--Sometimes I have a table available; other times I have to sit in a chair and eat off my lap, with a small table next to me. I never know more than 5 minutes in advance, what will be available. I've brought a soup mug to work, so that I can comfortably eat soup.

--I live in the midwest and do not have access to specific products found in specialty stores, although I can find some specialty products here and there.

I'm looking for sandwich combinations, freezable soups, and anything else that will hold at least overnight. I'm also looking for ideas or recipes for cold salads, such as pasta or potato or any other salad that will hold for ~4 hours.

Thanks!

[FL Heat]

Favorites around here . . .artichoke hearts, tomatoes, scallions, a little salt & pepper; black beans, feta cheese, green onions, tomatoes, lime juice, olive oil, salt & pepper; feta cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, salt & pepper; blue cheese, tomatoes, olive oil; cucumbers, tomatoes, sour cream, fresh dill, lemon juice.

Also popular is chili or soup. . .make large batches, freeze in the disposable containers, thaws in the AM, heats in the microwave at lunch. Chili's our favorite, but a vegetable soup is wonderful, too.

I buy different flavors of wraps and put different cheeses, meats, and vegetables in there. Tops on the boyfriend's list is tomato, cucumber (do you see a trend?), lettuce, turkey, and any smoked cheese with spicy mustard on a spinach wrap.

Diana

[Bond Girl]

Ah, my favorite dilemma....Have you ever have lunch in Manhattan's Grand Central area? The other day, a sandwich and brownie ran me $13. And, what you get is a pretty stale brownie made with cheap chocolate!

You can toss a salad in the morning in no time if you wash ands spin the night before. I've also freeze a round ball of tuna tartar the night before, and let it defrost in my office fridge all morning, and eat it on top of some potato chips or topped on a bed of micro greens.

Usually, I tend to cook extra portions the nigth before and then stick it in the freezer and have it for lunch a day or two later. Current favorite is a pasta tossed with roasted cauliflowers and anchovie, a nice gumbo from two night ago which microwaves reasonably well, or a good vegetarian chili. Even if you pack a sandwich, it would beat half the stuff you get at the usual lunch places.

[snowangel]

There have been a few other threads on this subject:

Brown Bagging It

Brown Bagging it, Lunches?

Brown Bagging it on a hot day

Variety is the key.

[crinoidgirl]

Variety is indeed the key.

Do you want something warm/hot? Precooked (and maybe frozen) soups/stews.

Somthing salady? (Is that actually a word? ) A container of your favorite mixed veggies/greens/meats/cheeses/whatever. You can premix the dressing with the salad, or have it in a separate little container and mix it when you eat.

A sandwich? Those wrappy-things are GREAT - I was an on-the-road truckdriver for most of the last year, and I finally figured out how to do it. No spoilage, fresh, and you can make them how you want to. Go to the deli in your local supermarket. You can get a quarter-pound of anything, sliced how you want! Get a good variety of meats. Also cheeses. Then think about what you can add - beautiful veggies - tomatoes, greens, sprouts (love those spicy sprouts!) - spices - different kinds of mustards, vinegars, whatever. You don't have to put the sandwich together ahead of time; in fact, it tastes best if you DON'T. It takes all of five minutes to put it together when you're ready.

And get one of those little thermo bags (trying to figure out how to describe this) - the soft-sided thermal lunch thingies. Put your stuff in there. It can go in the fridge, and not pick up up the communal odors. (I was an engineer in a previous life; that's how I handled it, and ate well and good.)

It CAN be done!

(edited to add: and cheaply!!!)

Edited December 9, 2004 by crinoidgirl (log)

[PurpleDingo99]

I have a harder situation. im still a highschool junior, with no reliable access to a microwave. Every time i pack something with vegetables, they always end up pretty nasty by lunch. Lettuce gets soggy and tomatoes get crushed, leaving their juice everywhere. usually wax paper, ziplocks, or ziplock boxes- nothing really works. any suggestions?

[little ms foodie]

I have a harder situation. im still a highschool junior, with no reliable access to a microwave. Every time i pack something with vegetables, they always end up pretty nasty by lunch. Lettuce gets soggy and tomatoes get crushed, leaving their juice everywhere. usually wax paper, ziplocks, or ziplock boxes- nothing really works. any suggestions?

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When I take sandwiches with the fixings I bag them seperatly so things don't sog my bread! eww I hate that! or use really crusty bread that benefits from a bit of juice!

[Toliver]

I have a harder situation. im still a highschool junior, with no reliable access to a microwave. Every time i pack something with vegetables, they always end up pretty nasty by lunch. Lettuce gets soggy and tomatoes get crushed, leaving their juice everywhere. usually wax paper, ziplocks, or ziplock boxes- nothing really works. any suggestions?

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It may look geeky , but you could use a sort of Tupperware container to hold the tomatoes/veggies and contain the juices.

[crinoidgirl]

I have a harder situation. im still a highschool junior, with no reliable access to a microwave. Every time i pack something with vegetables, they always end up pretty nasty by lunch. Lettuce gets soggy and tomatoes get crushed, leaving their juice everywhere. usually wax paper, ziplocks, or ziplock boxes- nothing really works. any suggestions?

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When I take sandwiches with the fixings I bag them seperatly so things don't sog my bread! eww I hate that! or use really crusty bread that benefits from a bit of juice!

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Yup, that's the trick. Bag separately. Doesn't take too much extra time. And the throwaway Ziplock/Glad/generic food containers are cheap enough.

Of course, being a HS junior - can you do this without attracting too much attention?

[PurpleDingo99]

Of course, being a HS junior - can you do this without attracting too much attention?

Its great being in a public school with more geeks and freaks than preps and jocks.

[crinoidgirl]

Of course, being a HS junior - can you do this without attracting too much attention? 

Its great being in a public school with more geeks and freaks than preps and jocks. 

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Wish MY HS could have been like that!

[Bond Girl]

Here are some suggestions for all high school juniors out there who are cool enough to pack their own lunches..you can use a hardier bread like what Ms. foodie suggested or hardier greens like frisee or roman lettuce. Going easy on the mayo helps too. Think picnic food minus the wine. A grilled vegetable sandwich can be eaten cold, a tupperware container of ratatouille can be eaten at room temperature with some really nice bread. Pasta salads are always an option. If you have some free time, youc an also make a fritata and those keeps for a whole day. My old office didn't have a microwave, so I feel your pain.

[NulloModo]

I pack a lunch almost every day, the only thing the school cafeteria makes that I can eat are Chicken/Tuna/Ham salads, and those get old after a while.

I like to cook a lot of one pot meals (soups, stews, chili, braises, etc) so generally I just toss an extra portion into tupperware and toss it in the fridge, then grab itout in the morning. The day is just more satisfying with a warm home-cooked lunch halfway through, and most things reheat very well via microwave.

[Carlovski]

Couscous (Or bulgar wheat)makes a good alternative - tossed with roasted vegetables (Do them the night before) and chick peas. Add cubes of feta or leftover chicken. You can take a little pot of yoghurt or a chilli sauce if it seams a little dry.

Slices of spanish omlette are nice in summer.

[Transparent]

Romaine is awesome for school lunches. I usually use a hardier whole wheat bread just in case whatever in the sandwich is going to get soggy.

HS Juniors? What about us sophmores?!

[kurl]

I was looking for suggestions about hot-day picnic food and stumbled on this thread, which has some great ideas. Anyone come up with anything else interesting in that last year or so?

[lexy]

One trick for packing sandwiches is to make the sandwich with frozen bread. It keeps the filling cool, but if you make it in the morning, it's thawed by lunchtime.

[helenjp]

So how did it go???

The worst of hot days and school outings is that you get your lunch all shook up, in addition to being half melted!

I have a "school outing" lunch to prepare for Friday. So far, I'm planning to make inari-zushi (rice balls in fried tofu pockets) but if it turns hot, the rice will be cooked with shreds of ginger, and mixed with fine shreds of shiso leaf before I make the riceballs. Shiso is incredibly refreshing in the heat.

Son asked for omelet rolls with salt cod roe in the middle...and that reminded me how GOOOOD smoked fish is in summer!

I like to put things on small skewers in sumer too - they look more appetizing than a heap of stuff which has amalgamated itself into one lump in a corner of the lunchbox!

[Trishiad]

My 3 year old has chosen the cutest orange lunch box with a Puma and his name in bold letters! He's off to preschool in 2 weeks and it's occurred to me that I actually have to fill the box with nutritious food 3 days a week!

When I was growing up I got a PB&J or bologna sandwich, some chips and fruit or cookies. Around here, parents brag about putting broccoli florets in place of chips and yogurt instead of a treat. Now, I like to feed my guy healthy foods and I enjoy baking cookies at home and skipping the various preservatives and hydrogenated fats, but broccoli florets instead of chocolate chip cookies!?

I need some lunch ideas which are healthy and yummy and fun. Alden always finishes a sandwich if I cut it with a cookie cutter.

Items will be eaten straight from the lunch box, no heating.

[Rebecca263]

One of my daughter's favorite lunch items is raw veggies with a tiny container of balsamic vinegar for dipping. When she was a toddler she also liked soy sauce for dipping, and I used to water it down quite a bit. I make home made potato chips ( slice potatoes, sprinkle with kosher salt, bake on cookie sheet sprayed with olive oil in 375 oven for 20-35 minutes) and send her with those often too. She's used them as a vehicle for peanut butter or whatever salad I've sent her with. We're big on items in containers that she can eat without a fork or spoon. She just reminded me, her favorite lunches always contain stuffed grape leaves. They're good for finger food if you haven't sauced them too much, and you can put almost anything in them. We're members of the school or rice and sometimes hashu (rice and lamb stuffing) but we've been known to make them with ground poultry too. You can make a lot of these buggers at once for future use, and they freeze well, too. I guess a good approach for you is to make a list of his favorite foods and figure out portable ways with them. Looking at this ridiculous post, that's what we've done. Oh, and don't forget the note on the napkin! Or the sticker, in the box, for lunch time mayhem.

[ratgirlny]

I need ideas too! My 5 year old is off to kindergarten in 3 weeks. They can't buy lunches from the cafeteria for the first semester, which is fine with me given that the cafeteria serves nothing but processed poultry (chicken nuggets, turkey bacon, turkey bologna, chicken nachos, ick).

But my little guy is a foodie-in-training, so don't think PB&J sandwiches are going to cut it. I think he would prefer sushi and smoked salmon. I know about the raw veggies and hummus thing, and I can send him sopressata sandwiches, but I need more ideas!

[jgm]

I think you're on the right track; a sandwich, a side, which could be vegetables, and something sweet. I'm all for healthy eating, but I also think that if kids don't enjoy what's packed for them, they won't eat it. They usually are somewhat less than truthful about that, too. If there's a vegetable he's crazy about, nothing wrong with including it, but chips aren't a mortal sin. A worthy substitute could be dry breakfast cereal. Also, you could take a look at the Lunchables and similar items in the grocery store, and concoct your own versions. If he's supposed to supply his own drink, the beverages in boxes work well when frozen, and they usually thaw out just in time for lunch--and help to keep other items cool at the same time. You might also ask him what the other kids are bringing. If there's something he's impressed with, he'll likely remember it.

[oggi]

Something I stumbled across with my 7 year old, is the fact that whenever I make homemade pizza, he and his 13 year old brother end up finishing it off straight from the fridge...no heating; which, hey, cold pizza can be a guy's best friend.

Given that I can select the ingredients and toppings, and generally "mix it up" from week to week, I've decided that home made pizza (i.e. high protein, quality flour, quality cheeses and veggies), with the 7 year old's input on toppings will surely be a staple in his lunchbox this year.

[daniellewiley]

I think I started a thread on this last year - maybe we could merge them?

Popular items for my 3.5 year old include:

cold pizza for sure

anything in her thermos - Annie-O's (she likes the Arthur ones), mac n' cheese, soup, leftover spaghetti

pb&j, but with natural peanut butter and fruit only preserves

hors d'oeuvres - I give her cheese, crackers, cornichons, olives, etc.

She doesn't love meat sandwiches, but will eat up chicken salad if I put it in a tupperware and give her crackers for scooping.

We've also done cold chicken legs and cold cuts rolled into little tubes.

Almost every day she gets a yogurt and a container of fresh fruit. I like giving her the Stonyfield yogurt tubes - I keep them in the freezer and they are defrosted by lunch.

Cut up veggies are great, but she insists on French Onion dip, which I don't always have prepared.