Kid's Brown Bag Lunch?

[acomasdiaz]

My DD is going on a field trip to a farm this week and she needs to bring a brown bag lunch. She normally takes lunch in an insulated bag with an ice pack, so I am not used to sending anything not cooled...any ideas of what I can send for her? It's been pretty hot here these days and I don't want something that could make her sick.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[princessmom29]

I normally do peanut butter crackers and a whole piece of fruit, and I freeze a water bottle overnight so it will still be cold for lunch. If you do that, I would suggest putting it in an old sock so it doesn't sweat and rip the bag.

 

[bartleby1]

I haven't found much food that doesn't need to be kept cold. I don't know about your child's school, but we aren't supposed to send peanut butter due to allergies but that would be something that keeps pretty well if it is allowed.

I usually partially freeze my kid's water bottle and make sure their sandwich is extra cold to start (put it in the freezer for a little while in the morning).

Another idea is to freeze a wet sponge in a ziplock bag and use it as an ice pack if you don't mind throwing out a sponge.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I save the little packets of soy sauce or ketchup that come with take-out food, freeze them, and use those as disposable ice packs for field trip lunches.

 

[smitch425]

I buy Uncrustables. In DD's lunch I put...

-- a frozen Uncrustable which typically thaws out in 30-45 minutes at room temp, but I also include a half frozen water bottle which chills it and keeps it fresh.

--By half frozen water, I mean I pour half the water out of the bottle and lay it on it's side in the freezer the night before, and then fill it up with water the day of the trip. If you leave it full and freeze it, it will either explode or not melt fast enough for her to drink it.

--a bag of chips/pretzels

--a piece fruit or box of raisins

--wrap the water bottle in a couple of paper towels and then when the bottle sweats, DD has the equivalent of wet wipes to clean up with after her meal.

 

[shoney]

I always freeze a juice box and put it in a sandwich bag. I also pack the lunch in a gallon sized zip loc instead of a paper bag.

 

[university]

We freeze a juice box and put it in a plastic ziploc bag too. It will keep everything cool until lunch time. I would probably also make some homemade lunchables too (crackers, cheese, meat), but that's just because my kids like it.

 

[brymolmom]

Most things will not make your child sick from being unrefrigerated for a couple/few hours.

DD and I just got back from a field trip today. DD brought a Lunchable (special treat for field trip - we usually don't let her get those) but if she didn't have that - she would have had some cheese and crackers or PB&J. For myself I packed a bagel with cream cheese. I just put a cold water bottle in there with it. No problems.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Freeze RED grapes. They are so delicious...we eat them all summer long.

(fyi...frozen green grapes seem too sour for us)

 

[dizneechic]

We have our field trip tomorrow - 90+ degrees on a bus does NT sound like something I will enjoy much. Anyhow for lunch I just baked up some banana bread and will send that with some orange slices, tortilla chips, carrots and frozen water. We can't send PB and mine wont eat any deli meats so our options are semi limited. We've also sent ritz and peperoni w/ cheese sticks before and that went over well.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I agree with frozen grapes and frozen water bottle.

Cheese and crackers and pepporoni. indivual snack size pringles.

Cheese sticks, & crackers, frozen yogurt cups.

 

[Bren's Mom]

I concur with many of the above suggestions.

Last field trip I packed a fully frozen Capri Sun pouch, a fully frozen GoGurt and frozen grapes along with a cheese stick and crackers. I put a napkin in a snack sized baggie. And put everything in a plastic grocery bag that was tied at the top. Use a sharpie to write on the outside first.

Everything was defrosted but still cold when he ate it about 4 hours later.

Also, when it's really hot I take a wet wipe or baby wipe (or a few of them), rinse them of the chemicals, then wet with plain water, place in a snack sized baggie and freeze. In the morning I put it with the frozen stuff. It's a nice way to wash his face and hands before eating and to cool off a bit...but still disposable. For regular school lunches over the next couple weeks until he's out I will do this with a regular washcloth.

 

[prncess674]

concur with the frozen water bottle. As others have said put the entire lunch in a ziploc then place the ziploc in a small handle bag from (either from a prior purchase or you could use a used gift bag) that way little hands can hold onto it easily.

You don't have to make the typical lunch and sometimes a bunch of little snacky items can total up to a lunch.

 

[tlbwriter]

Also, when it's really hot I take a wet wipe or baby wipe (or a few of them), rinse them of the chemicals, then wet with plain water, place in a snack sized baggie and freeze. In the morning I put it with the frozen stuff. It's a nice way to wash his face and hands before eating and to cool off a bit...but still disposable.

I've packed a damp paper towel (a sturdy one) in a baggie. It works well and you don't have to rinse it off first. Never thought to freeze it though - that's a great idea!

 

[tjmw2727]

Great ideas!

I just wanted to add that without the drink most of these ideas would be great for air travel as well when you can't bring an ice pack.

Just buy a drink after security and your good to go!

 

[princessmom29]

We also went together last year and bought the teacher a "class icebox" on wheels after the first field trip. She asked parents to send lunches in gallon ziplocks and they all went in the cooler. We would fill it with ice from the cafeteria. Lunch problem solved. Several other classes got them after they saw ours and now it think just about every teacher on campus has one.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Another idea if you really want something that may be harder to keep cold is to make a insulated bag a "disposable" bag. Often you can find these at the $ store. It can be tossed just like a brown paper bag after lunch. Depending on her age however, she might not want any thing "different" than everyone else!

 

[Colleen27]

I usually freeze a Capri Sun and a small container of berries to use as consumable cold-packs, and then pack yogurt, string cheese, baby carrots w/a to-go cup of ranch dip, jerky, or other snacky type things. My kids aren't huge fans of cold cuts and some trips have PB restrictions if there is an allergic child in the grade/group, and besides sandwiches always end up smooshed by lunchtime (according to my rather particular middle child) so we've found non-sandwich options to be more practical.

 

[scrapquitler]

I've packed a damp paper towel (a sturdy one) in a baggie. It works well and you don't have to rinse it off first. Never thought to freeze it though - that's a great idea!

Works nicely with a washcloth too (esp. if you buy the big pack of 18 at Walmart for just a few dollars...then its no big deal if they get lost).

 

[scrapquitler]

My picky eater was faced with a dilemma at camp one summer when she was unable to bring pb&j because of another childs allergy. So I asked her to brainstorm some ideas for me (she won't eat any lunch meat). Among the things she suggested and enjoyed were:
bagel with cream cheese
hard boiled eggs
pepperoni, cheese and crackers
celery stuffed with cream cheese