Leaving home mid morning tomorrow, need a packed lunch for Saturday, would you ?

[munemema]

I'll admit I didn't think this through properly.

I've done the same trip often before, just made the lunches before we leave, put them in cool box in the boot with ice blocks, leaving it in the car overnight.

However, it is currently unusually warm and (this is the bit I didn't think about) in the past we've left later on the Friday, after work.

I could stop and buy something ready made on Saturday morning but money, time etc.

What do you think? I'm not going to do anything stupid like prawns, but if I do safe foods (cheese?) will it be nice to eat by Saturday lunchtime?

Personally I'd spend a bit of money and buy something ready made Saturday. You can pick up ham or cheese sandwiches for £1 in most places now

Just buy sandwiches on Saturday!

Yes, it's mostly the time TBH. we're travelling through a pretty remote area and I think we'll have to go out of our way to find anything. It's a very long drive as it is.

Where are you staying Friday night? Might there be a fridge you could use?

Where are you staying Friday night? Lots of things will be OK to eat, I used to run Scout camps years ago & storage facilities were very limited but we survived. Take some rolls and a tin of ham .

I'd try to take a wrapped cheese and onion pastie or a packet of wraps and some peanut butter.

I would do it. Cheese will be fine. You could make the sandwiches today and freeze overnight so they go into the coolbox frozen. Frozen cartons of juice or bottles of water would be good too. Apples and grapes that have been in the fridge. Just make sure everything you put in the cool box is as cold as it can be. Then don't be tempted to open it until you need it.

Or just have a big breakfast on the Sat morning & take a few snacks, no one in this country is going to starve to death if they miss lunch.

You could take something that doesn’t need a fridge. Like bread or rolls and a jar of jam or peanut butter, or one of those tins of no drain tuna. You would just need some plastic cutlery. And obviously crisps / biscuits / cakes / pots of jelly would be ok.

Things like cheese will almost certainly be fine. You could freeze drinks and put them in the coolbox for extra cooling.

When DS did DofE the other week he took John West tuna lunch on the go pasta salads. They don’t need to be kept chilled

For the sake of ease I would just take non refrigerated items, crisps, cheese straws, cereal bars, fruit, one day of eating snacky rubbish won't kill you. Or take bread and jam type things.

We might Ragwort - we're doing an epic mountain hike on the Saturday, a long day of steep climbs. The starvation might not kill us but the lack of energy reserves could.

I'd take things like breadsticks, nuts, flapjacks etc and maybe some fruit. And plenty of cold drinks, obv. I wouldn't bother with sandwiches or pasty type of food.

Sorry, I've just realised I should have said that first, we need lots of calories, not just a light lunch, but I'd prefer it doesn't all come from refined sugar.

It's also good to have some "real" food, it can be comforting if the day turns out harder than expected

Xpost - lots of trail mix and cake bars then. You need compact carbs for that, surely, not a balanced diet.

In that case, I'd add something like bags of nuts, plus cheese baguettes as more sturdy than sliced bread sandwiches.

If you're doing something like a big hill walk, and it will still be hot where you are going, take as much water/juice as you can physically carry and maybe some to leave in the car for afterwards.

Can you take things to assemble once you’re there? Plenty of things that don’t need keeping cool to stay tasty and safe to eat.

Flatbreads.
Tin of ready drained tuna or some sandwich spread (no idea if these are tasty)
Pot pasta salads
Fruit (not berries)
Pots of rice pudding/custard/jelly
Cereal bars
Jelly sweets for energy

Might not be a gourmet picnic but will do the trick!

don't take cheese unless its a processed one Ok for room temperature (primula or something) as in this heat the mould will be taking over the cheese before it shows on the surface.
Foods which don't need refrigerating:
crackers/crispbread/crisprolls
tinned tuna, tinned ham, tinned sardines.
Pepperami sausages
smoked pork sausage
fruit and veg (though might spoil but you can tell when its off).
Things in jars will be OK
biscuits and bought cake.

If it's just for you I'd pack some crusty bread and a jar of antipasti, rather than a prepared sandwich.

It's the protein element that can kill you, so make sure you take safe versions of those, otherwise go for it!

I would take things that don’t need to be kept cold eg, jam, peanut butter etc. I know it’s not thrilling but it’s better than risking it.

Lots of cereal bars for hiking.

And according to the Mars adverts from the 80s/90s, you can't possibly climb a mountain without one.

You can get energy jelly beans, high protein bars in most supermarkets now for high calorie snacks. Eating in the heat is hard work so this will help keep the volume of food down.

The hardest bit in this heat will be staying hydrated. Go for some of the flavoured tablets to go in water that will replace some of the salt that you lose through sweat rather than just water.

Oh, cross posted with your update.
real food: self heating meals DD took some for her DofE and is a huge fan!

Make sandwiches today then freeze them. Then when you set off pack the frozen sandwiches in the coolbox with plenty of ice blocks.

Cheese sandwiches won't kill you even if they do get warm I'd have thought.

Aside from that though I'd be sticking to hardy foods like crackers, nuts, apples.

NewID I’ve not seen them before. Will bear them in mind if DS does the next level DofE