Lunch ideas (on a course, no fridge/reheating options)

[Spudlet]

Right, I know this a bit pathetic but I have an exam on Sunday and I’m bricking it and I don’t have any mental capacity to figure this out, so I’m hoping to outsource some brainpower please 😂

I’m on a course all this weekend, staying away at a Premier Inn (no fridge in the room, therefore). Mock exams all day on Saturday, final exam all day Sunday. We will get a lunchbreak, but there’s nowhere really within walking distance other than a petrol station with shit wraps and things, and I would rather be able to stay at the venue and do some last minute revision tbh. There is a big Sainsburys within a short drive but again, would rather not have the stress of navigating an unfamiliar city on that particular day. Also, I don’t know how long we’ll get for lunch - there may not be time to go, shop, get back and eat.

Last time I was there it was still freezing so I went at lunchtime on the Saturday and got lunch for Sunday too - it was cold enough in the car to be safe. But this weekend will not be cold enough to get away with that by the looks of it. I have to be at the venue for 9.30am so the supermarkets won’t be open to get something on the way there on the Sunday morning either.

Any ideas on how I can keep something cold enough for 12 hours not to get food poisoning? There’s no microwave at the place so can’t get a tin of soup or packet of microwave rice. Will a little cool bag stay cool enough… I’m thinking not 😬

I really don’t want a shitty wrap again; I got awful indigestion last time and it’s a 2-3 hour drive home once I’m finished… do I resign myself to a lunch composed mostly of crisps?!

If you make a sandwich and freeze it, then put it in the coolbag that'll be fine.
Or make a tuna sandwich mix in a plastic tub, freeze that then put it in the coolbag. It'll be grand.

Hardboiled egg cooled and kept in it's shell, but they do tend to smell (!) but you could eat it in the car. That and some bread.

Or simplify things:
Banana and peanut butter sandwich. Bring the bananas and the jar of peanut butter. Then make another sandwich to eat on the way home.

Is there a kettle at the place? You could do posh pot noodle/pot pasta type things.

This isnt the best contribution as I've been awake all night but if you take buttered bread, crisps - you could make a crisp sandwich. Take some fruit. Cereal bar or two - high protein ones? Cup a soup sachets so if you can get boiling water you can have a cup of soup.

Freeze a cheese sandwich and take some fruit? Banana, clementine, apple. Cereal bars / those protein ball things too for some brainpower energy? I’d say a cool bag with those freezer blocks in would stay cold enough.

The only thing I would worry with food poisoning is meat.
Cheese can be left out of the fridge, bread doesn't go in the fridge, probably use mayo instead of butter. Salad items are fine - ie might be a bit soggy but certainly won't hurt you.
Take a little pot of nuts as well.
Or you could do grains, nuts, chickpeas with some salady items and a little pot of dressing on the side as well.

I guess what I'm saying is 12 hours in a cool bag will be fine for most things..

A regular packed lunch in a cool bag? Or just a lunch box even?
As an aside: Do schools in the UK have fridges for those who take packed lunches? I ate a packed lunch straight from my lunchbox throughout my school days (as did everyone I know) and lived to tell the tale

There will be a kettle in your room so you could take cupasoups, pasta pots, porridge pots, pot noodles. Take bread and cheese, peanut butter etc and make sandwiches. Take cereal and UHT milk or powdered milk to make up with water. Protein meal replacement drinks like Huel would keep your energy up. A box of nuts, some fruit, chopped veg etc. There are tons of options

Toasted sandwich maker tuna and cheese

One of those jars or Doritos dips, some tortilla chips, breadsticks, carrot and celery sticks will be fine if prepped at home, wrapped in a piece of kitchen roll and popped in sandwich bag in a mini cool bag with ice pack. Take some nuts, fruit, a bar of chocolate. Not the most exciting lunch but you won't starve.
Or if staying at a premier inn, just have a big cooked breakfast, that will fill you up until the evening with a small snack at lunch time.

John West tuna lunch on the go , take a roll to go with it.
Fruit, cereal bars, porridge pots , soreen for snacks.

Cheese and crackers with nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit. And yes to chocolate.

Tin of tuna salad for day 2. Add some cherry tomatoes, and maybe some of those mini peppers for some crunch.
Sandwiches for day 1.
Supplemented with crisps/ nuts/ biscuits/ chocolate /whatever snacky takes your fancy.
Out for dinner.

Look up threads on DofE expeditions they will have ideas for non perishable lunches. DS had those John West tuna on the go pots when he did his walks (also copious bags of Haribo but that probably isn’t what you want!)

Does the premier inn not have a bar/restaurant?

Thank you for all these ideas!

There is a restaurant at the hotel so dinner and breakfast are fine, but the course is being held elsewhere (in a college gym) so I won’t be able to get lunch there. It’s also a practical, physical exam so a
cooked breakfast probably wouldn’t be the best idea in the world 😉 But definitely some of the ideas here will work perfectly, thank you everyone 👍

Don't they provide lunch if you're there all day? That's quite mean, especially if they know people will be travelling.

I'd probably look for a Co-op or M&S at a garage on the way in on Sunday morning and get a meal deal, which will be fine until lunchtime, unless you get prawns and leave them on the radiator.

Pot noodle\cupasoup type things. The heinz tomato cupasoups are surprisingly like the tinned ones. Could do a sandwich like peanut butter, or take a tin of corned beef or tuna and some rolls.

Can you get Deliveroo or similar for one meal each day?

Porridge pots - where you just add water and stir.
Or freeze milk before you go- will last 24 hours.

Tuna and bread/ pitta bread or breadsticks.

Fruit easy to take for 2 days.

Lots of bottled water - herbal teas/ or coffee /

John West do a whole range of lunch-on-the-go vacuum packed meals, which don't need a fridge. They have cous-cous, beans, rice etc, and can be eaten from the container, so don't need plates etc, only cutlery.

I agree about hard boiled eggs being a useful snack, Babybel cheeses wrapped in wax would also last without a fridge.

Good luck with the exam!

Chickpea, courgette, tomato cucumber salad with pitta. stick it in a cool bag it will be fine.

What about a marmite sandwich, crisps and fruit? Could even take a Babybel or similar which wouldn't mind being out overnight.

TBH I would fairly happily eat a cheese sandwich that had been stored in the car overnight, especially if it was made with butter instead of mayonnaise.

Cheese is literally a method of preserving milk (as is butter) and humans have been eating both cheese and butter for a lot longer than they have had fridges.

On the Sunday I would probably bring a ziplock bag or something similar to breakfast and discretely make a sandwich and a bit of fruit etc. Those John West Tuna things on the go are fine and some crackers and fruit.

Have you rung the college gym venue and asked if you will be able to access any lunch options whilst there?

Sho do food flasks that will keep food hot/cold for 12 hours. One of their drinks bottles would hold soup, you could make a couple of cup a soups at the PI and put them in the flask to take with you.

You could take fruit pots, I buy Dole and Princes. If there is access to hot water then you could have a porridge pot or noodles or similar. Babybel, banana, apple, flapjack.

All the PI's that I have stayed in do little pastries for breakfast, you could sneak a couple of their small pain au chocolat's to take with you and some fruit.

I’d just take a sandwich. It’s not going to be a heatwave is it, so it’ll be fine. I never put my sarnies in the fridge at work.