to not know this....

[flowerpower18]

Hey All

My DS has decided he wants to go back on pack lunches which is fine and I'd prefer it to be honest. He's not very adventurous when it comes to foods but he loves plain pasta and has asked for this in his lunch box tomorrow (plain pasta just means no sauces and he's happy to eat it cold).

I'm happy to make it for him but will it be OK? Shall I make it the night before, let it cool then put in the fridge for the morning after or am I best making it in the morning then just putting it in a tub in his lunch box. I make pasta all the time by the way but for some reason I'm being a bit thick on this one haha! He normally has sandwiches so I'm happy he wants something different albeit a bit plain.

His lunch bag is insulated, however, he doesn't have one of those food thermo pot things. Its just a normal plastic lunch tub.

This is what I'm going to be taking a lot of when I hopefully start college in Sept.

Maybe look up some cold pasta recipes? Minus nuts if the school is nut free.

Pubs and restaurants all do the cold water trick, they batch cook a load of pasta on an morning and cold water it. Then reheat in the creamy sauce or whatever when you order. rinsing stops it sticking.

Salad dressing using some combination of oil, vinegar, lemon juice and herbs or spices, does not need to be kept chilled. Dairy based dressings, such as mayo, would need to be kept chilled though.

I had no idea re the olive oil trick. Thanks everyone!

I bought a Thermos food flask from Amazon, for my son. He used to have plain pasta for his lunch, with grated cheese sprinkled on it. The flask kept the pasta hot. I would make it in the morning, I also gave him soup, but he complained the soup stayed too hot.

It was a pain cleaning the melted cheese out of the flask though, I then saw a plastic thermal food flask in Tesco, this was much much easier to clean, but it didn't keep the pasta as hot as the Thermos.

Cold pasta is just pasta salad surely? People eat it all the time.

Just run cold water through it when cooked and that will stop it sticking. Totally fine to cook night before. Pasta isn’t like rice where you have to be really careful about cooking/cooling etc. There is nothing in it that could give you food poisoning.

I'd avoid chicken though unless the food is going to be kept chilled.

Interested in the thermal pots, thanks to an informative poster. I'm going to have a look on amazon now, as my little girl would love soup for school.

Plain pasta with nothing on it is virtually devoid of all nutrition. I never understand anyone who lets their kids have this for a meal. It's ridiculous! It's literally flour and water! He's better off with a sandwich with a nutritional filling.

Mayo is not dairy and is stable at room temperature so does not need to be kept chilled

I often take leftovers to work the next day to eat cold - I have ice-block things that go in the freezer, which I then keep next to the tub in a little cool bag. This kind of thing: www.amazon.co.uk/Reuseable-Freeze-Blocks-Cooler-Picnic/dp/B00J05ILYS/ref=asc_df_B00J05ILYS/?hvlocphy=9046835&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=218086732501&hvpone&hvlocint&hvpos=1o1&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-432406316100&hvrand=11469222510521831769

I have no idea how I added for it to be voted either - sorry about that!

That's because the options aren't shown very clearly and for some reason it defaults to agreeing to have the voting buttons. You might like to comment on this thread - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/3783873-Can-voting-be-set-to-default-off

I take plain pasta (in a salad) almost every day. I quite often make it one or two days before I need it.

Once it’s cooked, run it under the cold water tap & it won’t stick.

My daughter also as a thermos food flask. She’s not keen on taking pasta in it, but does take beans, spaghetti hoops, soup, etc.

My youngest has cold pasta every day for packed lunch. I just cook it as normal, drain and cool it in tub. Don't add anything to it! It doesn't go sticky at all. My son likes a small tub of Parmesan to sprinkle on it and sometimes a pepperami on the side!

Forgot to say it's not kept cold, his lunchbox goes in his school bag. Also for the previous poster who said a sandwich would be more nutritious- that's all very well unless your child refuses to eat them!

My sons have thermal pots for school too. We've got WayEee ones from Amazon. I fill with boiling water when I make my morning cuppa, put the lid on and let it sit until I'm ready to fill it. Then it's mostly microwaved leftovers (shepherd's pie, chilli etc) to fill. It's stayed hot until lunchtime and was still very warm one day at 4pm when DS forgot to eat his lunch.

I'd cook it the night before, but rinse the pasta in cold water once it is cooked to stop it sticking together and olive oil stops it from being too dry :)

There's no dairy in mayo @Veryfriendlylioncalledparsley. Mayonnaise is made from eggs and oil mostly.

I spray a bit of fry-light into the water I use to boil the pasta, that stops it sticking and is healthier than olive oil