Aibu to ask how you keep pack lunch hot for school lunch?

[Threeandacat]

So with the kids back to school and the cost of lunches gone up to £3 each this means it will cost me £30 a week to give them school lunches. Single parent three kids and childcare means this is really stretching the budget. They have said they don't always like school lunch and prefer packed lunch on certain days (they can see the menu) I have really struggled with ways to keep lunches hot/warm I've tried various techniques and flasks but so far only one I have found is only really suitable for soup (small opening)

Aibu to ask if you have any hacks or recommendations for anything else I could use?

@MerryMarigold

Yes, as pp said I saw thermos for 13.00 in Sains. It has a wide mouth so you can get a spoon in. You can get flasks with a spoon in the lid. My DD has one from Amazon.

That thermos one is the one that has a fold-up spoon in the cap

caspian I remember that being used too and was looking for it when saw the wiki/us angle.

@Caspianberg

My mum definitely called it ‘pack up’ when we were small.

‘ don’t forget your pack up’

Those are different words to "pack lunch" though

Clearly pack lunch makes no sense.

Sending primary children with hot food sounds like a lot of work, is there a reason they can't have a cold lunch?

@HeronLanyon

But ‘pack lunch’ doesn’t make sense if you think about it. Even if everyone says it and even writes it etc. Not that it matters. Scran is after all scran.

@Pottedpalm, well I always say 'packed Lunch'. However pack lunch does make sense, because it is lunch in a pack, as in packet.

Deal: Thermos 184807 Stainless King Food Flask, Red, 470 ml www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DGPPY20/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_dl_02D18WH7Q29S038P23NM?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Amazing product….tinned ravioli, spaghetti and sausages, soup etc, stay perfectly warm in this and it comes with a soon built into the lid.

My dd has always had hot food in a thermos food flask. Sometimes pasta and sometimes noodles. Like people have already said, put boiling water in first.

Pack lunch: a lunch that is carried in your pack? I’d say packed lunch, tbh, but can see merit in the other.

My son takes pasta or soup in an Aladdin bento - see first link

It’s great because you can put it in the microwave unlike the thermos ones and it’s a wide opening so sometimes he will have a roll to dip in the soup.

I batch freeze pasta sauce and soup and then defrost overnight and either boil the pasta the night before or whilst he’s having breakfast

www.amazon.co.uk/Aladdin-Proof-Bento-Lunch-Litre/dp/B071NV7KGY/ref=dp_prsubs_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B071NV7KGY&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

smile.amazon.co.uk/Polar-Gear-Lunch-500ml-Black/dp/B0794W4N8B/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_g1386836776?_encoding=UTF8&hvadid=256009010381&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006886&hvnetw=g&hvpone=&hvpos=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvrand=11451634287106470385&hvtargid=pla-422350053831&ie=UTF8&linkCode=df0&psc=1&psc=1&tag=googshopuk-21&th=1

@Threeandacat

So with the kids back to school and the cost of lunches gone up to £3 each this means it will cost me £30 a week to give them school lunches. Single parent three kids and childcare means this is really stretching the budget. They have said they don't always like school lunch and prefer packed lunch on certain days (they can see the menu) I have really struggled with ways to keep lunches hot/warm I've tried various techniques and flasks but so far only one I have found is only really suitable for soup (small opening)

Aibu to ask if you have any hacks or recommendations for anything else I could use?

Asda sell lunch boxes that you can heat up

We have Indian tiffins - either in zip up warming things or in a kind of thermos flask arrangement. Google ‘tiffin thermos’ for options. These are useful if more than one thing to keep warm (eg rice and curry) that you want to keep separate before eating

DP works outside so knowledge of and highly recommend: Stanley flask. not the cheapest but absolutely the best. www.leisureoutlet.com/food-and-cooking/walking-and-hiking/outdoor-pursuits/213787-stanley-legendary-food-jar-and-spork-04l-nightfall?surface=active

Preheat it with boiling water in the morning before you put the hot goods in. Never submerge flask in the sink or dishwasher as this breakds down the seals.

Looks like it may be American (wrong) usage which has crept over here. Damn those yanks eh (I am one originally).

Not sure about that, it’s been pack lunch since I were a lass, long before most americanisms made their way here.

Another vote for the thermos food flask.

No it’s pack lunch!

My dd used to use one of these food flasks from yr4 on. I would batch cook food, cut the meat into little morsels and reheat to piping hot. Mini pasta pieces or rice work well as they are compact.

It is essential to heat the flask for 10 mins first with boiling water - I used to put the lid on loosely too to heat that. Dd said her food was hot and she had no issues opening the lid.

I use a thermos flask bought in Sainsbury’s for £13 - was a special offer. You fill with boiling water and put lid on. Heat food until piping. Empty water and fill with hot food. Stays hot until lunch. Ds 1 had plain nachos and chilli the other day.

Packed lunch in my area. Your lunch has been packed.

Thermos food flask, they do ones for children too. I have had the teachers complain to me that the food is too hot at lunchtime that my children have to wait for it to cool down!

The thermos food flask occasionally gets jammed shut here and then my DD has gone without so we gave up on it. What was I doing wrong? Following with interest!

I've been working in an office with no microwave - last winter I was using a flask but it was rarely as hot as I'd have liked (I do tend to eat lunch late though). I looked at expensive thermal bags, but in the end just wrapped it in a teatowel, secured with a rubber band.
It worked to keep it warmer, doubled up to protect agaist leaks and served as a napkin/tablecloth (I'm messy with soup)

I did struggle to find a small wide necked flask - most seemed to take about half a litre.

Heheh- most "Americanisms" are just 400yo Britishisms... "gotten"?

Pack is not an adjective… that’s the way to remember the correct way of saying it.

Here’s a photo - jam for size reference. Plenty big enough

Stanley thermos food flask is super. Heated it up as above with boiling water for a couple of minutes while I heated the food.
I've put roast dinners in there - with the roast potatoes, Yorkshire's, meat and veg cut up in gravy.
And they last for years