Packed lunch/picnic ideas for days out?

[Familyfoods]

Looking through my bank statements for this year it seems that I spend an absolute FORTUNE on buying food whilst on days out.

My packed lunch attempts are pathetic so I’m after some tips from you wonderful lot. ‘Recipes’ for amazing wraps/sandwiches are also very much welcomed, plus any container and thermos recommendations.

Please help me save some money!

Sandwiches/wraps/bagels with cheese, ham, smoked salmon, cream cheese, houmous, sliced veg, peanut butter. We often make quesadillas with cheddar and chorizo, then wrap in foil and they stay warm enough. What about quiche and coleslaw, sausage rolls or veggie alternatives.

love wraps made with pesto, chicken & a bit of lettuce
carrots, breadsticks, pitta bread with humous
home made crust less quiche is very easy & cheap
favourite sandwich - cheese, coleslaw & crunchy peanut butter

I love bento style lunches. Imamu room’s YouTube channel is amazing if you like Japanese food. There’s also a bento subreddit where people share bento style packed lunches, but not all Japanese food.

Last time I packed a lunch for a day out, I had refried bean and cheese quesadillas, sweetcorn salsa and then some bits of fruit and probably other things I’ve forgotten now. And I’ve also made onigirazu (like a sushi sandwich) which is great for a a day out too. I have a double layered bento box like this one, where each tray has a divider (though it won’t contain liquids), cutlery, and a sauce box. I also love the look of the Yumbox boxes, but they’re pretty expensive if you’re looking to save money!

two things that transform a picnic:

• moisture (so not having over-dry food)
• heat (hot food)

so consider what you can transport things in and how you can add those two features...

good thermos / similar containers are amazing - you can get wide mouth thermos flasks which are fantastic for soup - or even hot sausages (then take rolls and tomato ketchup for instant hot dogs!

moisture can come from soup = or sauces, pestos / mayo / ketchup etc. all add to it...

then simply make foods you might have at home and the cost will not be much more

We've done a thermos with hot burgers in before, then taken the buns & sauce sachets in the cold pack, so hot burgers instead of sandwiches, then the usual crudities & humous, crisps, sweet treats. We typically only buy an ice cream/hot drink on a day out unless we pre-plan to buy food.

I like making a stromboli from Aldi chilled pizza dough, some sliced cheese, sliced ham, chopped tomato and a softened onion. Assemble, roll up, and bake for 30-45 minutes. Can be eaten hot, warm or cold. Its great for a family picnic or lunch boxes sliced up, with a potato salad or some crisps.

get a round boule loaf of bread, clice off the top and hollow out some of the middle. Then layer sliced meats/cheeses. salad, mayo, sauce etc, pack it down and place the top of the bread back on. Wrap up and then at the picnic you can slice into wedges.

Get a thermos flask and heat it up with boiling water, a full size flask.

get a jar or tin of hot dog sausages and warm them up.

now empty the flask of water, and pop in the sausages. Take hit dog buns and tomato ketch up

when your arriving at your day out, give everyone a hot dog

Make homemade pizza dough

rill it out into a square shape

spread with pesto and sprinkle with grated cheese

roll up the dough into a sausage shape

then cut the sausage into 3 cm lengths

places lengthways on a greased tray and pop in the oven to cook for 12 minutes on 170/180

We usually just take the usual sandwiches and sausage rolls. But the post who suggested hamburgers I love that idea.
so I’m now looking for food thermos ideas that actually keeps food warm. What brands do you use? I have a flask for water to make hot drinks but we never take warm food out and I admit it would be amazing to have a warm burger or sausage rolls when out.

Some interesting ideas here, thank you.

I’m surprised at how many people take hotdogs out with them, I’ll have to give it a go!

I have some old polar gear bowls/flasks that I’ve never actually gotten round to using, anyone know if they’re any good? Happy to invest in some really good stuff since I currently spend at least £30 on food when we go out anywhere.

In our house we take vegan sausage rolls (which I always thought was the picnic version of hot dogs lol), sandwiches on nice picnic plates (I arrange the sandwiches on the plates then cling film them), some crisps and some fruit. Is that super boring? Maybe we need to up our game as well.

We take sandwiches, fruit and sometimes veggie sticks. Depending on length of day out we might add crisps or a cereal bar.

What size thermos fits burgers?

I’ve never had an issue with a thermos keeping food hot, as long as I heat the thermos to pipping hot prior to placing food inside.

If you put hot food in a cold thermos is doubtful the food is going to stay hot

What sort of food do you buy when go out? Surely you can just make similar and transport it? .
We have a lot of picnics ... often take a French stick, cheese, cold meats, pate, salads, fruit bottle of wine crisps etc. Nothing fancy.

My DH is retired and one of the nicest things he did last Summer was pack up a picnic and take to me to our local beauty spot to eat after a long day at work .. it's set up with picnic benches etc ... really nice and we were only out for a couple of hours.

We’re going to do this if you fancy hopping on board - will let you what date we’re planning and see if you fancy it xxx

https://www.wowcher.co.uk/deal/bristol/entertainment/river-cruises/e/one-day-canal-boat-hire?ito=wowcheremaillmgBathhDailyDealss2023-04-27withprice&cauth=59dbaedd-cb9c-4e77-8f92-62b868fd0e03&mgid=164868

No idea how that happened but feel free to join us! 😂

What I was going to ask was chopped tinned tomatoes or fresh? Quite dull compared to my other question 😂

I make a big tub of pasta salad or pesto pasta. Carrot and cucumber sticks. Pork pies (shop bought) and a but sharer bag of crisps.

It depends where you are going and whom is being fed.
A hike with older kids I'd pack chunky sandwiches and a flask of soup.
Somewhere we'll be guaranteed a table and just me and DH then crusty bread and antipasti sounds wonderful.
Theme park with children? Hand wipes, paper napkins, premade wraps of salad, cheese and ham or chicken that can be easily held and eaten, cocktail sausages, cherry tomatoes, celery and carrot sticks, brownies or Jaffa cakes, bottles of water or squash: basically things which can be eaten neatly while standing in a group trying not to block a walkway. When they are small a named lunch bag each makes portioning easier.

I tend to over pack food when we go out and I work on the principle that even buying treats ahead of time (supermarket) will be so much cheaper than when we are out.

Tend to make nice sandwiches, with French stick or nice rolls. Buy crisps, big bakery cookies, usually make sure I take. Something for mid morning/ afternoon snacks

My kids like melon/grapes quiche, chicken satay sticks & cocktail sausages as snacks

I also take water but usually but some cans as a treat too

😂Its fresh, I think tinned might be a bit wet and make it too soggy. I skin and chop one large one. I suppose you don't need to skin it really. Have fun on your boat, looks lovely.

@Nellieinthebarn thank you 😂

You can get thermos bowls with a lid, I bought one ages ago for Spagbol but never got round to testing it out!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stackable-Insulated-Stainless-Lunchbox-Containers/dp/B09NYC6KR4/ref=asc_df_B09NYC6KR4/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=646285688284&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12191925401220689040&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046515&hvtargid=pla-1947014633410&psc=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwuqiiBhBtEiwATgvixI82zHBPNh54_tyUcMRty9V4zTJjceC7cb8UiUq7Umt0xhGZXk5SUxoC0rsQAvD_BwE