What Food do you give DC and how do they carry/store it?

[SAHMutiny]

DC need to take food to school with them to eat in the evening after their activities on their way home (whilst they're waiting at the bus stop). What sort of food do you give yours, how do they store it so it keeps, especially in the summer, and is still edible at 8pm? I'm a bit reluctant to tell them to go to McDonalds every week and would like them to have choices to offer them but haven't a clue what!

We have a wide selection of insulated lunch boxes or lunch bags so that isn't an issue. In the summer if they're at a camp or something and it will be in there for longer, I have small ice packs that I add to the insulated bag/box (or a put a small bottle of frozen water/juice which then slowly defrosts and is nice and cold later in the day while keeping the bag cold) to keep things fresh for longer.

I think normal food items are good but sometimes things like sandwiches and wraps can get a bit soggy being left for that amount of time so I'd probably do things that can be packaged individually. sausage rolls, pork pies, popcorn chicken... that kind of thing. Or pasta salads would work well. Or DS used to like a bread roll with nothing on it but we'd pack things like a mini pack of salami or a couple of babybels to eat with it. And anoyingly, he loved if i gave him one of those prepacked luncher/dunker packs or whatever (I hate those. But would do it occassionally as a treat!).

We're south african so biltong or droewors was often a good choice too.

Like [[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gloppie-Insulated-Lunchbox-Containers-Portable/dp/B08X1Y67XY/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1PT9J6R8BGSXK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.woSzaw25jws9KMoh-Wquixptnxt2eQIV5VIwcG69jV6kVpnnrjlVeJz4teuzWVhX2BfVZh8i8lHi4s1_HHcW6WbQIO2P2zxec0aMkRpt0L1qPYhatoxweS_zp0SdzbVZRm-BgMmH5Ap8XzUfdH0CM48HB2JM9PFQ-3HQWqTCviVAcwtFc8aSgakIqx07nzXptt37u4QorfnV2UZUNWUTgqMEjRlRCijEyr039ObNMuBAWeBeEV5eGnd1qkgO63i4i2j-kHRpbCOV2eG-1tk8fXOXmRZfC6XUaSFZGds4hRc.1aoKXRn16GdxcB-LnI1KTx5dcwLzQIZhH_VZ_OWSHN8&dib_tag=se&keywords=insulated%2Blunch%2Bbag&qid=1743096899&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&sprefix=insulated%2Blunch%2Bbag%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-1-spons&th=1%5D%5D www.amazon.co.uk/Gloppie-Insulated-Lunchbox-Containers-Portable/dp/B08X1Y67XY/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1PT9J6R8BGSXK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.woSzaw25jws9KMoh-Wquixptnxt2eQIV5VIwcG69jV6kVpnnrjlVeJz4teuzWVhX2BfVZh8i8lHi4s1_HHcW6WbQIO2P2zxec0aMkRpt0L1qPYhatoxweS_zp0SdzbVZRm-BgMmH5Ap8XzUfdH0CM48HB2JM9PFQ-3HQWqTCviVAcwtFc8aSgakIqx07nzXptt37u4QorfnV2UZUNWUTgqMEjRlRCijEyr039ObNMuBAWeBeEV5eGnd1qkgO63i4i2j-kHRpbCOV2eG-1tk8fXOXmRZfC6XUaSFZGds4hRc.1aoKXRn16GdxcB-LnI1KTx5dcwLzQIZhH_VZ_OWSHN8&dib_tag=se&keywords=insulated%2Blunch%2Bbag&qid=1743096899&sprefix=insulated%2Blunch%2Bbag%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1]]