Packed lunches - what won't go off?!

[Loulou000]

My DD just started reception this week and has to take packed lunches. So far she's had cheese sandwich every day. I was going to do ham but it will sit out in a warm classroom all morning. Surely that can't be good? So that leaves, er, cheese. And marmite. I have lots of other nice bits to go with the sandwich, it's just the actual sandwich. Do you send meat or fish and hope for the best?

We freeze juice boxes or yogurt tubes and put them into the insulated lunchboxes to keep everything cool then you can use ham or whatever.

I pop a mini cool pack in my DDs insulated lunchbag, seems to do the trick until lunchtime. Other people freeze tube yogurts, put those in and then they are defrosted by lunchtime and keep the rest of the food cool.

I bought some little freezer cool pouches designed for lunch bags from the supermarket. They only contain water so not harmful if leak.

Genius! Right now she just has a plastic box. But if I get an insulated bag and a freezer block she can take anything! Thanks!

DH makes lunch the night before, including a drink bottle. Whole lot then chills in the fridge overnight, then into insulated bag in the morning.

But to be honest, I wouldn't worry about ham or anything else going off in a few hours. When the DC go on daytrips they are usually asked to take a 'disposable lunch' which basically means everything is wrapped in foil or clingfilm and bunged in a carrier bag. I haven't lost anyone to food poisoning yet, and neither has anyone else I know.

DD1 has just started taking one of these in her lunchbox as she wanted something warm for lunch and doesn't like school dinners. It has worked really well so far - she's only had it a week - but it does keep cold stuff cold as well.

Ham will be fine out of the fridge for a few hours. As will peanut butter, tuna, chicken, egg, prawns, hummous etc.

The only things that don't work as sandwich fillings in my 31 years experience of packed lunches are: banana and avocado. Because they both go brown. And even then they probably taste ok, I just can't eat them when they've gone brown.