Is there a lunch box

[DawnM]

that allows for fully hot food in one area (like in a thermos, full of something hot) AND can keep food cold with an ice pack on the other side?

 

Would most multiple compartment lunch boxes do this?

 

Next year my youngest is going to a B&M school.  He says he wants to NOT take sandwiches.  He wants to take leftovers in a thermos AND some cold items like fruit and veggies.

 

Just curious how to make this happen.

 

 

 

 

[TammyS]

Well, fruit and veggies don't need to be really cold.  I'd probably just stick them in a side compartment of his backpack. 

 

He may find that no thermos or insulator in the world is going to keep his leftovers properly hot and he's going to be eating warmish food which I personally find very off putting. 

[Laura Corin]

Ask about school regulations on thermos.  Some schools aren't keen because of the possibity of shattered glass getting into food.

 

Otherwise, I'd agree with PP and not bother to refrigerate the fruit/veg.

[Annie G]

What kind of leftovers would be going into the thermos? If it's something that will fill the container, like soup or chili, or spaghetti with sauce, it would probably stay hot. But if it's something that will leave a good bit of air in the thermos, like leftover chicken, it's not going to stay warm enough. 

 

What does he eat for lunch now?  Is there a way to spend some time this summer transitioning him to cold lunches for at least half the time? Bento style lunches are definitely beyond sandwiches but way less work than packing a lunch that needs to be half hot/half cold. 

 

When we use a thermos container, I fill it with boiling water and let it sit while I heat the food to go inside it. Then I pour out the water, add the food, and put the top on.  It's more work than it might sound...boiling water, cleaning the container that you heated the food in...

 

A lunch made from leftovers and then adding veggies and fruit would be awesome.  Kudos to him for wanting something better than a sandwich and a Little Debbie. 

[DawnM]

Ask about school regulations on thermos.  Some schools aren't keen because of the possibity of shattered glass getting into food.

 

Otherwise, I'd agree with PP and not bother to refrigerate the fruit/veg.

 

I am not looking at any with glass.

[DawnM]

What kind of leftovers would be going into the thermos? If it's something that will fill the container, like soup or chili, or spaghetti with sauce, it would probably stay hot. But if it's something that will leave a good bit of air in the thermos, like leftover chicken, it's not going to stay warm enough. 

 

What does he eat for lunch now?  Is there a way to spend some time this summer transitioning him to cold lunches for at least half the time? Bento style lunches are definitely beyond sandwiches but way less work than packing a lunch that needs to be half hot/half cold. 

 

When we use a thermos container, I fill it with boiling water and let it sit while I heat the food to go inside it. Then I pour out the water, add the food, and put the top on.  It's more work than it might sound...boiling water, cleaning the container that you heated the food in...

 

A lunch made from leftovers and then adding veggies and fruit would be awesome.  Kudos to him for wanting something better than a sandwich and a Little Debbie. 

 

 

He eats leftovers from last night, headed up.  Every day.  Baked potatoes with cheese, chicken and rice, noodles and sauce, etc.....

 

He does not like sandwiches and rarely eats cold food as his main dish.  

 

I can tell him to suck it up, but  he is just asking me if there is a way he can keep taking leftovers instead, so I am asking about it.

 

I won't even be home in the morning to help him.  He will have to do it all himself.   He is quite capable though and even cooks dinner for us on occasion.

 

He might be more ok with something cold that isn't a sandwich, he will really just need to decide.

 

Oldest plans to take PB&J every single day!  He will be switching schools.  Current school is peanut free and he has not been happy about it.  New school is NOT nut free and allows all nuts to be brought in.

[Annie G]

The baked potato will be hard to keep hot in a thermos. The chicken and rice might be ok if it's moist enough. 

 

I hope I didn't come across as trying to say his request was unreasonable or that he should suck it up.  It's just that keeping something hot enough to be safe to eat a few hours later isn't always easy, and you don't want him to eat room temp food or get sick.  

 

Maybe get a thermos and let him practice a little this summer- heat those leftovers when he gets up and then see if they are hot enough at lunchtime.  Have him measure how much food he eats heated up and find a thermos that will work for that. We had two sizes because if the thermos is only half full it cools off before lunch.  

 

For a few years we were out of the house for four meals a week and almost always packed our meals instead of eating takeout. It took a while to figure out what packs well and what doesn't. 

[almondbutterandjelly]

Many schools have microwaves in the lunchroom.  Can he bring the food cold in gladware and heat it up in the microwave in the lunchroom?  That seems like it would be the best option, food safety-wise.

[nd293]

We have very hot summers and the kids manage fine with fruit that isn't chilled. Salad might need more chilling. Most of the time dd will just have leftovers at room temperature. If she takes soup then she uses a thermos - as with most nowadays it's metal, not glass lined. Her preferred lunch at the moment is either a pasta salad (pesto or tomato and garlic or butternut and goats cheese) or chana masala (chickpea curry) and a chapati. We make 3-4 days at a time and they go from the fridge straight into her school bag, she doesn't worry about cooling or heating. In addition she takes a piece of fruit. And sometimes a cookie :-)

 

I don't think you'll find a lunch box that does everything you want. If it were me I'd opt for an insulated lunch bag that can take a cooler brick and a lunch box, and either keep the thermos separate or put it in the same insulated bag but not touching the cooler brick. You also get bowl shaped thermos containers. This might serve him better than a typical wide mouthed thermos, but we had mixed results keeping food hot with the one we had (it was heated in the microwave before sealing). A speciality kitchen shop should have a few options.

[73349]

Zojirushi makes stacking ones like that. Here's an example.

[Cinder]

What kind of leftovers would be going into the thermos? If it's something that will fill the container, like soup or chili, or spaghetti with sauce, it would probably stay hot. But if it's something that will leave a good bit of air in the thermos, like leftover chicken, it's not going to stay warm enough. 

 

This was our experience as well. Ds1 experimented for a bit with thermos lunches and learned that the rice (for chili or soup) and spaghetti noodles should go in on top of the sauce. Less soggy that way. But whenever he tried non-soup/sauce foods they didn't stay warm.

 

Ds2 found the thermos lunches too much bother. His school has microwaves available but his social time was worth more than standing in line for 20 minutes waiting to warm his lunch. The school did crack down on people bringing in frozen dinners and hogging the microwaves for over 5 minutes, though. Ds2, who also doesn't care for sandwiches and prefers leftovers for lunch, resigned himself to taking sandwiches because it was just easier. But he only ate lunch at school 3 days/wk. (It's a University Model School, so their schedule is different than typical school schedules.)

 

Perhaps something as simple as tucking a piece of  thick cardboard between the hot and cold sides of an insulated lunch bag would work?

 

I hope you find something that works for him. To offset the sandwiches, I'd bring ds2 fast food or a big salad twice a month on Fridays as a special treat. :thumbup1:

[kewb]

The akimbo lunchbox may meet your needs. 

 

www.akimbolunchboxes.com

[arnold]

Pre warm the thermos with boiling water before you put the leftovers inside; dump the water out and put the food in......it will be fine.  I do it all the time.

[DawnM]

Zojirushi makes stacking ones like that. Here's an example.

 

 

He actually has that exact one and honestly, it didn't work that well.  For one thing, it was messy.  One container of topping and one of rice, and no room to mix them.  

 

It didn't stay that hot at all.  And anything cool in there was warm or actually semi-cooked by lunch.  Top container with cucumbers were hot/warm and inedible.

 

I suppose he could mix the rice and meat and just put it in two containers already mixed.  

 

I think he wants something smaller so he can take other stuff on the side.

 

But he can try again.

[DawnM]

Here's an interesting idea:  http://www.amazon.com/PackIt-Freezable-Lunch-Bag-Polka/dp/B0049CVWCK  The whole thing goes in the freezer. 

 

 

How would  you keep the hot stuff hot while keeping the cold stuff cool?

 

And, honestly, knowing us, we will forget to put it in the freezer.   I have 3 ice packs because inevitably, I forget to put it in the freezer.  In fact, that is just with ONE kids.  I plan to have more for next year.

[DawnM]

The akimbo lunchbox may meet your needs. 

 

www.akimbolunchboxes.com

 

 

I don't think that has a hot area, it looks like it is all cold, it just separates foods.

[DawnM]

Many schools have microwaves in the lunchroom.  Can he bring the food cold in gladware and heat it up in the microwave in the lunchroom?  That seems like it would be the best option, food safety-wise.

 

 

I have no idea if his does.  I guess we will find out.

[AK_Mom4]

I'm with your son.  I never ate sandwiches back in the dark ages when everyone took their lunches to school.   I would eat breakfast, a good sized snack at lunch time and then heat up leftovers to eat when I got home at 3pm.  I was an active kid/teen - it totally didn't ruin my dinner to eat later.

 

For my big snack at lunch time, I would eat things like cheese and crackers, fruit, muffin, veggies.  All things I could stand to eat at room temperature.  Occasionally I would take a thermos of soup, but that was the exception because it was messy to drink from the thermos and I never remembered a spoon.

 

Government cheese and pilot bread.  Brings back the memories for sure!

[vonfirmath]

The baked potato will be hard to keep hot in a thermos. The chicken and rice might be ok if it's moist enough. 

 

I hope I didn't come across as trying to say his request was unreasonable or that he should suck it up.  It's just that keeping something hot enough to be safe to eat a few hours later isn't always easy, and you don't want him to eat room temp food or get sick.  

 

Maybe get a thermos and let him practice a little this summer- heat those leftovers when he gets up and then see if they are hot enough at lunchtime.  Have him measure how much food he eats heated up and find a thermos that will work for that. We had two sizes because if the thermos is only half full it cools off before lunch.  

 

For a few years we were out of the house for four meals a week and almost always packed our meals instead of eating takeout. It took a while to figure out what packs well and what doesn't. 

 

Another thing to look at is "What time is lunch time"  This year, BOTH my kids were eating lunch at 10:45a. 

[mathnerd]

When I pack lunch, I put the hot food in a thermos http://www.thermos.com/products/vacuum-insulated-black-trim-10-oz-food-jar.aspx (I have it in a couple of sizes) and the other foods like fruits, crackers, cheese etc in one of these http://www.lunchbots.com/products/ and put both the containers inside this:  http://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Zone-Performance-Expandable-Capacity/dp/B00XQ2IOJ8

 

This set up keeps hot food hot, the cold food cold and has room for an icepack for yoghurt, smoothies etc. This has worked very well in our 100 degrees plus summers as well.

I usually send hot pasta, soups, mac and cheese, grilled paninis, pizza slices, quesadillas etc for lunch.

Edited May 27, 2016 by mathnerd

[Annie G]

Another thing to look at is "What time is lunch time"  This year, BOTH my kids were eating lunch at 10:45a. 

 

That would be great for Thermos lunches!  I bet your kids arrive home ready for a snack.