Children: what do they eat?
May 31, 2016 10:43 AM   Subscribe

I need to pack a handful of transportable (jiggle-proof), nutritious, disposable, filling, tasty, exciting lunches that DO NOT require any sort of refrigeration, can be packed the night before (stowed in the fridge if needed), and will be able to hack it between 70-80 degrees for about 5 hours prior to being eaten. Difficulty level: no pb&j (historically unpopular with this group).

I know there are 10000000 places on the internet that have cool lunch ideas for children, but I'm asking you guys because I'm (haaaaa) trying to avoid overthinking this. I don't have time to sit and design hot dog octopuses on Friday night.

I'm leaning towards ham or turkey and cheese sandwiches--cheese will be ok, right? Is there some secret amazing child-food hack that I should know? (Like, for instance, if you're having an ice cream party for kids, you should always have gummy bears as a topping option.) Are sandwiches totally passe? What about side items? What's in with kids right now? (Carrot sticks? Apple sauce??)

These girls aren't very picky, I just want to make our little group field trip lunch nice and fun for them and make it one half step more special than what they'd take to eat at school.
posted by phunniemee to Food & Drink (28 answers total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: You say no refrigeration, but never underestimate the cooling power of a frozen juice box.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:45 AM on May 31, 2016 [11 favorites]


Response by poster: I'd like to revise my question for lunches that meet all the requirements but will get by with the cooling power of a frozen juice box!
posted by phunniemee at 10:48 AM on May 31, 2016 [13 favorites]


Best answer: Things that are still safe to eat after 5 hours unrefrigerated: whole fruit, dried fruit, raw vegetables, cheese, bread, crackers, summer sausage, nuts, granola bars, beef jerky, pasta, chips/pretzels/etc.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 10:48 AM on May 31, 2016 [4 favorites]


Warm Pasta salad. Hummus with carrots and pita chips or pita bread and olives and red pepper slices. Peanut Butter banana tortilla sandwiches. Cheese and crackers with apples.
posted by TestamentToGrace at 10:53 AM on May 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Pretty much any sandwich ingredient will be okay for 5 hours (with or without juice box ice packs, though it is nice when you can align a frozen item just to keep things cool), and if you're worried about mayo you can use Just Mayo, which is eggless, it's just oil.

Because of squishability and the inevitable severe bread-crust allergy, I think this is a great application for tortilla wraps or pinwheels (or carry them as wraps and cut them into pinwheels). I like mine with a cream cheese base, but there's also hummus, avocado/guac, cheez whiz (I'm not going to judge, it's for a picnic), etc.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:57 AM on May 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Avocado, black bean, carrot, cucumber, and hummus wraps.

Cheese and crackers and apples.

Split up a nice chocolate bar or two so each girl gets a square or two of good chocolate.

Frozen juice box.

Done.
posted by Liesl at 10:58 AM on May 31, 2016


Best answer: I recently had my first multi-day child experience in Phoenix, when the children were both going to school still, and both hate sandwiches. Lunches included frozen Go-gurts, frozen juice boxes, cut up fruit like strawberries, frozen applesauce cups, granola bars/protein bars, peanut butter filled pretzels, and leftover pizza. The children remained alive until their parents returned.
posted by answergrape at 10:58 AM on May 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Five hours without refrigeration is too long for most meats and cheeses and will be likely to result in food poisoning.

You can get individual size beef jerky packets that will keep fine. Also, Babybel cheeses, which come coated in wax, keep fine without refrigeration as long as the wax is unbroken. There are at least of couple of flavors available.

Hard cheeses, like Parmesan, also do better without refrigeration than other cheeses. Vegan options, with protein from beans, nuts or seeds, will also be safer.

You could look for those snack pack things where you have cheese and crackers and tomato paste and pepperoni so you the kids can make cold pizza. A frozen juice box should keep one of those safe. Toss in a fruit or sweet to round it out.
posted by Michele in California at 10:59 AM on May 31, 2016


Best answer: Is this for your girl scout troupe? Maybe go medieval on them with landjaeger sausages, whole fruit, hard cheese, and rye bread?

Teach them to eat it with just a knife.
posted by porpoise at 11:00 AM on May 31, 2016 [18 favorites]


Cheese and crackers and apples.

If you take apples, a nice touch is to pre slice them so they are finger food. Then rinse them with lemon water so they don't turn brown.
posted by Michele in California at 11:02 AM on May 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


My kids are super picky and have nut allergies. Things that they love and that do just great with little to no refrigeration:

- cheese sticks (low-moisture mozzarella)
- carrots
- strawberries
- black olives
- raisins
- graham crackers
posted by Doleful Creature at 11:09 AM on May 31, 2016


Five hours without refrigeration is too long for most meats and cheeses and will be likely to result in food poisoning.

I don't think this is true, at least for cheese; my kid's daycare and his preschool never refrigerated lunches and even ate leftovers as part of their afternoon snack. Maybe they've just gotten lucky though.
posted by JenMarie at 11:11 AM on May 31, 2016 [9 favorites]


Best answer: I'm thinking that you can also freeze Gogurts along with those juice boxes.

I don't know if you have Mt. Olive pickles where you are, but they offer single servings of pickles in plastic cups, lightweight and yummy. Pearls too for olives. Ditto Sabra Hummus and pretzels.

Ham and cheese sandwiches should be fine with frozen juice boxes and gogurts.

Ask around if anyone has gluten issues and accommodate if so. Ditto ham, or dairy.

But with all of that, you've got a little something for everyone.

You can also add small bags of chips and cookies, if so inclined.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:19 AM on May 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Assuming your kids have no dairy allergies I would go with frozen juice box, frozen gogurt yogurt tube, cheese, chips/popcorn/crackers/cookies, carrot/apple/fruit, and a pinwheel tortilla sandwich.

The chips/crackers/sandwich option can be the exciting part. Depending on your budget and preferences you can get something fun like little boxes of animal crackers or rainbow goldfish.

I would not get anything atypical. Food preferences at that age can really vary. Some kids would be fine with hummus and olives and some would freak out. If you want full bellies and happy campers, keep it simple.
posted by MadMadam at 11:50 AM on May 31, 2016 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Cinnamon toast made with brown sugar. Not particularly healthy but not horribly bad sugar content wise compared to a lot of prepackaged fruit cups, yogurt or juice boxes.

Hard boiled eggs left in the shell.

Baby carrots or white mushrooms paired with either single serving salad dressings or humus.

My daughter loves beef jerky and cheese. If this is for something like a girl scout troop beef jerky is really easy to make and keeps a long time especially if frozen after preparation so it could be a fun group activity. Fruit leathers/roll-ups can also be made with a dehydrator with way less sugar and more fiber than store versions.
posted by Mitheral at 11:56 AM on May 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Foodsafety.gov says a frozen juice box or similar-sized ice pack in an insulated bag or box is a sufficient cold source to keep lunchbox perishables safe until lunchtime
posted by Lyn Never at 12:01 PM on May 31, 2016 [9 favorites]


Americans are, in general, paranoid about food safety. Cheeses and cured meats are the kind of food that were created in order to keep for a long time before refrigeration. A properly cured dry ham can be left on a stand at room temperature for months (cover it or keep it in a cabinet to keep dust and vermin off it, though). My go-to lunch when I'm hiking, on a bike tour, etc. is to buy some hard cheese or salami, a loaf of bread, and some fruit and vegetables. Would your group be OK with a DIY lunch? Are they old enough to safely use a sharp knife to cut things up?

Canned food is also a possibility, but then you have to dispose of the jar or can. I like pâtés and terrines when I can get them, but I suspect that many if not most American kids would consider them gross.
posted by brianogilvie at 12:03 PM on May 31, 2016 [10 favorites]


Maximum fruit ease is provided by bringing SMALL apples ( Trader Joes usually sells these) and clementines.
posted by bq at 12:47 PM on May 31, 2016


Best answer: Here's my 11-yr old son's favorite easy-to-pack, no-sandwich, no-fridge-during-the-day lunch:

- P3 Pack (cubed deli meat, cubed cheese, and nuts) - you can get these premade in the pre-packed cold deli part of the supermarket, or you can buy a thick slice of deli meat, cheese, and mixed nuts and build your own P3s in baggies or small tupperware. I have also occasionally made these with leftover dinner meat, if we had ham or chicken.
- whole apple
- chewy granola bar with a little chocolate - for example, Clif Kid Z Bars
- frozen Go-Gurt tube
- small Gatorade, water, or juice box (can also be frozen if the field trip weather is very hot)
- finger-food cold veggies, such as baby carrots, celery sticks, bell pepper slices, pickles
- optional: small bag of chips, cookies, fruit gummies, or other small treat.

All is refrigerated the night before, and then tossed into a lunch bag in the morning. The frozen Go-Gurt helps keep everything else cool until lunchtime.

Also, this combo can be as budget-friendly, or convenience-friendly, or organic-friendly as you like.
posted by Ardea alba at 12:48 PM on May 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


A good tip for kids is give them healthy things like veggies, nuts, pretzels, and fruit as snacks during the event. If you want to give them a special sugary treat, save it for the very end of the day, to avoid the sugar highs and crashes.

Also, recognize that novelty makes snacks taste better, so don't show them all the snacks at once- present each snack only when it's time to eat that snack. That makes it much more appetizing and fun to eat.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 12:58 PM on May 31, 2016 [2 favorites]


I grew up in the Midwest and I like jello. I re-use the single-serve cups from applesauce, but paper cups work well. Jello +mandarin oranges/ pears/ peaches. The jello will get a bit soft, but I like it that way.

granola

pickles (in ziplock bag) incl other pickled veg, like carrots, cauliflower

cheese should be fine at cool temps

rice cakes

cut up veg & ranch dressing - you might be able to find single-serving packs

make small muffins - cornbread and blueberry is a nice combo
posted by theora55 at 1:16 PM on May 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


I loved tomato-cheese-lettuce sandwiches; the potential for soggy bread was solved by putting the sliced tomatoes in a separate bag.

Hard boiled eggs should be pre-peeled, and they should come with a tiny neatly folded tinfoil packet of salt...

Along with freezing juice boxes, you can also freeze any kind of yoghurt, and -- I'm embarrassed to know this -- those cheap pudding things are delicious frozen. Most kids have at least one pre-packaged bit of garbage in their lunches, so don't feel bad about throwing in some junk.

Cheese predates refrigeration by a...a very long time; I don't see any suggestions here that would NEED a frozen juice box. I can speak with some authority on the durability of cheese now: I got a little drunk a while ago and made a sandwich, and put the cheese away in a place that was not the fridge. It was a great mystery for a week. The cheese was a very large block of very good cheddar that was tightly sealed everywhere except for at one end. When I found it a week later, there was a little mould on the unwrapped end; everything else looked fine. I hacked off the end and wrapped it and tossed it in the fridge, thinking I would cook it into mac and cheese or something. I got curious and tried it. I had a second block of the same cheddar. I could not tell the difference between the out-of-the-fridge-for-a-week cheese and the, er, properly stored cheese. Well-wrapped cheddar is going to be my new "I need a snack I can eat in 24h" food.
posted by kmennie at 2:01 PM on May 31, 2016 [1 favorite]


Cheese is fine under those conditions. I do not think lunch meat would be, and would not be ok with someone serving 5 hours unrefrigerated turkey to my kid, especially if it's been in a warm car.

Any variation of cheese + crackers; cheese + tortilla; string cheese, would all be fine. Fruit is fine - apples, grapes, clementines, all fine. Kids love grapes. Broken up into little bunches, easy and perfect finger food.

Do you really want to get the Fave Parent award? Nutella comes in single-serving containers; I think with pretzels or something. Graham crackers would be fun too. Or tortillas. Any of those are great avenues for nutella.
posted by fingersandtoes at 3:19 PM on May 31, 2016 [2 favorites]


At Whole Foods (here on the east coast) they sell individually wrapped chocolate crepes that are shelf-stable. (link) My kid is thrilled when I bring them along as a snack.
posted by xo at 4:28 PM on May 31, 2016


We grill chicken and cube it, then mix it with grape halves and rice pilaf. (Plus also a little sauce of olive oil, lemon juice, coarse mustard and...worcestershire sauce?) It's great warm or cold, and all four of my kids will eat it in either state.

Another vote for pieces of cheese and deli meat (protein!!), with a carb like a tortilla or crackers. Unless you're hiking in Death Valley, it'll be fine. Also, an apple.

Homemade granola is a nice snack, but protein is a meal.
posted by wenestvedt at 7:30 PM on May 31, 2016


Some of this depends on the age/ social class of the kids, but in my opinion it's all about the presentation and novelty factor- cutting the sandwich in 4ths so they are little triangles instead of squares (possibly making a few different options for kids to choose from), putting in fun napkins, getting an exotic brand of juice box(when I was a kid Capri Sun's were the juice boxes rich kids got- they now have a 100% juice option of Capri Sun). I would add in a variety of snack sized items- you can get two packs of oreos, or some other less junk food cookies.
posted by momochan at 8:40 PM on May 31, 2016


Those little tubes of yogurt can also be frozen, and they're actually pretty good slushy if they don't thaw out completely beforehand.

One step more special than what they'd bring to school: I'd go to the grocery store aisle with granola bars and get the individually wrapped packages of whatever appeals--there's cookies and crackers and pretzels with those awful cheese dips in mine, and my kid would LOVE his own tiny special package of those things.
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:23 AM on June 1, 2016


Response by poster: Lunches are (nearly--putting the frozen things in tomorrow morning) packed! You guys had great suggestions. Here's what I went with:

-frozen applesauce
-frozen juicebox
-frozen gogurt
-cubed cheese
-cubed ham + roast chicken
-cherry tomatoes
-cute tiny pickles
-bread
-a couple fun size kit-kats (courtesy of the candy bowl at work)

My co-leader will also be bringing fresh fruit and pretzels. They should have plenty to eat and choose from and lots of protein to keep them going.

This all packs tightly (so I can nestle the perishablest stuff right up against the frozen items) and neatly into a disposable plastic container along with napkins, a few toothpicks (for the cubes), a wee little spoon, and a salt packet. Which itself packs neatly into a little sling backpack along with another juicebox, a water bottle, and a granola bar, for them to carry with them tomorrow. Success!
posted by phunniemee at 6:17 PM on June 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


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