Conference turris::cooks

    I've seen soft lunch boxes for sale that have a slot in the bottom for
    a blue ice.  This would keep things cold until lunchtime.  I can't
    remember where I saw them though.
    
    				Mary

    You can get those "blue ice" plastic pack things at Spag's for a very
    small fee, (about $.75 for the small ones) or at any other variety-type
    store.
    
    J.
    

    I am always amazed at this question.  You know best what your child
    will eat, This is not the time to try to introduce the child to new
    foods, one new experience at a time is is about all a preschooler can
    handle. My only advice would be to make sure that what ever it is, make
    sure the child can handle it by themselves.  Cut things in peices that
    can be eaisly handled. If your child eats peanut butter, there are
    several things it can be served with/on such as bread, crackers,
    celery, apples (dip apples in lemon juice and water first), bread sticks
    or any other firm food item the the child might like.  Cheese cut into
    cubes, fresh fruit, raw vegtables, none of these things need a lot of
    refrigeration. Avoid cold cuts and things with mayonaise.  

EASY!!

Freeze one of those boxes of juice the night before.
Put the box in with the lunch.  It will keep things cool and be
thawed(or at least mostly thawed) in time for lunch.
This way you can send almost anything.
Becky

    Terri:
    
    I don't have small children at home - but when I did they got the
    usual (peanut butter & jelly/marshmellow, tuna fish, egg salad,
    meatloaf, etc. etc. and lots of pickles, raw vegetables) and
    hostess cupcakes or twinkies on Yankee doodles (something like that).  
    Remember those things?  We were lucky in that the school they went to 
    had a refrigerator that the kids could put there lunch boxes in - 
    providing there names were on their lunch bags/boxes!  
    
    I did find a note in here that may be of some help to you -
    its #2139.
    
    Marilyn
    

    Ah, welcome to the world of lunches!
    
    My daughters preschool has asked us parents to please supply
    a "healthy" lunch.  Any sweets that are in the lunch box are
    there again when we pick her up.  (the school doesn't give
    them - feels the kids get to hyper)
    
    I always make lunch the night before, and like said in a note
    earlier, I put the juice box in the freezer.  I even put the
    lunch box in the fridge.
    
    I usually pack a fruit, veggies of some sort, a sandwich or
    hardboiled eggs and yes even yogurt.  So far nothing has come
    back  saying it went bad.
    
    Have fun, use your imagination!  The newest thing I added was
    the small cups of applesauce.  You thought I gave her $100
    she was so excited ...
    
    Karen
    
    

    Why can't you do meat sandwhiches??  Is you child allergic to them. 
    
    All during grammar school I took my lunch and continued to do so in
    high school because I didn't like their hot lunches.  Roast beef,
    tuna or egg salad, chicken, or bologna sandwhiches.  Never worried
    about refrigeration since they weren't out too long.  
    
    Oh, the old wives tale about mayonaise spoiling is just that.  People
    are more apt to get sick from the spoiled chicken or tuna than from
    the mayonaise because of they way mayonaise is made.  Has something
    to do with the vinegar, I think.
    
    Would recommend only 1/2 sandwhich though, or very small portions of
    anything else in order not to have wasted food.
    
    Linda
    

    Grapes, raisins, a piece of cheese pizza, small container of
    applesauce,
    jello cubes (made with extra gelatin are finger food), string cheese,
    home made cookies and fruit breads, corn chips, pretzels, cold meat is
    OK.
    
    Most schools that your child will attend won't refrigerate lunches.
    

    You can make MEAT sandwishes any time, believe me, I've made them for
    30 years without a single case of even getting close to spoilage! My
    three kids are lifing proof, the healthiest kids you could find and
    they have always eaten fresh food prepared by me, they never had baby
    food from jars but freshly cooked every time, they had had all kinds of
    vegies and meat (including chicken liver, for being so rich in iron) by
    the time they were 4 months old, at school ate everything I packed for
    them and up to now... there is not a type of food they do not like...
    When they refused to eat a certain food and said..."I don't like it,
    Mommy" I answered... I know dear, you don't have to like it, you have
    to eat it because is good for you... It worked like a charm! they now
    eat enything under the sun.
    Meat sandwish with mayonnaise is good, mayonnaise is acid (vinegar and
    lemon juice) and helps keep food in contact with it. Peanut
    butter/jelly is good too, Ham & cheese, tuna, cold cuts, omelettes,
    including stuffed with ham/cheese... the list could be endless, use
    your imagination, (peanut butter/banana was my daughter' favorite)
    (potato/ham omelette, my boys', who has a huge apetite), I like the
    best for last, plenty of soft cheese & quince preserve...Hummm
    
    

    My mother used to make a bunch of sandwiches at the beginning of the
    week and freeze them, usually mostly meatloaf sandwiches, and that's
    what we ate.  If the sandwich was taken out of the freezer in the
    morning before school, by lunch time it had just thawed out.  I used to
    like "party rye" sandwiches (small, very thinly sliced rye bread with
    caraway seeds), so sometimes I would also make a PB&J on the tiny rye
    bread.  And carrot sticks, of course!  We mostly made sandwiches with
    catsup and mustard on them; freezing them would probably make a mess if
    you include mayo or lettuce.
    
    I don't know why there couldn't be a refrigerator; even the day camps I
    went to as a kid had a refrigerator for lunches.
                                

    RE: .8 and .11
    
    Ditto!  I've been wondering what all the fuss and bother is about.  Are
    the schools exceptionally warm these days?  I took baloney or ham
    sandwiches all the time, interspersed with the usual PB&J.  I *never*
    got sick.  I bring lunches now, and sometimes forget to put them in the
    fridge, and I've never gotten sick.  And I've brought turkey and
    chicken!
    
    Mayonnaise will not spoil as quickly as most people believe.  As
    someone mentioned, the meat will go bad before the mayonnaise
    (especially is you use commercial mayo - I don't know anybody who makes
    homemade).  It may discolor and separate if it becomes very hot, but a
    couple of hours in a 68 degree classroom wouldn't do it.
    
    One of my nephew's favorite lunches (mine, too!) is cold pizza slices. 
    You might want to send cut up pizza pieces with your little one.
    
    There are so many preservatives added to our foods, the lunch won't go
    bad quickly (hell, we used to bring hard boiled eggs and they weren't
    refrigerated, either!).
    
    One note on those juice boxes, though.  I think they're an all around
    bad idea, and so do many teachers.  Little kids naturally clutch the
    sides of the box, shooting the juice up through the straw and making a
    mess.  Then this can become a game!!  And all that is if the kid is
    lucky enough to have been able to get the straw out of the cellophane
    and into the little hole in the box!  And there's nothing recyclable
    about them, making them an environmentally poor choice.  The paper is
    coated on the inside with foil and on the outside with plastic, and the
    straw and its covering are plastic.
    
    Susan

re: Mayo spoiling

I read a short article that said that mayo doesn't spoil quickly as
people think - something about the acidity of the vinegar was
mentioned. Homemade mayo is a concern, but people shouldn't worry so
much about store-bought stuff. If I remember correctly, the article
said inproper handling of the food that the mayo was added to is the
real problem. However, I think the this info was from the "mayo
lobby". I seem to remember there being some pamphlet you could send
for. From the John E. Cain company? 

The article might have been in the food section of yesterday's Boston
Globe. I'll try to find it tonight and enter it tomorrow.

I don't have to worry about mayo spoiling, 'cuz I don't like mayo.

As far as other things spoiling, I never put my lunch in the fridge.
There isn't enough room in the fridges around my office. I bring
everything from salad to chicken sandwiches to last night's dinner
leftovers (but no mayo).

Peanut butter, orange marmalade (or raspberry jam), and banana
sandwiches on sturdy bread (no wonder bread for me, thank you) are
great. Just a little - about 2 tsp - marmalade or jam. Smucker Simply
Fruit line is good. Makes a great take-out breakfast too.

I agree on the comments about juice boxes. They can be really messy
and are an environmental nightmare.

-Patti

    An Aside...
    
    The mayo substitute I use is drained soft tofu, whipped in blender with
    some dill and mustard, etc., to taste.  Not nearly the fat of mayo and
    no question of eggs.  Can be used the same as mayo as a spread, or in
    chicken and pasta salads.
    
    TW
    

    
    Hi Terri
    
    I don't have kids myself (yet), but I remember my sister preparing
    lunch for my niece when she was little...
    
    Now that the warmer weather is coming, have you thought about sending
    cold soup?  I mean, a cream like soup, like carrot cream soup, that
    tastes as well cold as hot?  You can send it in a Tupperware container
    and it won't spill.  It is a very healthy type of food and not
    difficult for your child to eat.  
    
    Maybe you can also use a Tupperware, or the like, glass (with lid) to
    put the juice of the juice boxes inside (at home) instead of sending
    the entire package. 
    
    Cherries are usually favorite among children (and adults...), and you
    just have to wash them at home before sending.  Melon or peaches sliced
    into little pieces, they will keep perfectly in a container until lunch
    if you arrange them in the morning. 
    
    Raw grinded carrots, I used to take them even to the University! Also,
    sandwiches that mix different kinds of cheese and fruit, such as sliced
    bananas, are firm favorites. 
    
    Another thing you can do is boil some fruit, such as apples and pears,
    in water with little or no sugar.  It won't spoil and it's healthy.
   
    If my memory serves me correctly for when Rita was little, kids
    usually prefer to eat items that are not too big.  Therefore, you
    can make two or three small sandwiches instead of a big one, varying
    the fillings of each one.  Make it a surprise everyday.
    
    Hope these ideas help!
    Eduarda