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  1. #1
    twowhat? is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Default How do you manage hot/cold lunches?

    DDs have been interested in bringing hot lunches in their thermoses and I've just been jamming them into their planetbox lunch bags (not ideal) along with an ice pack for their yogurt, cheese, fruit, etc. But I don't think it's working - the ice pack cools the thermos down so that the food is only lukewarm by lunchtime. How do you pack lunches where you have both a hot a cold component? Or do you just not? I almost feel like I need to get different lunch bags for hot lunches vs. planetbox lunches...

  2. #2
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    Default How do you manage hot/cold lunches?

    Generally I don't do hit and cold together. Sometimes I will send a yogurt stick (frozen) with a small tubular ice pack, wrapped together in a paper towel and put as far away as possible from the thermos. We use PBK retro lunch boxes though. Inside is usually a lunch bot with silicone muffin cups to make it "bento."

    ETA: I don't think my kids care if the food is luke warm. Do you preheat your thermos with boiling water for 15 min?
    DD (3/06)
    DS1 (7/09)
    DS2 (8/13)

  3. #3
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    I don't think it's the ice pack that's cooling the thermos down; I think it's the thermos not keeping the food warm enough until lunchtime. I fill the thermos with hot water before putting the food warm which helps a bit. Also DS2 is fine with eating lukewarm food so he's never complained about the temperature.
    Mommy to 2 DS's (2003 and 2007)

  4. #4
    twowhat? is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by ett View Post
    I don't think it's the ice pack that's cooling the thermos down; I think it's the thermos not keeping the food warm enough until lunchtime. I fill the thermos with hot water before putting the food warm which helps a bit. Also DS2 is fine with eating lukewarm food so he's never complained about the temperature.
    I do that too - really hot (boiling) water, with lid on, for 15 minutes...then I microwave the food until hot, dump out the hot water, add the food, then put the lid on...

  5. #5
    okinawama is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by twowhat? View Post
    I do that too - really hot (boiling) water, with lid on, for 15 minutes...then I microwave the food until hot, dump out the hot water, add the food, then put the lid on...
    This is what we do as well, and DS says that his food is still warm at lunch time (however, he does eat pretty early...11am).

  6. #6
    Mikey0709 is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    My keurig gets used just as much for water to warm thermos's as it does to make coffee! We also don't do hot/cold together.

  7. #7
    gatorsmom is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    My kids also say the cold pack cools down the thermos. They really like the food in the thermos to stay hot and they claim it does when there is nothing cold in the lunch sack. I too prep it in the morning by pouring boiling water in the base while I warming up the food.
    " I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." Mahatma Gandhi

    "This is the ultimate weakness of violence: It multiplies evil and violence in the universe. It doesn't solve any problems." Martin Luther King, Jr.

  8. #8
    ray7694 is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
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    Curious what you pack for hot

  9. #9
    Momit is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    I send hot stuff with DS pretty frequently. Leftovers, pasta, soup, meatballs. I also heat the Funtainer with boiling water and microwave the food until it's super hot before putting it in. Usually I will send an applesauce pouch, crackers or piece of fruit with it - I try not to do something that needs to be chilled in the same lunch.
    DS age 9

  10. #10
    Kindra178 is offline Red Diamond level (10,000+ posts)
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    We switched to LE lunch boxes for this reason. Some days I send a Large Lunchbot and other days I will use a thermos.

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