Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Sack Lunch Ideas: Keeping it Cool

Jello Pudding CupsFor this week's tip on making a better sack lunch you have probably already heard about the easy little trick of freezing a juice box overnight to include as a drinkable ice pack in the lunch. But let's just take this one step further shall we?

You can freeze all sorts of things to be edible ice packs: pudding cups, fruDel Monte Fruit Cupsit cups, Jello cups, yogurts or cups of applesauce. Things with a high sugar content won't freeze as thoroughly as water will and smaller containers thaw more quickly than a large juice box so you don't run the risk of having your edible ice pack still frozen come lunchtime. Having to thaw your dessert tends to guarantee that you'll eat it last--an added bonus.

One word of caution however, because these frozen items will sweat as they thaw you'll need to include them in a plastic bag to catch all the water. I learned that lesson after complaints of soggy sandwiches. Learn from my mistakes I beg you.

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13 comments:

Anonymous said...

i never thought to freeze pudding. although as i think of it, veganlunchbox used to freeze mushed up bananas as a "pudding" or soy yogurt...great idea! thanks!

Deb said...

Oh I never even thought of freezing food items instead of using freezer packs! I'm too new at this whole lunch thing... I'll have to try that! :)

Anonymous said...

Great tip! Thanks!

Jenny said...

great ideas I never thought of! :)

Lisa said...

Great idea, thanks!

Anonymous said...

How long do you freeze the juice boxes for? Do they freeze solid? Would it really thaw by lunch time? My kindergartner eats at lunch at 11:15am.

Thanks!

Scribbit said...

If they have an early lunch I'd suggest using smaller juice boxes, keeping them in the fridge then throwing them in the freezer as soon as you're up in the morning and with an hour or two to chill in the freezer they'll be pretty good and cold if you're worried about them thawing in time.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this great tip! Will definitely be giving this one a try!

Amy said...

I never had thought to freeze my pudding containers. Those are some wonderful ideas!

Daisy said...

I've done that on summer road trips, too. A couple of frozen godies on the ends of a small cooler keep the car treats cool.

Patois42 said...

I hadn't considered freezing the yogurt. The kids love it, but I'm always afraid it'll be too food-borne-illness inducing by lunch time. Great advice. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Ooooo great idea! I have been trying to figure out how we can take more healthy things for lunches ... freeze it!

Cheri said...

That is just terrific! Thanks for sharing!