How To Prep & Pack Hot Lunches For School or Work

Happy New Year 2018! For us it has been a week of back to school since the holidays.

If the new year for you is starting with requests for hot lunches, this post might stir your imagination.
Nikolai was always a sandwich loving kid and now he tells me that he only wants hot lunches from now on!
His latest favorites are jambalaya, red beans or black beans and rice, gumbo and chicken curry.

Here is how I prep in the mornings when I need to send him a hot meal:

• First I fill his thermos with boiling water, close the lid, place it on the counter with the lid on and let it sit for 5 minutes or more while I'm assembling his side dishes such as fruits, veggies and a little snack. 
• Then I pour out the hot water and fill the thermos with the hot food. 
• Secure lid tight and it's ready to go. 
• Don't forget to add a fork or spoon into your kids lunchbag.

Insulated containers are great for leftovers which are mainly dinner foods! We do soup, tortellini, pasta, gyoza, chicken nuggets, chili, meatballs, fried rice, fried noodles, mac & cheese, pizza (cut to fit), Jambalaya and more. I'll also have to try breakfast for lunch such as pancakes and sausages soon.

We have several insulated jars which we love, and rotate their use quite often. They are our Lunchbots Thermal, Thermos stainless steel insulated jar and U Konserve insulated food jar. We also still have our Thermos Foogo and Thermos Funtainer which Nikolai used quite often when he was younger, and we still used them occasionally. These insulated containers are perfect for such a mission.

Here are just a few hot lunches of which I managed to take pictures. I always include sides which are fruits, veggies and snacks in another container as shown in the first picture. Actually, the foods looked better than in these photos since I had to quickly snap the photos. The whole idea is for the foods to be hot, and every moment I spend taking the photo is a moment the food is cooling.

Leftover jambalaya is in the insulated container. I heated the Jambalaya in a microwave safe plate and transferred it to his preheated insulated container. Sides are cucumber slices, orange slices, strawberries and Annie's organic crackers in our Lunchbots quad.

Chicken nuggets from the freezer, heated them in a microwave safe dish and transferred them to his preheated insulated container for lunch.

Macaroni and cheese are a favorite of many. We sometimes use alternate varieties of cheese such as Gouda or Asiago if we make it from scratch. I made Annie's Mac & Cheese in the morning, chopped up some leftover ham, tossed it in the pot and when it was hot I quickly transferred it to the preheated container.

The evening before I sent this lunch we had some steak and broccoli cheese rice which he liked so much that he requested it for lunch the following day.

These are just a few examples of the possibilities for getting the new year warmed up. I'm sure you all have some tasty ideas for some nice hot lunches for your family. Remember, the same idea can work for your own lunch especially if you don't have convenient access to a microwave at lunchtime.

Let's Stay Connected!
This post contains affiliate links.