So I hate to start a new thread my third day on the boards without having gotten the opportunity to participate in any others, but a perplexing dilemma has arisen.

I have to go on a full day field trip with my students. I have to pack my own "completely disposable" lunch, meaning no coolers. What in the heck do I bring? I'm in the first week of phase one. I do not want to eat mixed nuts for lunch.

Thanks for any ideas!

Do you like tuna? If so, you can get one of those tuna salad kits and ditch the crackers. I think they also have ones for chicken salad. Veggies like broccoli keep well without being cold. I'm not sure if regular hummus needs to be refrigerated, but I know they also make hummus for backpacking that isn't bad and can be mixed on the spot with water. You can also put together a makeshift disposable cooler if necessary- ziploc bag full of ice with a smaller ziploc of whatever needs to be refrigerated inside of the ice bag. Not perfectm but would work in a pinch. Good luck!


And welcome!! Feel free to start as many posts as you like!

I was going to suggest what SouthLake said. Make a disposable cooler. Pack a ziplock bag with ice- I also wrap some napkins around it so it doesn't get everything wet. Then I'd pack a salad and some chicken breast. For the salad put the dressing in a mini ziplock back to pour out when you need it. When I make salads for work I usually get a large tupperware and fill it with salad greens and other dry ingrediants. Then if I cut up tomato I put it in a ziplock, any wet items I put in seperate bags then combine when I need them.

They also have those compartment tupperwares. I will put my chicken on one side and then the salad on the other

When I was at school disposable lunches meant to aluminum foil or plastic wrap either- SBSuz is that what this means too?

You could pack a salad in an old yogourt container and then recycle it. If you are the teacher, do you have a big purse/knapsack? You could put your lunch in there. Things like sliced cuke or peppers keep well in a ziplock, + other ideas, cheese string next to a little baggie full of ice, nuts, etc.

Individual size canned tuna. I'd also bring some veggies. Things like celery, cherry tomatoes, stuff that doesn't need to be kept really cold.

Then again, I'd probably bring a bag with an ice pack and just carry it in a really big purse!

Thanks for all the suggestions! I did end up packing an ice pack with some black bean & avocado salad and had a big bag ready to go (I wasn't home until 11 last night and didn't get a chance to stop for tuna!). However, I was only going as a "back up", so they ended up not needing me. Whew! However, now I'm at school and there's cake in both lounges!

Teacher lounges are evil, evil places.

I've convinced myself not to eat anything there after reading multiple news stories about students leaving treats laced with hash, pot, poison, etc in the teacher lounges. I teach at a large high school, and there are always students in and out of the lounge in the main office. That's the place where people leave the extra food for the human disposals.

Teacher's lounges can be really scarey food wise!!

We had teacher appreciation this week and boy, was there a lot of no-no's.
Friday was strawberry shortcake day. I was looking around at everyone eating the cake as I was chowing down on my daily huge salad. I was the only one in the room who was NOT eating it and they only one who was NOT overweight. Totally worth the last 3 years.

Fortunately we don't have to worry about anything in our lounges being laced with anything, but we still get a LOT of junk food. The day I was supposed to be on the field trip and we had two cakes? We had a meeting after school and parents brought "snacks"... chocolate covered crispy creams, brownies, mostly sweet stuff. The lone veggie tray disappeared right away!

Got another trip coming up, this time to an amusement park with the kids. Heading to their website now to see if they have food listed!

Suz