Mom of 3 and Full time student needs help!!

Arwen1218

Hi everyone!! So I’m a mother iof an autistic 19 1/2 yr old old freshman in college, an 18 yr old active senior in HS, and a rambunctious 3 1/2 yr old. Plus I’m a full time music major who commutes via train from the suburbs to downtown Denver 4 days a week for school 6 hours a day. And I am married...

I am having a very hard time coming up with quick and easy yet healthy and portable food options for me to bring with me to school. I don’t have much storage room in my backpack and bc I also carry an instrument I can’t carry a lunch bag so I need food storage that does not need refrigeration and can keep for up to 5 hours in Denver weather.

Any suggestions at all would be helpful. I’m in need of snack ideas and lunch ideas... I eat breakfast at home.

evileen99

Protein bars, granola bars, fruit, cut up vegetables. Even sandwiches would be fine; I grew up in the era of uninsulated lunch boxes and ate a cheese sandwich made with mayo for lunch every day for years (and I lived in the desert, so warmer temps) without any problems

AnnPT77

How about one of those insulated wide-mouth food bottles (Thermos tall-bowl type thing) if you want to keep a particular food hot or cold? Would that fit?

Another option, if you have access to a hot water tap or microwave, is dry or dehydrated foods that either rehydrate or cook quickly, like hearty soup cups, oatmeal, etc. There are also dehydrated foods that just require water if you're OK eating them cold. I'd be OK with rehydrated dry refried beans on a tortilla with some weather-tolerant veggies, or as a veggie dip, for example. The shelf-stable microwaveable entree packets are another option - I've eaten them straight from the packet.

If there's a microwave, frozen food (in a non-leaky container) will keep fine unrefrigerated for hours. Frozen fruit with plain Greek yogurt in a tight container will be fine for a few hours, too.

Of course, there's always fruit, veggies, canned foods (consider whether some of the grain/protein/veggie canned or packet combos can be eaten at room temp like a salad - I've done that, too).

RodaRose

Fruit, Nuts.
2 eight ounce thermoses for yogurt or soup or beans or whatever you saved from dinner the night before.