That is correct you cannot have most food room temp for 5+ hours
- insulated lunch bag or small cooler
- or wide mouth thermos reheat food and add to thermos in the morning
- barely lentil veg salad with chopped nuts and vinaigrette you can prep ahead and bring in the insulated lunch bag
- extra basic bring two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with an apple and you’ll be close to 1k cal
Solve both problems: freeze your mealprep. Then you’re not eating food that’s been slowly decomposing for 5 or 6 days. And if you take frozen food out before you leave for work and it will defrost by lunch.
Did think of that but didn’t think it would defrost in time. Thinking of doing chicken and rice with a peanut sauce, could I freeze them all and then take them out the night before and put them in the fridge until I leave for work?
That sounds like a good plan. But you’ll have to experiment. If you take a car to work, it’s so nice to have a cooler in it..you just put the ice packs and lunch in when you go to work. Referee the ice pack at night. This way you can also have fruit or cold drinks. Even when I rode my bike I strapped a kids lunch back with freezer pack on my handlebars.
Alternate route, and I know it’s not as “meal prep” but you could bring one of those instant rice in bags and pour it into your container. My concerns would be quality not safety for that, not sure how they taste when they haven’t been microwaved.
Also are potatoes an option? Not sure how they are for room temp. Just spitballing.
Otherwise I agree with the ice packs.
I work from the van too and been meal preparing rice meals for 5 years. I take them from the fridge at 9am when I leave for work and eat around 3/4pm and have never had a problem.
Quinoa is an option, but like pasta needs to be refrigerated after no more than two hours. Go with the cooler and freezer packs everybody's suggesting.
Rice just by itself last for 2 days outside of the refrigerator if you cook it with just water.
It's the stuff you add to it that doesn't last 2 hours.
Freeze some water bottles and pack them in with your lunch. You don't have to drink them just freeze them every day and pack them with your lunch. Or drink them either way. They will keep your lunch cold until you're ready to eat it. Assume you store your lunch in a cooler not just a lunch box...
That's the thing with rice poisoning. It's bad, but rare, so not many people know about it. It forms bacteria very quickly. It's from leaving the rice at room temperature too long. (I believe you can also get it from undercooked rice too.)
Room temp meaning you left it out for a day? I’ve never let rice sit for more than 40 minutes before it hits the fridge before, same as any other food so I’m just wondering when it happens
Icepack in a cooler style lunch box
Works every day.
Ice pack in an insulated bag?!
That is correct you cannot have most food room temp for 5+ hours - insulated lunch bag or small cooler - or wide mouth thermos reheat food and add to thermos in the morning - barely lentil veg salad with chopped nuts and vinaigrette you can prep ahead and bring in the insulated lunch bag - extra basic bring two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with an apple and you’ll be close to 1k cal
Solve both problems: freeze your mealprep. Then you’re not eating food that’s been slowly decomposing for 5 or 6 days. And if you take frozen food out before you leave for work and it will defrost by lunch.
Did think of that but didn’t think it would defrost in time. Thinking of doing chicken and rice with a peanut sauce, could I freeze them all and then take them out the night before and put them in the fridge until I leave for work?
That sounds like a good plan. But you’ll have to experiment. If you take a car to work, it’s so nice to have a cooler in it..you just put the ice packs and lunch in when you go to work. Referee the ice pack at night. This way you can also have fruit or cold drinks. Even when I rode my bike I strapped a kids lunch back with freezer pack on my handlebars.
Alternate route, and I know it’s not as “meal prep” but you could bring one of those instant rice in bags and pour it into your container. My concerns would be quality not safety for that, not sure how they taste when they haven’t been microwaved. Also are potatoes an option? Not sure how they are for room temp. Just spitballing. Otherwise I agree with the ice packs.
5-6 days or hours
Hours sorry
Get a solid lunchbox/cooler with ice packs
I work from the van too and been meal preparing rice meals for 5 years. I take them from the fridge at 9am when I leave for work and eat around 3/4pm and have never had a problem.
Good insulated thermos
Put your lunch on ice or freeze it Second option is to buy an electric lunch box
Orzo is rice shaped pasta 👀
Quinoa is an option, but like pasta needs to be refrigerated after no more than two hours. Go with the cooler and freezer packs everybody's suggesting.
Rice just by itself last for 2 days outside of the refrigerator if you cook it with just water. It's the stuff you add to it that doesn't last 2 hours. Freeze some water bottles and pack them in with your lunch. You don't have to drink them just freeze them every day and pack them with your lunch. Or drink them either way. They will keep your lunch cold until you're ready to eat it. Assume you store your lunch in a cooler not just a lunch box...
Don't mess around with rice, please. Take it from someone who's had rice poisoning, it took me 6 weeks to fully recover
I regularly eat 4 day old rice, how did you get food poisoning from rice?
That's the thing with rice poisoning. It's bad, but rare, so not many people know about it. It forms bacteria very quickly. It's from leaving the rice at room temperature too long. (I believe you can also get it from undercooked rice too.)
Room temp meaning you left it out for a day? I’ve never let rice sit for more than 40 minutes before it hits the fridge before, same as any other food so I’m just wondering when it happens
Second this. It’s not happened to me but the bacteria is bacillus cereus. It can kill you.