Reddit reviews Crock-Pot Lunch Crock Food Warmer, Red
We found 15 Reddit comments about Crock-Pot Lunch Crock Food Warmer, Red. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
20-ounce capacity is the perfect size for personal portion lunches or for dipsBring the comfort of flavorful meals on-the-goDishwasher-safe removable container with spill-proof lidExterior doesn't get hot when in useEasy-Travel lid for portability
You could get a wide-mouth thermos. Preheat the thermos by pouring hot water from kettle in it for a few minutes. If you heat your soup, chili, pasta, or stew at home in the morning and add it to a preheated thermos, the food will still be hot at lunch time. Another option is a portable crockpot. Assuming you have access to an electrical outlet, you plug it in and set it up when you get to work, and your lunch is hot by noon.
I don't like a plain tossed vegetable salad for lunch either. I like raw veggies as a snack, and I can eat a lovely big cobb salad for supper, but not for lunch. I want/need a substantial lunch, and in the winter I want it to be hot. I'm not big on sandwiches either, not even in the summer, after a lifetime of eating them. If I do go for a salad, it will be a pasta salad or a chicken salad, a bean salad, something with some calories, fat, and protein in it. Some of my other go-to options (in the summer) are cottage cheese with fruit (packs a big protein punch), or yogurt with fruit and a granola topping, a couple of hard boiled eggs or piece of cheese, kefir (drinkable yogurt), additional fruit -- in whatever combination to get me to the right calorie-protein count.
I have a microwave at my office space rental, but I'm on the road a lot with my job, so I've looked into many different solutions. There are a variety of options available.
Non-electronic storage:
They make a squattier version of the Thermos you have from RTIC, which is what I sometimes use:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DRP86T1
Spoon for size comparison:
https://i.imgur.com/AR4itKB.jpg
It's not so deep that I can't get a spoon in. It'd be nice if it were a little wider, but it does the job. A bit smaller than your Thermos at 17 ounces. Pinnacle Thermoware sells insulated a pretty nice insulated bowl set, if you specifically want a bowl shape:
https://www.amazon.com/Pinnacle-Serving-Salad-Soup-Dish/dp/B07RT1X47C/
If you need more food than just one bowl can hold, Ailijin makes a 2-bowl, single-tote insulated solution: (kind of a round bento-style)
https://www.amazon.com/AILIJIN-Leakproof-Insulated-Stainless-Portable/dp/B07QQ9JYG3/
If you need to heat up a soup before you go to put into an insulated storage container, I use one of these vented microwave mugs, so it doesn't explode all over the inside of my microwave when heating up:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01F5IC478/
Electronic storage:
Beyond that, there are 3 common electronic options, depending on what power you have available: (12V in a car or an A/C wall plug)
The Crockpot unit is basically like your Thermos, except you plug it in to heat it, and it has a pretty nice wide bowl size. My buddy has one & it's pretty dang handy! My brother has the RoadPro, as he's on the road all day long, and it's super nice because it does a pretty decent job (heats up to 300F, basically like a mini oven), so you can heat up burritos, melt cheesy stuff like lasagna, etc.
The HotLogic is nice because instead of just being a mini portable crockpot, it's also a mini oven, and can be used from a wall plug, a newer-vehicle 2-prong car plug, or with a 75-watt (minimum) inverter. There's a good Facebook group available as well! It heats up to 218F & then holds the food at 180F, so it's more for reheating food than cooking food, like the RoadPro can do (HotLogic says you can cook chicken breast in it in about 2 hours, but ehhh...), but it's also a bit more versatile as you can plug it directly into the wall an hour before lunch & have your food ready to go without needing a microwave or toaster oven.
Homemade soup:
If you're into soup & haven't heard of Souper Cubes, it's basically a silicone ice cube tray with 1/2-cup & 1-cup markings (4 per tray) & lids, plus a wire frame around the top to hold it together, which makes portioning out bulk soup cooks super easy:
https://www.soupercubes.com/
I mean, just look at this insanity:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0cU_UFBSQp/
Also, if you're into making soups at home, the Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker) is my BFF...it makes cooking soup a lot faster & more automated (aka easier overall!). Poaching from another one of my posts, here are some soup ideas: (I use the IP for soups, stews, bisques, broths, stocks, etc.)
Some ideas for soup toppings & easy no-knead breads:
Also if you're trying to get more veggies in your diet, check out this master guide on making blended soups in the Instant Pot, definitely worth a read:
https://allthenourishingthings.com/make-blended-soup-instant-pot/
I tend to make soup about once a week in my Instant Pot at home, then freeze it in my Souper Cube containers, and keep a stash of different varieties in my freezer so I can just grab one & go. When you have a solid storage system setup (electronic or non-electronic), it makes the whole process pretty dang easy:
For me, it's really about nailing down a solid process & taking care of all of the little annoying details. Like you said, the tall insulated mugs are too small to get a spoon into & eat out of, so you have to find something better that meets the needs of your individual situation better. Then, setting up a system to support convenience means you can always have a variety of soups to grab before you leave the house, whether it's a can that you heat up in a vented mug & store in a food thermos or a frozen Souper Cube that you toss in a Crockpot Lunch Crock & plug in before lunch!
I have one of THESE, that's basically a small crock pot, and works very nicely for reheating things. You can also find rectangular versions of the same kind of thing.
If you get something like one of those, maybe you could leave it at work, and just bring a small cooler back and forth with you? At the very least, that would give you a way of reheating food at work.
This sounds like it'd be perfect for you! As long as you have an outlet nearby? (Sorry for the ugly link)
http://smile.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPLC200-R-20-Ounce-Lunch-Warmer/dp/B006H5V8US/ref=sr_1_19?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1409593533&sr=1-19&keywords=slow+cooker
My best friend sent me this and despite having a microwave, I'm really considering buying it.
How about selecting what he will eat off of the healthy list and have a contingency plan for hot food? I think I can help you out here. There are several devices to heat food even on the go. The Mini Crockpot Lunch Warmer is about $15-$20 (depending on color choice) and is great for soups, stews, (turkey?) chili, and pasta with sauce. There is also the Hot Logic Mini Oven ($30-$40 watch for sales!), which is a hot plate inside an insulated, zippered bag. You can put a frozen dinner still in the box, cooked leftovers or raw chicken or fish and it cooks/reheats slowly at a low heat. Plug either of them into the car's lighter with an AC Car Converter ($17) in the morning/beginning of his work day and it will slowly come to temperature and hold it until he's ready to eat!
They took away our microwave at work and I've had to adapt. I love them both!
My brother has this mini crock pot he takes to work instead of a thermos. He loves the thing
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B006H5V8US/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1463316778&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=mini+crock+pot&dpPl=1&dpID=41C9qZrJIwL&ref=plSrch
That’s cute. Low heat.
Something like this could work too: Crock-Pot Lunch Crock Food Warmer, Red https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006H5V8US/
There's actually these mini crockpot things that you can buy on Amazon to plug in and keep your food warm
Crock-Pot SCCPLC200-R 20-Ounce Lunch Crock Food Warmer, Red https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006H5V8US/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_biKoybJW9VDNQ
Have you seen those personal size slow cookers to plug in and warm food?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006H5V8US/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdo_t1_2fC1BbMD80J19
How does soup work then? Would it not smell when you are eating it?
The reviews on this guy says that it contains the smell so that your work area does not smell like food all day.
I recently bought this mini-crockpot warmer for my husband because he hates using the microwave at work. He just plugs it in when he gets to work and it's nice and warm by the time he eats lunch. I batch cook up our meals on sunday and portion them out. This week, it will be ground beef with some cheese, and sour cream and salsa on the side to mix in right when ready to eat.
I use this crock pot on construction sites daily. It heats up a can of soup in about an hour, longer for cold stuff.
CrockPot
Is it a desk job? Do you hate the microwave like I do? If so, here's my recommendation:
You can either hook up the mini 'slow cooker' at your desk or in the breakroom. But either way, it's easy to throw in some precooked meat and some precooked rice when you get in and let it slowly reheat. By dinner time, it should be nice and hot. I've found myself storing some tortillas at my desk, and then hitting the meat'n'rice with some fajita seasoning. Or dumping some bbq sauce on it. Or some bottled asian sauces (szechuan, General Tso's, etc) to make a stir fry. Or tossing in some curry paste. Lots of different possibilities! Also keep some frozen veggies at work to throw in, as well.
In the end, you're paying about $2.50-3/day for rice and 1lb of meat. That's easily 100g of protein at lunch, and depending upon the meat, can be between 650 (chicken breast + rice) and 1500 calories (75% lean beef + rice).
Someone at my work uses one of these
http://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCCPLC200-PK-20-Ounce-Lunch-Warmer/dp/B006H5V8US?th=1&psc=1
Haven't had a chance to try it out myself but maybe you could use something like that and then bam food options are expanded!
It's a real thing