Would love to hear all ideas for bringing ones own lunch along for a cross country flight. Pre-made sandwhiches seem to get soggy. And a picnic would be fun, but how do you spread or cut or scoop without utensils?
Please share! Thanks ! R5

Do a search on European board, I remember at least 2 threads - what food for adults and what for children.

Lunchables!

FainaAgain-Thanks, I will check the Europe boards.
SuzieQ-good idea for kids, we are willing to carry an insulated tote as my hubby's carry on an are thinking of less processed food we could put together ourselves.

topping

This time last year we went from Dallas (DFW) to Maui, we bought Subway sandwiches immediately prior to boarding. I ate mine while taxiing before take-off (!) but my wife said hers, eaten later, was fine. At DFW we have a pretty good variety at the airport by the gates.
For spreading etc if you roll your own, could be tricky these days tho' surely you could bring a plastic knife/spoon in your pocket ? Would stewardesses supply if you asked at a convenient (for them) time ?

I pack a lot of lunches for daysails and longer trips, and have found that the easiest (and most appreciated) lunches are tortilla wraps -- flour tortillas wrapped around turkey & cheese, chicken or tuna salad, etc. Go easy on the mayo or mustard, and they don't get soggy -- some of my guests think they taste better over time. They wrap neatly in foil and are easy to eat, even one-handed.

Eliminate the need to spread, cut or scoop by taking things that are already bite-size. We pack baggies of crackers, grapes, nuts, sliced cheese, etc. and a frozen juice box to keep it all cool. Keep to things that are not messy or smelly, and pack a few hand-wipes.

I keep a few water bottles in the freezer half-filled with water so I can top them off and use them as cold drinks/chill packs, too.

Get something from your local Dean and Deluca. The used to do "Airline Meals".

Thanks everyone-these are super helpful ideas!
R5

We often load up on the "trail mix' varieties from the local Whole Foods. I think they have a dozen different mixes. Also, assorted nuts.

For sandwiches, the tortillas are a great idea. What we do is get some packets of mayo and mustard and put them on the sammich when we are ready to eat, to avoid the soggies.

Also like power bars. My favorite is a chocolate/coffee flavor by Genisoy.

Time-tested favorite travel foods: baby carrots and unsalted nuts. Both are sturdy, dense and easy to pack in ziplocs. Also, even the carrots keep surprisingly long without refrigeration. Air travel is awfully dehydrating so avoid salt. The baby carrots actually contribute lots of moisture.

Please think twice on what kind of deli meat you will use. Certain countries have bans on certain types of meat.

Just had a friend coming from Canada to the US this week and the US customs took away his bologna sandwich due to the fact that it might contain beef and Canada has a mad cow threat right now according to them.

So stick with turkey wraps, cold fried chicken, pasta salad?

IF you get a chance to do some take out before you go you can get extra of those packets of napkins, sporks, knife, salt and pepper to take with you.

Here's my "recipe" for a picnic wrap that seems to not get soggy for several hours.

Use lavash or mountain bread. Spread with humus. Top with baby salad greens (dry really well after washing), shredded carrots and sprouts. Top the veggies with very thinly sliced roast beef or turkey. Pour a bit of honey mustard salad dressing on top of that (don't go overboard with the dressing) and roll up. Cover with foil. Between the humus and the greens the sandwich stays pretty sog-free.

I also make a tomato, mozzerella salad with white balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Just cut up the tomato and use fresh mozzerella balls from the deli. Cut those into bite size pieces. I use white balsamic because it doesn't discolor the mozzerella the way the regular balsamic does but both varieties work fine. This salad gets better as it sits. Bring it in "gladware" that you can toss if you choose. You may want to keep cool with the other posters idea of a frozen water bottle.

Wow! Such great ideas ! It's lunchtime here so I think I will experiment with the wraps idea-bennie should be a caterer-Thank you all!