Lunches at home can be prepared easily in advance. Smaller servings of your regular dinner items can be served for a lighter noon-time meal. Many items can be frozen and then included in brown bag lunches, as well.
Sandwiches:
- These freeze well. Fillings that work for freezing include cooked meat, tuna, sliced cheese, cheese spreads, hard cooked egg yolks and nut butters. Use day old bread; spread bread lightly with butter or margarine to prevent fillings soaking into bread; mixing jelly, mayonnaise or salad dressing into the sandwich filling helps prevent soggy bread. Tomatoes and lettuce get limp when frozen, so add these after removing sandwich from freezer. Frozen sandwiches will thaw in lunch boxes in about three to four hours, staying fresh and cooling other foods in the lunch box at the same time.
Quiche:
- For lunches, cooked quiche can be frozen in individually wrapped slices. Serve warm (heated in microwave) or cold.
Soup:
- Homemade soups can be frozen easily in microwave-safe single-serving containers. Heat in microwave until thawed and hot.
Desserts:
- Cookies and cakes can be frozen in individual servings and then placed still frozen into the lunch bag.
