We are now almost 5 weeks into the school year and I’ve been pretty good at getting a lunch packed for 3 of my 5 kids each morning (my two youngest are still eating at home.) At the start of the year I had grand plans that I would have the kids make their own sandwiches for the whole week on Sunday and then freeze them. That way they would be ready in the morning. Well that hasn’t quite happened.
The next plan was to make lunches the night before. With the demands of homework and after school activities, we have been lucky to get in dinner and then clean up before bed time. That means mom has been making lunches each morning before the oldest has to leave at 6:40. Having some things in the freezer for lunch ready to go would sure make it a bit easier.
Since I’ve started my Adventures in Freezer Cooking, I have found that what works best for me is to cook larger portions and freeze the second batch rather than setting apart a whole day or even hour just for Freezer cooking, That’s exactly what I did with both the recipes below.
The first Recipe is Turkey Bacon Egg Muffins. I used some of the Free Turkey Bacon I got at Shop N Save . If you don’t have a Shop N Save near you, Turkey Bacon is also currently Free at Dollar Tree.
Turkey Bacon and Egg Muffins
Ingredients for 12 Muffins
24 Slices Turkey Bacon
4 beaten eggs
2/3 Cup Cottage Cheese
2 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
1/2 Green Pepper Diced
salt
pepper
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
- Place two places of Turkey Bacon in each muffin tins in an X.
- Mix together the eggs, cottage cheese, cheese, green pepper and seasoning
- Put a spoonful of mixture in each muffin tin
- Fold the bacon strips over the top.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes
I served half of these for dinner one night and after letting the other half cool, put them in a freezer bag and into the freezer. I have a daughter who likes cold eggs, so I plan on just taking one of these out of the freezer in the morning, putting it in a sandwich bag and hopefully by my daughters lunch time it will be thawed.
Chickpea Quinoa Wraps
I’ve mentioned before how one of the new favorites sandwiches in The Coupon “High” house is this vegetarian sandwich spread. I made in today for lunch for myself with a couple changes.
Ingredients
1 can Garbanzo Beans, drained
1/2 stalk celery
1/2 Green Pepper diced
1 TBSP Miracle Whip **Freezes better than mayonnaise
1 TBSP Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Dill Week
and this time I added 2 Heaping Tablespoons of leftover cooked Quinoa.
Directions:
- Mash the Garbanzo Beans with a fork.
- Add the remaining ingredients and stir together.
I figured the Quinoa would add a little more substance and protein to the spread without it being to noticeable. Sure enough, when I ate it for lunch today it didn’t make difference in the taste of the salad.
I served mine up on a bed of Kale, but since greens don’t freeze well, my lunchbox variety is on wraps. I wrapped each in foil and then placed the four sandwiches in a freezer bag and into the freezer they went. Since I had a little more time then in a normal morning they even got a little “thinking of you” note written on them.
The real test on the quinoa addition will come tomorrow when I send this with my 11 year old. She loves the chickpea salad, but is not so crazy about plain quinoa. So if I don’t get a complaint, I know I’ll have a winner.
Do you have any items you put in the freezer specifically for the lunchbox?
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