How well do you plan your weekday lunches? And what do you do when you don't have time to pack a lunch - does it throw you off? When I have one of those multiple-snooze-button mornings, I usually end up buying lunch even when I have a perfectly suitable - yet unassembled - meal waiting in the 'fridge at home. A friend shared her last minute lunch secret with me and it's totally changed my busy weeks.
This girl loves her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. In fact, she has been known to eat them for lunch daily. On Sunday nights, she makes a PB&J assembly line and freezes the sandwiches for quick packing throughout the week. Why freeze them? Blasting the sandwiches with cold air keeps the jelly from seeping into the bread. And each sandwich is perfectly thawed by the time she takes it out of her bag at lunch.
If classic peanut butter and jelly isn't your lunch of choice, what about mixing the idea up a bit with almond butter, banana, and honey? Or hummus and sliced avocado?
How do you tackle packing lunches for those just-in-case busy days?
Related: Ruth Reichl's Secret to a Sexy PB&J
(Images: Flickr user tunnelarmr licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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...too busy to make PB&J? Really? Also, isn't this the kind of thing you can keep at work? A jar of jelly and a jar of PB, bring a loaf weekly...
Yep, used to do the same when I was at school... Sunday nights, loaf of bread, I'd grate a block of Edam cheese, and set to making cheese and chutney sandwiches. They'd get wrapped and put in the freezer. By lunch they're defrosted. I think we talked about this earlier in the week on a thread where someone was asking about lunch suggestions for their farmer husband?
Haven't tried this before
Does the bread taste fresh made or is it soggy?
All through grade school, my mom pre-made my bologna or ham sandwiches by buying a loaf of pre-sliced bread and batch making an entire loaf of sandwiches and then freezing them.
They. Were. Horrible. My bread was usually soggy and more lunches went into the garbage than into my stomach.
That being said, I'm a big fan now of batch cooking and freezing. I pre-make and freeze mason jar meals and it makes mornings and portion sizes a snap.
I draw the line at sandwiches though. If I want a sandwich, I make it the night before, or just take the five minutes it takes in the morning to make a delicious and nutritious sandwich.
....just don't microwave them.....
I had two identical containers in my lunch - one with my breakfast burrito and one with a PB&J for lunch. When I went to heat up my breakfast, I didn't pay attention and nuked the sammich, instead.
NASTY
I can see not wanting to make a lunch on the way out the door but...that would just taste gross.
I make my lunch the night before; as I'm cleaning up after dinner, I put some of the leftovers in a container and just add a piece of fruit to that in the morning.
I love PB&J. When in doubt, it is the perfect meal, snack, antidote to all things.
If you do pre make and freeze sandwiches do NOT put lettuce on them. My dad has a childhood story where he and his brother did this for their entire summer as they went to work in a cannery. After the impacts on their, um, bathroom habits, after day 2, they took to peeling the semi-frozen lettuce off their sandwiches for the rest of the summer. Not that I would expect any of these readers to attempt what my kitchen-incompetant father would try.
I'm in the camp that believes if you're too busy to make a PB&J sandwich, time for a change.
Too busy for PB&J? I 100% believe it- there are some days when I realize it's 4:30 and I haven't left my desk yet. Or I've had back to back meetings and it's 2:30 and I'm starving. Freezing these sandwiches is a brilliant idea.
I love this idea. I know that many people wonder how anyone can be too busy for PBJ. I have a disabled son who loves PBJ sandwiches. This would be a perfect way to be able to just grab and go. Even if it saves a minute, my minutes are precious!
I also see these as being a good back-up for when you realize that you meant to pack a lunch last night but didn't. My schedule doesn't allow me to go to bed any earlier and my job won't let me come in later, so I've had many mornings like this in an area where my lunch options are greasy pizza or 7-11. I could see bringing a bunch of these and stashing them in the freezer at work (maybe hidden in a frozen peas bag) to have for such occasions.
Last year there was an awesome article on here about making your own frozen burritos. I did a massive batch and gave half to a new mom, shared the rest with a coworker. They were a lifesaver when I couldn't get out of bed or didn't have time to make a lunches on Sunday. This is a neat idea, but I'm not a huge fan of PB&J - too much sugar. What other things would work?
also in the camp that too busy to make pb&j doesn't sound like a life i'd want to be living.
i often find myself "too busy" to make PB&J primarily because I value my sleep in the morning... to the point of abusing the snooze button. This is a great idea to help me spend my time in more productive ways than having to forage for food in the morning or resorting to eating out.
PB&J is what I make when I'm running late. Take the bread, peanut butter, jam, knife and ziploc bag out. Make sandwich, put ingredients back. Take not more than three minutes. Frozen PB&J, lol.
whoever posted "who doesn't have time to make pbj sandwiches has never raised children and/or raised children and worked full time or had less than perfect health. Raising children and working a demanding job (with travel) was tough until I divorced, I did this when they were growing up. they grew up, I divorced and then I became ill and sometimes now have days of crushing chronic fatigue but still work. Some days I come home from work and use what's left of my energy to feed and walk my dogs and barely get to bed and stay there. Mornings are hard and slow too. Thanks for reminding me about it. I'll stock the freezer up with these and maybe some other sandwiches that can be frozen on good days. Will make my life much better. thanks and I'd welcome any other ideas for easy sandwiches that freeze well.
I didn't edit that previous comment well - "Raising children and working a demanding job (with travel) was tough until I divorced," I meant "Raising children and working a demanding job (with travel) was tough. sorry.