Frozen Assets
Lunches

Copyright 1998 Deborah Taylor-Hough

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.

Basic "Use-It-Up" Quiche
(Serves 6)

You can use almost any leftover vegetable or meat in this recipe. If you have eggs, milk, rice and cheese, you can practically clean out your fridge right into your quiche pan. I always add the cheese last when making this quiche. The cheese makes a beautiful mellow-brown crust on the top. I usually add a bit of chopped onion to my quiches for flavor, and broccoli makes an especially nice vegetable quiche.

Crust:

2 cups rice, cooked (white or brown)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp soy sauce

Filling:

1/2 lb any leftover vegetable, chopped (single vegetable or a mix)
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk, or light cream
1 cup cheese, grated (your choice: Swiss, Cheddar, Jack, etc.)
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
1/8 tsp pepper
Dash nutmeg, or ground mace

Crust:
Mix together cooked rice, egg and soy sauce. Spread evenly to cover well- buttered quiche pan or pie plate. Bake rice crust at 350 F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Filling:
Place chopped vegetable in bottom of crust. Mix together: eggs, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pour over broccoli. Top with grated cheese. Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven, and let sit ten minutes before slicing, if serving fresh; or wrap pie pan, label and freeze. Quiche can be served cold after thawing for a yummy hot weather treat; or heat the thawed quiche at 350 F for 20 minutes.

Deborah Taylor-Hough (wife, mother of three, and free-lance writer) is the author of the soon-to-be released book, "Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month." The above information on frozen lunches and "Use It Up" Quiche were used with permission, and taken from the Frozen Assets book. For information on ordering a pre-release copy of Frozen Assets directly from the publisher, go to: members.aol.com/DSimple/advance.html
Subscribe to Debi's free ezine by sending a blank email to: subscribe-simple-times@xc.org

Do you have a time or money saving idea that wasn't included in this article? Please send it to tips@ stretcher.com. We get the best ideas from our readers!

Give Yourself the Green Light
Why buy a kinetically powered flashlight

Shout® Color Catchers™
Is there a cheaper alternative?

Cleaning Grout
Former owners did a real number on the grout

Winterize for Savings
Preparing your home for winter's chill

Home Remodeling
Quick, painless ways to update your home on the cheap!

Inexpensive Landscape Borders
Beautify your yard without draining your wallet