Frozen Lunch Ideas
I'm a lunch making slacker. I don't always have leftovers to take to work the next day, and don't have much energy/motivation in the morning to make something for lunch.
I love the idea of having something in the freezer that I can grab and take with me to work. I've made huge batches of Make Ahead Lunch Wraps. I substituted salsa for the tomatoes and wrapped them individually in plastic wrap and stuffed them in plastic freezer bags. To microwave, I would wrap them in a paper towel on a plate and cook for 2:30, then check to see if they still feel cold.
Now, I'm looking to diversify my grab and go freezer lunches. There are only so many times that I can stand eating the same thing for lunch.
One idea I've already tried is homemade burritos. First, I searched the 'net and delicious.com to find recipes for my favorite fast food burrito fix, bean burritos. I'm a cheapskate, so I found a way to make my own vegetarian refried beans in a crockpot. I did do the fast soaking method described on the bag of pinto beans. I dumped all of the ingredients in the crockpot (I omitted cumin, jalepeno, and1/2 the salt) and let it cook 9 hours on high. The house was filled with the aroma of the beans. I strained the beans, mashed them, then used a spoon to spread them on the tortillas.For filling, I also used whole wheat rice, salsa, and a sprinkling of cheese.
Other links I've found on burritos making that I haven't tried yet:
Fill Your Freezer Burritos with tons of filling ideas including veg. ones. I like the parchment paper idea as an alternative to plastic.
Crockpot Refried Beans (no salt) from a year of slow cooking. I'm trying this next time because the seasonings sound good to me. There are many more vegetarian crockpot recipes there I want to try.
When I saw my housemate's non-veg hot pockets in my freezer, I thought, why not homemade vegetarian hot pockets? I'm eager to try this idea and trying to think up filling ideas. If I make different fillings, I could avoid boredom. One filling idea actually is inspired the manga Kuroshitsuji: vegetable curry filling (sounds funny, but it might be good). By making them at home, I could make them with whole wheat dough and avoid preservatives, etc. I'm going to try dough recipes for the crust and make the dough in my bread machine.
Some related links I found:
Lunch in a Loaf Dough Recipe
Practical Veganism Dough Recipe
Lucious Bread Dough Recipe for Hot Pockets 3rd post down
Hot Vegetarian Pockets
This Thread from Veggie Boards has several ideas from people who homemake them.
Also a few ideas in this thread for fillings
Has anyone made frozen foods like this or have ideas? Thanks in advance for any help!
I love the idea of having something in the freezer that I can grab and take with me to work. I've made huge batches of Make Ahead Lunch Wraps. I substituted salsa for the tomatoes and wrapped them individually in plastic wrap and stuffed them in plastic freezer bags. To microwave, I would wrap them in a paper towel on a plate and cook for 2:30, then check to see if they still feel cold.
Now, I'm looking to diversify my grab and go freezer lunches. There are only so many times that I can stand eating the same thing for lunch.
One idea I've already tried is homemade burritos. First, I searched the 'net and delicious.com to find recipes for my favorite fast food burrito fix, bean burritos. I'm a cheapskate, so I found a way to make my own vegetarian refried beans in a crockpot. I did do the fast soaking method described on the bag of pinto beans. I dumped all of the ingredients in the crockpot (I omitted cumin, jalepeno, and1/2 the salt) and let it cook 9 hours on high. The house was filled with the aroma of the beans. I strained the beans, mashed them, then used a spoon to spread them on the tortillas.For filling, I also used whole wheat rice, salsa, and a sprinkling of cheese.
Other links I've found on burritos making that I haven't tried yet:
Fill Your Freezer Burritos with tons of filling ideas including veg. ones. I like the parchment paper idea as an alternative to plastic.
Crockpot Refried Beans (no salt) from a year of slow cooking. I'm trying this next time because the seasonings sound good to me. There are many more vegetarian crockpot recipes there I want to try.
When I saw my housemate's non-veg hot pockets in my freezer, I thought, why not homemade vegetarian hot pockets? I'm eager to try this idea and trying to think up filling ideas. If I make different fillings, I could avoid boredom. One filling idea actually is inspired the manga Kuroshitsuji: vegetable curry filling (sounds funny, but it might be good). By making them at home, I could make them with whole wheat dough and avoid preservatives, etc. I'm going to try dough recipes for the crust and make the dough in my bread machine.
Some related links I found:
Lunch in a Loaf Dough Recipe
Practical Veganism Dough Recipe
Lucious Bread Dough Recipe for Hot Pockets 3rd post down
Hot Vegetarian Pockets
This Thread from Veggie Boards has several ideas from people who homemake them.
Also a few ideas in this thread for fillings
Has anyone made frozen foods like this or have ideas? Thanks in advance for any help!