Some of our most favorite wraps and sandwiches use diced chicken as a main ingredient. We’ve struggled with this because home cooked chicken gets a leftover taste almost immediately, making it not the best ingredient the next day. We have used pre-cooked chicken for our convenience (and yours) when we create fun new sandwiches, but the price tag and sodium are sky-high. Rotisserie chicken also works well, but we’ve been hoping to find something that would work even better. Guess what! We finally found a new favorite way to make any sandwich requiring diced chicken. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘freeze’
Flash-Freezing Chicken: From Fire, to Freezer, to Mmm!
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010Sandwich Savings
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009Need to save money or just enjoy the challenge of doing it for less? My three girls continue to amaze me at how much food they can pack away. I have come to the “hollow leg” conclusion, since our dog has maintained her svelte 9 lbs. for the last two years! We have always packed daily lunches for work and school. I have seen the prices go up over the years, along with my girls’ appetites; it has been a challenge to keep the costs down.
I recently discovered a way to save on lunch meat. I have passed by the large, whole, fully-cooked, plain or maple-flavored boneless hams in the meat department many times before while shopping at our local Shur Save. It was simply too much for a meal unless extended family was coming to dinner! One time, for whatever reason, I viewed them as a significant cost savings in comparison to the deli meats. I did some quick calculations: the whole ham was priced at $2.99 per pound … the deli meat was $7.49 per pound … at two pounds of meat per week, we’d save $9 each week. That works out to $36 per month or almost $400 per year (assuming we have ham every day of course!) I wondered if I could have it sliced and freeze it. (more…)
Freezing Sandwiches
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
It takes only minutes each morning to whip up a sandwich, yet when you add the lunch packing job to everything else you have to do each morning, sometimes it just feels easier to buy lunch!
While you can freeze sandwiches for up to two months, we find it’s manageable to freeze one week’s worth of sandwiches at a time. In the morning, it’s “grab and go!”
Keep these quick tips in mind.
- If you like mayo on your sandwich, we found that Miracle Whip freezes better. It doesn’t get grainy when it thaws like mayonnaise can.
- Never freeze lettuce, pickles, tomatoes or other veggie toppings. Pack them separately just like you would for a freshly-made sandwich.
- Freezing works best for basic lunch meat and cheese sandwiches, or things like tuna salad or ham salad.
- Yes you can freeze peanut butter and jelly!
You need not shop in the freezer section of your grocery store for fresh tasting pre-made PB & J; it is so easy to freeze them at home. The tip: spread BOTH sides of the bread with peanut butter, and put the jelly in the middle.
Benefits (and downsides) to freezing
- It is great for using up leftovers, and to add variety! If you buy several different things and want to enjoy them spaced out over a week or 2, you can freeze 3 or 4 varieties of sandwiches and then just pull out what you are in the mood for each day.
How do I keep food hot or cold?
Saturday, April 18th, 2009Keeping foods at the correct temperature is more than just a health and safety matter. It is often the difference between food landing in your child’s mouth or the cafeteria garbage. To keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, try these techniques.
Keeping Food Hot
- Use an insulated lunch bag and invest in a good quality thermos.
- While you are heating up soup or other warm foods, fill the thermos with boiling water. When you are ready to add the hot food, dump out the water. Your child’s lunch will stay piping hot until lunch time.
- Avoid adding a cold pack for cold foods when you are packing a hot lunch. Choose a beverage that doesn’t need to be chilled, such as water and select sides that don’t need chilling.
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