You can freeze sandwiches. Why didn’t I realize this about 3 years ago?
I have a school-age daughter, and naturally I want her to have nutritious, healthy lunches. My attempts to send my daughter in with various kinds of frugal, left-over based meals have met with mixed success, and all too often my kid would come home with a barely eaten lunch.
I hit my limit when, early one Monday, I retrieved from my daughter’s backpack a forgotten lunch from the previous Friday. The containers were full of untouched (and now disgustingly moldy) wild salmon and sesame-edamame salad.
Have I mentioned I really hate food waste? I really, really do. Particularly expensive, wild-salmon food waste.
Then and there I decided I was being ridiculous. Clearly, my daughter needed more kid-friendly food and I needed to stop pretending she had the same tastes and lunch food preferences as the adults of the family.
The Sandwich-Plus Formula
I have friends who make it easy to throw school lunch together with pre-packaged food. They go for the Sandwich-Plus route. Lunch is a sandwich, homemade – or maybe not (Uncrustables? WTF?) – plus some combination of commercially made snacks: granola bars (candy), fruit snacks (candy), pudding cups (candy), various flavored crispy (starch) things like potato chips and cheesy crackers, etc.
I am of the belief that almost all moms are just basically trying to do their best, but I can tell you that, for me personally in my rather more sugar-sensitive family, a lunch like that would make my job as mom way harder. My kids tend to become totally energy-less human slugs (daughter) and totally fucking crazy whirlwinds of hyperness (son) when they have too much sugar or simple starch.
So a more DIY approach to the kid-friendly lunch would be necessary for my household, I knew that. But the goal was not just to provide my kids with a decent lunch, it was also to make my life a bit easier. Basically I wanted a more whole foods Sandwich-Plus plan.
I started with a sandwich. I went to Costco and loaded up on the least processed looking ham and turkey I could find, sliced cheddar and provolone cheese and four loaves of organic 100% whole grain bread.
And then I assembly-lined basic sandwiches. Mayo went on both slices of the bread, meat and cheese in the middle. No veggies, nothing fancy. Each sandwich got wrapped in plastic wrap and put in the freezer. I ended up with 30 of them.
Then I got busy on the “Plus” portion of the Sandwich-Plus plan. I spent half of a Sunday turning the random bits of things hanging out in my fridge and freezer into kid-friendly foods I knew my children would eat and that I could feel moderately okay about.
- Sun-nut butter and chocolate chip granola bars (based off this recipe.)
- Low sugar pumpkin-chocolate chip-cranberry bread (based loosely off a combination of this recipe and this recipe.)
- Cranberry orange mini muffins
- Cornbread buttermilk muffins
These items were all cooked, cooled, appropriately portioned and then wrapped in plastic wrap. They got stacked in metal baskets and popped in the freezer with the sandwiches.
Now we have our own, homemade version of the Sandwich-Plus plan and I have to say, it’s simplified things mightily.
Often, my daughter makes her own lunch. This is as simple as grabbing one sandwich and one treat from the freezer, and adding in whatever veg or fruit we have in the fridge or on the counter.
Is this all ideal? No, not really. In an ideal scenario all the meat and cheese would be from a local artisan. The bread would be homemade, long-soaked sourdough. There wouldn’t be so much dammed plastic wrap. There wouldn’t be a trace of sugar anywhere and my kid would thrive on being the weirdo with the hippie lunch.
But for now, for where we are now, I’ll take this solution gratefully. Lunches are being eaten. My irritation over the food waste is gone. The pre-made sandwiches and treats have saved a ton of time and frustration, and have made it easy for my daughter to take ownership of her own lunches. I think she is at that age where she prefers not to be quite so “unique” at the lunch room table, too.
It is what it is, and for now it’s far better. No more rotten food. No more resentful mom. Simplified mornings. Empowered, lunch-making kid.
PS: The sandwiches thaw fine in a few hours at refrigerator or room temp. Once thawed, they taste totally normal. There’ve been no complaints. However, if you try to quick-thaw them in a microwave, the bread gets a bit soggy.
Do you batch-make food for work or school lunches? What has worked best for you?
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I love this idea. My son won’t eat sandwiches in his school lunches, but I find if I have cheese and deli meats in the fridge, my daughter will mow through them much faster than I had planned. If I make all the sandwiches ahead of time, it should hopefully discourage the snacking/grazing of the cheese/meat.
WOW – I SO wish my mom had read the prep-process procedures about 40 years ago. Mom used to buy old bread at the outlet in bulk and then freeze entire loaves. She also very much bought into the do-it-yourself philosophy. When you’re the youngest of 4, you learn early that that’s mom’s prerogative.
However, I also learned (from experience) that timing really is a key component in a successful lunch-building process. I have vivid memories of trying to chip a couple pieces of bread off the Butternut brick, adding generic mayo and Velvetta (also from a brick, of sorts) and tossing the freaky frozen combo in the lunch box before the bus arrived. Fortunately, we eventually learned that with a bit of finesse and any luck at all those pre-cut slices would pop right off with a good whack on the side of the counter.
Fast-forward to lunch… the stale bread has thawed and the Velvetta is tepid. Let’s add, at this point, the second key ingredient – using fresh wholesome ingredients in the first place. Your daughter is SO lucky you’re putting the two key ingredients together so she doesn’t have to!
Ah, well – lived to tell about it. As a friend used to say – what trauma that doesn’t kill you has the potential to make the funniest stories.
I sent this childhood memory to my brother and he wrote back:
“Yes, quite…
Velveeta alleged cheese, bologna, one slice, white bread, rumpled, mustard. Reminds one of a hot dog, of sorts. Of sorts meaning a hot dog run over by a car…”
I just stumbled upon your fantastic blog! This is a great post…it gives me some more ideas to freshen up our existing routine. One thing that scares my daughter to death is when I threaten her with “You are going to buy lunch at school if you don’t eat what I pack.”
I learned this little trick back in the 1990s when I worked full-time and Darling Adorable was at the Orlando Naval Training Center in his B-side for Nuclear Power. Neither of us had time for silly stuff like making lunches, but we both had to eat or things would get bad….. I did the same thing, though I used ultra-cheap food from the commissary or Sam’s Club. We would both get a mystery sandwich (there was never any way to identify what kind of meat or cheese might have been involved, it could be ham and swiss. It could be turkey and cheddar. It could be some unholy combination of meat and cheese from who-knows-where) and a piece of fresh fruit. We also would take a canned drink of some sort – caffeine made the days pass better back then – and off we’d go!
Over the years, I got a bit more “enlightened” and would focus on better quality food stuffs, but the concept remained the same. And it *was* easy. No thought and I could do as many lunches as we had room in the freezer. Plus the made and bagged sandwiches fit back into the bread wrapper. No worry about “rotating stock” or what might be the oldest stuff and needed eaten NOW.
Thanks for the pleasant reminder of simpler days. Hope it continues to work well for you and all those who have commented/read your blog.
I didn’t know you could do this. I’m totally doing it just for myself and my husband. Even just the sandwich part will save us lots of money.
PS. I was the kid whose mom sent me to school with fresh tomatoes from the garden to eat like an apple, which I loved at home. However, pulling them out at school was met with a chorus of “Ew, gross!” from my classmates. I never wanted to take them home, and didn’t have to because I had brown paper bag lunches…..but we weren’t allowed to throw food away at school either. My solution? Leave the tomatoe in the brown bag in the back of the classroom….but as you can imagine….I was found out. Mom was smart enough to skip the tomatoes from then on.
Hi Erica,
My friend has a blog called ( I believe) The Once A Month Chef…check it out. Though she is not into organic…it might give you some inspiration!
Lorri
Excellent! I’m totally up for this — it sounds good and actually do-able, which, of course, is the key!
Wow. I can’t believe what a judgmental bitch you’re being. Who are you to judge what other mothers feed their children. As long as they’re not feeding it to your children, what difference does it matter?
You probably wouldn’t like my posts when I’m actually expressing a real opinion, then. Perhaps this isn’t the site for you. Better luck elsewhere.
“I am of the belief that almost all moms are just basically trying to do their best, but I can tell you that, for me personally in my rather more sugar-sensitive family, a lunch like that would make my job as mom way harder.”
I mean, really. How can you make such a statement and live with yourself?
🙂
Looks like someone feels a tad bit guilty for feeding their kids crap food.
Wow get a hobby! Why are you getting agro? This is an important topic. Ever heard of childhood obesity or diabetes?
Wow, I don’t know who shared one of your latest posts on facebook, but I am sure glad they did! I love this. We are new to the NW (via too hot/cold Utah) and love the out look of life most people tend to have up here (we have had the same outlook, but Utahans mostly tend to frown upon it where we were from). I might just have to give this a go, my son loves to eat school lunch, but he also loves me to make him sandwiches. I am sure he would love it if I could make him ham and cheese ones, and I would love to have them all premade!
I love this idea. I’ve made ham/cheese/broccoli scones and frozen them as well. To make them extra kid friendly I’ve made them round with smiley faces using peas and carrots. They also work great to take on hikes and picnics.
I made on a monthly basis, teriyaki chicken drummettes, and they were frozen in little packages of four for my son’s pre-school lunch. Every morning, I would take out a pack of drummettes, add a small apple and a piece of string cheese and this was his lunch. One day I ran out of drummettes and substituted something else. When I showed up to pick up my son at pre-school, I was told he had a time out because he had a tantrum as he had no drummettes for lunch! Another trick I had was a drawer full of granola bars and gummy fruit treats for early AM riser on the weekends… I got to sleep in!
This is such a fantastic ides. My 11 year old makes his lunch too and I have fallen into the processed sugar trap for ease which probably isn’t smart for a child who has adhd. Our family has food allergies: me – corn, my husband and youngest son – gluten, and my daughter – dairy. I told the eldest just yesterday that he is going to have to start eating well like the rest off us. His main concern was: but what shall I eat for breakfast? And what shall I eat for lunch? I guess I know what I’m doing all day today.
I love this post! my first will start daycare this fall, and lunch-packing is in my future!
questions:
how far ahead do you pull sandwiches and treats out of freezer? night before? or early morning?
any suggestions for dairy-allergic 2 year old kid who is going to a no-meat daycare?
Pulling them in the morning has them thawed by lunch. Have you looked at hummus and other bean-type dips? You could make a big batch on Sunday, portion it into little tupperware cups, and keep it in the fridge. Toss in some veg and fruit and off you go. The other option is nut butters, and PB&J and other nut variations all freeze pretty well. My local grocery store has a grinder that grinds hazelnuts and chocolate chips together, so it’s like homemade Nutella basically. That’s fantastic stuff and very kid friendly.
awesomeness – thanx for the suggestions! she does like hummus. we haven’t tried peanuts for her yet (I thought kids under 2 shouldn’t have nuts?), but we will soon.
This website is as if I had written it myself. I have struggled with the same thoughts and problems and I NEVER had thought of this approach at all. This August, my husband and I are going to spend a day planning for a month of lunches. It feels so great to know that there are people out there with the same thinking. Here in rural Indiana I think my kids are the only 2nd and 3rd graders who know what organic means. This post is going to make my life so much easier.
I Will do this next year! Thanks for the idea!
Erica, this is a GREAT IDEA! My kids have been making their own lunches for years (son – 10th Grade, daughter – 6th Grade), and just last week I made up 20 bean burritos (brown rice, veggie chili and grated cheese) to serve as after-school snacks/lunches for the kids. Wrapped ’em in heavy-duty (reusable) foil, and froze them. I transfer them (4 at a time) to the fridge, and the kids either take them to school for lunch or unwrap and heat them in the microwave at home for a couple of minutes per side to have as a snack when they’re ravenous after school!
It has worked so well, that we’re going to be doing another “assembly line” idea – I’m thinking calzones, Jamaican patties, Cornish pasties, sandwiches, burritos. The possibilities are many and various! Time to clear out the freezer to make more room for lunch fixin’s!
I stumbled across this post in search of school lunch box ideas. My children are 16, 14, 11 and 9, two girls two boys, respectively. I was a single parent for many years. When my eldest was in grade one I used to spend the Sunday evening making her sandwiches for the week… a total of ten sandwiches 🙂 the next year it went to 20 sandwiches …then a couple of years later it was 40 when both boys were in school… because my eldest went to high school and stopped taking lunch, but I had another mouth at school … but then I stopped freezing sandwiches when I met my partner he also had two sandwiches for lunch… I ran out of room in the freezer so I had to go back to making sandwiches daily… every morning…ten sandwiches! Should have bought a deep freezer lol. Great blog too 🙂 I enjoyed the visit and will bookmark 🙂
Very clever! Way to go momma!
I have the pickiest 11 year old on the planet. He’ll eat nearly anything for dinner but for lunch it absolutely MUST be a peanut butter (hold the jelly please mom!) sandwich WITH crusts. Besides the fact that I want him to have the healthiest “icky” PB sandwich possible, that obviously cuts out Uncrustables as an option, but that’s what I’ve based my “model” off of since he’s been in Kindergarten. Every Sunday night I make 5 natural peanut butter sandwiches on homemade honey wheat bread, pop them into Ziploc sandwich bags and into the freezer. I do the same with my 6 year old daughter, when her stash of turkey/swiss runs low(she actually likes taking a variety of things in her lunch!) We try to reuse the bags, but I don’t always make it to Friday’s bags before Monday morning!
~sigh~ Thanks for being real, and for reassuring those of us who are wanting to be content with “good enough”. This is the inspiration I needed to get motivated for school lunches. Heading to Sam’s Club tomorrow!
In my house, I invented the “bunwich”. Left to make a lunch, my kids wouldn’t leave time to do so and would just grab side junk. No protein was going in to help them get through thinking and sports. So, made bread dough in the machine, cut into 12 – 14 pieces and rolled each flat. Rolled into them slices of lunchmeat and cheese, or Lil’ Smokies and cheese, PB&J or whatever. Sealed them up, brushed with egg or cream and sprinkled parm, garlic and/or sea salt on the top before baking. Kept bags of them in the fridge, which they would grab for breakfast, lunch or snack. Froze some. They love them and it solved the protein prolem!
BRILLIANT!!!!
We lived in Japan when my kids were very little. Kids’ lunches are a very big deal there (google kids bento ideas). I enjoyed making those bento boxes a lot. Totally creative with cute rice balls with seaweed faces, sandwich cutters (amazing), hard-boiled egg presses that turn eggs into rabbit faces, carrots flower cutters, little fish-shaped containers for soya sauce, tiny skewers for grapes… it was normal there.
When we came back home and the kids went to school they asked me to stop it with the bento boxes. Only now that they are in high school is it okay to bring them again. Probably the same for your daughter – she’ll hit another stage about grade 10 where hippy weird turns into cool.
I make the kids lunches still because I like doing it and it is easy because I work from home and bake stuff in the morning. One of the things we do is keep bread dough in the fridge for calzones/pizza, freeze muffins and freeze cookie dough to cut and bake too. Add some fruit and vegetables, yoghurt, and good to go.
We live close enough that they can come home for lunch a couple of the days too when they have a spare – highly recommend living a couple blocks from the school. Makes a forgotten lunch a non-issue and I like giving them a hot lunch when I can.
Thanks for the tip on the sandwiches and the recipes – some good ideas for us to try. Plus your blog is inspiring and I don’t give a crap about the language. 🙂
Thank you!!! Am doing this this week.
This is totally awesome. Loving your website and your writing is so honest. My kids are the same way with all that sugar and then proceed to drive me crazy! People look at me funny when I say what you just said about sugar and parenting. And you hit the mark on kid friendly foods, so I will be making these frozen sandwiches and have my baking kid make some snacks like these for quick grabs in the freezer. Huge sigh 🙂