Frozen lunch that defrosts by midday
May 27, 2018 2:59 PM   Subscribe

I saw this question but I want more. My partner makes me frozen ham and pickles sandwhichs which defrost so I can eat around 1pm. I don't want to have to use the work microwave (because I keep working) but I'm getting tired of ham sangers. Not a big fan of fruit. I like a bit of protein to keep me going. (You could also think of it as hiking lunches).
posted by b33j to Food & Drink (14 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Peanut butter and jelly (or your favored alternatives) sandwiches are perfect for this.
posted by Aranquis at 3:12 PM on May 27, 2018 [3 favorites]


You just made me remember this. My mother frequently sent me to junior high with a frozen hamburger sandwich.
I put it on the classroom radiator during the last period before lunch and it would be just thawed. I don't remember what I ate before and after the heating season though.
Could you use an insulated lunch bag and bring food refrigerated but not frozen? That would allow lots more variety like bean salads and chef's salads.
posted by Botanizer at 3:22 PM on May 27, 2018


Chicken salad sandwiches are great for this. Also hard cheese sandwiches (which don't even need freezing). Salami. I mean you are barely skirting the crust of the sandwich kingdom here, try mixing it up a little!
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:42 PM on May 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Is the frozen because you make them all beforehand on the weekend and freeze them for use during the week? Or is it frozen for food safety reasons?

I'd say check out bento box subculture. The foodstuffs are chosen/prepared to be "toss it in the box in the morning and crack it open and eat later on". Salty or Acidic or Sweet or naturally antimicrobial but evidently perfectly safe to pack up and throw in you bag and eat whenever without heat/refridgeration.

Or soups in a thermos? Or a Mr. Bento which does a halfway decent job of keeping a few bowls of cool stuff or warm stuff.
posted by zengargoyle at 4:00 PM on May 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


You may have to experiment with thickness so you get the rate of thaw you want, but you can make hamburger-patty-ish (or mini-patties) sized flat meatballs, flavor however you like (I go with a Mediterranean seasoning set, usually). You could use the frozen meat as the ice pack for some hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese etc to go with.

Similar principle, if you don't mind cold spaghetti: freeze pasta sauce fairly thin in a container or baggie. Then top with cold-but-not-frozen pasta, broiled zucchini and mushroom chunks.

Pretty much any cooked meat, if you can freeze it in a thin layer, will defrost in time for lunch. Pulled chicken or pork, poached fish, shrimp (my mom used to prep Last Minute Shrimp Cocktail bags in the freezer for special occasions), cold cuts (or cold cut roll-ups with cheese in tortilla or lavash), tuna salad, sashimi or sushi. Vegetable purees piped out into "strips" would probably defrost to edible.

If you wanted to do some tinkering, you could take traditional casserole recipes but bake them in thin layers in sheet pans; again the thin format would defrost fairly quickly. Also omelettes/flat quiche, or pizza. Tasty has a shitload of recipes made in sheet pan format, like pastry pockets or these roll-ups you could freeze sliced.

I too would just go with an icepack and cold food rather than frozen so you don't have to deal with the textural undesirability of freezing certain things, but I guess you're looking for things that can be completely pre-made and don't need any assembling last minute?
posted by Lyn Never at 4:07 PM on May 27, 2018


Mini quiches made in muffin pans work great for this.
posted by cholly at 4:32 PM on May 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


My mom would roast drumsticks and wings on Sundays then freeze. Then on the weekdays, pull out one for the next day and place in fridge to start the thawing process. That morning she would pack my lunch and the chicken would have been thawed out enough to eat. Pretty tasty to a kid!
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 5:13 PM on May 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


I used to take frozen single-serve yogurt cups to school & they would thaw by lunchtime.
posted by belladonna at 5:26 PM on May 27, 2018


Cheese and pickle sandwiches:) Tuna, corn and mayo sandwiches are pretty good, and I think I've frozen them before. Also cooked sausage rolls are pretty good cold, and they freeze fine. Never frozen and then eaten without heating, I don't think, but I believe they would work.
posted by kjs4 at 7:33 PM on May 27, 2018 [1 favorite]


Leftover pizza!!
posted by btfreek at 7:53 PM on May 27, 2018


Oh, and if you sit at the same desk all day, these foodwarmers get good reviews.
posted by kjs4 at 7:53 PM on May 27, 2018


BTW, this is the sheet pan egg technique I got from Tasty. I have found that a tablespoon of regular flour, or two teaspoons of flax meal or coconut flour, will keep the egg from going a little watery when thawed.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:54 PM on May 27, 2018 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Frozen for convenience. Made in bulk.
posted by b33j at 12:50 AM on May 28, 2018


I bulk-cook all kinds of food that take longer to thaw than just a morning, like thicker pieces of quiche, but i just set a reminder for myself to take it out of the freeze the night before and keep it in the fridge. By morning it's still half frozen and by lunch time it's perfect.
posted by PardonMyFrench at 8:11 AM on May 28, 2018


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