Welcome to my little corner of culinary delights.

Cold cuts would be great for a lunch sandwich.  Turkey salad spread and tuna salad spread are great for making lunch sandwiches.  However, due to the mayonnaise, one must be careful.  Anything with raw egg mixed in is potentially hazardous.

Ham is salty and smoked as is bacon.  Salt and smoke are natural preservatives.  Ham sandwiches temporarily endure well at room temperature.  In my case, I like slicing the ham meat very thin.  I then cook it up with some herbs added.  This makes for a great sandwich requiring little concern. 

Thicker slices for meats, such as turkey, chicken, and beef, I like to pan fry or sauté for making sandwiches.  Doing porkchops for sandwiches is great.  However, these meats need to be eaten soon or refrigerated.  This can be compared to foods on a buffet or cafeteria line.  Even though kept heated, they must be trashed after four hours.  Bottom line in all cases, “Take no chances.”

It is paramount to keep lunches safe until lunchtime.  Hot and not so much the cold items are the greater concern.  Thermal containers are great.  However, I do not always get mine back.  A pint capacity thermal box can cost upwards of 25 dollars. 

Some places have microwaves to use.  I do not recommend microwaves for reheating foods; especially frozen meals.  No state institution should ever use microwave ovens for reheating foods.  The microwave heats food unevenly.  An oven or covered pot I find works best and is safer.  It must be remembered that all reheated items must at least reach an internal temperature of 165°F.

It would be good to keep in mind lunch items that do not need reheated or refrigerated.  The simplest items that pop into my mind are crackers, bread, apples, cheeses, raw vegetables, etc.  However, bakery goods and cheeses are not necessarily the healthiest.  One simply cannot escape the storage problems.

Certain soups taste good cold.  Vegetables cooked the way I described in my last article taste very good hot or cold.  Bread pudding, if made correctly, can taste better cold.  Cold foods gradually warming to room temperature is safer than hot foods that are cooling off.  Keep that in mind.

In all cases, all items that will be eaten cold or at room temperature, should be assembled and refrigerated the day before.  In that way, it will last longer when double bagged.  What I mean by “double bagging” is to put the food item into a tightly sealed plastic, waterproof bag.  Place that bag into a larger tightly sealed plastic, waterproof bag. 

Be sure to add some ice in the larger bag.  Hopefully, the ice will preserve the food longer.  An alternative would be to use an ice pack in a small thermal bag.  And then put the food you wish kept cold inside.  Always be sure to close and seal the bag.

Until next time, peace to all.