Leftover dinners and creatively crafted lunches are finding their way back into the workplace after years of being passed over in favor of quick-service lunches or high-end restaurants.

The economic downturn has led many workers to break out the brown bag or the lunch pail, bringing gourmet leftovers or dishes made during weekend cooking marathons in an effort to cut costs.

“I used to go out and grab lunch at least three to four times a week at work,” said Katie Coakley, of Breckenridge, Colo. “Now, I bring lunch from home or I have lots of cans of soup that I keep at work when I forget to bring something.”

Ronald Lewis, a tech and media freelancer in Denver, sometimes skips lunch unless a client is treating on the days he is not working at home.

“I am cooking more meals at home now due to a decline in billings and to simply save money,” he said.

As people seek ways to save money, many experts suggest cutting back on dining out as a relatively simple way to cut costs. A variety of online calculators allow people to determine how much money they’ll save over the course of a year by bringing lunch each day.

With savings in mind, Betsy Strohmaier, of Boulder, Colo., is buying basics in bulk and making quiches, soups and pasta dishes on Sundays. She has friends over for dinner instead of going out and keeps sandwich fixings and eggs on hand.

“These have helped us avoid the temptation of eating out so we can save some dough for the holidays,” she said.

Eating at home is one of the top trends for the new year, according to food industry Web site foodchannel.com.

However, just because consumers are trying to save money doesn’t mean they’re giving up food quality and variety, said Kay Logsdon, director of foodchannel.com.

“The good years allowed us to try higher-end and branch out a little bit with our taste buds,” she said. “We don’t want to lose. We think now that maybe we can re-create that at home and do it a lot more cheaply.”

Newlyweds Micki and Dane Sievwright have been saving their restaurant money for weekends and holidays by taking turns cooking. The suburban Denver couple use the cookbooks they received for their wedding five months ago.

In the process they write notes in the books for future reading and sometimes pack those cookbook meals for Micki’s lunch. Dane goes home for lunch.

“Now it’s about every other Friday that I will go out for lunch, and usually to a Noodles, Chipotle or an under $10 meal,” Micki said.