Crissy Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 And any tips you may have for assembling, storing and cooking/reheating that you think will help someone who has never done this before. My mom is feeling so poorly these days that she hates to spend much time in the kitchen. Still, she feels it is her duty to cook for my dad, so she struggles through it every afternoon. I am driving down to visit on Wednesday afternoon, and I would love to fill her freezer with meals that are easier for her to prepare. My thought is to make individual meals in disposable aluminum loaf pans that she can pop into the toaster oven. No prep, and very little clean-up for her is the goal. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 (edited) You're sweet. My favorite is lasagna. I make a spinach one using lots of sauce, garlic, spinach, onions, with three cheeses. Cottage cheese (moisture), Parmesan, and of course mozzarella. During the winter, I bake two and take the one to freeze out before it finishes baking. If you happen to have a Whole Foods For The Whole Family or World from LLL, they have a special section of meals that freeze well. Also cooking batches of meat and then freezing them makes cooking later a breeze. This is one of my favorites too. Bread dough is another freezer friendly goodie to have on hand and really brings a lot of home made taste to any meal. Edited November 2, 2009 by Tammyla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I'm having surgery around Christmas so I've been filling my freezer too. I've been doing things like homemade chicken soup, spaghetti, chilli, taco meat, turkey meatloaf, and lasagne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Things I've made lately that have held up well is red beans and rice (I froze it without the rice but it would probably work with rice) and refried beans. Someone gave us a bunch of dried pinto beans so I've been using this recipe. The kids love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olan719 Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I just tried this a couple of weeks ago, and some of the things in my freezer now are lasagna, chicken spaghetti, tater tot casserole, chicken enchiladas, and ritzy chicken. I also plan to make and freeze some chili and broccoli and rice casseroles. In addition to the dishes I made, I went ahead and cooked ground beef for spaghetti and cooked and diced chicken breasts for easy meal preps later. Hopefully I can get some more ideas from this thread too. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraGB Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 (edited) Most soups freeze really well. Not cream soups so much, though. You could always throw a chuck roast or a chicken in the crock and then separate it into meal size portions. Mashed potatoes freeze well. So you can make up your own TV dinners by adding a side of an already frozen veggie to the meat and potatoes. Edited November 2, 2009 by LauraGB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jojomojo Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 We freeze a lot of soups - taco soup, three bean soup, veggie italian. Just thaw, heat & serve with tortillas or bread. I'm going to add chicken quinoa stew to that (never done it), and just leave out the quinoa until its thawed/heated (noodles would work too). Meatballs are a favorite too (more prep involved for a whole meal though). Mini meatloaves might be good for her - add one of those micro potatoes (PotatOH! I think) & bag salad, not much prep. Sometimes we just brown ground beef with onions & celery so we can toss that in something - tacos, slumgullion, "burritos" (we're too lazy to roll burritos, we just make a casserole lol) - again though, those require a bit more prep for a full meal. If you want recipes for any of that, lmk. We freeze everything in ziplocs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Stuffed peppers in my first choice but we could eat that weekly if I could make enough of them. One I like but don't have a recipe for it. Cooked chicken, broccoli/cauliflower/carrots, cream of chicken soup (or homemade variation), cheddar cheese, you can add rice if you like. Top with bread crumbs if you have them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Crissy, more things will freeze than you think. I would find out her favorite meals and split them up into meal size portions and freeze those. The things that have been mentioned are all good, but you can adapt their favorites also. I also saw a show where they made food packets for things that didn't freeze well where at the beginning of the week they prepped all the food (chopped what needed to be chopped and measured into bags that are easily cleaned up, etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted November 4, 2009 Author Share Posted November 4, 2009 Thanks to you all for the tips and ideas. I have made several single servings of five different meals. They're all frozen and ready to deliver this afternoon. :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
********* Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Thanks to you all for the tips and ideas. I have made several single servings of five different meals. They're all frozen and ready to deliver this afternoon. :hurray: Crissy, will you come be my daughter? :D Your mom is quite blessed to have you. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katemary63 Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 For the future: Brown ground beef and chopped onion and a bit of garlic. Drain. Add canned tomato sauce and green beans, spinach or both. You can also add petit diced tomatoes if desired. Simmer till vegetables are tender. It should be like thick spaghetti sauce. Cool and freeze. When you want to serve it, just make mashed potatoes, real or instant ( or pop a whole potatoe in the microwave) and heat up the beef/ vegatable mixture. Plop a big spoonful of each on a plate. This is so simple and yet, so delicious. We eat it once a week and all love it. I NEVER don't have this in the freezer. Sorry I don't have amounts, just make it to taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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