Make Ahead Meals You Can Freeze

Well I hope the surgery goes well. You can make large meals that can last a few days and will taste good after you freeze it like:

spaghetti
lasagna
meatloaf

You can also make mac salad or potatoe salad (no freezing) and it will last a few days in the refrigerator.

Hope this helps

You can get online and find some dump chicken recipes. All it is, is taking the chicken and other ingredients and putting it all in a freezer bag and stickingit in the freezer. When ready to eat just thaw out and stick it in the oven. until the chicken is done. they are very good. Bets wishes on your surgery and I am sure your husband will do fine.
K.

A quick and easy meal I make to freeze is vegetable soup. I use a 32 oz. bag of frozen veggies, one 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes, one 6 oz. can of tomato paste, 1 tsp. oregano, 1/8 tsp. garlic powder, 1-1/2 tsp. salt. I sometimes add a can of spinach, for extra nutrition. Just cover the veggies with water to boil, and when they have boiled a few minutes, add the other ingredients. I usually cook it at a low boil for 20 to 30 minutes. When it cools, you can freeze it.

You can add ground beef, ground turkey, or chicken if you want to, but I don't know what it tastes like with those added, since we're vegetarian!

I'll pray for a smooth surgery and quick recovery!

J.

I have to agree with the first response about spaghetti sauce. I make a marinara sauce that is on the Cooking Light website (just search "marinara magnifica") and it's great and I usually double it and am able to freeze about 8 containers that will make a meal with leftovers for my kids lunches. I usually add something, either italian sausage or meatballs. The comissary has cooked italian sausage in bags that all he'd have to do is micro, they don't cost any more than the uncooked. You could make homemade meatballs or buy the frozen and then they could also make meatball subs using same sauce. Or he could just add hamburger. Or pour it over cooked chicken and serve with rice. Very versatile.

I also make a good enchilada from Cooking Light. I think it's the chicken chile verde enchilada. Freezes well. If he likes to grill, marinate some meats and have him grill them now and freeze in meal size portions. Teach him how to cook rice at least, and maybe stock up on the steamable frozen veggies. Maybe a pot of beans that he could serve over rice. Taco meat frozen in the right portions so all he has to do is heat the shells or torts and add toppings.

Are you at K-B? If so, I know you have limited options because I'm at Schinnen. If you attend chapel services, you may want to mention your surgery to someone, very often I think the women's groups step up and try to arrange some meals for these situations. I don't even attend, but when I was going to be away for some minor surgery, I had people contact me about helping out. Good luck, and I would say start teaching him right now to cook rice and boil pasta. If he can do those two, he should get by.

First: teach your husband how to boil water if he doesn't know how. Laugh if you want I know some can't even do this. Second teach him how to use the oven to heat up your frozen stuff. I'm guessing he already can use the microwave?

I'd start with a big pot of homemade spaghetti sauce. freeze enough for a meal. Stretch the left over with a jar of organic prego and use it to make and then freeze lasagna. While that's in the oven you can make a stew in the crock-pot. By the end of the day you'll have at least three (four if you make a big lasagna and cut it into two, five if it's a big stew and can be divided into two) meals ready to freeze. This is assuming your husband can boil water and spaghetti noodles. Also, get some frozen garlic bread, the perpperage farm brand with no cheese on it isn't that bad in terms of fat content. It's done in 8 minutes in the oven. Of course a fresh salad doesn't need cooking and goes great with everything. A cottage cheese and fresh or canned fruit salad is good with stew too.

Another good one is homemade baked macaroni and cheese. You can divide that into two for two nights meal too. Here's my recipe if you don't have one:

Grate a block of cracker barrel extra sharp cheese (in the shiny red pkg) plus another hunk (a little smaller than the first block) of cheddar any sharpness. The more sharp the less fat.
Boil 4 to 5 cups of elbow macaroni to aldente. Drain and put in your baking dish. I have the pampered chef one that's about 3" deep and bigger than a 9x13. If your's is a true 9x13 then stick closer to the 4 cups and back down on the cheese a bit.
Make a rue: In a sauce pan melt 4 TBS of unsalted butter, constantly mixing, add 6 tbs of flour, cake flour works best. Constantly mixing to remove any lumps add 4 C skim milk. Keep mixing, add a couple Tbs dried minced onion, a dash of garlic powder, a tsp+ each of taragon, parsley and sage. several dashes of white pepper ( I use white because the little black specs aren't appetizing). When it starts to bubble and thicken turn off the heat. Add the grated cheese and mix until all is melted. Pour over the macaroni and distribute well. sprinkle some paprika on the top to make it pretty (don't mix this in!!)
Bake at 350 for about 45-50 min. Remove and cool to room temp before you cut into servings to freeze. To clean the baking dish I soak it in water for a bit and then anything you've left behind comes off very easily. Spraying the dish with oil ahead may help, but I never do.
I serve this with all beef hot dogs or a turkey kilbasa (he can boil either of these) and a nice steamed green veggie like broccoli or beans. You can get the steam in a bag veggies. I've tried them and they do very well for the non-cooking types. You don't want overcooked veggies, no one likes them.

Good luck and I hope you heal quickly!
K.

Original Runza Recipe
2 pound ground beef
1 large onion , chopped
Salt
Pepper
1 Medium Cabbage, chopped
2 batches of bread dough

Saute onion in a bit of oil until just translucent. Add hamburger and saute until no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper. Drain away the grease, and return to the pan. Cover the mixture with the shredded cabbage and cook until the cabbage is done. Stir occasionally. This could take about 45 minutes or so.

Using an egg-dough recipe, roll small balls of dough thin to make a 5×5 square. Put about 1/2 cup of cabbage mixture in center of square and seal closed. Place seal side down on a parchment lined baking sheet (or a lightly greased sheet).

Bake 20-25 minutes at 350 or until lightly golden brown.

Runzas freeze very well. Allow them to cool completely, uncovered. Once these are cool, wrap in aluminum foil. I usually then put 4 wrapped runzas to a gallon ziplock bag and freeze.

I’ve kept these 4-6 weeks with no problem wrapped as above. If, however, you wish to keep these longer, allow to cool completely, wrap in plastic wrap well, wrap in aluminum foil, and place in either a ziplock back or an airtight container. You can then keep these for up to 3 months.

Reheating:

If you have not frozen these, heat the oven to 400F and heat for 10-12 minutes.

If you have frozen these, heat oven to 400F, put frozen, (and still wrapped runza package) into the oven and heat for 20-25 minutes. The last 5 minutes, remove the foil.

I have two recipes that I use for the freezer all the time and a suggestion.
Beef Enchiladas - You will need, 1 Enchilada Seasoning packet, 1 lb Ground Beef/turkey, 10 Flour or Corn Tortillas, 1 block of grated yellow/mexican cheese, and 2 cans of Enchilada Sauce. Brown the meat in the seasoning packet (You can add some ~1/4cup water, but I never actually follow the recipe on the seasoning packet) then Drain off the oils. In your baking dish pour a little Enchilada sauce so the tortillas won't stick to it when cooking. Then Dip each tortilla in the Enchilada Sauce lay in the baking dish and put a Spoon full of meat sprinkle with cheese and roll up and place immediately next to the previous one (squishing is fine). When you have completed with all tortillas/meat sprinkle the remaining sauce and cheese on the top of the Enchiladas, cover, and Freeze. You can add vegies to this if you prefer, however, I have picky eaters and we skip it, chopped tomatillas/browned onions are good in this recipe. To reheat bake at 375F for roughly 35 min with Tin foil cover, after the middle is thawed, then remove cover and heat for 10 min at 400 to brown the cheese. Heating times may vary.
Pasta Bake - You will need 1 tub Ricotta cheese, 1 egg, 1 lb mozerella/italian shreaded chesse, 1 jar spaghetti sauce, Pepperoni chunks (slices don't taste as good) and a box/bag of whatever pasta you like best UNCOOKED (I usually mix a whole wheat pasta with the fun colored rotini). Mix together the ricotta, egg, and mozerella saving out some mozerella to sprinkle on the top of the pasta bake. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then layer a baking dish with a single to 1 1/2 layer pasta pieces, Sauce, Pepperoni, and dabs of cheese mixture. Repeat complete layers until the baking dish is full, then add another layer of sauce. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top, cover and freeze. Reheat at 350F with Tin foil cover for 40 min, then bake at 400F to Brown Cheese and make the sauce bubble.
My last suggestion is to purchase large quantities of Fresh Chicken and season it and freeze in individual bags. There are many different seasoning combinations that you can find at the store. All your hubby has to do is thaw and brown in a frying pan sprayed with nostick spray. As a quick side, purchase the canned potatoes, because they are small already you can cube them or leave them be, but put whatever seasoning combination you like the pan heat it up, add a TBSP of oil and saute the potatoes until slightly brown. You can even saute the potatoes with the chicken at the same time, but wait until one side of the chicken is done before putting the potatoes in the pan, and be sure to add extra seasoning to the pan.
I hope this helps! Good Luck and God Speed on your recovery.
W.

S.,
Below is a Taco Chili recipe that is easy to make and freezes well...

1lb ground turkey or very lean beef
1 can diced tomatoes (Rotel will be spicier - I used one that has onions & green peppers in it)
1 can corn
1 can each of Kidney, Black and Pinto Beans
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg ranch dressing mix

Directions...
Brown the meat and drain off extra fat if you wish.
Open all cans and pkgs.
Dump everything into a crockpot and cook on low for 2 - 4 hours (or high for 1.5 hours)
If it's too thick for you, add some V8 juice.
My husband doesn't like tomatoes very much so sometimes I puree them in the chopper before I put them in the crockpot.
You can put it in individual serving containers and freeze - make it easier to thaw out.

I pray you have a speedy recovery.
H.

S.,

I hope by now you have recouperated very well from your operation. I am way behind on my mamasource e-mails but I thought you might like this info for further uses. www.savingdinner.com has weekly menues that you can purchase but Leanne also has what are called freezer menues. I have not tried them out (my freezer is not big enough) at all but from whomever I hear they rave about them. Leanne has free downloads available on her website so you can check it all out.

Take care,

E.