Any ideas for freezing food while in the castle?

I would love to hear from you ladies in waiting if you have any ideas of food to make before going to the hospital. Has the thought crossed your minds???or maybe they (family) will be fine on their own. I'm not one to freeze food so any help would be so appreciated. Thanks for your help!!!!

Hi there Double Diamond...
Don't know if this will help but I guess every bit of info is better than none. What I've been doing is, when I make a casserole, stew, etc., I will make extra and freeze a dinner here & there but I've also been cheating by doing some M&M shopping and freezing some simple meals for my guys to cook up. Now, this may sound dumb but, being canadian, I don't know if you have M&M's in the US. It's just basically easy, throw in the oven (or microwave) kind of meals that even the simplest man can do without messing it up . And their good quality as well. I know most women, like me, have busy lives and it's not always easy to be preparing meals in advance. I hope that helps. BTW...I'm only one day ahead of you for the castle trip. Take care & good luck.

Deb
btw...your name reminds me of my old Amway days had to add that

Hi I did this on Sun. I made 2 large pans each, which are 4 meals of

Sausage, peppers and pasta
Chicken enchiladas
Zuchini Sausage casserole
Spaghetti and meatball bake
Chicken and dumplings

I did this because my mom who is almost 70 is coming to help and is not as into cooking as she used to be, especially for all the kids. They are all ready to pop in the oven at 350* for an hour.
There are about 16 meals all together. I also baked some cookies a cake, and some cookie bars and put those in the freezer too.

I also got frozen micro meals for the kids, I know some friends and neighbors will drop some stuff by and dh can get some In and Out burgers, Pizza or Taco Bell a few times as well. I did all I'm doing! Next week I'll try and get all the salad stuff and fruit ready for them too. I'm going to buy dd a lunch ticket too, though I normally don't care for the cafeteria food, but it'll be easier.

Now I just want to get some serious cleaning done!
puppet

Hi there flutterby wings Thank you for your suggestions. I've been off of work for the past few months due to other health issues and have some time on my hands so I will prepare a few meals ahead of time and freeze them. Its nice to see someone else with the same or close to surgery date as mine. We'll be in at the same time. Thanks again. Donna

Puppet: Thank you too for the great input. Wow you got fancy!!!I might use some of your ideas. I'm not the greatest cook but something different will be nice for them. I like the baking idea too. When the girls get home from school their will be something sweet to. Thanks. I'm right behind you in cleaning. Good Luck to you with your surgery. Donna

I was wondering about this too. I don't know what foods are good to freeze. My bf means well, but I don't want to rely on his concept of a good meal, especially when I'm healing and with gas!

I found an organic produce delivery service that will drop off a box of fruits and veggies every other wednesday, and I can rely on bf to pick up a rotisserie chicken or fish to grill. I hope he knows how to make a salad that does not involve fried food! I'll have protein bars, cases of them, stacked and waiting by the bed, and little bottles of water.

Can omlettes or frittatas be frozen? I know they are not difficult for him to make, but I will be on a no-stairs restriction for two weeks, and I'd hate to see the kitchen after two weeks of beating eggs! I am sensitive to gluten and dairy, so no pasta, sandwiches, etc, or there will be a massive gas explosion!

Does anyone have any ideas on how long meals can stay in the freezer?

thanks
akita

Here's what I plan to make and freeze:

stew
vegetable soup
chicken soup (ok, my mommy's making that)
lasagna
spaghetti sauce
hamburger patties
meatloaf

I also plan to have easy stuff in the freezer like mini pizzas, premade chicken entrees (chicken kiev, chicken parmesan...all ya have to do is heat them up)

Luckily my DH is a great cook so he and DS will not starve!

I spent a year as a personal chef for other people, freezing meals, so maybe this advice might be worth something. Whatever you eat can be frozen, with the exception of cooked eggs (like hard-boiled or poached) and sour cream or butter-thickened sauces. With the eggs you get rubber back from the freezer, and with the sauces you get water with chunks (gross!). Be CAREFUL to make sure that you chill things quickly and freeze at ZERO degrees. (You don't want food poisoning on top of surgery). Please eat homemade dinners out of the freezer within three months.

All the things that you ladies have suggested freeze wonderfully (except for the egg dishes). I have just gotten into the habit of making soup for 20 instead of 4 and freezing three extra dinners, and making two casseroles instead of one. Net result is that I only cook about 3-4 times a week, but we eat homemade 6 nights (I make DH take us out the last night

Ah, chef heather, an expert, just what I need! When you say eggs don't freeze well, you mentioned hard boiled or poached...is it just those types? I have an obsession with omlettes, and I know that they can't possible keep the fresh-made texture, but will they be inedible?

Also, stew sounds like a great idea...this may be really silly, but what do you store it in?

Thank you so much for your advice!
akita

Eggs really don't freeze well--but if you can deal with a little rubberiness, they are edible. (I don't like rubbery, myself, but you may not notice it). Don't overcook them, and freeze them only for about ten days, max, and you may do fine. If you have time before surgery, do a trial run!

Freeze stew in any casserole pan or bowl, but make sure that the stew is at room temp before you freeze, and make sure that it is only about 3 inches deep in your container. The BEST containers are those gallon freezer bags-the contents are nice and thin, so they freeze quick, and the portion is perfect for 4-5 people!

Hope this helps.