Sorta OT: freezer meals

My dh is not gifted in grocery shopping or cooking. I am thinking about doubling recipes between now and my surgery date of Dec. 2nd. My aim is to have about 3 weeks worth of meals ready to go...is this about right? Do I need more, will I be able to cook sooner than this? Also, does anyone have any freezer meals that they like? Any other tips in helping my family to prepare for this time? I have a 9, 6, and 3 year olds and an awesome husband that will help in anyway but is not good at cooking.

Luckily for me my dh can cook, but then I do.

But I do make a lot of freezer meals out of leftovers. I make mine usually as individual meals instead of family size. We have yoyo[i] nights. That is when "your on your won", and single size helps.

In general dinners that already have moisture in it, such as sauces or gravies helps me. They tend to recook tender and moist instead of drying out. Since I am cooking/recooking challenged, it might benefit your dh also.

I found as a family or single:
Lasagna or a pasta/meat dish
Sliced turkey with gravy on it

Hi!

I think you're wise to cook ahead and freeze meals. Three weeks' worth would be plenty for the type of surgery you are having, in my opinion.

Pre-Op isn't a good place to share recipes but you can find lots of them, including an entire category of freezer meals, using this link to another area of the site called Sisteritaville: Hyster Sisters Cookbook.

Happy cooking and best wishes for your surgery and recovery!

s

3 weeks of meals would be great...and maybe some individual other components as well to simplify meal prep. What I did is kept menus simple and did special cooking sessions when I made ahead things that could be easily mixed and matched... such as cooking various kinds of chicken breasts that could be paired with rice, pasta, or potatoes and veggie or salad of choice. I also cooked and froze taco meat and ground beef (both could be used in a variety of ways). I made some plain chicken breast that could be used to make something else (like a casserole or stir fry), either when I'm ready to cook or if I give DH step-by-step instructions. If you like fish, individually frozen fillets are great to have on hand and not that hard for DH to prepare with instructions. I did cook some brown rice and pasta and froze in individual servings, which is handy, but my DH can usually manage to make anything that requires boiling water or microwave and following box directions...lol. I made sure to get a variety of frozen veggies (especially blends) to have on hand and to choose from depending on mood. We make frozen veggies in the microwave, very easy for anyone. While I usually make rice and potato dishes from scratch, for convenience I stocked up on boxed rice (variety of styles/flavors) and frozen potatoes.

I think the hardest thing for those that don't usually cook is the timing of cooking/heating all the meal components. My DH and I did some of this together ahead of time so he could get the hang of it, and after surgery as soon as I was ready I would just hang out in the kitchen and give him pointers on what to do next... works very well for us.

Although I made up a month long menu grid with instructions of what to get out of freezer to defrost for the next day for DH, I found that sometimes we weren't "in the mood" for what was on the menu, so being flexible is key. Also, I was able to do light cooking starting the end of week 2 after surgery (but until you've healed more, let DH deal with reaching/bending for things, heavy pans, put things in/get stuff out of oven, etc. - he can be your sous chef!).

Something else to keep in mind is that after surgery you initially may not want to eat what everyone else is eating, so be sure to have some "lighter" foods on hand like soup, crackers, yogurt, jello, pudding, cereal, etc. until your appetite returns. You may also want to stay away from recipes that are too spicy or have gassy foods (cabbage, beans, etc.) - you'll want to avoid those things for a while after surgery to avoid gas pains.

For recipe ideas you may want to check out the recipe forum on this site. Also, books/websites on Once A Month Cooking (OAMC) or cooking for your freezer can give you great ideas. However, as you mentioned, one of the easiest ways to stock up is to double your usual recipes and freeze left overs. Oh, and if you have one - don't forget about using the crockpot to simplify cooking (either before or after surgery).

Since your surgery is in December, hopefully someone else will be doing this year's holiday cooking (although if your DH is patient and your kids are interested, it could be kind of fun to cook together)... I just think that doing any really big meals/entertaining wouldn't be realistic that soon after your surgery, but everyone is different.

Shopping - stock up as much as possible ahead of time and make note of what you have on hand and where it is (our big pantry & freezer are in our basement, which I didn't go to until late in week 3). Until I was ready to go to store with him, I gave my DH a list that was in order by aisle and very detailed (specific brand, quantity, etc.)... he found that very useful and even used coupons!

Hope this helped! Sorry it got so long! Best wishes for a smooth surgery and speedy recovery! (I think waiting was the hardest part!)

Looks like you are on track to keep the family fed while you are recovering!

You may also want to consider other areas of the store cupboards too. I stocked up on drinks, toilet rolls, toothpaste, shampoo, tins of beans, soap powder - all the non perishable stuff so that we wouldn't run out. With that sort of thing it doesn't matter if you don't use them. And it could save DH another shopping headache!

Good luck for a safe surgery and an uneventful recovery

Katy

Thanks so much for your ideas.

Stocking up on other items is a great idea....I hadn't thought of that one yet.

I didn't know we had a recipe area...I will go check it out. Thanks for letting me know and moving the thread to the right forum.

Hi,

Three weeks sounds just about right. My dh is not a big cook but he can barbeque and cook frozen veggies. He's been off work this week, so I haven't been touching my freezer meals, I'm saving them until he's working so that I have something easy to make.

I had good intentions of getting three weeks of homemade meals done, but in the end I ended up buying some frozen stuff from M&Ms. I figured nobody would get scurvy....

Sandra