Make Ahead Freezable Foods?

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cflynn

Assistant Cook
Joined
Nov 30, 2011
Messages
4
Location
Prague, CZ
Hi,
I am going out of town for a month, and I want to prepare some meals ahead of time for my boyfriend...so he is not living on pizza and Chinese ;).
Many of the dishes I am finding online are great if you want to prepare now and cook later, but I am looking for meals that I can cook completly, freeze in single serve portions, and he can thaw, and pop in the mircowave, oven or on the stove, in a short amount of time.
Any suggestions? Also, I am a cooking novice, so the easier the better!
Thanks!! :)
 
Almost any casserole
Meatloaf
Meatballs
Beans loaded with meat
Chili
Hearty soups
 
You can freeze meals or parts of meals. Cook up several chicken breasts and wrap them individually to be mixed and matched with different sides.

Is he willing to do sides such as Rice mixes or frozen veggies to go with the chicken? This would also work with other cooked meats.
 
Maybe if you'd do nothing - he'd be tempted to try 'cooking'

Or does that worry you? :)
 
Maybe if you'd do nothing - he'd be tempted to try 'cooking'

Or does that worry you? :)


haha! I know that won't happen :LOL: it would be more likely he would not eat, or go to his mother's...which will happen a bit, but I am just trying to be nice :)
 
How about some french toast? Make it, fry it and freeze it. Leave syrup in the fridge. he can reheat it in the toaster oven. Easy.
 
Egg McMuffins (homemade), quiche slices, oatmeal bars. Just nuke, no defrosting needed.
 
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I don't want to get into any personal problems here and neither want accusations of preaching - but I really think almost everyone can be tempted into doing some kind of cooking themselves.

And very often it's something they will quickly learn - the more they know - the easier to go the next step.

There are a lot of practical reasons as well - people do get older - get ill - become disabled - get divorced - children need good nutritious food when 'the cook' is not available etc.

And it often is a new joy for the 'student' - as well as giving them a greater appreciation for good food and what's involved even when they are not doing the cooking.

And even with this freezer thing - foods can be partially prepared - allowing the final 'cook' to get involved - and the next time go further - and soon fly solo.

Again i don't want to harp on this particular case - but I really know that there are a lot of non-cooks that could benefit tremendously (as well as their families) by getting involved.
 
My mom used to make meals for the freezer for my dad before she could come visit me. Today, my mother can no longer cook and my father's solution is to make "box" food (rice-a-roni, mac-n-cheese, pasta mixes) and canned soup. Full of "crap" stuff, pardon my French. Not knowing how to cook is a handicap. One that can come back and bite the person in the rump later. Now I make freezer meals when I'm there--things my dad has to finish. Yes, I'm enabling his incompetency in the kitchen.
 

Yes, I'm enabling his incompetency in the kitchen.


Good service indeed! - but he is probably at the stage now where it would be difficult to gather enthusiasm for developing cooking skills.

But wouldn't it have been great if he had gotten interested years earlier? And a lot of fun too - and one learns to eat better - both re taste - and nutrition/health. It's a skill which becomes more and more valuable over the years - and to be enjoyed the whole time.
 
Yes, I'm enabling his incompetency in the kitchen.

Good service indeed! - but he is probably at the stage now where it would be difficult to gather enthusiasm for developing cooking skills.

But wouldn't it have been great if he had gotten interested years earlier? And a lot of fun too - and one learns to eat better - both re taste - and nutrition/health. It's a skill which becomes more and more valuable over the years - and to be enjoyed the whole time.
At 80, he's a wee bit set in his ways (and food preferences). Sigh.
 
I make & freeze single servings of this chili all the time.
The secret ingredient is beer.

Brown 1-2lb of ground beef, chicken, turkey, pork, veal or any combo you like! I like to add some spicy italian sausage (casings removed) with a whole onion coarsely chopped and some minced garlic.
Drain and Add it to a slow cooker and add the following,
1 tin of diced tomatoes (drained)
1 tin of mixed bean medley (drained,rinsed)
1 tin of baked brown beans
1 tin of sliced mushrooms
1/2 small tin tomato paste
You might notice something cool about the empty tins at this point.
Add 1or 2 diced fresh tomatoes
A cup or so of French style or regular frozen green beans
1/2 a cup of fresh chopped parsley
1 package of chili seasoning*
1 tablespoon of crushed chili flakes
As much hot sauce as you like!
Last add 3-4 bottles of a dark ale

Stir together and slow cook on low for 6-8 hours.
*You can make your own chili seasoning if you like out of chili powder, salt, ground cumin, garlic powder, pepper, crushed chilies and some cayan powder.

Enjoy!
 
Hi,
I am going out of town for a month, and I want to prepare some meals ahead of time for my boyfriend...so he is not living on pizza and Chinese ;).
Many of the dishes I am finding online are great if you want to prepare now and cook later, but I am looking for meals that I can cook completly, freeze in single serve portions, and he can thaw, and pop in the mircowave, oven or on the stove, in a short amount of time.
Any suggestions? Also, I am a cooking novice, so the easier the better!
Thanks!! :)

Fried chicken dinner. You could sub instant potatoes for the real thing. Fry a few whole chickens, cut them up. Cook and freeze

Salsbury steak dinner.

Spaghetti sauce. He can boil water.
French bread loaf. Cut in half then quartered, Buttered up with some garlic, mozarella cheese, wrapped in foil, freeze. Heat and eat.

Pannini's can be made ahead and frozen.

Taquito's and some refried beans, spanish rice.

Beef stew.

Stroganoff

Calzone's
 
haha! I know that won't happen :LOL: it would be more likely he would not eat, or go to his mother's...which will happen a bit, but I am just trying to be nice :)

I think it is very sweet, cflynn, to do this for him. My father was like that: He would have lived on PB&J, pizza, or depended on the kindness of strangers every single day if Mom was not there. My father is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so she froze individual servings of mashed potatoes and different veggies, then individual entrees - many which have already been mentioned. All Dad needed to do was was grab an entree and a potato/veggie pack, nuke and eat.

Dad is the "I eat only to live" type. Heating soup that needed to have water added was beyond what he was willing to do when a pizza was one phone call away and no dishes were needed for clean up.

Welcome to DC! Please share what you end up making him!
 
First, I think it is great of the OP to want to do this. If I was not interested in cooking it would be a great thing to get reheated homemade food as apposed to take out. Plus as everyone knows a way to a mans heart is through is stomach.
I dont have any more ideas for you, although I think casseroles, pot pies and soups are great ideas. And Chili. I could eat frozen chili every day of the week.

Now , not to get more off topic and continue the discussion of whether or not this gentlemen should cook for himself, but I will anyway ;) I think it a great idea to get him involved in the kitchen and learn how to cook. But I do not think the week the OP is away would be the time to do it, IMHO. I have always been of the mind that the best way to get your Sig. O involved is to cook with them. Start him out with the easy jobs and work up from there. Then you have a built in Sous Chef. :chef: Cooking things that neither of you have eaten before is a great way to teach him how to cook and a great bonding experience. Not that I am an expert or anything. But cooking/food brings everyone together.
 
Kathleen and Joshua, you both post a huge amount of common sense.

Slett , your chili recipe sounds really good!
 
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My mom makes bierocks and they are awsome. You could make fresh dough or use store bought and just fill with what he likes, hamburger and onions are great, or just hamburger(seasoned). They freeze well and are easy to reheat.

Just make 6 or 8 hamburgers and put in fridge or freeze. Just put on a bun and in the microwave. Leftover burgers are one of my fav's.

I haven't frozen these yet, but wraps are easy. I make my daughter chicken wraps for her school lunch. I marinade some chicken breast and grill it, then slice thin. On the wrap I grate some cheese(much better if you grate it from the block) and put a bit on the tortilla, put the chicken on, put a little bit of ranch dressing, a bit of chopped lettuce, wrap up and put on skillet until cheese melts &/or the bottom gets just a hair crusty. Wrap up, put in foil and your done. Takes me 15 min, when everything is ready, to make a couple of them. Son likes them for breakfast, too. You could use ground beef, ham, turkey, what ever he likes.

If he can grill, buy some steaks. If not, grill them and use for wraps or just to eat plain.

Buy a 12pk and a BIG bag of chips, too! ;):LOL:

Good luck! Very nice of you to do this for him. Wish my wife cared that much.:(
 
First, I think it is great of the OP to want to do this. If I was not interested in cooking it would be a great thing to get reheated homemade food as apposed to take out. Plus as everyone knows a way to a mans heart is through is stomach.
I dont have any more ideas for you, although I think casseroles, pot pies and soups are great ideas. And Chili. I could eat frozen chili every day of the week.

Now , not to get more off topic and continue the discussion of whether or not this gentlemen should cook for himself, but I will anyway ;) I think it a great idea to get him involved in the kitchen and learn how to cook. But I do not think the week the OP is away would be the time to do it, IMHO. I have always been of the mind that the best way to get your Sig. O involved is to cook with them. Start him out with the easy jobs and work up from there. Then you have a built in Sous Chef. :chef: Cooking things that neither of you have eaten before is a great way to teach him how to cook and a great bonding experience. Not that I am an expert or anything. But cooking/food brings everyone together.

I hand Shrek a cookbook and ask him to leaf through and "bookmark" any recipes that look good. Then I leave him with a pad of sticky notes. He has gotten a bit better about not eating just hamburgers and scrambled eggs.
 
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