Freezer food ideas needed.

So on Monday I have a shoulder op which means I will not be able to use my right arm for a minimum of a week (and a maximum of 6 weeks depending on how bad it is :() Since my other half is not a cook I'm thinking of spending Saturday making some freezer food for us for probably 2 weeks. Now what I need is ideas, we have a microwave and an oven for reheating, and saucepans of course.

Does anyone have any good freezer recipes that are a bit more exciting than lasagne or chili? Remember I cannot make anything to go with them when they come out if it would take cutting.

Hi Skandi. I hope everything goes well.

We like soup, especially if it's not roasting outside. I like it for being able to roast a bunch of veg and spices in the oven, then puree all but textural elements, add broth, and maybe dairy or coconut cream, depending on the culinary tradition, and when finished, pour straight into canning jars.

I use a similar approach for various Indian and Thai dishes. The amount of liquid going in simply decreases, and again, if it goes hot into sterile jars, well I might, if I am feeling paranoid, store them in the back of my fridge, on the top shelf. But mostly, I have had soups last six months easy, and the more acidic the dish, the safer.

One approach you might consider that would allow you the option of choice later is to do a bunch of freezer mis-en-place instead of complete meals. The way I would do this is to, for instance, roast all the veg I would be eating that way, and then stick that, hot, into sterile jars. You could puree, or not. I would roast a dutch oven each of onions and garlic, and spoon portions into paper muffin tin liners or pieces of parchment or wax paper for freezing. All those little paper bundles would go either onto a tray or into a container in the freezer, and then all you'd need to do is make sure you've labelled them properly.

I like a good saag paneer, personally, which I would probably just make in its entirety and freeze in portions. Honestly, my go-tos are usually Indian or Thai, or at least inspired by those traditions, but I feel this approach could be used for a wide variety of cuisine.

I don't know how carnivorous you are, but there's also hamburger patties to be formed. My much better half likes meat less than I do, so her hamburger stand-ins are usually grilled portobello caps (although our newest favourite local burger place does this thing where they stuff the cap with goat cheese and encrust the portobello with a breadcrumb and parmesan coating applied via egg dip. I can't see why that wouldn't freeze pretty well, too.

Also, we have found that using pureed roasted butternut squash, onions, and garlic make a mouth-watering base for the cheese sauce we make for macaroni and cheese. I start with a white sauce, add in the puree, and then at least two, but possibly three or more, hard cheeses are shredded into it. I sometimes add a soft cheese like brie or chevre, not only for the specific characteristic of that cheese, but to bring it all together texturally.

We sometimes make a pizza crust recipe that makes us three times the dough we use in two sittings. Apart from making and freezing our own pizzas, which works, we've also made half-moon-shaped baked pizza hand pies. Some, I think, would call them small calzones. Others may liken them to the pizza pocket product. We stuff with chopped mushroom, green peppers, onion, pepperoni, and cheese. They freeze nicely after they bake, and microwave nicely.

So there are a few. I can't guarantee that you'll like any of the options I have offered, but hopefully something here will be useful.

Again, I hope your op goes well, and I wish you a speedy recovery. Keep us posted, and good luck.

-CK

I second Chris's soup idea although my soups sound quite different. We like minestrone type soups, or broccoli cheddar, loaded potato etc. Enchiladas and tamales also freeze quite well.

Good luck with the surgery.

Get some glass freezer containers with lids. Fix a batch or two of your choice of hamburger helper. Freeze. Enjoy later. Yummmmm

Half-baked hand pies?

Meat or veggie patties could be frozen.  best to freeze them separated on a cookie sheet, then once they are solid you can throw them together in a container.

Pureed soups freeze well.  You could also freeze half-baked or unbaked bread rolls to heat up with the soup.

My favorite freezer foods are sliced brisket or small meal size portions of brisket and pulled pork for sandwiches.

To go with these I like potato salad and baked beans.

My husband had several surgeries in the last few years (and I gave birth twice), and one thing that was really helpful were muffins and/or bars full of fiber and protein. The combination of anesthesia + pain meds often makes digestion and elimination difficult. So you want to provide options that are easy to eat on a queasy stomach, that can be eaten at weird hours, and that will prevent constipation.

I would prepare little trays with water, fresh fruits, nuts and a baked good to my husband in his "recovery station".

Otherwise, I prefer to freeze things in individual portions: soup in one cup portions, meatloaf already sliced with parchment paper in between the slices, individual casseroles. Because thawing and reheating a large casserole dish can take a long time, and requires more advance planning that we were capable of in post-surgery/post-natal season.

We like to cook up a big batch of taco meat (usually ground turkey, sometimes ground beef) and freeze some of it for reheating later on. Serving is easy, since it only requires chopping some avocado, tomato, and onion, and condiments like sour cream, salsa, pickled jalapeno pepper slices, and having some tortillas on hand.
Soups usually get a few servings frozen for later whenever we make them.

Growing up we always had batches of meals put up in the freezer, Stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage, roast turkey with gravy and stuffing, turkey soup, pot roast, meatloaf, Italian sausages, American chop suey... It was both a way of saving money by buying things on sale, and also saving the preparation time for mid-week meals. It was also variety! It would take my mother and me too many meals in a row to finish a whole turkey (not that we didn't like it, or didn't have it four days in a row anyways), but it was a gift to our future selves to have a turkey dinner waiting in the freezer. All we had to do was boil a few potatoes (or even potato flakes) and some vegetable (usually carrots, or frozen squash) to complete the meal. Sausages, stuffed peppers, or stuffed cabbage could be reheated in a canned sauce while the pasta boiled. Turkey soup was usually frozen with just meat and broth, and fresh or frozen vegetables were added, along with egg noodles when it was reheated.

I hope that your other half is willing to have a go at preparing your meals if it is simple? Some chopping, or boiling some potatoes or pasta? A mile in your shoes...
If you have a food processor/robocoup or a blender, a gazpacho is super easy to prepare for a novice cook.

I don't know if you have "meal preparation" services there (such as Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, others... here in the U.S.) or prepared meal subscription services... Basically you get all the ingredients, prepped, and shipped for a meal for two, OR fully prepared meals like soups, noodle bowls, etc... delivered to your home. So that eliminates the shopping and preparation, leaving just the cooking or reheating to do.
It always seemed to me to be just a luxury for busy people, but it could also be an adventure for a new cook, or a support for someone like yourself during a convalescence. There are often introductory pricing offers for new customers (usually with a required # of deliveries).

Some really nice ideas here guys thanks. the finger food ideas are really appreciated!

Kenneth Elwell wrote:

I hope that your other half is willing to have a go at preparing your meals if it is simple? Some chopping, or boiling some potatoes or pasta? A mile in your shoes...
If you have a food processor/robocoup or a blender, a gazpacho is super easy to prepare for a novice cook.

I don't know if you have "meal preparation" services there (such as Blue Apron, Hello Fresh, others... here in the U.S.) or prepared meal subscription services...

Yes he will help but he's pretty much limited to peeling veg or boiling things, Food services are just appearing here but are way out of our price range they only do dinners and 5 dinners is our entire food budget for the week. (with the new customer discount)

Chris Kott wrote:Hi Skandi.

I use a similar approach for various Indian and Thai dishes. The amount of liquid going in simply decreases, and again, if it goes hot into sterile jars, well I might, if I am feeling paranoid, store them in the back of my fridge, on the top shelf. But mostly, I have had soups last six months easy, and the more acidic the dish, the safer.

------

We sometimes make a pizza crust recipe that makes us three times the dough we use in two sittings. Apart from making and freezing our own pizzas, which works, we've also made half-moon-shaped baked pizza hand pies. Some, I think, would call them small calzones. Others may liken them to the pizza pocket product. We stuff with chopped mushroom, green peppers, onion, pepperoni, and cheese. They freeze nicely after they bake, and microwave nicely.
-----
-CK

Indian and asian in general is a big hit round here, and I think I will certainly go for pizza, after all I won't be able to use a knife and fork to begin with either.

Stacy Witscher wrote:I second Chris's soup idea although my soups sound quite different. We like minestrone type soups, or broccoli cheddar, loaded potato etc. Enchiladas and tamales also freeze quite well.

Soup we have in the freezer aleady, eating it left handed may be messy, Enchiladas sound great as well

M James wrote:Get some glass freezer containers with lids. Fix a batch or two of your choice of hamburger helper. Freeze. Enjoy later. Yummmmm

I had to look this one up, I think we'll pass

Mk Neal wrote:Half-baked hand pies?

Had to look these up as well, AH pasties. yes a great idea.

Kena Landry wrote:

Otherwise, I prefer to freeze things in individual portions: soup in one cup portions, meatloaf already sliced with parchment paper in between the slices, individual casseroles. Because thawing and reheating a large casserole dish can take a long time, and requires more advance planning that we were capable of in post-surgery/post-natal season.

Good to know, I normally do as I really freeze midnight snacks to hubby.. but I would have done larger portions this time.

One day's worth of preps 20 bread rolls, a load of sausage horns (sausages wrapped in bread) two lasagnas waiting to go in the oven, two loaves of rye bread, 2 pizza's and 6 wraps..

Curry and maybe pies tomorrow, I struggle to roll out pastry so they might have to be skipped, unless I use hot water crust or something that doesn't need rolling.