Cooking Freezer meals for friend

[Katy Belle]

I have a friend who is going through treatment for breat cancer Every 3 weeks she has chemo which sends her to bed for 4 days, then she's up and running again...so far anyway.

She has 6 kids in the house, age 18,17,16,14,12,9. The only help she will agree to is food delivered that she can freeze and her husband can thaw and re-heat. Her kids cook, but this is a hard time for the whole family and they have been eating way too much pizza and hot dogs.

So, what should I take?

I'm going to take meatballs for meat ball subs, and the bread and cheese, all frozen in a pkg together. I was also going to make Runzas, basically meat pies. Both of these things would work well for eating on the run.

Any ideas with chicken?

Side dishes?

I want to avoid lasagne, I think others will do that.

I will take ice cream and flowers too. You can never have too much ice cream or flowers.
Thanks for your help.

Katy

 

[MazdaUK]

How about Cornish pasties, or calzones - they would be good if the kids are all eating at different times due to clubs etc. You can sneak some veggies in there You can make them with all sorts of things, even veggie options.

Or stews and casseroles freeze well - shepherds pie is a good stand-by (again you could make individual ones in foil dishes, but it will keep hot safely in a low oven as a big dish if that is easier). Or scalloped potatoes layered with chicken - freeze after assembly.

 

[Katy Belle]

Thanks! I've never thought of putting chicken in scalloped potatoes! Do you pre-cook it and cut it up? Do you have a recipe?

Also, I was thinking of doing some soup, as kind of an extra. What would you freeze soup in to take? She specifically requested disposable tins for the food....that seems kind of leaky for soup? I guess it would work if I froze it here and then transported it?


I like the calzone idea too! Thanks so much for your help!

I've started some rice to make chicken fried rice tomorrow for them. BOY! Its going to take a lot of food for that many teenagers! Not sure how she handles that on a daily basis when she's feeling well! Hopefully we can stock her freezer and even on her good days give her a break!

Katy

 

[mel63]

My DFIL has had a LOT of dental surgery since Jan. I made him a bunch of soups. I put them in ziplocs (freezer ones), then froze them at my place. It made transport easy. Put the ziploc in a round container before filling, and if you have room in your freezer, freeze it in the container too. Then when frozen, take the bag out of the container. Then if she has a crockpot, she can heat it in there, and it will fit.

Some things I have made & frozen
soups
stews
chillis
stuffed peppers
lasagna
spaghetti (or other pastas)
casseroles

Some ideas for lasagna,
regular, seafood, roasted vegetable, mexican, chicken, reuben, breakfast

Spaghetti or pastas, you can freeze pasta & sauce seperate.

Soups
chicken or beef noodle or dumpling
clam chowder
french onion
southwest vegetable
stuffed pepper
hot sausage
beef or chicken vegetable
baked potato
cream of mushroom


I'll post more later. Also recipes if you want them.

 

[greeneeyes]

I've made this for friends in similar situations. It serves 6, but since she has teenagers you may want to double the recipe (it freezes well). I also send along a big bag of egg noodles to be served with it...

Cordon Bleu Casserole

NGREDIENTS

* 2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
* 4 cups cubed cooked turkey
* 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1/3 cup butter, cubed
* 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/8 teaspoon ground mustard
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1-3/4 cups milk
* TOPPING:
* 1-1/2 cups soft bread crumbs
* 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
* 1/4 cup butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

In a large nonstick skillet, saute ham for 4-5 minutes or until browned; drain and pat dry. Meanwhile, in a greased 2-qt. baking dish, layer the turkey, cheese and ham; set aside.
In a large saucepan, saute the onion in butter until tender. Stir in the flour, mustard and nutmeg until blended. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Pour over ham.
Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over the top. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Yield: 6 servings.

From Taste of Home

 

[greeneeyes]

This is a recipe of mine, my family loves it. It's easy to make 2 (don't try to double or it won't cook) and can be frozen and reheated in the microwave or oven (oven is best)

BBQ Meatloaf

Makes 6 servings


1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
1 lb ground turkey breast
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup bbq sauce, divided

Mix first eight ingredients in a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup of BBQ sauce. Shape into loaf. Placed in a microwave loaf pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray, cover.
Micro on 50% for 15 minutes. Pour 1/4 cup BBQ Sauce on top of loaf; carefully spread to cover. Replace cover and microwave on 50% for 15 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 140 degrees.
Let rest for 10 minutes.

 

[MazdaUK]

If you google the recipe for Jansson's Temptation, its a Swedish dish of potatoes and anchovies - my family don't like them, so I cut uncooked chicken breast into strips (or you could use ready-cut stirfry strips) and cooked for juts a little longer. That's how it started, but I've also made like a dauphinoise (scalloped potatoes) with chicken in it. I parboil the potatoes before layering, and generally it cooks on 170C for about 45 mins to 1 hr.

If you don't have dishes to spare, you could line your pyrex with foil, then freeze it and turn it out, popping straight into your friend's frezer with a BIG note reminding to put inside another dish before cooking - my neighbour kindly made me a main and pudding this way when I had DS(9).