Freezer Meals for Kitchen Remodel?

[robinb]

Hi everyone! I need your help.

I am on week 10 of my (endless) kitchen remodel. I have been staying at a friend's cabin for about half the time but we find that we are at home more and more. We seem to have something going on at home just about every other day and hauling the pets back and forth an hour each way is stressful for everyone concerned. We will be moving back home on December 1st and my contractor says that the kitchen will be done by Christmas (crossing my fingers!), so I'd like to stock up on some freezer meals to see me through 5 nights a week for 3-4 weeks. I did a mega meal prep a couple weeks ago and I'm looking for another 6-10 recipe ideas that will freeze in a 1 gallon Ziplock bag as we have a chest freezer in our basement. We'll eat just about anything, but prefer to eat non-processed food. There are only 2 of us, so we would make 2 meals out of each recipe.

I have a full kitchen at the cabin and already made the following:

• Loaf pan lasagna
• Tuscan sausage, bean and kale soup
• beef stew
• coconut chicken curry with butternut squash
• chicken pasta primavera
• one-pot Philly cheesesteak pasta

I have at my disposal for cooking and reheating at home:

• Cuisinart air frier/toaster oven combo (I'll be buying a 10" casserole dish to fit in it)
• 11" electric skillet with cover
• microwave
• Instapot

 

[MICKIMINI]

A favorite meal I cook buckets of for my elderly parents is sweet and sour chicken.

3-5 lbs boneless breast or thigh
1 small jar orange marmalade
apple cider vinegar
soy sauce
pinch of garlic and any other spices you like
olive oil
onions
green peppers
carrots
celery
any other stir fry veggie you want
corn starch (if you like a thicker sauce mix a few teaspoons of corn starch with water and mix into your chicken and vegies when simmering)

cooked rice

Warning: I don't use measurements so use what makes sense!

I stir fry all the cut veggies in olive oil and set aside. Stir fry cut up chicken then add soy sauce, vinegar, garlic. Once the sauce is bubbling, add marmalade and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir in vegies and simmer again until hot and bubbly. Serve with rice. This is easy to freeze in portions and tastes just as good reheated. Enjoy!

 

[tvguy]

We did a "to the studs" remodel of our kitchen and never left our house. Just moved our old microwave to the laundry area and the refrigerator into the family room. . We lived on Healthy Choice frozen meals But our kitchen was only out of service for about six weeks.
That project including a to the studs remodel of two of our three bathrooms, all new flooring, doors and paint. A bit of dust the entire time despite all the plastic sheeting to seal off work areas. We did sleep on our mattress on the floor of one of the bedrooms for a few nights while the flooring in the master bedroom was removed/installed.

 

[barkley]

Loaf pan lasagna

loaf pan meatloaf

coconut chicken curry with butternut squash

I do the same with rogan josh, chicken, bell pepper, mushrooms and onions


you can do up a roast in the instapot (I do it in my crockpot) the old 'soda method' (pour a can of dark soda on the meat and cook-it leaves no taste but helps make it shreddable). freeze in containers to make bbq beef (or pork) sandwiches, toss it with canned enchilada sauce to make burritos or enchiladas in the the electric skillet, toss with marinara to do with pasta. cook up ground beef and freeze in containers to make quick manwich, tacos, add to pasta sauce.

best wishes on your new kitchen.

 

[robinb]

I’m very excited! We finally have windows. The floors get refinished next week. They are original maple to the house built in 1917.

 

[barkley]

I’m very excited! We finally have windows. The floors get refinished next week. They are original maple to the house built in 1917.

View attachment 1024100

please post photos of the finished project (and any 'befores' you might have)-i love to see how these major reno's turn out.

 

[MICKIMINI]

I’m very excited! We finally have windows. The floors get refinished next week. They are original maple to the house built in 1917.

View attachment 1024100

Looks awesome! You are so smart to put lots of ceiling lights in which many people (and most builders) neglect. Great that you saved the original floor! It is a survival game, for sure, but you will be so happy when it is done!

 

[clh2]

Our kitchen remodel happened in the summer…on the other hand we grill out all year round.

Any option to cook out some burgers, that could be reheated? What about cooking up some taco meat, which can be frozen, and then reheated as needed?

 

[NYCgrrl]

For your Instapot, specifically:

Chili- all meat or combined with beans; yr choice.

Sugo- similar to an Italian meat sauce but instead of ground meat, use roasted meat that’s shredded. Here’s a faster recipe that’s good to eat too: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1027340-lazy-sugo?smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share

Chicken tortilla soup, chicken cacciatore, chicken soup w/ veggies and noodles (add the noodle after the soup is cooked or just use rice which freezes better).

You might want to add a quarter sheet pan to your cooking utensils. Fits in most toaster ovens and allows you to make all those tasty sheet pan dishes.