Got the WDW Food-Fixin Blahs

[Local_Girl]

Belle5,

Don't worry--you can stay in the room after us! I'm NOT planning to do the "tuna mac"!

And mcm, your question is a good one. I've been wondering how to do that myself. I figure that most cooked food has a refrigerated life of several days...so if I put it into a good cooler when it's frozen solid, it should stay very cold, thawing slowly until I use it. I was planning to do these meals from home the first few days we're there--maybe 3 dinner meals, tops. What do you guys think? It's starting to sound like more trouble than it's worth...

 

[mcm]

I think it will be thawed by the time you get to Orlando but you could immediately refreeze (I don't know how big your fridge in the room is) if the food is something sturdy like a pasta meat dish. But I would cook it and freeze it no more than two days before you leave. Which is a pain because man just packing the family stuff is a big task.

 

[momx2]

Hey Local Girl, I do the same thing with tuna and mac and cheese. But just to make it healthy, I add some peas or corn and my kids love it. Honestly, I started this in college for cheap meals and picked it back up for the kids because both of my DDs, as toddlers, have insisted on eating as soon as we get home from work and snacks don't do until 6:00. So I'm always struggling with a quick, yet nutritious dinner for them.

 

[travelitis]

I cook ahead and freeze at home, and there's no reason to put off the cooking until right before the trip. You could cook well beforehand with no problem. I could cook now for our trip. To transport it you could use dry ice which stays cold longer than regular ice. I'm going to be driving about 17 hours and am freezing a couple of gal milk jugs to use as ice blocks. I'll also freeze things I don't need to but that will help keep the cooler contents cold and slow down the thawing. For instance, I'll freeze juice boxes and lunch meat.
The more that is frozen in the cooler, the slower the thawing will be.

For good information on precooking and freezing to get the best quality and shelf life go to: http://www.allrecipes.com/cb/kh/maindish/freezeit/default.asp

 

[Local_Girl]

Great ideas, as usual, everyone--thanks! I like the idea of freezing many foods/drinks to keep everything colder longer. And thank you, travelitis, for the link to allrecipes.com. I've used recipes from the site, but didn't think to look up info about freezing foods. I checked it out and it's very helpful. I don't do the cooking/freezing thing routinely, but have had friends who do (they cook a month's worth of meals in marathon sessions--sorry, I am not that well organized, nor could I stand being in the kitchen long enough to do it!).

Anyway, I'm thinking about freezing a hearty lasagna, probably in individual portions (so they'll freeze and reheat quickly); cooked, diced chicken; seasoned meat for tacos; and maybe some homemade soup.