meal planning help needed!!

“i've got to pre-cook & freeze six weeks worth of dinners. problem is, i don't want to end up with 42 lasagnas in my freezer.
i need some creative ideas!”

“Is this for the trail?”

“Can your freezer accomodate a cow?”

“red beans and rice

gumbo

chili

Just the three things I can think of off hand that I tend to cook a lot of and it freezes well.”

“Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Lasagna on the trail. I'll bring my spork.

I could be more creative but I'm not sure it would do you any good. You've been here almost a year and still haven't figure out how to change your profile???????????”

“nope, not trail food:(
this stuff has to be kid-friendly too.
so far...lasagna, shepherds pie, chicken, veggie & pasta cassarole, and chicken soup.

chili sounds good if only they would all eat it and i have no idea how the bean & rice dish would go over.”

“BM-my profile is stuck like that. my computer hates me.”

“check this site out. It is about freezer bag cooking with lots of receipes
http://www.freewebs.com/freezerbagcooking/index.htm”

“LOL! Maybe matt can unstick it?”

“the meals are for home use only. 6 weeks of suppers for my kids.
unfortunately there's not gonna be any hiking for me for the next couple months”

“Do they like Easy Mac?”

“PB & J?
Pizza?
Hot dogs?
Chocolate cake!”

“ewww easymac is gross

how about some suggestions that include more than one food group? they're gonna be eating enough crap for their lunches.”

“If they aren't really little teach them to cook simple things now.”

“and there's no way i'd let the kids have chocolate cake
dontyaknow that anything chocolate is mom food”

“LOL! Sorry. I always fought about this with my last live in SO

SO: Do you ever think about dinner?
Me: Of course. As soon as I get home from work.....right after my nap......when my stomach starts to growl
SO: I mean, do you ever plan?
Me: Of course. After my stomach growls I go to the kitchen and plan on eating.

Why's that so wrong?”

“hahahahaha you think i should let my posse loose in the kitchen?!”

“Depends on age.

Starvation and/or eating crappy food tends to warm one towards the idea of learning to cook.”

“age isn't the problem.”

“How old we talking here?”

“7.5 x2& 9”

“9 isn't too young to start helping out in the kitchen, usually. Gas stove or electric?”

“Maybe the 9 year old if he/she were rather mature for their age and an adult were nearby.

But.....I don't think so either.

10, 10 1/2 absolutely.
last edited: 2/18/05 3:14:07 PM”

“I'm trying to think how old I was when I heated up soup on the stove myself for the first time...Of course, no microwaves when I was a young'un. 10 maybe? I can't remember.”

“LOL the boys are NOT mature for their ages. they have plenty of smarts and attitude, but they are severely lacking in the maturity dep't
maybe if i only let one into the kitchen at a time then they wouldn't be able to practice their gladiator moves on eachother.”

“So, whose cooking or heating capabilities are we leaning on here?”

“i plan on cooking all 42 meals this weekend & next and then they can just be pulled outta the freezer as needed.”

“To be honest, I'm stumped. I eat a lot of leftovers, but usually I leave them in the fridge. So I don't know what freezes well and what doesn't.

Are you just trying to save time in the evenings or something?”

“Soups and stews. Might want to invest in a cookbook that focuses on soups and stews.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a one container meal either. You could also cook up chicken breasts, pork chops, etc and freeze those and then just keep frozen veggies handy and maybe freeze batches of mashed potatoes.

What about stir frys? Meatloaf. Enchiladas and/or burritos.

Sounds like you have lots of cooking to do. Yuck!”

“Speaking of burritoes, I bought some flour tortillas the other night that were touted as "soft and light". Well, they certainly were, so soft and light that they tore too easily when filled. So I'll be going back to the regular kind that I have to steam a little.”

“hey my 6 yr old cooks with me all the time and can read from cook books on what she wants to cook ..”

“Dehydrate some chili.
Stove top is always delish.
Instant taters/rice with lipton soup mixes.
Foil packed meats (God knows there's something for everyone out there).
Get a bakepacker and your options go up. We make chili pie with ours and freakin love it.”

“ok---let me clarify
“the meals are for home use only. 6 weeks of suppers for my kids.
unfortunately there's not gonna be any hiking for me for the next couple months”
helinka
3:47:07 PM
2/18/05


thanks for the suggestions though currahee”

“good ideas pixie.
i'll probably stick mostly to one dish meals as much as possible so that everything is easy - just toss the dish in the oven.”

“Sorry, I tend to read the inital post and jump right into it without readin the subsequent posts. You can still do the chili.
Also, I usually cook up a whole bag of chicken breasts instead of cooking them up individually. Or at least marinade them for a couple of days then freeze them. Chowder (corn &potato is my fav) can be cooke, cooled, portioned and frozen.”

“chowder. i hadn't thought of that.
i wonder if the boys will like it as much as they like splitpea soup”

“currahee, I do the same thing with chicken. I'll have some bbq, some teriyaki, etc. It's fun.

helinka, I understand the one dish concept. Should definitely simplify.

No one has asked yet. Why on earth are you doing this? Are you planning on being out of commission for awhile?”

“yep”

“Beef Strogonaff is a kid friendly meal, creamy sauce and noodles. It's a favorite with my kids on the trail so why not at home?”

“you not leave the kids home by themselfs are you. Taking a class or something i hope. Have you thaught this though. I'm in college and i know there is lots of quick and easy food you can make with out freezing. You better have a really big freezer to put 42 meals in. Try some of the instate soups, they have rice and noddles”

“i appreciate your concern photoguy, but i'll be here with them. in fact, i'll be here all the time.

hope you're not an english major :)
last edited: 2/18/05 10:43:39 PM”

“LMAO”

“How about Tuna casserole?
(or just casseroles in general?

You could do something like spiral rotini with spaghetti sauce, add a little cottage cheese in the mix and it's like a casserole type of lasagna?

Do you have a George Foreman grill? how about hamburgers, salmon burgers, grilled chicken breasts, etc.?

Fish Sticks are easy for the kids to make....

You can also have the kids make things like pizza bagels (really easy-- just get the fixings and they can make them pretty much by themselves, and of course, kids always like pizza.

Or, you can make "pita" pizzas (like the "Boboli" pizzas, but using the "Greek" pita breads (the ones that are more bread-like vs. the ones with the pockets in them.)

How about making a batch of taco meat-- They can make Burritos, Tacos, taco salads, etc. out of it... :-) Again, the fixings are relatively easy and the kids will like putting it together...

Have you ever made Pasties (pronounced "Past-ee") It's basically a pastry dough, filled with meat (usually beef), mixed with diced turnips, diced carrots, onions. (Cook some stewing beef until it falls apart into shreds. You can add the other ingredients in to it and cook it all in a crockpot. Once the meat & veggies are done, add a little cornstarch to thicken the gravy (and salt & pepper and other seasonings to taste)... using a pastry dough, you make something like a turnover (filling it with the meat mixture). partially bake it until the crust is just barely cooked.) Freeze and they can be baked for a little while to cook them... :-)”

“ack! not lasagna again! :)

thanks for the ideas pink. i forgot about cornish pasties. i usually make them with something similar to pizza dough. yumm.
taco meat is already on the list...although i can't guarantee fresh fixings and i don't think that lettuce & tomatoes do too well in the freezer.
i wish we had a grocer around here who would deliver.”

“Send all leftover Lasagna here.
Email me for address.”

“how about beef stew?

Are your kids adventurous when it comes to food? (or are they afraid to try new things?)

Curried chicken with potatoes is yumm and should freeze well. I get the yellow curry from a chinese grocery store... :-)
Sautee chicken with potatoes and onions (diced). you could also add other veggies--red or green peppers, carrots or chick peas, etc.) You can either use chicken with the bones in it (i.e. thighs/legs/drummies) or just regular chicken (I would use thigh meat if you want a richer flavor). I usually keep the skin on, so that the sauce is better tasting, although if you are fat-conscious, you can omit it. Sautee everything until browned. Then add the curry powder maybe about 3 TBS (taste it as you go--start with less and add more if needed, otherwise it could be too spicy), salt and pepper an a little sugar (no more than a teaspoon) to mellow out the flavor. Stew it until there's a little bit of sauce (you can add a cup of water to get a more runny sauce.
Let everything stew for about 30 minutes and then add a Tablespoon of corn starch mixed with cold water to the pot to thicken up the sauce. This is good by itself and better on rice (real rice, not Uncle Ben's)

Other Ideas -
Gumbo with rice
Minestrone soup (veggie soup with kidney beans and small pasta)
Split pea soup
Veggie Soup
Stuffed Cabbage
potato pancakes (Latkes)
Frozen Raviolis with spaghetti sauce
Pierogies
Quiche
Beef Rouladen

For Dessert- Frozen Bananas dipped in chocolate


Helinka,
for the tacos-- you could substitute salsa and just use that with grated cheese and sour cream... :-) If you can't get lettuce, it still might be okay that way.

What are you doing that you can't get fresh fixings? Are you going down the mississippi on a house boat? :-D”

“thanks pink. the curry sounds really yummy.

and yes...the kids are a bunch of chickens.

i wish it was a trip down the mississippi. i'm gonna be house-bound for at least 4 weeks. and i've already got a bad attitude about the whole thing.”

“Oh, Helinka, sorry to hear that. :-( That's no fun!

How about getting frozen filets of fish and chicken, hamburger, ham, etc.? If you have a George Foreman, you can just drop it on the grill and cook up a storm with relatively little muss and fuss. Just keep a supply of frozen veggies (you know the mixed ones--they have so many varieties now-a-days). That would make things simpler-- and you don't have to pre-cook anything...

If you get frozen fruits, you can make smoothies, too.

Might be a good time to introduce kids to some new flavors. You might be surprised at how they might like it, if you give them new things to try...

I Think there are some cook-books out there for children-- where they can make simple things, such as sandwiches (canned tuna, ham, chicken, turkey or shrimp can be a good variety of things to start with--and of course good old fashioned Peanut Butter & Jelly)

Do you have a grocery service that can bring you some fresh produce? I think some cities have services for the homebound which should help with the variety... :-)”

“19 down... only 23 more to go”

“Why 42 meals?

is that 3 meals a day for 14 days? or 2 meals for 21?”