Help with meals for when I go away

Diamond Member Joined: Feb 02 2006 Posts: 4767

Hello all,
So in a few weeks I will be going out of town for about a week for a professional conference.
DH DOES NOT cook more than the microwave and we no longer live in a place with kosher take-out.

Any idea of easy meals that I can make now and freeze for the family?

DH and the kiddies aren't that picky, but because we live OOT our access to certain kinds of kosher meat is hard to come by. At the moment I have easy access to ground beef and chicken, but that's about it at the moment.

Any ideas??

(here's hoping that thawing a dish and then warming in the microwave doesnt proove to be too difficult Confused

)
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"G-d I trust will understand, I'm not so sure about the neighbors.." -Yentl

Gold Member Joined: Dec 24 2009 Posts: 2433

Shepards pie and lasagna both freeze and reheat beautifully.
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I'm a post-modern liberal yekke quasi-Chardal Lubavitch baal teshuva trapped inside the body of pale fat Jewish lady with no neck. Very Happy

Diamond Member Joined: Feb 02 2006 Posts: 4767

Yeah I was thinking about both of those already! I will add them to my list!

Gold Member Joined: Mar 23 2007 Posts: 1874 Location: NY

Can he chop veggies? Boil water to make rice? You could do tacos....

Meatballs freeze well, of course. I grill tons of chicken and freeze in small portions. He can just do grilled chicken sandwiches and microwave some vegetables.

I make and freeze a meatball soup (basically just meatballs, broth and whatever veggies you like such as carrots and peas). Then the kids add pasta and it becomes a meal in a bowl.
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I'm not the popular Mama Bear. I'm "the other one."

Stuffed cabbage also freezes well.
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Can he boil pasta? Bolognese sauce freezes well.

Someone asked if OP's DH can boil rice. Boiled rice freezes well so OP could leave some in the freezer for her DH to heat in the microwave if she has something to go with it.

When I was in a similar position I made:

Lasagne
Cottage pie
Bolognese sauce
Lemon chicken (Strips of chicken breast fried in lemon juice and served with rice)
Schnitzel
Rice and lentils

and a few sefardi dishes.

I made a couple of meals worth of each thing and a list of instructions for heating! My DH coped fine but got bored of washing up after the first day so ate all the other meals out of the containers with plastic cutlery Rolling Eyes

Diamond Member Joined: Feb 02 2006 Posts: 4767

You know, it really amazed me sometimes. My husband is BRILLIANT at studying Gemara and some really obsure texts, but when it comes to basics like throwing together a meal, its "confusing." Rolling Eyes

Gold Member Joined: Dec 24 2009 Posts: 2433

Can I make a suggestion?

Buy some frozen Pizza. It's likely what he's going to feed the kids anyway.

How many meals do you need?

You can freeze spaghetti separately. As well as meatballs and sauce.
Pizza freezes and reheats well.
Baked ziti.
Lasagna. Dairy or meat.
Meatloaf.
Doughless knishes / mashed potatoes.
Breaded chicken cutlets.
Orzo.
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Really Awesome Mom!

Diamond Member Joined: Feb 02 2006 Posts: 4767

Diamond Member Joined: Feb 02 2006 Posts: 4767

Gold Member Joined: Dec 24 2009 Posts: 2433

Other things that freeze very well include mac n' cheese (I make a few servings in separate casseroles), tuna noodle casserole, plain pasta, plain rice, fried rice, mushroom rice, rice with lentils, chili, soup, ratatouille, sauteed spinach, fish fingers, fish/salmon patties, fish pie, cottage pies, schnitzel (I bread and fry so all needed is to defrost and reheat).

For lunch, hummous in pita. Can he do scrambled eggs? then eggs in pita. Other fillings include jam, choco spread, cream cheese, lox, deli cold cuts. Make sure he eats/serves children enough veggies and fruits--cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks would do.

Gold Member Joined: Dec 25 2008 Posts: 2032

Wow. My 15 year old on the Autism can feed our family for yom tov, do our laundry properly, and some husbands can't make a cheese sandwich? Oh yeah, and he learns lots of random and obscure texts too. I am thinking this one is gonna get an amazing wife. Maybe we should consider the shidduch system after all....

Executive Member Joined: Jul 18 2011 Posts: 439

What I would probably do something like this.

Prepare a crockpot meal night before I leave, plug it in and set it the morning I leave, so that it's ready, without any help at all from dh, for the first night's supper.

Sliced deli in fridge, and rolls in bread drawer for second night. With ready cut up veggie sticks and dip, all ready in the fridge, set up on a sectioned dish, and sealed with Saran wrap. Dh has to assemble sandwiches and just pull out the veggies and dip platter.

(Turkey) meatball soup in fridge (keeps for while) for third night. Has starch, protein and veggies in there. All he has to do is take the pot out of the fridge, and heat it up on the stove top.

Hot dogs, buns, and ready made corn salad in fridge for fourth night. Hopefully dh can grill, pan sear, microwave, or bake the hot dogs without trouble.

For lunches... frozen tuna, turkey breast, sliced cheese, and salmon salad sandwiches.