Packing hot meals

[krisdata]

My husband is soon to start a job assignment during which he may work 14-16 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week. As such, he'll be eating almost exclusively away from home.

I'm not exactly in possession of free time either, being a full-time employee and 3/4 time student, so I'm looking for ideas that I can put together for him for dinner in advance that he can take to the job site.

Ideally, I'd be able to make a large amount of any given item, package it into your plastic portable food container of choice, and freeze them for his selection later.

There are, of course, prepackaged meals like this, but I'd really like him to get a home-cooked meal occasionally, even if it has to go through the nuking process first. That, and those TV dinners can get darned expensive...

Chili and chicken soup are already on their way to the freezer. Does anyone have any other ideas? Or maybe you've dealt with a similar situation before, and have some ideas for me? Are there any foods that you'd really recommend NOT freezing in this manner?

TIA...

[chickenlady]

This sounds like my situation while my husband had full-time job and was working on his Ph.D. He'd leave at 6 am and get back around 10 pm. I would just cook myself dinner, then package up the leftovers in plastic containers for him to heat up. The tricky part was getting him enough food--he was eating all his meals away from home. If you're cooking for yourself anyway, that might work. Otherwise, lots of casseroles and soups freeze fine. Lasagne is always nice and it freezes well. Just make a big batch on the weekends and portion it out. I also send lots of healthy-ish snacks (juice, cheese, fruit, cereal bars, etc) along with a little treat so that he'll stay away from the vending machines and fast food.

It may not be anyone's ideal way to eat, but with some advance planning you can get through it.

[nessa]

I do this. We are/have been in a similar situation. I work 5:30 am to 2:30ish, he tends to work 8-5 or later, sometimes night shifts. I tend to bulk cook on the weekends and freeze the leftovers in those gladware partitioned tupperware lookin' thingies. Well for him anyways. I get the sandwich sized ones for myself. All kinds of things work well. Stews, spaghetti/pastas, meats with gravy or something to cover it and keep the freezer burn away, enchiladas etc etc.

I can't think really of anything that I've made that didn't freeze well, that I chose to freeze in the first place. Its a real life saver to have a home cooked meal in the time it takes to nuke it. That way we are eating within budget and eating much healthier than we would if we ate out. I also find it a good way to control portion size. I tend to cook say 2-3 large batches of whatever over the weekend. If I do this every weekend then I build up a nice variety of things so we don't get too tired of any one thing. Right now I have spaghetti and meatballs, Israli couscous with lentils and spinach, chilli, pinto beans, bean soup, tofu and veggie stir fry, mushroom risotto and peas, pozole, and I think beef enchiladas. Another good thing about this "system" is that we are each able to eat different things. I can cook once a week, cook something he likes, something I like, and we don't have to eat the other's meals. Everyone is happy! Chicken and dumplings also freezes well.

Some week nights (afternoons whaaaatevah) I'll get the urge to make something different, and I do, so it doesn't stifle my urge to create. But it does allow me not to *have* to come up with something when I'm tired. I also make stuff for a quick, portable breakfast. The SO loves sausage in a biscuit things like a"pig in a blanket". Breakfast casserole of potatos obrian, cheddar, eggs, and (shhhh) finely chopped tofu is on the menu for this week. It cooks up nice and firm so I can pick it up and eat it in the car or at my desk.

I don't tend to freeze the breakfast stuff for whatever reason. Eggy stuff can be iffy frozen. Pancakes freeze well. Some rice dishes don't seem to freeze well.

Here is a link that offers guidelines for things that do not freeze well, or that change texture etc.

http://www.realfood4realpeople.com/freeze.html

Incidently thats from OAMC or once a month cooking. For me personally that is WAY too much work for one weekend but I was on anOAMC list once and got good ideas to adapt for my tastes. Some folks swear by it.

[tissue]

This sounds like a really good idea. I always eat out and am tired of doing so.

[Jaymes]

Y'all might be too old or too health-conscious for this one, but when my kids were young, once a week, they'd get their favorite: chili dogs. In the morning, I'd nuke a weiner, and some chili. Then put the chili into the thermos, and drop in the weiner. Wrap a bun and some condiments up in plastic, and add a plastic spoon and fork to fish out the weiner. It and the chili stayed hot until lunchtime.

They were heroes in their school lunchroom with this feast.

[fifi]

I live alone so I have some of the same issues and, when working from home, I don't want to stop and go out for lunch. And you can't actually cook a lot of things for one.

In addition to the above here are a couple of tricks I use. If you are lucky enough to have a smoker (or know someone who does) I always throw some brined chicken thighs and breasts on with the pork or brisket. After snacking on them, the leftover meat is wrapped tightly in foil packets and stored in a large zip lock bag in the freezer. Smoked chicken is pantry gold for salads, quesidillas, sandwiches, pasta dishes, whatever. I find that I don't like the flavor of roasted or smoked meat from the microwave. A foil packet in the toaster oven for 15 minutes is great.

I also sometimes freeze soups and stews in portion size zip locks, squeezing all of the air out and freezing flat on a baking sheet. It thaws quickly in a bowl of hot water and takes up less freezer space.

[nessa]

Hmm. I like that of freezing things in ziplock bags, flat for easy thawing. Awesome idea!! It does take a while for a tupperware thing of soup to defrost.

[krisdata]

Right now I have spaghetti and meatballs, Israli couscous with lentils and spinach, chilli, pinto beans, bean soup, tofu and veggie stir fry, mushroom risotto and peas, pozole, and I think beef enchiladas.

Yummm... These all sound so good!

I was wondering about freezing the stir-fry, or other items where a lot of the surface is exposed to air because of freezer burn... But this works out for you?

Enchiladas sound yummy too.

Thanks for the tips... And the link!

[trillium]

You might check out the Tilia foodsaver "professional" model. You can pick them up on ebay for at least $100 less than the list price. I wouldn't go for the other models because they don't have as many useful features, but I love mine and feel like it's totally worth the money we spent on it. It virtually eliminates freezer burn and the bags are microwavable or boilable, although I tend not to use them in that fashion because they aren't as useful a second time around if they've been cooked. I like reusing the bags because they're costly (but a pretty good price at Costco). Even soups work ok, you freeze the soup with the bag unsealed and then vacuum seal it after the soup is frozen. It also vacuum seals canning jars, although it involves some fiddling.

On the frozen food front, red wine braised beef, Bolognese sauce for pasta, and braised chicken dishes like chicken marbella all freeze really well.

regards,

trillium

[Katherine]

I always eat my supper at work, and for me, what makes a home-cooked meal is vegetables. So what I have is a divided plate, with a meat section and two veg sections (which may have one or more types in each). The meat section usually gets things like cooked chicken meat, meat loaf, roasted meat. For the vegetable section I prep, cook, and season an entire package or pound of each type of vegetable on Sunday morning, when I am free. With half-a dozen boxes of vegetables ready in the refrigerator, it's easy to have a meal with vegetables, when you don't have the luxury of time to fix any. I just grab a dish, fill it up, and I'm ready to go.

[tryska]

i do this for my lunch meals.

i don't freeze mine tho, just keep them in the fridge, and eat them through the week, but i typically do chili, pot roast, stews, roast chicken and veggies, corned beef and boiled veggies - that type of stuff. pastas too - usually baked ziti or spaghetti.

i've also gotten creative with mac and cheese with ground beef (from scratch) and tuna casserole (with campbells soup). Speaking of which....tuna casserole might be next weeks "it" meal.

[krisdata]

I think I'm starting today with jambalaya... I have a good recipe for making it in a crock pot, which makes it easy today and easy after it's frozen.

Thanks everyone for the tips!