Food for Stocking a Freezer

[ktmoomau]

So I am trying to think of meals that I can make to stock my SIL's freezer as she and my BIL are having a baby soon.  I freeze a lot of items- mainly when I have an excess of items, but don't necessarily freeze a lot of whole meals, as I don't have a huge freezer.  What are your favorite frozen meals you make for you, or take for others?

I was trying to think of things that were satisfying, but I could also make somewhat healthy, these are the ideas I came up with: Tamales, chicken and veggie enchiladas, lasagna, whole wheat waffles,  green mac and cheese, stuffed shells, soup- maybe like a brunswick stew.  Searching on pinterest is difficult for this one as a lot of people's freezer meals are just huge lists, or are things that aren't very gourmet or lack any sort of vegetable component.  

Bonus points for items that can be made in nicely stackable tin or plastic containers.

[Tweaked]

Chili - meat or vegetarian (whatever they prefer).  Plus corn bread freezes well.    Chili is obviously very container friendly.  Slice up the corn bread into individual sized portions (squares), wrap individual squares in saran wrap, and then stack them in a container. 

[Pat]

Frittata or crustless quiche can be portioned and frozen. There are sheet pan versions for making an extra large batch.

Soups are good. I find vegetable - beef to be particularly good frozen. Mac and cheese freezes well. Pretty much all pasta-based casseroles do.

[dracisk]

If they can give you e-mail addresses of their local friends you could also set up a Meal Train for them. Local friends can sign up to bring them homemade dinners or have food delivered from restaurants on a specific date (I suppose non-local friends could also have food delivered). Since most people have limited freezer space these meals could supplement the freezer meals.

[Tweaked]

42 minutes ago, dracisk said:

If they can give you e-mail addresses of their local friends you could also set up a Meal Train for them. Local friends can sign up to bring them homemade dinners or have food delivered from restaurants on a specific date (I suppose non-local friends could also have food delivered). Since most people have limited freezer space these meals could supplement the freezer meals.

Our friends just had twins and we are participating in their Meal Train.  They love it. 

We did the chili and corn bread which provided them with a couple of dinners.  And then we also picked up some SouperGirl Soup and a Whisk Quiche for a quick lunch option.   

They also appreciated the company when we dropped things off.

[ktmoomau]

1 hour ago, dracisk said:

If they can give you e-mail addresses of their local friends you could also set up a Meal Train for them. Local friends can sign up to bring them homemade dinners or have food delivered from restaurants on a specific date (I suppose non-local friends could also have food delivered). Since most people have limited freezer space these meals could supplement the freezer meals.

They likely will have this, but they specifically asked me to help stock the chest freezer they just bought, so this will probably get used after the meal train ends.  I might cheat a little though and pick up a few nice frozen items from some local places- i.e. Italian Store, etc, to go along with what I make them.

[Smita Nordwall]

On 2/3/2020 at 2:32 PM, ktmoomau said:

They likely will have this, but they specifically asked me to help stock the chest freezer they just bought, so this will probably get used after the meal train ends.  I might cheat a little though and pick up a few nice frozen items from some local places- i.e. Italian Store, etc, to go along with what I make them.

Grain bowls were my go to when I stocked my in-laws' freezer. Slightly undercooking veggies so they don't turn to mush when nuked. Another favorite is breakfast burritos, because cereal can get old fast. If they like Indian, curries and dals freeze beautifully. I can help you make some if you like.

[DonRocks]

5 hours ago, ktmoomau said:

What are your favorite frozen meals you make for you, or take for others?

I don't make anything except reservations, but I was saying, just a couple of days ago, that frozen Palak/Saag Paneer dishes at Indian specialty stores are very good, on average - you can't just throw a dart, but the success rate is higher than with, say, Salisbury Steak.

(I suspect Smita is cringing at the thought of dropping 50 to load a freezer with these.)

[deangold]

Put an assortment of cooked beans in the top of a double boiler or banin marie. Cover with tomato sauce, some bean broth of cooking them from dried or if the canned stuff tastes good, herbs, garlic, chopped onion and bake for 3 or 4 hours. Lightly brown some good sausages in a pan and add to the beans for the last 30 minutes cooking. Put a couple of sausages in th freezer containe and cover with beans.

I find that water veggies don't fare well in the freezer which included new potatoes & yukon types plus all manner of squash. 

Since this is good time for winter greens, either a borscht {with or without flanken cut shortribs} or a winter minnestrone {greens, cabbage, carrots, celery, onion, some tomato sauce or whole peeled tomatoes crushed} is delicious, freeezes well and heats well in a microwave.

Enchiladas but freeze extra sauce separately so you can slather it on when reheating. Do this in ovenable containers.

I like to marinate sirloin steaks and then freeze. Just don't use any acids in the marinade: use garlic, herbs, olive oil, goodly amount of salt and pepper. This works best if you have vacuum freezer bags.

[dcandohio]

Things like soup and stew freeze quickly in Ziploc bags, if you lay them flat on a cookie sheet to freeze them. Then, you have nice flat portions that stack easily and create no dishes the new parents must wash. 
another good idea is to look on the Google for recipes that can be made in muffin tins. Things like crustless quiche, loaded mashed potatoes, meatloaf, mac & cheese… All made in individual portions, wrapped and frozen in individual portions. They defrost quickly, heat quickly, and are good when someone just wants a quick meal or snack and doesn’t want to defrost or bake an entire casserole. 

[Smita Nordwall]

On 2/3/2020 at 5:43 PM, DonRocks said:

(I suspect Smita is cringing at the thought of dropping 50 to load a freezer with these.)

for 50 we can make palak paneer and rice for 50 (probably more).

[DonRocks]

58 minutes ago, Smita Nordwall said:

for 50 we can make palak paneer and rice for 50 (probably more).

Are you saying you can make 50 portions of this for $50? Do you cater? Heck, I might get some of this (not 50 portions, and I'd certainly pay you more than $1 per portion).

[Smita Nordwall]

21 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Are you saying you can make 50 portions of this for $50? Do you cater? Heck, I might get some of this (not 50 portions, and I'd certainly pay you more than $1 per portion).

Haha! Well, palak paneer and rice don't require a lot of ingredients (apart from what I already have in my pantry). Spinach (I prefer mixed greens), milk, rice and a lemon. I don't cater so I have not really priced it at $1 per portion but I am probably not that off. That said, the next time I make some I will be sure to pm you so you can either join us for dinner or just simply swing by and take some home. And at no charge, because that is as little as I can do to show my gratitude for this website. 

[smithhemb]

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/mexican-chicken-pozole-verde

downside is it benefits from some fresh accoutrements — red cabbage, radish, tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, avocado, and cilantro.  But we always have chips and cheese and those are the essentials IMO and cabbage/radishes keep pretty well.

http://www.shockinglydelicious.com/green-chile-stew-from-the-pink-adobe-hatch-chiles/

https://food52.com/recipes/39733-andy-ward-jenny-rosenstrach-s-pork-shoulder-ragu

[ktmoomau]

I think someone from Wapo is stalking me, they just has a recipe for Brunswick Stew (I just made a big batch last weekend) and other freezer friendly items. Hahhahaha.

So far I have made them: whole wheat bread, banana bread (small loaves), chickpea-chicken stew, brunswick stew, (both of these stews get a little thick once frozen, and could be eaten over rice, or dilluted back to soup with a little stock) pearsauce, mashed potatoes, crustless quiche divided into portions, chili.

This week I am adding stuffed shells, enchiladas and if I get time- cornbread and some rice bowls. I have thought about making muffin tin meatloaf.

I am going to pick up lasagna, tortellini and a few other things from the Italian Store from their freezer section. So they should have some options! And I think we are going to make tamales this weekend together.  Thanks for all the good ideas!!!!

[ktmoomau]

Ohhh and frozen waffles, made mini toaster waffles.