Cancer so need healthy recipes I can cook in bulk and freeze - help much appreciated!

Tessie0303

All - recent diagnosis with breast cancer so need some healthy meals I can cook in bulk and freeze to prepare for the time when fatigue will set in and appetite will decrease. Need food that has lots of flavor as won't have much of an appetite. Cooking for me and my husband. Any all suggestions will be welcome.

corinasue1143

Love chicken and dumplings, good comfort food in cold weather and freezes well. I don't have a recipe, just cook chicken (I usually use thighs), bones, skin and all in water. I put it in fridge overnight so I can skim the extra fat off the top easily. Next day, warm the chicken enough to easily take off the bones and skin and shred a bit. Put the chicken back in the stock, add all your favorite veggies, let it cook while you make the dumplings. Add them and cook about 20 minutes more. I live alone, and make about 8 to 10 servings at a time, freeze in bowls that can be microwaved. I use onions, potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans. It makes kind of a cross between chicken soup and dumplings.

Maaike84

Sorry you had to join this club. Soups are great, and stews. Chemo is quite dehydrating, and can give you mouth blisters, so I like having saucy foods. (ask your doctor about taking ice during chemo that is associated with the mouth blisters, it helps). Just so you know - the fatigue will def be a thing but you might not be suffering from a decrease in appetite, for me it is the other way around esp since I am also on steroids for 5 days after a cycle. There are also some cookbooks out there esp designed for cancer patients. I quite liked Rebecca Katz's book the cancer fighting kitchen - has a whole bunch of yummy and (relatively) easy to prepare ahead soups and broths in there.

Maaike84

Also, this tea - it is awesome. https://www.rebeccakatz.com/recipe-box/commonweals-most-nourishing-and-healing-tea. It feels like a hug in a cup.

sokie88

Sorry to hear this. What kind of foods do you like, can your husband cook too? For us, I make Sheppard’s pie with grated carrots, peas and corn. It keeps well and is filling. Lasagnas. Meatballs in large batches keep very well, just simmer in a sauce while the noodles cook and you can add all sorts of fresh veggies once they’re soft. Butternut squash soup, any kind of soup really. I make chicken or turkey soup from leftover meat. Stews are also great frozen. Meat pies.

ssurvivor

I'm sorry that you have to go through this. I have a bunch of advice to give but that is for another time if you actually want it.

You are so smart to think ahead like this. I really wish I had thought ahead. I could have saved a lot of money in delivery options.

You can't go wrong with soups. My favorite was a Minestrone soup. I got my recipe from the newspaper, but if you google Minestrone, you'll get a bunch of good recipes that you can tweak according to your taste.

I was also a fan of a chipotle sweet potato soup I got from Everyday Food. Here is the recipe:

https://www.marthastewart.com/336528/sweet-potato-and-chipotle-soup

You can also make it with butternut squash or even carrot.

Cioppino is another favorite when I'm feeling fishy:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/cioppino-recipe-1916710

The muscles and clams don't freeze well, but I usually leave them out anyway.

Frittatas freeze well, but only for a few weeks.

You can put whatever you want in a frittata, though TV Chef Lidia Bastianich has a great tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJQKmxDQ29w


Cooked ground meat (turkey, beef, whatever) also freezes well. If you make some ground meat seasoned to taste, you can assemble a quick meal when you're low on energy by throwing it over rice, pasta or a bed of lettuce.

Some days, I couldn't stomach anything more than bland broth and water crackers. So I made my own broth so I'd have some chicken prepared for my mom if she felt like eating solid food.

One tip for assembling meals: take everything you need out of the freezer before your treatment with instructions for assembly. That way you won't have to worry about doing anything afterwards.