Meals made ahead of time. HELP!!!

Silveron
Silveron Posts: 3 Member
edited November 20 in Recipes
I started using myfitnesspal and I really stuck to it and lost 30lbs, needed to lose more but it was much more than I had expected. However, I got tired of having to make two different meals at every mealtime. I take care of my elderly mother, who is set in her ways and does not want to try anything new. So anything diet, in a wrap, or looks odd, she acts like a child and won't eat it. So I always have to make her something separate that what I am having. I got lazy and stopped making two separate meals and now I have gained the 30lbs. right back.

So I got to thinking. If I could make some of my meals ahead of time, than the headache would be greatly reduced. I have already come across Overnight Oats. I really hope some of you can help me with some recipes that make up to 3 portions, unless it's something you can freeze, that keep well for a few days. So many of the ones I have found are way too high in salt and sugar or require ingredients that I can't get at the local grocery store.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Replies

  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    I batch cook most of my meals, but I don't eat anything special or that an older person probably wouldn't like: tuna noodle casserole, turkey chili, crock pot roast beef, roasted pork tenderloin, chicken cooked a dozen different ways, steamed or roast veggies. What kinds of food are you making that your mother won't eat? In any event, I portion out single servings of all my recipes into Ziplock containers with screw-on lids. I freeze it and thaw out one thing at a time as needed.
  • Silveron
    Silveron Posts: 3 Member
    The overnight oats for one, she will not even try them. Salads, I can get her to eat one a month if its hot out, unless its a small side salad and I fix them with all kinds of extras. Anything chicken, I eat alot of it so she gets tired of it no matter how its made. Fish, she says she does not like fish that she used to eat it every Sunday growing up. She flat out will not even try anything curried because of how it looks. Steamed or roast veggies are only be acceptable covered in lots of butter or cheese.

    However, I am not trying to win her over to new things. She has hyperthyroidism and until she gets that taken care of, she had the radioactive iodine treatment and it didn't work have to wait a year to try again, so she can actually eat anything she wants and not gain weight. She is 74 with a touch of dementia so I am not tiring to change her, I just make whatever makes her happy. If I am given a recipe that she does like, so much the better but I am more looking for tested recipes that keep or freeze that fit into myfitnesspal requirements of not being overloaded with salt or sugar.


  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    Almost everything freezes well as long as you first let it cool to room temperature, then refrigerate it overnight. Divide into how many ever servings it makes and freeze on a cookie sheet lightly sprayed with cooking oil. Then wrap each serving with plastic wrap and put them into large freezer bags. This works well with anything with noodles (lasagna, mac and cheese, spaghetti with spaghetti sauce) as well as other meals such as meat loaf, casseroles, etc. If you like to barbecue, do a LOT and freeze it - takes like it just came off the grill when you defrost and heat it up! Even overripe bananas can be frozen, but you have to use them immediately upon defrosting. Of course you can't use this method with anything with liquid, such as soups or pot roast with gravy, but those can be easily put in quart size freezer bags and frozen flat to take up less space. An upright freezer is the best investment I've ever made!
  • gaelowyn_pt_duex
    gaelowyn_pt_duex Posts: 135 Member
    skinnytaste.com is great for recipes or inspiration for some. I make big batches of things.. pot roast, whole chickens, pork roasts. then I break it down and either repurpose into new meals, or freeze. Re-purpose ideas for any of the meats: burritos, tacos, bbq, spaghetti sauce. I buy other things in bulk, and either marinade then grill, then freeze, or put in marinade, vacuum seal it up and then freeze. I make chilis and soups and put in vacuum seal bags, freeze flat then store upright(as pp mentioned). thaw over night, or even toss frozen into lunch sack, cut open and nuke in a "toss away" container(that I wash and reuse) and voila.. lunch.
    I make enough for a family of 4-6 at any meal usually. We usually only have 3 eating at any one time, so using up leftovers is a must. having it for lunch, or reworking it into a new meal is easy, takes little prep usually.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Here's some ideas.
    Steam the vegetables for both of you and put a pat of butter on hers.
    Prepare meats she enjoys and portion for yourself (about 3/4 of her portion).
    Go out on the town with girlfriends to enjoy exotic foods.
    You get the salad; she gets a slice of buttered bread.
    I've fooled hubby in to eating breaded cod; he thought it was chicken.
  • mistikal13
    mistikal13 Posts: 1,457 Member
    Maybe you could batch cook some casseroles and freeze them to grab for yourself and prepare her food daily. Check pinterest, etc for lots of great recipes
  • zilannoj
    zilannoj Posts: 138 Member
    I do all my cooking on Sunday and just reheat everything throughout the week. What I usually make:
    • Chicken breast (I usually pan fry and dice and throughout the week, make burritos, chicken salad, nachos, etc.)
    • Soup (wonton, chicken & dumpling, vegetable, whatever I'm in the mood for)
    • large salad mix (spinach, arugula, carrots, tomatoes)
    • chili (I think I've made chili every week for the last six months)
    • rice (it reheats well, and I usually make fried rice with it if it dries up too much)

    I even have lazy meal preps where I do the bare minimum: chicken, black beans, vegetables, rice. you can do just about anything with that combination. At first, I was annoyed that I spent so much of my Sunday cooking, but I save so much time throughout a very busy week. I'm so tired when I get home, so it's nice to just have something to reheat.
  • rachael00679
    rachael00679 Posts: 186 Member
    Its hard work being a carer and trying to make time for yourself. Its great your thinking ahead!
    Hardy soups. There are some lovely filling soups made with lamb shank and pearl barley which come out lovely and thick. Spiced rice dishes can usually be made in quantity with whatever vegetables you like in one pot and then portioned out and served with natural yoghurt. Noodle dishes with plenty of vegetables. Fried rice with egg and to make this easier I just use veggie medley from the freezer section with the peas, carrot and corn and use half a bag instead of cutting up all those veggies separately. Slow cookers are great for roasts but you can do it just as easily in the oven when you buy the right cuts of meat. If you make extra roast veggies you can always put them into a frittatta to eat later on.. always super yummy!
  • CookieBev
    CookieBev Posts: 10 Member
    You can put your food in canning jars and vacuum seal them. It keeps them fresh for days. You can also vacuum pack in bags, but not everything is appropriate in bags - maybe a combination of the two.
  • gaelowyn_pt_duex
    gaelowyn_pt_duex Posts: 135 Member
    i find vacuum bags work with everything for me. I've used them for soups, chili, applesauce, as well as meats w/liquid marinades. you just have to watch as it vacuums, and stop it by pressing seal button before liquid gets "sucked" up into the unit. sometimes I just squeeze out the air in the bag myself, and use the vacuum unit to just heat seal the bags. I really like using my vacuum sealer for liquid stuff, since I can freeze the bags flat, and stack a bunch that way, or stack them on their sides later. space saving compared to using the toss away type containers.
  • Silveron
    Silveron Posts: 3 Member
    Thank you all who provided what to do after I cook but can I get some help with what to cook?


    I had hopes some of you might provide me with some tried and tested recipes. I have been entering some of my older recipes into myfitnesspal and too many are very high in sugar or salts. I am trying to find some different things so I do not get burned out again since part of why I stopped last time. I kind of made the same things over and over. I might be making them again but different options will definitely help me stick to it. More so with batch cooking where I can have a variety things frozen.

    Even a few links to recipes that you have tried would be of great help. Several recipes I gave tried to adjust just end up bland or worse. The majority of recipes I know are family recipes, that are more in tune with Paula Deans style of cooking that healthy cooking. So this style of cooking is daunting to me.
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  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    atypicalsmith wrote: »
    Almost everything freezes well as long as you first let it cool to room temperature, then refrigerate it overnight. Divide into how many ever servings it makes and freeze on a cookie sheet lightly sprayed with cooking oil. Then wrap each serving with plastic wrap and put them into large freezer bags. This works well with anything with noodles (lasagna, mac and cheese, spaghetti with spaghetti sauce) as well as other meals such as meat loaf, casseroles, etc. If you like to barbecue, do a LOT and freeze it - takes like it just came off the grill when you defrost and heat it up! Even overripe bananas can be frozen, but you have to use them immediately upon defrosting. Of course you can't use this method with anything with liquid, such as soups or pot roast with gravy, but those can be easily put in quart size freezer bags and frozen flat to take up less space. An upright freezer is the best investment I've ever made!

    All of this. I make a lot of one pot meals (stew, soup, chili, dal, etc) and freeze those into individual servings for quick warm up lunches/dinners. Frittatas or egg muffins, burritos, meatballs, meatloaf muffins, baked egg rolls, chicken nuggets are all easy to freeze on a cookie sheet and bag once they're frozen. Also, sauce! I always freeze marinara in jars, but freeze things like pesto or cauliflower/cheese sauce into ice cube trays and transfer to a bag once frozen.
  • Katimira
    Katimira Posts: 50 Member
    I just made Jessica Alba's turkey meatballs . You can google it. I served it with tomato sauce. They were delicious and could easily portion out into three meals.
  • softblondechick
    softblondechick Posts: 1,275 Member
    I don't cook much, what I do is prep vegetables on Sunday, so I can easily make a quick salad, or stirfry. My SO won't eat "diet" food, so basically I don't cook separate food for him, he eats what I am having and adds bread. If I decide to just have a smoothie, he heats up a bowl of soup.

    Dinner last night: salad and grilled chicken. He added a potato and ice cream for himself.

    Dinner tonight: taco salad, he will have tortillas with his dinner.

    It is not about making a separate meal.
  • MarciMelts
    MarciMelts Posts: 10 Member
    I appreciate that you aren't trying to change your mom. So...fry chicken and remove the skin for your portion. You can still make yourself a wrap. Its just me here, so I often buy a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket, debone it, and use it in other recipes. It freezes well. Again...wraps, salads, casseroles, pasta dishes. Weigh and measure your food and watch your portions. If you are having something a little on the high calorie size, take a smaller portion and round it out with non starchy veggies and a salad. Leaner cuts of meat and portion control. Its hard to give you recipes when we don't know what your mother thinks "looks funny". Skinny taste is a great site as is Jillianskitchen.com. Pioneer woman has some great recipes, too.
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