Freezer-friendly meal ideas for recovery after surgery

[pontipinemum]

I am having surgery in a few weeks, it's not huge but will need about 2 weeks of rest.

I want to fill the freezer with nutritious, easy and tasty breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

I have freezer cubes for sauces/ soups. Lunchboxes and reusable zip lock bags

I am fairly sorted for dinners I will do;

Cook - Pyrex dishes chicken casserole x2
Cook - Pyrex dish beef stew x2
Cook - Lasagne divided into portions
Bag (put raw ingredients into bag to 'dump' and cook)
Bag - Chicken curry
Bag - Fajitas

Lunch

Soup

Breakfast

I am loving chicken congee right now
Breakfast wraps

I have two you DSs who have dinner at nursery. The days they are home they love lasagne. DH can sort sandwiches etc for them

Any suggestions? I don't like any sort of fish or pork, or chilli spicy

Fair play to you OP because I'd just be having toast and tins of heinz soup.

Homemade pizzas freeze really well. Or even 'pizza baguettes' topped with different stuff for lunches.

Cottage pie
Spaghetti bolognese portions
Chilli con carne portions
pizza!

Not meals, but maybe a couple of loaves of ‘nice’ bread, sliced so you can just grab a couple as and when.

Maybe some frozen gyoza to sex up a simple stir fry. A couple of sachets of Tilda rice alongside too.

Frozen berries and a stash of pancakes.

Not to freeze but some good cheese, crackers, olives etc for if you don’t feel like a full dinner.

Fish pie portions
fish cakes
dahl
Chicken orzo
home made chicken/beef burger
chicken stroganoff
Thai curry

I thought you were going to say you were a single parent, if you can’t expect your DH to step up for a week or two when you’re recovering from surgery what’s the point??
Why can’t he make the dinners instead of you having to squeeze in extra work in the run up so you can somewhat recover after an operation?

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I love the idea of cheese/ olives etc for lunches.

Also need box set ideas! Maybe reward the Harry Potter films to see Remus - no I won't I watch those at Christmas.

My DH took on all household responsibilities when I was recovering from an op last year. He did all the nursery runs for our 2 young kids, all food prep and cooking, laundry. He arranged to WFH so was around if I needed him and our kids went full time to nursery for those 2 weeks.

I lay on the sofa recovering. As should you!

Beans on toast
Soup and cheese toastie
Chicken fajita wraps
Little Dish ready meals for kids
Pizza
Pasta and sauce with added frozen veg.
Slow cooker sausage casserole, dump it in and leave it.
Slow cooker anything.

For 2 weeks, go easy on yourself

He just isn't a great cook. He is a farmer so works long hours, then will be doing all pick ups/ drop offs. Baths/ bed etc with our 2 and 4 year old. Probably going back out farming after they are asleep then

If I have 'dump bags' or frozen meals he just needs to make the side.

If left to him we will have sausages, burgers and pizza on repeat.

I did the same when I had surgery in December. Bolognaise & just cook pasta (or use the microwave pasta). Chicken, bacon & tinned tomatoes to make a pasta sauce. Curry. The children don’t like spice so it’s just tomato, onions & tikka powder & then Greek yoghurt stirred through. Pies freeze well.

I did some freezer meals for DD when we were away ( DS does his own meals so he doesn't eat what I cook during the week)
I did extra of meals we were eating and frozen a few portions
Macaroni cheese
Shepherds pie
Bolognese sauce to add to fresh pasta
( All vegetarian)
Some sofritto to add to rice

I normally use small Lock and Lock tubs or foil dishes ( write on lid)
You to slow cooker - better for meat than vegetarian I think
You could freeze vegetables to roast , I don't know if these would need oil on them or just seasoning then freeze ?

Chilli that can be chilli with rice, or a jacket potato or served with salsa, sour cream, guacamole and tortilla chips.

Bolognese with pasta, or baked as ziti, we always put a layer of crushed tortilla chips on top and then cheese with some oil drizzled over.

That means one base makes 2 meals, I make larger portions of the chilli and bolognese when I am making the meal and freeze the extra ready to go.

I am making chicken chorizo orzo for dinner tonight. Everything just gets dumped into the slow cooker, orzo added 30 minutes before the end (high) parsley and frozen defrosted spinach added before dishing up. One pot meal.

Also Thai curry in the slow cooker using pre-chopped chicken so you don't have to cut it up. Mine has frozen peppers and sliced onions and frozen green beans in, coconut milk, thai paste and a stock pot squidgy cube thing. You can make this as a dump bag.

Breakfast you can make ahead egg muffin things, lots of recipes on youtube for batch cooking. The Batch Lady is really good for ideas and it isn't 10 portions of chilli either.

Beef stew and chicken congee are both great choices! Good for building your blood levels back up after surgery.

I'd also stock up on easy sandwich fillings that are flat like ham and sliced cheese so that will save you/dh time when making sandwiches for the kids.

Also recommend quiches that you can bake from frozen

Also cheesy mashed potato, freeze in portions - as an alternative to rice/bread to have with your beef stew

Sausages/burgers and pizza on repeat wont kill anyone for two weeks OP. Especially mixed up with the things you've already mentioned.

Try not to over work yourself before you even have this op - you need to be as rested as possible before you start.

For easy lunches - you can freeze sandwiches - so you can just grab those - they take just minutes to defrost. Just don't use anything that's too wet as a filling. So you can use things like cheese and ham, peanut butter etc.
As a really easy option you can get pouches of rice meals that you just pop in the microwave.

For main meals - maybe consider one of those recipe delivery companies and get your husband to cook that - will help him improve his cooking skills 😀

For things for you to do. I got into Jigsaws when I had a period of recovery last year. Or you can try a paint by numbers set. Better then hours and hours of telly.

Make a slow cooker full of porridge & freeze it in portions with a variety of fruit & spices: pear & cardamom, applie & cinnamon, mixed berries with allspice, plums & vanilla pod etc. You could also add nuts, or eat with a dollop of nut butter.

I love soup for lunch, so I'd be making pots of that and freezing it in one or two portion sized containers:

I do one I call golden soup which is very popular. All the orange and yellow veg: carrots, butternut squash, red or yellow lentils, yellow peppers, sweetcorn, with white onions and garlic, in veg or chicken stock. Add any herbs you like or mild spices which are anti inflammatory like turmeric, cumin, a bit of fresh or dried ginger, a pinch of sweet smoky paprika if you like. Peel and chop all veg. Fry onions in oil until sot then add all the other veg, fry for a minute or two then add hot stock. boiluntil soft, then puree.

Simple carrot soup - lots of carrots, a bunch of spring onions, a splash or fresh orange juice, a bit of lemon zest if you have it. Fry the onions in oil with a few drops of sesame oil too if you have it. Then add the other veg. Add veg or chicken stock. Boil until soft and puree. It should taste bland but it's really fresh.

Lentil and bacon soup. Fry garlic, carrot and onions, very finely chopped, celery too if you like it, and cook until soft. Then add chopped rashers of streaky bacon, cook until lightly golden and slightly crispy. Add a bag or tin of green or brown lentils and some veg or chicken stock. Bring to the boil. Take out half and puree it, then stir it back in, so the soup still has texture.

I have loads more soup recipes if you want them. Chicken noodle, smoked fish or chicken chowder, minestrone, green veg with pesto.

I watched all of the Strike series when I had surgery earlier in the year. Also loads of ancient episodes of All Creatures Great and Small!

Having some burgers, fishfingers etc in the freezer is a good idea.

And it won’t hurt anybody to have jacket spuds for dinner with whatever fillings people like.

Pitta bread pizzas are easy for your dh to do and people can choose their own toppings.

@HorseandHeron I love soup. I have 'soup ice cube trays' you freeze single portions in a cube then throw it into a bag.
I'll make your golden veg
I was also thinking potato and leek. It's my fav and I make it a lot in winter

@70isaLimitNotaTarget I just discovered Tesco do their own frozen sofritto. It is so handy for everything!!

@NewAgain26 I'm sure we will have some of those things too. I love a jigsaw and have a few here. I am having surgery on my breast so it might be tender to move it a lot

@Jemimaeatscookies chicken chorizo orzo sounds lovely and is going on the list!

@Kingdomofsleep cheesy mash sounds good. I often make stock/ broth from the chicken after a roast and add that to soups etc

Where did you watch the strike series? I've listened to all the books and loved them. Please don't say BBC - I'm in Ireland and even tho the app is on my sky box it doesn't work.

No idea, sorry. DP set it up for me- I don’t even know how to switch the TV on, as I rarely watch it!

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie I'll have a google. I watched loads of Whitstable Pearl on maternity leave

Strike is on Amazon but at a cost of £5 a season. Great TV show. We also loved Whitstable Pearl.

I am a big fan of the slow cooker because especially with young children you can dish up when you need to within reason. I do beef shin chilli with black beans as I don't like kidney beans. It is from Poppy Cooks Slow Cooker book.

I also batch chicken marinades like this, I do all 5 in one go and have all the bowls and one nutribullet beaker out on the unit and look for how much oil is in each, and add oil, then garlic. This is instead of making one recipe at a time if you see what I mean. I have a disability so some days I just want to pull one from the freezer, have rice or flatbreads, tzatziki etc.

https://moribyan.com/5-chicken-marinades/?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=organic

If you look up Sorted Food they have some books like CBA cooking types ( can't remember the exact name)
They aren't all chefs there's three who are a three who are keen ametuers.
Focus is on easy meals, no waste, great results.
They're funny on YouTube, great warmth and humour if a bit daft . Four of them have been friends through school .
That's why I tried making sofritto, they whittered on about it and I had the ingredients so thought " why not?" .
Now it's in 90% of savoury foods