Meals to help out a family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Breakfast for dinner, like a egg-cheese-veggie-potato casserole, baked oatmeal, or pancakes with a fruit compote and a large container of yogurt. Or breakfast burritos--make a bunch and freeze individually. I have also done a dozen bagels (sliced) with a tub of cream cheese, a package of lox, a jar of peanut butter, a bunch of bananas, a jar of pizza sauce, and a bag of shredded mozzarella cheese. No matter what time of day it is, I am always glad to have a bagel and people are surprisingly excited about pizza bagels!

These are the most disgusting food ideas I've ever heard. If some one brought me any of these, I would thank them and promptly toss these meals in the trash.

Wut. Bagels are pretty neutral, lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also don’t know anyone who eats meatloaf! Is it still the 80’s?!

oh ffs... even Costco sells a meatloaf/mashed potatoes duo in their prepared foods. And Costco ain't selling it if no one's buying it.

I think the boomers are buying it.

So if you are taking food to a family to help out -- well, know your audience.

[Anonymous]

https://www.frugalnutrition.com/easy-ground-pork-stir-fry/ Something different! I do this with egg noodles

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please just order food from a restaurant or provide gift cards for restaurants. No one wants food prepared from your kitchen.

Restaurant food is heavy.
I cook with good ingredients, esp for cancer patients. Can modify based on their needs.

Teenage kids would likely be happy with gift cards and it would save the parents cooking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More than one of y'all are posting about "meatloaf." Do people still eat this? I think of it as almost on par with chicken ala king and chipped beef on toast.

Au contraire. It is one of my family's favorites. Wouldn't have been my choice, but they love it so much and it is wholesome -- meat and vegetables.

[Anonymous]

This lasagna freezes really well and my super picky kids eat it - I only put basil leaves on half. No meat, no ricotta layer. Make it with regular store bought noddles soaked in hot tap water for 10 min before assembling.
https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/julia-turshens-lasagna.html

You can add these crowd pleaser meatballs if you want. I bake then freeze so there is no question if they are done when reheating.
https://smittenkitchen.com/2009/10/baked-chicken-meatballs/

[Anonymous]

If someone else is making lasagna or baked pasta, I do fajita bowls / taco bar.
I make this chicken and peppers - https://damndelicious.net/2019/07/24/sheet-pan-chicken-fajitas/

I deliver it with heat-and-eat rice, seasoned black beans in a can, shredded cheese, sour cream, salsa, a small pack each of flour and corn tortillas, and a lime. I always pack the non-packaged food in a freezer friendly container with reheating instructions and put paper plates, utensils, and napkins in the bag. If they need a meal, they don’t need dishes either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I make mini meatloaves. I get 3 lbs of meat and make meatloaf. I get a stack of 6 individual loaf pans and separate them into 6 loaf pans. Get Containers of whole potato mashed potatoes from Sam's Club (I'm sure Costco will have something similar). Two pack of mashed potatoes, a loaf of garlic bread from the freezer section. Premade salads in containers (2 packs, get as many as you need for the family). A jar of brown gravy.

Any meatloaves that aren't eaten right away can be frozen and pulled out in individual containers to reheat in the oven/toaster oven.

I’m not a meatloaf eater, but homemade and in those mini loaf pans actually sounds like a great idea. Some member of the family is bound to like it and therefore, the mini ones would be perfect.

But premade Costco mashed potatoes, jarred gravy, bagged salad and frozen garlic bread with the disgusting hydrogenated oil blend on top is a huge no. I don’t want to eat processed crap, tough times or not, and that wouldn’t be helping me. I can roll through the a fast food place myself, if I want to eat crap. If you are trying to do something nice for someone, either make a homemade meal or give a gift card so they can order something.

[Anonymous]

Make a roast chicken in those foil pans. You can halve some potatoes and cook them in same pan with the chicken. Make a salad and a jar of homemade vinaigrette. Add your homemade cookies. Perfect

[Anonymous]

Another couple of ideas for you-

https://www.afamilyfeast.com/rotisserie-chicken-skillet/ - this is so good and we use light table cream


https://pinchofyum.com/best-anytime-baked-chicken-meatballs These are the best meatballs, can be eaten plain by themselves. We cut back a bit on the salt but otherwise delicious! One of the few things my picky children will eat. I also like buying the chickpea protein pasta, it tastes like regular pasta and again my kids will eat it and it’s healthier! Win win

[Anonymous]

Quiche freezes really easily and is usually not overdone and appreciated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please just order food from a restaurant or provide gift cards for restaurants. No one wants food prepared from your kitchen.

I honestly don't understand why people post stuff like this to this type of thread. This is literally a thread about what kind of meals are good for a meal train- the recipients presumably consented to the meal train. Why do you assume that everyone thinks just like you and 'no one' wants food prepared from your kitchen. This is demonstrably false. Why are you on a mission to stop meal trains? I really don't get it. Whenever I have been the recipient of a meal train I have found it a little weird when someone ordered froom from a restaurant for us- we are not short of money, I could have done that and would have picked exactly what my family wanted. Getting a meal from someone's kitchen is lovely. It is almost always healthier than whatever would be ordered and generally tastes better too. If 'you' don't like getting meal trains if someone offers to set up one for you, decline, or say you only want people to send you restaurant food. But why are you on a mission to try and convince everyone else not to participate either?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More than one of y'all are posting about "meatloaf." Do people still eat this? I think of it as almost on par with chicken ala king and chipped beef on toast.

Good meatloaf is awesome. I'm sorry you've been missing out all this time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the cooking light all American chili and the skinny taste white chicken chili because it’s easy to to refreeze in individual portions.

Chicken dishes are good but often not great reheated, so I tend not to make for this purpose.

Also like the skinny taste Turkey meatballs, with a box of pasta and a salad and southern living soulful chicken soup along with a loaf of French bread. Both reheat well.

Although I agree lasagna is overdone I think the skinny taste spinach lasagna rolls are good because they freeze well and can be frozen in individual portions and aren’t too heavy.

+1. Baked chicken alone does not freeze & reheat well.

I like chicken and wild rice soup for freezing (the wild rice holds up well):

https://damndelicious.net/2016/12/09/slow-cooker-chicken-wild-rice-soup/

Or Caldo de Pollo:

https://muybuenoblog.com/caldo-de-pollo-homemade-chicken-soup/

If the weather's cold, this Hunter's Stew is really good (I add a bit more spice than the recipe calls for, YMMV):

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/stew-keep-warm-wilds-michigan-152238266.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More than one of y'all are posting about "meatloaf." Do people still eat this? I think of it as almost on par with chicken ala king and chipped beef on toast.

Yes! I make meatloaf in muffin tins. My 23 year old takes them for lunch.