# make ahead meals



## amber (Oct 1, 2004)

I am going out of town for several days, but my husband will be home, and doesnt cook. Any ideas on what to make? Thanks for the help.


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## mudbug (Oct 1, 2004)

Make meatloaf and marinara sauce.  Show him how to nuke a potato and boil water for pasta.  That should hold him if it's just a couple of days.


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## Michael in FtW (Oct 1, 2004)

Don't know how many "several" days is ... but think about what meals you prepare where you would freeze the leftovers and heat them up later in the mircowave. Strole down the fozen food aisle in your grocery store and look at all the meals they have that are nuke-n-eat for more ideas.

Hubby can take one of the freezer at night, let it thaw in the 'fridge overnight, then just heat it up in the nuker the next day.


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## chesterchippy (Oct 1, 2004)

Stew or chili would hold up for several days. He can have some cold meals, like tuna salad on salad or chef's salad (have hard boiled eggs and cold cuts handy). How many days does he have to rough it?


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## amber (Oct 1, 2004)

Thanks!  chili, meatloaf, frozen foods.  He loves meatloaf, and chili with a baked potatoe, and I might just throw in some frozen meals and tell him to fend for himself for four days.    Thanks you guys.


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## wasabi woman (Oct 1, 2004)

Make-Ahead Chicken Biscuit Casserole

3 cups chicken -- cooked and cubed
3 cups chicken broth
4 carrots -- sliced 1" thick
1 onion -- chopped
4 stalks celery -- sliced 1/2" thick
8 ounces mushrooms -- halved
2 garlic cloves -- sliced
1 can peas -- (8 oz.) canned
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/3 cup cold water
10 biscuits -- (tube or fresh)
1 freezer bag -- jumbo

Bring chicken broth to a boil; add carrots, onions, celery, mushrooms and garlic; simmer 10 minutes. Add cubed chicken meat and peas; simmer 5 minutes more. Mix cornstarch with cold water in measuring cup; add slowly until chicken mixture has consistency of gravy. Remove from heat; cool.

To freeze: pour into round casserole dish (2-qt capacity). Cover with aluminum foil; freeze, then wrap in jumbo freezer bag.

To prepare: thaw casserole before cooking. Place in 400-degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and place uncooked biscuits (either from "tube" or scratch) in slightly-overlapping circles on top of casserole. 
Return to oven and bake 20 to 25 minutes more, until mixture is bubbling and biscuits are golden brown.

Good Luck!


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## -DEADLY SUSHI- (Oct 1, 2004)

Make him a stack of $20 bills.  :roll:


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## Michael in FtW (Oct 1, 2004)

Some times the obvious is the hardest to see.


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## amber (Oct 2, 2004)

Thanks Wasabi, that sounds great, he'll like that.


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## amber (Oct 2, 2004)

Michael in FtW said:
			
		

> Some times the obvious is the hardest to see.



??


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## amber (Oct 2, 2004)

-DEADLY SUSHI- said:
			
		

> Make him a stack of $20 bills.  :roll:



He didnt ask me to cook for him, I want to.


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## jkath (Oct 2, 2004)

Hey Amber - 
Here's a copy of a recipe I put on the "Chicken" page - 
It's pretty easy, and I freeze it all the time.

Here's my mom's very own Chicken Pie recipe - it is soooooo good, and makes a wonderful leftover too. 

Chicken Pie 
1 - 8oz block cream cheese 
2 Tbsp butter 
3 chopped green onions 
4 Tbsp milk 
Salt & pepper to taste 
3-4 chicken breasts, boiled & diced 
1/2 pkg. FROZEN "hash brown" cubed potatoes (so you need 1 pound) 
1/2 pkg. FROZEN petite peas (if you don't like peas, don't use 'em!) 
1 pkg. Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crusts 

Preheat oven to 350. In a large glass bowl, melt cream cheese & butter together in microwave. Add salt, pepper, onions & milk. Stir till smooth. 
Add chicken, frozen potatoes & frozen peas. Mix well. 
Pour into crust & add top crust. Crimp edges & vent with knife. 
Bake 35-45 min. till crust is golden. 

You can also include froz. carrots, corn, or whatever suits you. 

This can be served alone, or topped with any of the following favorites: 
Apple Sauce (kids love this, as do I) 
Sour Cream (mom & I love this one) 
Tabasco! (hubby & son #1 think all food needs Tabasco) 

ALSO - filling can be made in bulk and frozen in pie-sized portions in freezer bags. Just defrost & dump into a pie shell for a quick dinner.


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## amber (Oct 2, 2004)

Thanks Kath, that sounds yumbo! Never heard of using cream cheese in chicken pie before , that must be very creamy mmmmm.


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## mudbug (Oct 2, 2004)

jkath, this sounds yumbo to me too.  my family would love this.


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## Barbara L (Oct 2, 2004)

jkath,

Your mom's Chicken Pie recipe sounds wonderful!  I can't wait to try it (with mushrooms added).  It sounds like a great church potluck dish too.  Thanks!

 Barbara


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## Claire (Oct 2, 2004)

My husband can exist for days on a lasagna .... and, truth be told the big frozen ones in the grocery store do fine, and are often cheaper to buy than making from scratch.  After he bakes the whole thing the first day, he can just cut squares and nuke them.  One of those bags of salad or slaw greens with his favorite dressings on hand and you're off easy.


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## amber (Oct 2, 2004)

hmmm not a bad idea Claire.  And a bag of salad too. I already have a loaf of garlic bread in the freezer to go with it.  My husband is weird, he doesnt put dressing on salad!  Yuck!!


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## Juliev (Oct 2, 2004)

yeah.. I did that with chili a couple weeks back.. and I still have a couple plastic containers in the freezer.. makes an easy dinner or lunch.  You can do that with lots of things.. wasabi woman had a great idea (she always does)... you could even take some boneless, skinless chicken breasts and make a marinade and freeze the breast with some marinade.  All your husband would have to do is throw it in a frying pan and cook until the juices no longer run pink.. tell him to check by cutting the thickest part of the breast.


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## Otter (Oct 2, 2004)

Why not make him really happy? Give him some White Castle micros and a six pack!


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## Juliev (Oct 2, 2004)

LOL otter!    

never had White Castle.. there aren't any around here.


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## Otter (Oct 2, 2004)

Juliev, I don't know where you are from, but White Castles are a staple in the upper midwest. They come in a six pack (to match beer, I guess) and are a bit over four bucks at Wally World.


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## Juliev (Oct 2, 2004)

I'm in western NY... close to Lake Erie.. that would explain why I can't find them around here..


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## middie (Oct 2, 2004)

oooh white castle... haven't had that in years!!!
great... now i want some. see what you did
otter!


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## Barbara L (Oct 2, 2004)

amber said:
			
		

> hmmm not a bad idea Claire.  And a bag of salad too. I already have a loaf of garlic bread in the freezer to go with it.  My husband is weird, he doesnt put dressing on salad!  Yuck!!


Your husband sounds like my dad.  Sometimes he uses a little dressing on his salads, but most of the time he doesn't.  He says that people who put dressing on their salads are just trying to cover up the flavor of their salad!  I, on the other hand, believe a little dressing enhances the flavor!

 Barbara


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## amber (Oct 2, 2004)

yea me to Barbara, I like creamy Italian dressing on my salad, it just enhances the flavor.  Salad by itself without dressing is bland to me.


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## jkath (Oct 3, 2004)

Otter said:
			
		

> Juliev, I don't know where you are from, but White Castles are a staple in the upper midwest. They come in a six pack (to match beer, I guess) and are a bit over four bucks at Wally World.



is there really an actual Wally World? 

There are no white castles anywhere near me, but we buy the boxed frozen ones, as they make great after-school snacks that the kids can make themselves.
JulieV  -  check your grocer's freezer!


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## PolishedTopaz (Oct 3, 2004)

Sheperds Pie
Beef Stew
Hearty Chicken and Rice Soup
Meatloaf
Pasta Sauce


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## Juliev (Oct 3, 2004)

jkath said:
			
		

> Otter said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I will definitely do that.. I have to run out later and get some red bell peppers.. I'm making crewsk's potato cakes and having red pepper dressing with them.. so I'll check it out then!


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## Barbara L (Oct 3, 2004)

jkath said:
			
		

> is there really an actual Wally World?


Wal-Mart.  

 Barbara


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## Michael in FtW (Oct 3, 2004)

Yeah, jkath, Wally World is a nickname for Wal-Mart.

I remember White Castle .... from my childhood days. Dad would get a bag or two and a half-gallon jug of rootbeer. Shortly thereafter was about the time McDonalds hit the scene ... bigger and cheaper but didn't taste as good.

We also had a place called Crystal Palace - sort of a White Castle copy-cat.


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## Juliev (Oct 3, 2004)

I didn't go to Walmart..I avoid that place like the plague.. especially on the weekends.. if I go there, it's really early in the morning or late at night... my store didn't have any white castles.


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## Claire (Oct 4, 2004)

I weigh in with some dressing.  Doesn't have to be a lot, if you have great ingredients just a little olive oil and lemon will do it.  Or hazelnut oil and sherry vinegar.  or .... oh, dear.  But dry greens in and of themselves, even when they are fresh out of my very own garden, do not do it for me.  Bravo to those like it that way.


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## JRsTXDeb (Oct 4, 2004)

Juliev said:
			
		

> I didn't go to Walmart..I avoid that place like the plague.. especially on the weekends.. if I go there, it's really early in the morning or late at night... my store didn't have any white castles.


Julie - my sister always says that Walmart on Friday night is the anteroom to redneck hell!!!


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## crewsk (Oct 4, 2004)

I love WalMart on a Friday night! It makes me feel normal!


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