16 meals made and fozen

With my upcoming surgery I won't be able to get out and shop for awhile, so I decided that I should do some make ahead meals. Tonight I cooked Beef Sukiaky and Shrimp Creole. 8 portions of each.

Tomorrow I'll make 8 portions of Lemon Chicken and 8 of Orange Chicken.

I added rice to each container to make it just defrost and heat. All I will need is a dinner roll or maybe a salad.

Next weekend I'll do a beef roast and mashed potatoes with veggies and freeze some beef dinners.

Wow you are planning well. You will really enjoy and abe glad you made all these meals when you no longer can for awhile. Good luck on the surgery.

I have 8 servings of Orange Chicken in the oven. Still have to do the 8 portions of Lemon Chicken.

I also decided that sometime between now and the end of the month to make some slow cooker meals such as chili, chicken or beef stew and some soup for lunch meals.

That way all I will need to have in the house is cereal and milk (which I buy and freeze), for breakfast. Lunch and dinner will be taken care of.

I have frozen fruit in the freezer, but I'll buy more and freeze it. The only thing I'll be missing is fresh veggies for salad, which I guess I can do without for a few weeks because I'll have frozen veggies in the freezer.

I swear, this freezer is the best investment I've ever made!

That's a great idea! My best friend is having a hysterectomy this Tuesday. I just got done making meals for her, as she's supposed to have 7 days complete bed rest (her fiance doesn't know how to cook, nor does her daughter, so I decided to make some meals for them. Despite that, I just know she'll violate the bed rest rule anyway... ).


I made:
Pulled beef sandwiches (filling only)
Chicken and mushroom rice bake
Barbecued chicken
Meat pie (beef/vegetables)
Pasta salad (to go w/pulled beef sandwiches, and bought a bag of chips for her)
Cheesecake swirl brownies
Chocolate cake with chocolate & peanut butter icing
Mashed potatoes
Blueberry muffins (if I'm up to it--been cooking since 9AM! )

I agree about the freezer. We bought a smallish chest freezer a year ago, and it's so convenient. I haven't noticed an increase in the electric bill at all. We can buy meat in bulk, and take advantage of the BOGO beef and pork roast sales. I can do as you did, and just pop a single serving into the microwave when I come home after work.

Everything you've made sounds DELICIOUS!

Let us know how your surgery went! I wish you a speedy recovery!

Originally Posted by MargeCat

That's a great idea! My best friend is having a hysterectomy this Tuesday. I just got done making meals for her, as she's supposed to have 7 days complete bed rest

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7 days of bedrest!! I've never heard of such a thing and I used to work on a gynecology surgical ward until November last year.

Everyone, and I mean everyone who had surgery was sat up and stood up at the side of the bed the evening on the day they had surgery....unless of course they were a late OR and didn't get back until after 6pm.

And everyone got up walking the next morning.

Bed rest is the worse thing you can do, especially post operatively! Huge risk of throwing a blood clot!!!

You're a wonderful friend to make all of those meals for her! Especially including desserts!!! *yumm*

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

7 days of bedrest!! I've never heard of such a thing and I used to work on a gynecology surgical ward until November last year.

Everyone, and I mean everyone who had surgery was sat up and stood up at the side of the bed the evening on the day they had surgery....unless of course they were a late OR and didn't get back until after 6pm.

And everyone got up walking the next morning.

Bed rest is the worse thing you can do, especially post operatively! Huge risk of throwing a blood clot!!!

You're a wonderful friend to make all of those meals for her! Especially including desserts!!! *yumm*

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I thought that was odd, too! I'm sure that's what she told me, though. She's spending overnight in the hospital. Maybe what they meant was "No heavy lifting, and/or take the week off from work"? My friend often doesn't hear medical advice properly. When she had breast cancer, she told me some strange things the drs. "said". Maybe she misunderstood them again?

And, thank you for the compliment! She's not much of a dessert eater, but he fiance is (though he's a diabetic!).

Originally Posted by MargeCat

I thought that was odd, too! I'm sure that's what she told me, though. She's spending overnight in the hospital. Maybe what they meant was "No heavy lifting, and/or take the week off from work"? My friend often doesn't hear medical advice properly. When she had breast cancer, she told me some strange things the drs. "said". Maybe she misunderstood them again?

And, thank you for the compliment! She's not much of a dessert eater, but he fiance is (though he's a diabetic!).

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Only over night? It sounds like she is having a vaginal hysterectomy.

Definitely no bedrest! No bending, straining, lifting for 6 weeks. No driving for 2 weeks. But she needs to be moving around!!!

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Only over night? It sounds like she is having a vaginal hysterectomy.

Definitely no bedrest! No bending, straining, lifting for 6 weeks. No driving for 2 weeks. But she needs to be moving around!!!

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I'm not quite sure what a vaginal hysterectomy entails, but I thought she said it was done via robotics through her navel??? Does that make sense??? (Sounds mighty painful to me, but I guess you recuperate faster, as there would be no incision (?)?)

Originally Posted by MargeCat

I'm not quite sure what a vaginal hysterectomy entails, but I thought she said it was done via robotics through her navel??? Does that make sense??? (Sounds mighty painful to me, but I guess you recuperate faster, as there would be no incision (?)?)

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Laparoscopic. Yes, healing is faster, and the scarring is minimal.n And she definitely wouldn't have been told to stay in bed for 7 days. If that is what she's telling people, she either misunderstood or is milking this for all that she can. With the procedure she has, there is no reason she has to stay in bed for even 24 hours.

Vaginal Hysterectomies are when the uterus is removed via the vagina. No external incisions at all. Healing is even faster.

Unfortunately I'm not a candidate for either. They are going to do a bikini incision for me. Which is ok. That type of incision doesn't cut through any muscle so I won't have as much pain as I would if they cut from the navel downward. Still a 6 week healing process though.

She is blessed to have a friend like you. I have a close friend who does that kind of stuff for me. It is great to love and be loved.

All of that food sounds wonderful! I'm praying everything goes smoothly with your surgery and that you have a quick recovery!

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I have 8 servings of Orange Chicken in the oven. Still have to do the 8 portions of Lemon Chicken.

I also decided that sometime between now and the end of the month to make some slow cooker meals such as chili, chicken or beef stew and some soup for lunch meals.

That way all I will need to have in the house is cereal and milk (which I buy and freeze), for breakfast. Lunch and dinner will be taken care of.

I have frozen fruit in the freezer, but I'll buy more and freeze it. The only thing I'll be missing is fresh veggies for salad, which I guess I can do without for a few weeks because I'll have frozen veggies in the freezer.

I swear, this freezer is the best investment I've ever made!

Click to expand...

It is amazing what you can do to live out of your freezer. I had to do this because the refrig in my apt. was broken. I now have stuff I can eat for a week or so.

But, yes, I missed having green salads. I couldn't really have cereal for breakfast without milk. I did get those milk boxes that don't have to be refrigerated but they were chocolate. Interesting combination. Shredded wheat and chocolate milk.

Good luck with your surgery......hope everything goes well.

Being so well prepared takes a lot of stress off. Now you've got your meals ready, your cats care taken care of....nothing else to do but get it done, and heal.

I didn't get my lemon chicken made yesterday. I was so tired when I got home. I worked until 5:30pm in a very busy clinic. Thought I'd need to be wheeled out of the building because my knee was so sore by the end of it!!

I'll finish it up tonight. Then tomorrow go to Safeway and pick up stuff for another 3 recipes.