Organizing my Frozen Meals While Recovering from Knee Surgery

Frozen Homemade TV Dinners ready for a quick meal.

While I have been recovering from knee surgery (complete replacement of my right knee), I have not been gadding about, but rather have been confined here at home.  My recovery is going quite well, but I miss getting out and about.  I have been doing some things that I CAN do while confined to the house, especially with the help of Debbie.  Debbie was one of Dan's wonderful caretakers, and she has stepped in to give me some part time help as well. 




Frequently I cook more than one or two people can eat, so I freeze the extras as dinners that I can pop in the microwave or in the oven and have a quick meal. I have three different containers that I use for this. 

These can be heated in the microwave.  I like the "cup" for freezing a couple of servings of soup.

This compartmentalized aluminum container must be heated in the oven, not the microwave.

 If you are like me you find things stashed in the back of the freezer that has time expired or has mummified.  So I used some of my time the other day,with Debbie's help to, organize my frozen meals. 

Frozen meals organized in the fridge in the garage. 

My updated list of what's available in the freezer for a quick meal. 

I keep a list posted near the fridge in the garage so I can mark off meals as they are used. 
And I can add meals as I prepare more.  Sometime the kids or grands come over and grab a meal and forget to mark it off, so every now and then I have to recheck the inventory and update my list.  Debbie and I did this the other day, so now I have an updated list and a pretty good supply of frozen meals which is handy because I'm not doing much cooking right now.

A Baker Yes, But Not Just a Baker

Mushroom frittata.

Macy is known for making beautiful and delicious cakes for special occasions, and I first met her when she made a birthday cake for my friend Virginia last year.

Birthday cake Macy made for my friend Virginia, a cat lover.

 Recently though I learned that Macy was looking for some part time work while she was on vacation from her regular job as Assistant Food Director at White Memorial Church.  She had mentioned she would in addition to baking cakes, prepare meals.  I jumped at the opportunity to have someone help with making meals to freeze for use when I was too busy or too tired to make a meal.  I am on a low salt diet and don't use ready made TV dinners because they are so high in sodium.  I make TV dinners from scratch and to have someone help with this is a God-send.

Last week she came for her first gig as a Chef.  She had proposed three different entrees with two sides each and had sent me a grocery list.  I did the grocery shopping and had all the necessary food ready for her arrival.

The first entree was a delicious meatloaf.  There were six dinners with this entree with sides of green beans/wax beans and mashed potatoes. 

The meatloaf just out of the oven.

Meatloaf dinners with beans and potatoes.  The meatloaf had a delicious sauce for topping.

She had everything planned and moved smoothly from one task to another, actually multi-tasking as she went.  I was so impressed.

After the meatloaf was in the oven, she began making chicken gumbo.

Macy preparing the chicken for the chicken gumbo.

 The sides for the chicken gumbo were rice and green peas.  Again six meals with this entree.

Chicken gumbo, with rice and green peas.

Finally she made a mushroom frittata, with green peppers, zucchini, onion,

Macy's recipe for the mushroom frittata.

The frittata is out of the oven. 

Six of the eighteen dinners ready for the freezer.

After four hours Macy had prepared 18 meals with a bit leftover, had cleaned up the kitchen and was ready to depart for another job. Yes, Macy is amazing and although a great baker, she's not just a baker.  She's a great cook too.  Dan and I have already enjoyed some of the chicken gumbo---yummy!  We're looking forward to more Macy Dinners.