Help my husband feed our family

[Deleted]

I’m projecting a fairly major orthopedic surgery in the next few months that will have me completely non-weight bearing for 6-8 weeks, and extremely limited mobility for another 1-2 months after that.

I’m the primary cook in our family. My husband can make a very limited number of things including soup and grilled cheese, hamburgers, and cereal. Even things like Home Chef meal kits are above his ability level. He has some neurological and cognitive stuff going on following his stroke last year, so it’s not as easy as him just learning to do more.

While I’m non-weight bearing I won’t be able to cook, so I’m trying to brainstorm so solutions that will allow us to stay fed and eat somewhat healthy while I recover. We have limited freezer space, and definitely not room for two months worth of meals. I’m contemplating prepared meals like Factor, but that’s going to get pretty expensive fast.

Any other ideas of services or products that will help us out?

[lavenderblue]

How old are your kids? My kids could cook basic meals around 10-12.

There is also a lot of prepared items that you can buy from most grocery stores around here, but if you have a Wegmans near by, they seem to have even more options than other. Things like meatloaf, chicken parm, meatballs, ready to bake marinated meats and fish. Then for sides you could just do really basic like frozen veggies that you steam in the bag, pre-made mashed potatoes, rice in those microwave pouches, etc. Buying items like that you can purchase a week or two at a time and the prep work is pretty minimal.

[cap]

That sounds like a tough situation considering your husband's health issues. Is there any chance that you could purchase a small chest freezer?

[deadwing]

Are there any local meal delivery services in your area? That might be the most effective solution.

[TR]

Ditto prepared meals that your H could get once a week from either the grocery store or Costco.

[k3am]

Have you tried the app Too Good to Go? Mostly it's restaurant leftovers, but we have at least 3 healthy meal prep places that post stuff on for pickup by 3pm that's $5.99-$8.99 per person. Could be an option, you just couldn't be picky about choices. (ETA: totally realized that 3pm pickup could be an issue too, but it might not be, so throwing it out there)

[wildrice]

Costco has some really good prepared meals! But even those would add up quickly, cost wise.

Can he boil noodles and/or cook rice? What about putting basic seasonings on things like chicken breasts or fish and baking them in the oven? I know those are "cooking" but are also incredibly simple. If he can do those things, I would focus on things like pasta with jars of sauce (add prepackaged meatballs or ground beef/sausage for protein), a simple meat or fish with sides of microwave/stove warmed frozen veggies and potatoes or a prepackage starch (like those mirowavable packets of rice), and various stir fries or simmer sauces that can be put over rice. There are tons of Indian sauces and various Asian sauces where you just need to add a protein and/or veggie and stir it around on the stove, then serve over rice.

Trader Joes has a great frozen section with tons of easy to heat frozen stuff to fill in for other meals, too.

[waverly]

Could you do a meal train or have a friend set one up for the first 2 weeks or so?

Then yeah I would stick to a lot of prepared food from the grocery store and take out.

Something like Sunday night grilled cheese, Mon- Pre-prepared pasta dish from grocery store, Tues- grocery store hot bar or salad bar, Wed- burgers, Thurs-?, Friday - Pizza delivered, Saturday- can he make scrambled eggs? tacos- just basically involved browning meat.

[sonrisa]

Three products that make easy meals around our house (you can decide if they are within his abilities - especially with you around to give instructions).

1) The chicken pot pie from Costco. it takes an hour to heat up, but could easily serve 6 (we bake it, then reheat the extras on leftover night).

2) The salmon from Costco + Bibigo rice + peas or edamame. The salmon cooks in the oven for about 20 minutes, the rice nukes in the microwave for 90 seconds (we use 1/2 a container per person) and I throw frozen peas or edamame into a pot on the stove with some water (and salt if peas) and then drain and serve.

3) Kevin's chicken meals (Costco carries them) + Bibigo rice. I add frozen veggies or frozen peas when I add the sauce.

[robot]

I'll second the Costco pre-prepared meals that you just pop right in the oven to bake. Our Costco has the chicken pot pie, Alfredo chicken, mac and cheese, taco kits, chicken noodle soup, chicken salad, and others. They usually run about $20, but can feed our family of four, with maybe some bagged salad or bread or a microwaved steamed veggie on the side. And then of course the Costco rotisserie chickens, which are good alone, or can be easily used for tacos, quesadilla, chicken sandwiches, etc.

[orval]

If he can grill burgers, can you do hot dogs, brats, chicken/turkey burgers? add a bagged salad or steam in the bag veggies
Also, if he can cook ground beef - sloppy joes(add a can of sauce), meat for spaghetti sauce, tacos. You could also cook up a bunch of ground beef with light seasoning salt, pepper, garlic - so it can be used to make those meals later. Won't take up as much space in the freezer as a full meal.

eta - same thing with shredded chicken as the ground beef.  If you can cook batches of chicken ahead of time and freeze it in small batches.  Can be used for chicken alfredo, tacos, chicken salad.  
Aldi has shredded cooked chicken and sometimes pulled pork.

[sonrisa]

Sept 20, 2024 12:19:59 GMT -5 robot said:

And then of course the Costco rotisserie chickens, which are good alone, or can be easily used for tacos, quesadilla, chicken sandwiches, etc.

Costco also sells just the rotisserie chicken meat in pouches (off the bird and ready to use) - which is much easier if you are planning on adding it to other things.

[candreco]

If you've got a Trader Joe's nearby, I'd look at the traderjoes5itemsorless insta account for meal ideas.

[formerlyak]

Crock Pot tacos. He just as to put uncooked chicken breast, frozen corn and a jar of salsa in a crock pot all day. When it's dinner time, he can just take two forks and shred it. Put it in tortillas with some cheese.

Or a chuck roast, mini potatoes, baby carrots and a box of beef broth in a crock pot all day.

Foil packet meals. Take sheets of tin foil and put a piece of meat (I do a chicken breast in each, but I've seen people do salmon), some baby carrots, a pat of butter and sprinkle some pepper and garlic powder in each. Fold them up so everything is sealed in the little pouch. Put the pouches on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for about 45 minutes.

[nicolewi]

Key pieces of information are how much your kids could help, and how much your husband is capable of doing. I’m sorry you will be going through this. It does not sound like it will be easy!

I echo everyone else with the Costco meals. Or the Costco takeout pizza! We do that about once a week during busy times. You also could check with your grocery store… Some of ours have take-and-bake meals that are really easy to prepare. My husband randomly bought some baked chicken from the deli hot bar at a grocery store the other day, which is something I never would’ve even thought about doing, but it was pretty good! Now I’m keeping that in mind.

I also agree with whoever said it might just be helpful in this circumstance to plan a week of easy meals he can create, and then just repeat it.

If you have an instant pot, instant pot, spaghetti is incredibly easy. You can dump in frozen meatballs, and pasta, and a mixture of sauce and water. Set it and cook it and then you can serve it with cheese if you want.
Maybe also…
—rotisserie chicken, the refrigerated mashed potatoes, that you microwave, and a steam fresh vegetable or salad. I’m a big fan of Costco but it’s gotten to the point where I almost can’t eat their rotisserie chicken, unless I fully reheat it in my own oven which defeats the purpose. So I would pay more, but get the smaller and better rotisserie chickens from a local store!
— egg scramble night with toast or muffins, and sausage or bacon, if desired
— the pre-packaged refrigerated Indian meals by Sukhi brand that they sell at Costco and I’m sure other places as well are pretty good
— frozen orange chicken also from Costco are similar, with rice and a steam fresh broccoli
— we also do the salmon or steelhead fillets from Costco with rice and a veggie. I just put the fish on a foil lined baking sheet and just live with a little olive oil and bake it for 15 to 20 minutes-ish at about 425. I make rice in my instant pot a lot, but you could just get minute rice. That’s super easy. Or even microwavable rice bags.
— bake or air fry frozen breaded chicken breast. Make pasta. Heat some spaghetti sauce in the microwave. Assemble it with cheese for a knock off chicken Parmesan.

[ssmjlm]

I would maybe work out a month-ish meal plan to get over the first hurdle and then see what worked and what didn’t.

It could be something as simple as Mondays are pasta, Tuesdays are tacos, Thursday is breakfast for dinner. Wednesday is a Costco meal from the oven with Friday leftovers.

Since he grills, can he batch cook on Sundays to use through the week?

When I was traveling for work the first five months of the year, I had no expectations food wise for them. I knew DH would feed her, but I know cereal for dinner (which is delicious!) was at least once a week.


DH and I both don’t mind cooking, but he hates the planning. That seems to be the bigger issue for us.

[sonrisa]

One thing to check: If you like the prepared meals at your grocery store, find out when they are generally in stock and available so he doesn't plan on them and then get stuck. The two non-trader joes stores near me are both are out of anything like that by afternoon. There is no chance to "run to the store and grab something to heat up now."

[MDmomof2]

I think you could also swap in "no cook" meals like a meat/cheese/cracker platter or sandwiches. My family loves breakfast for dinner and the kids could make toaster waffles, eggs, and bacon (we buy precooked and you just microwave it for a minute!). I agree that rotating through the same or very similar meals each week is a good idea. A new favorite in my family is ceasar salad (buy it premade in a bag), rolls (bought from the frozen section and heated up), with chicken (Perdue short cuts are pre-cooked).

[mcppalmbeach]

Hugs. This sounds so hard.

I see lots of good ideas for food. My kids love crockpot chicken tacos. Chicken, taco seasoning, jar of salsa. Pretty simple and impossible to mess up because you don’t have to monitor for done-ness or stand at the stove.

I would write out a list of 2-3 weeks worth of meals and just repeat for the duration of time you are recovering. No need to reinvent the wheel. I’m going through a hardish season right now and I just remind myself fed is best just like in the baby days. This week I made salads and baked potatoes one night and French toast with fruit another. Having a simple piece of chicken or pork chop grilled or even done shake and bake with fruit or raw veggies or frozen or canned veggies is perfectly fine.

[Roc A Bee]

Can he make eggs? I’d do breakfast once a week, sandwiches once a week, Costco meals once a week, and lean into what he can make the rest of the time.

If he can make hamburgers, can he grill tritip? Steak? Chicken?

[mcppalmbeach]

Another easy one…meatball subs. Crockpot, meatballs, jar of sause, hoagie rolls.

[midwestmama]

One of our easy meals is boxed mac & cheese, kielbasa/sausage (the kind that you just heat and eat), and a veggie. If preparing the box mac & cheese is too hard (no judgment here, just trying to be compassionate to the situation), I would look for a prepared mac & cheese that just needs to be heated up.

I also agree with others on tacos, sloppy joes, spaghetti, rotisserie chicken from Costco/grocery store, scrambled eggs. We get Rana lasagna once in while when it's on sale, and it's pretty good. Another idea is fridge/frozen ravioli or tortellini.

[litebright]

You've gotten some good suggestions, but I would also lean into prepared foods. You don't necessarily have to stock weeks' worth, since they are easily available at the grocery store (have the kids help dad shop or instacart it). 

One of my favorite easy meals is to pick up a rotisserie chicken, and a bag each of steam-in-the-bag green beans and steam-in-the-bag potatoes from the produce section at my grocery store. Protein + veggie + starch, it's fresh food and it's ready in about 15 minutes with just a microwave. 

Bagged salad kit + chopped up chicken tenders is another fast/easy staple in our house.

Frozen meatballs. They can get dumped in a crockpot on low with sauce and either go on top of noodles (there are even microwavable pasta pouches) or go into meatball sandwiches. 

Another easy rotisserie chicken meal is to have the kids shred it, mix the meat with a favorite jarred salsa and warm it on the stove, and presto, taco filling. Grab some shredded iceberg and shredded cheese, crunchy shells and a container of pico de gallo, and it's dinner. 

And don't forget the kind of things you just pop in the oven, like frozen lasagna, chicken pot pies, etc. 

[daisyduck]

I don't know your situation, but I was non-weight bearing on one leg/foot and using a knee scooter and I could cook and do a lot more around the house than I thought I would be able to do. You probably won't feel up to it at first, but you might be able to do more than you think eventually.

Obviously ignore this is you will be non-weight bearing on both sides/unable to use a scooter.

[tennisgal]

Sheet pan meals are another easy one. I typically use either chicken or kielbasa as the meat and then cut up veggies that you like. Add spices to olive oil and serve with rice.

[leahcar]

We do a lot of pretty easy meals because evenings are hectic.

If he can make hamburgers- he can brown meat. That opens up the door for tacos, spaghetti.

Our easy meals:
Tacos (could also be burritos, tostadas to mix it up a bit. If your store has any premarinated meat options- that also helps mix things up)
Spaghetti/Pasta
Breakfast for dinner (sausage patties are like smaller burgers. Scramble eggs. Bake biscuits or make pancakes. Or toast & fruit even!)
soup & sandwiches
smoked sausage, chopped up peppers & onions, rice (I use our rice cooker, but you can even buy premade rice)
premade chicken (pulled rotisserie chicken from the store) over bagged salad mix
premade meal from the grocery store (or something from the freezer)
Order pizza once a week

Scope out your grocery store for more options. Mine has actually wildly stepped it up in that area. In addition to a really big premade meal section, they make frozen sheet pan meals.


I would absolutely offer to bring you dinner once a week if you were my local friend or neighbor. Don't be shy about a meal train for the first couple of weeks. People will want to help!

[wanderingback]

Do you have Trader Joe’s nearby?
If so, they have a pretty wide selection of things that are easy to throw together, especially in the freezer section.

Like can get a frozen bag of veggies and frozen chicken meal- just toss it all in a pan and sautée.

Or they have all sorts of sauces like curry. So just get a frozen bag of rice and sautée chicken and pour sauce on top.

That would be less expensive than already prepared foods.

Also definitely ask friends for help.

[fluffycookie]

Hugs! That sounds tough. Like someone else said - breakfast for dinner would be a hit in our house with frozen waffles/french toast sticks, chicken sausages, scrambled eggs and fruit. If you could get as small freezer chest of FB marketplace that would help prep a head of time. Even if it's only 8-10 dinners. I love crockpot salsa chicken which is chicken breast, a jar of salsa, can of rinsed black beans and corn. Cook for 6-8 hours on low and then add a block of cream cheese and stir in once melted. We serve it with a bag of microwaved rice.

[mommyatty]

Would he be willing to do crockpot dump and go freezer meals, where you could “supervise” prep one day a week? Then he literally just has to dump the plastic bag into the crockpot, turn it on, and leave it. If you can do grocery delivery, you may even be able to just sit at the table and assemble the bags for him. We love the salsa chicken tacos everyone else mentioned. We also love crockpot chicken and noodles (even though with those you have to dump a bag of uncooked egg noodles in 30 minutes before you eat), and all kinds of soups.

[sadie]

We do 1 million sandwiches. Turkey subs. Hot ham and cheese on Hawaiian rolls. Grilled cheese. Grilled pizza sandwiches (Grilled mozz & cheese & sauce). Turkey roll ups on tortilla. Stromboli, homemade pizza.

We always have fresh fruit and veggies that we grab to eat with the sandwiches.

We also like gyro fixings-brown gyro meat, serve with tomato, onion, cuc, feta, hummus, olives on Naan bread. Or over greens as a salad.