3.7 Miles in My Sister’s Kitchen

My Mom unexpectedly had to have a pacemaker the day after Thanksgiving. It was scary, but fortunately she lives with my sister and brother-in-law, so they were there to get her to the hospital and back home after surgery. And she is well on the way to a full recovery.

I was not able to get a flight to be there for the surgery but flew in on Sunday to help with Mom’s aftercare.

My sister and her husband have had a stressful year, dealing with the illness and death of a close family member, so on the flight to Dallas, I was trying to figure out how I could best support them, not just for the few days I was there, but in a long-term way.

It struck me that my sister stays so busy with her real estate and coaching businesses, she has difficulty sitting down and planning meals for the week. Since I am THAT person who plans menus for a month at a time, I figured this was something I could do that would help even after I left to go home.

I have previously tried meal prepping, but discovered I really don’t like to eat the same meals multiple times in the same week, so there was definitely a learning curve for making a bunch of dinners that could be frozen to cook and eat later.

Hooray for Pinterest! I found so many recipes for make-ahead casseroles and dump dinners that planning the menu was a breeze. I also did fairly good making a grocery list – only had to run out twice to get something I forgot.

I spent three days chopping veggies, browning meat, making sauces, and transferring each dish into a casserole pan or gallon freezer bag. The third day I walked 3.7 miles and never left the house! It was exhausting, but also very satisfying to know I made things easier for my sister.

I had never even tasted most of the things I was making, so I was little concerned that the project would end up being a massive failure. Fortunately, my sister said most of the dishes ended up being quite tasty. There were a couple weird ones, and some casseroles dried out in the oven, but overall the experiment was a great success. So much so that I went back last week and did it again.

This time I was much more prepared and had my recipes in hand and grocery list prepared when I arrived. I was also able to incorporate some of the things I learned the first time, like bell peppers should be parboiled, even if the recipe says not too, before they are stuffed. Also, pasta dishes that are going in the freezer to bake later should have extra sauce to keep the noodles from getting crispy during cooking. Oh, yes, and ALWAYS buy pre-chopped onions if possible so you don’t spend half your time crying.

I plan to return in a couple of months to do it again and would love to hear from any of you who have a favorite make-ahead meal you’d like to share.