Meal Storage??

[John Terefenko]

Looking for a way to store meals for my Mom. I need to be able to make a weeks worth of meals and store them safely and easily so that they can be stored in the fridge and then each taken out and microwaved. Not sure what product out there that will do this safely??? I read about some containers where you push the lid down to create a vacuum for storage. Is there a good one of these???

Also read about these vacuum bags units??? Is there a good one of those and what would be best way to store a meal and ease of use for an elderly person???

Please explain the method and the tools used if you do this.

Thanks.

[curtis rosche]

one thing we do around my house, just for being easy. we always make a dozen ears of corn even if theres only 4 of us. we cut off whats left over and freeze it in its own bag, its always great to have good corn in winter. another thing we will do, if we have left over soup when we make it homemade, measure out how much fits in the normal bowl you use at home, and then put that amount into ziplock sandwich bags, and freeze. my mom does this for me and i take them to college, they freeze relativley flat so they stack in the freezer, and if i want some homemade tomatoe soup, i just peel the bag off, put it in a bowl, and i microwave it for a few minutes and its ready to eat.

another idea,,,,,, not sure how well its works for normal people, but i know it works out well for my friends on diets, those advertised meals for diets. nutra system or what ever they are called. they deleiver 3 meals of your choice to your door every day, (depending on the company and what not) a few of my friend have done this as college students. it ends up being cheaper than the grocery store because you save gas cost and you dont end up buy un-nessasry things like chips and candy and ice cream and cookies and things of that nature that you buy cause your hungry. they deliver, the food is fresh, and ive always been told by my friends that its cheaper, and they are easy to make. im not sure how well they would work for a person who is not on a diet, you would want to check the calories and such

[Steven Green]

We just got a vacuum sealer for meat that we buy bulk and cut ourselves. Works very well. While searching for a good manufacturer I noticed that they also sell the sort of bags that you seal and then boil in water to heat or cook them. I had similar responsibilities with my mother and my concern would have been boiling water. Just a thought though. Good luck

[John Terefenko]

We just got a vacuum sealer for meat that we buy bulk and cut ourselves. Works very well. While searching for a good manufacturer I noticed that they also sell the sort of bags that you seal and then boil in water to heat or cook them. I had similar responsibilities with my mother and my concern would have been boiling water. Just a thought though. Good luck


Yes I need to keep as simple as possible. I have thought about meal on wheels but my Mom is way too picky and it would be a waste. It is actually for Mon.--- Fri. Weekends a family member is always there.

[Brian Tymchak]

I know from firsthand experience that food prepared (cooked) on Sunday afternoon will stay fresh in a refrigerator through the week stored in rubbermaid or other rubber/plastic containers that have a good press fit lid. The vacuum-fit lidded containers you mention would be a good choice. The only other tip I can think of is that we keep our fridge a bit colder than most probably do, (I think my wife keeps it at 35* or 36*) and we also store the food in the lowest levels where it is colder.

[Greg Portland]

Looking for a way to store meals for my Mom. I need to be able to make a weeks worth of meals and store them safely and easily so that they can be stored in the fridge and then each taken out and microwaved. Not sure what product out there that will do this safely??? I read about some containers where you push the lid down to create a vacuum for storage. Is there a good one of these???

Also read about these vacuum bags units??? Is there a good one of those and what would be best way to store a meal and ease of use for an elderly person???

Please explain the method and the tools used if you do this.

Thanks.
Tupperware is easy to stack and microwave safe. We have a set of the vent-n-serve stuff that I use for my lunches. They'll also replace it if it breaks.

The vacuum bags and containers work well but IMO would not be an advantage for just storing food for a week.

[Wayne Hendrix]

Instead of something that is all plastic like Rubbermaid or Tupperware I like these by Pyrex: http://www.pyrexware.com/index.asp?pageId=14&CatID=380&SubCatID=398
I can keep food in them for a week without a problem, they clean up easier than plastic and I find that plastic ones tend to get permanently discolored when used to reheat things and will have to be replaced. These don't have that problem. You should be able to pick some up at Walmart or similar.

Edit: I just crack open one corner of the lid when reheating, but have no problem going from the fridge to the microwave, I eat out of it and then rinse and into the dishwasher.

[Matt Meiser]

We bought these (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sterilite-20-Piece-Food-Storage-Set/11018654) a few years ago and I really like them. Don't know if they sell them anywhere else, but I'll go to Walmart if that's what it takes to get them. There's only a few sizes of lids and everything is color coded. You find a container in the drawer you like, then find a lid that color. No more trying to find a combination of lid and container that are compatible. We actually gave away pretty much everything we had and switched to these. But like most, they are only semi-microwave proof. There's one or two that were damaged by overheating grease or whatever that was in the bottom of the container.

We looked at some SnapWare ones at Costco just last week but they aren't anywhere near as heavy and of course not compatible with the stuff we have.

[Ron Natalie]

We have a FoodSaver. If mom can still operate a pair of scissors, it works pretty well. You can pop the frozen/refrigerated thing into the microwave or a pot of boiling water. Technically you can even reuse the bags, but we never get around to do that usually.