Healthy college lunch box freezer meals

DVOM

Sat, Jan 12 2019, 7:59 pm

Shavuah tov girls!

My husband's very last grad school semester starts on Monday! I am so grateful that we've reached this point and am really looking forward to this stage in our life being over... But before we can get there we've got 16 weeks of schooling ahead of us.

One of our biggest challenges is finding filling, healthy, portable meals that my dh can take to school. He's out of the house for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so it's a lot of meals to pack. There is a Hillel cafeteria on campus, but it's very expensive and doesn't have many healthy options.

Ideally, we are looking for microwavable healthy meals that I could cook in bulk and freeze in individual portions. We need ideas for all three meals. Any ideas? Recipes would be very much appreciated!

amother

Honeydew

Sat, Jan 12 2019, 8:14 pm

I think 3 whole frozen meals is a lot of prep and storage.
Would a sandwich work for one of the meals?

My husband is just at the beginning of his schooling :/. He does sandwich for breakfast.yogurts with fruit and granola bar for lunch and one meal a day (salmon/ chicken/ tuna with salad and sweet potato or leftover dinner starch.)

DVOM

Sat, Jan 12 2019, 8:25 pm

amother wrote:

3 meals is a lot, honeydew. My dh also does one or sometimes 2 easy meals, like cereal, fruit and yogurt. His school also has a healthy eating initiative going on this year, so there is always free fresh whole fruits and vegetables available. But I'd still like to stock up on healthy freezer meals of all sorts, even if he doesn't take 3 a day with him.

He tries to stay away from carbs, so he rarely eats sandwiches. Any other ideas?

(And good luck on your own schooling journey! It's been a very long and bumpy road, but in my opinion worth the investment of time and money.)

amother

Floralwhite

Sat, Jan 12 2019, 8:29 pm

Omelettes freeze pretty well. You can freeze each individually and eat with whatever starch he prefers (bread, bagel, crackers, rice cakes, etc).

ETA sorry, I see you wrote limited starches. He can eat omelettes with a side of plain Greek yogurt, really yummy and filling.

mha3484

Sat, Jan 12 2019, 8:33 pm

I take two meals a day. For breakfast I put Trader Joe’s unsweetened oatmeal packets in a plastic container with nuts, seeds and dried fruits and a little sweetener. When I get to work
I just add hot water. It keeps me full for a long time.

For lunch I make big batches of grain salads on Sunday’s and take those or dinner leftovers.

Reality

Sat, Jan 12 2019, 9:03 pm

On a cookie sheet or 9x13 pan roast his preferred veggies. For example: onions, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini etc... Make enough for the week.

Divide into microwaveable containers and build your meal around it. Add in hard cooked eggs, brown rice, chic peas, black beans etc...

Presto! Super filling meal ready to be heated up when you want it!! Enjoy!

amother

Ginger

Sat, Jan 12 2019, 9:09 pm

I usually freeze extravsupper portions and then double bag so we can pop in microwave. Meatballs and spaghetti are great peppersteak and veggies. Any Shabbos leftover ( rice, green beans, kugel) and then make a steak or London broil and dive in portions. Salads are also great. Turkey sandwiches are filling. Good luck with last semester! What degree will he graduate with?

teachkids

Sat, Jan 12 2019, 9:51 pm

Not freezer, but when I make chicken cutlets (either as baked shnitzel or just plain), I make lots of extras to be taken as lunch/dinner over the week. My husband actually likes them cold even.

thunderstorm

Sat, Jan 12 2019, 10:01 pm

A large pot of beef stew with vegetables,sweet potatoes , butternut squash , onions, carrots , celery, a drop of barley etc. divided into small containers and frozen. Defrost and microwave.

Big pots of vegetable soup , pea soup, zuchinni soup, butternut squash soup divided into individual containers and eaten with whole wheat rolls you could bake and remove from freezer accordingly.

Whole wheat spaghetti and meatballs

Chicken soup with chicken balls (made from ground chicken)in them.

Meatloaf , bake and freeze individual portions.

Zuchinni and carrots sautéed with onion, garlic powder, onion powder , paprika ,salt and pepper.

Roasted sweet Potatoe cubes freezes nicely

Brocolli Quiche, divide into individual portions and freeze.

amother

Bronze

Sat, Jan 12 2019, 10:18 pm

My Dh is in his 1st year off med school.. we have a long haul but can relate to the food struggles. Wraps are great. Egg or chicken (tuna gets soggy) fruit salad , Israeli salad or salads without lettuce can be cut up in bulk at the beginning of the week and add dressing as needed . They also sell tuna In a bag that isnt dry and that can be stored in his locker and eaten with crackers at any point. ..
Monday nights dinner leftovers is Tuesdays lunch etc .

DVOM

Sun, Jan 13 2019, 1:35 pm

mha3484 wrote:

This makes me curious... can you tell me more about this?

DVOM

Sun, Jan 13 2019, 1:38 pm

thunderstorm wrote:

These are great ideas!

What sort of quiche do you make? Can I make it crustless (to do away with the carbs?)

Raisin

Sun, Jan 13 2019, 1:50 pm

you can make crustless quiche.

lentil and veg soup

or lentil curry and cauliflower rice.

tuna and lettuce salad.

tuna patties

salmon with a salad

whatever you are making for your family's supper can be your husband's supper the next day.

for breakfast plain yogurt with fruit

mha3484

Sun, Jan 13 2019, 9:10 pm

I like to make quinoa taboule, Greek Farro Salad, Barley Salad.

Some recipes that I like are

https://smittenkitchen.com/200.....alad/

https://www.foodnetwork.com/re.....63436

https://barefootcontessa.com/I.....salad

DVOM

Mon, Jan 14 2019, 10:57 am

mha3484 wrote:

yum, yum, yum! I'm going to see what hubby thinks of these...

DVOM

Mon, Jan 14 2019, 10:59 am

So...

For the moment I will be making:

A huge pot of meatballs
Tuna patties
Some sort of meaty stew
zucchini quiche/kugal

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! I'd love more ideas if anyone has any! I'm hoping to really stock the freezer this week Cool