Life-saving Meals: Homemade Frozen Food for the Sick, Shut-in and Overwhelmed

Last week, we welcomed the newest member of our family to the world. Miss Zayleigh, our niece, was born on July 11 and both her and momma are feeling great.

Amanda, Zayleigh and Jordan

But despite her having all her fingers and toes and being quite possibly the calmest, quietest little bundle of joy I've ever seen, we knew her parents were in for a long, exhausting week. And as we discovered while planning our wedding, when you're stressed and tired, the first thing you feel like giving up on is cooking good meals. We certainly ate our fill of take-out, pre-packaged junk in the lead up to our wedding (six months ago, already!?!). So, J and I took a few hours and less than $30 to make a bundle of goodies for the family to eat.

Food gifts can be such a blessing to a family in need. As Deacons at our church, we're constantly asking folks undergoing surgery, loss or hardship if we can set up meal deliveries. And while any donation of food is a great gift, by saving money and time; home cooked meals that the recipients can eat on their own schedule, without guests, are so important.

Our menu for the new parents included:

• French toast sticks (with syrup)
• Mexican black bean casserole
• Spinach lasagna roll ups (with breadsticks)
• Homemade sloppy joe mix (with french fries)
• Millionaire pie 

All of these recipes were simple, relatively inexpensive (including the sides or "add ons") and will be delicious, wholesome meals for their family.

And a hidden benefit of delivering frozen meals, is that most recipes are for two whole portions or are easily doubled. So, if you know you'll have a need for some heat-and-eat meals in the future (for yourselves or others) you can easily make a dish for dinner and have the second portion frozen for later. This is great if you know of someone who will be having surgery soon, has a baby due in the near future or you're preparing for a busy back-to-school month or the beginning of sports season.

Because of the ease of making several portions to freeze at once, we love to cook freezer-friendly meals throughout the year and keep extra portions on hand. For ideas on other freezer meals, click here or visit the "freezer-friendly" label to the right. 

I'll be sharing more on the dishes we made this week (especially my mom's millionaire pie recipe) but for now, I want to share some food delivery tips and dish on the delicious french toast sticks.

Here are some tips for when you prepare and take meals to someone in need:

• All but the french toast sticks were self contained in aluminum foil pans with plastic wrap or foil. It's important to try to limit the dish washing for your recipients; and that age old argument of "Where's that casserole dish I loaned you? You never gave it back!" It's even thoughtful to include a pack of disposable plates, cutlery and napkins in your delivery. 
• All of the dishes we prepared take little more than refrigerator thawing and reheating (except for the pie; nothing to do but eat it!). I think bringing things they can cook on their own schedule is important. They won't feel like they have to eat with or in front of you while you visit and if they have a new baby, for example, their meal schedule may be all out of whack. Bring things that give them some ownership over their meals, and will help make their houses smell good - the French toast certainly does!
• Include precise directions, written on the package, if possible. I wrote any thawing and prep instructions on the pan lids or bags with permanent markers. 
• Plan ahead. For your sanity, and theirs, plan ahead. Make sure you know of any allergies and if you're part of a meal delivery group, communicate - so the family doesn't get five lasagnas in a row. I remember when we've had meals delivered to our family, usually after a death; it's a sweet, but monotonous train of casseroles. Talk with your fellow meal-makers and schedule some variety. 
• This may also be a veering away from one-pot casseroles, but think about the whole meal experience for the family. Try to include sides or add-ons that the family would enjoy with the meal but might not have on hand. And again, try to branch out - step away from bagged salad and cookie dough. 

Now on to the French toast.

I love French toast, but we rarely eat it at home because 1. we rarely have a lot of bread readily available, and 2. y'all already know that I hate mornings and I especially hate cooking in the morning. But this solves all of my problems.

First, French toast can be made with almost any bread and one of the tips of this recipe is to save your bread ends, leftover hot dog buns (why 10 buns but only 8 dogs?!?!) etc. in the freezer and then make French toast sticks when you've saved enough. Also, discount bread is pretty easy to find. Our Wal Mart has a "old bread" cart in the bakery for the discounted goodies that are a few days past their prime. I was able to score two huge loaves of fluffy French bread (so this is French French toast, thank you) for only 70 cents each! And a local bakery has a "happy hour" on their last work day where everything's half-priced. That's inexpensive, locally sourced bread! Win!

Secondly, these sticks don't require any thawing time and can be popped straight from the freezer into the oven and cooked in around 15 minutes. So, if you throw them in the oven, you'd have time to get ready while they cooked on their own. And, because I miscalculated my snooze button again (don't tell J), I was able to do a test; turns out they travel well too! I put them in a tupperware, drizzled on the syrup and ate them on the road - no more dangerous than a McMuffin (but more flavorful and budget friendly).

Too often, I think French toast can be soggy, flaccid sticks that soak up syrup like a sponge and aren't of a particularly pleasing texture. But with the crunchy cereal coating(and the crust of the bread I used), these sticks are crispy and stand up to the syrup. I used our Ninja food processor to pulse the cereal to get some very fine pieces and some larger chunks; you can customize your crunch-level with how finely you grind the coating.

The flavor is pretty classic, warm cinnamon and vanilla pair so well with fluffy bread and syrup. It reminds me of being a kid and waking up on a Saturday morning to someone already cooking. If only I could watch cartoons at work. And you could really go anywhere in customizing the flavor, too. Adding some pumpkin pie spice or cloves and nutmeg would make this even more autumnal. Or you can use different cereals. I ran out of cornflakes in my second batch, so I used crushed rice Chex and Special K honey and granola. I recommend straying away from the super-sweet cereals, or pairing them with a more simple flavor, since you're bound to douse this in syrup anyway.

I've really enjoyed these sticks for an elaborate-feeling, but utterly easy breakfast; and hope you do too! I know a little momma who claims they're a "life saver"!

Freezer-Friendly French Toast Sticks
Adapted from Taste of Home

Ingredients: (Note: I did a recipe-and-a-half to do a whole loaf of French bread)

6 slices day old bread (ideally in thick slices)
4 eggs
1 c milk (any kind - I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
2 T sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 - 1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 c+ ground cornflakes (or other cereals), plus more as needed

Method:

Cut each piece of bread into thirds to make sticks.

In a large casserole dish, whisk eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon until well mixed. Place bread in the dish and allow to rest for 45-60 seconds. Flip the bread to coat other side.

Dip each piece into crushed cereal, coating all sides.

Place on large greased baking sheet. When completed, place baking sheet into the freezer for at least 45 minutes or until bread is firm and partially frozen. Transfer to a labeled freezer bag or airtight container in the freezer. (I would suggest using within 2-3 months to avoid freezer burn.)

To prepare frozen sticks:

Preheat oven to 425. Place desired amount of sticks on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for approximately 8 minutes, flip and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and hot.

Serve with powdered sugar, syrup and/or sliced fruit.