Make a Difference: Have a Freezer Meal Ready

Sometimes the greatest gift you can give is a meal. And sometimes the easiest way to do that is to have one ready in your freezer.

I first realized how valuable this sort of thing is when I was a new mom. About three months before my due date, I was placed on modified bed rest, which meant I was supposed to stay off my feet as much as possible. Later this was changed to strict bed rest. I couldn’t make and freeze meals as I had planned to do during my last trimester.

The baby came and so did a stream of helpful family members and friends. And then, four weeks after our child was born, the flow of out-of-town visitors stopped… but we still needed help. Our baby was waking up several times a night, typical of a one-month-old. My husband was working full-time but trying to move into a new career field, so one bad week I was alone for 12 hours each day from the time he left for work until the time he got home. I was tired and felt like I was constantly nursing. I became very familiar with fast-food drive-throughs. If someone had brought me a meal at that point, it would have been manna from heaven. The fact that that did not happen made me resolve to try to help others by bringing them meals when they were in need.

Frankly, having a freezer meal handy is a great way to help yourself on a hard day, and there is nothing wrong with that. But freezer meals are also useful to give to others. If you make and freeze meals when you have time, you’ll be prepared when you find out someone you know is in need.

And there are times when people might prefer to receive a freezer meal instead of something straight from your oven. Some years after our child was born, she was hospitalized for a couple of days. A friend of the family brought us a complete meal. It was incredibly thoughtful, but we were spending most of our time at the hospital with our child, so we didn’t eat the meal until after she was released. Because she was only in for a short period of time, that wasn’t a big deal, but it demonstrates why it’s a good idea to ask ahead of time if a family can use a meal. If they can, you could arrange to drop a fresh meal off at a certain time. Otherwise a frozen meal (or one that can be frozen) allows the recipient to take advantage of your thoughtfulness when they most need it.

I wish I could tell you that, given my experience as a young mother, I always have at least one meal ready to give away at any time. That’s not the case. But I have gifted different people with freezer meals over the years, and I plan to continue to do so as often as I am able.

The next time you cook something that can be frozen, consider doubling the meal, and then set aside half to give away to someone else. If the meal has been in your freezer for a while and no one you know has needed it, you can always enjoy it yourself. You also might want to set aside time to batch cook meals for your freezer or, if you can afford it, use the services of a meal-preparation business, and set aside some meals to share with others.