A women in my HS co/op had cancer-they found it when she was pregnant with her third child. She has been really sick for the past few weeks-high fever, unable to eat...and they can't figure out what's wrong. Her family lives far away, and I want to help with giving her some food.
I'm hosting Mother's Day on Sunday, and my next week is packed. I can share some of the food I'm making for Mother's Day, but I was thinking of bringing her some of my freezer meals. She lives about 45 minutes from me. If I put the food in a cooler with ice packs, do it in the morning when it isn't too hot, do you think my freezer food will stay frozen to go into her freezer? I'm thinking of bringing her a tray of baked mostaccoili, steak enchiladas, and stuffed Pablano peppers. I was thinking of dropping stuff off Mother's Day morning. Otherwise, she'll have to wait a week for food, so I can make stuff up. I probably have a bunch of soup I can bring too, so that would keep the cooler really cold. And some dals, meatballs and burgers.
I was planning on telling her what's in my freezer and letting her pick. I also am going to ask her what she usually outs in her freezer so I can make fresh and freezer meals the week after next.
I also did mention to her a bunch of different soups I have in the freezer.
J. S. Yes. She is Ill and I asked if I could bring food. She has a hubby and three kids. Even if she can't eat,they need dinner. She said of course she'd love food if I had extra.
I have frozen food in the car for that long just coming home from the grocery store and I don't carry coolers with me when I go grocery shopping. It will be fine.
Yes, putting frozen food in a cooler and taking them out an hour later will definitely be ok. No need to add ice packs. The food is the same as an ice pack. With a large amount of food in an insulated space roughly the same size as the food, the food stays frozen because their is no warmth to thaw it.
The key to things not thawing out is to have enough in there. If there's a lot of air, fill it with ice packs. Just keep the cooler lid closed, and put the ice packs on top of and between the packages. You can also use a bag of ice - open it up if you have to, and put a thick piece of cardboard on top to keep the food up and out of the ice melt.
Do make smaller portions so just a little can be defrosted and heated up at a time. If she's this horribly sick, the last thing she's going to need is a big meal of pasta and steak. However they will be good for her husband and kids if the latter aren't too young and picky. You're making lots of very filling meals and those can be hard to digest. Soup might be better as long as the weather isn't hot.
Be sure she has enough open freezer space to handle everything you are bringing - we got a surprise delivery of food one time and it was a huge hassle to clean out the freezer, move stuff around, etc.
Also label everything with contents and reheating instructions. If she's so ill, someone else may be heating things for the rest of the family. Put a note on to indicate that the containers are reusable or disposable, but not anything you expect to have returned.
I think you are being a wonderful friend and I think with ice packs it should stay frozen that long if it's in an insulated ice chest and not opened. However, I think before doing all this you should ask her if she likes those choices. I was very sick last September and people from church brought some thing to us for dinner. Most of the things the kids didn't like and some were such odd choices that no one ate them. The point in doing this for someone is to make it EASY for them so unless you are sure those things listed she and her family would eat, then it may just go to waste and that isn't helping anyone. JMO. Good luck.
It will be fine.
Glad she has someone like you to help.
Ice packs will work if you have enough of them.
Dry ice will really work well but be careful how you handle it.
I would think as long as its packed with ice, it's already cooked, and you don't open the cooler at all it should be fine.
Absolutely it will keep cold.
I wouldn't belabor the asking/picking/choosing.
I'd just make sure she has room in her freezer, then pack up a bunch and go. Call first, of course.
What a blessing this will be for them!
It doesn't matter if the food thaws a bit; as long as it doesn't spoil it can be re-frozen. It's not like you are sending it across country. You are taking it in your car to her home 45 minutes away. It probably won't thaw even a little.
I am confused, you just said your friend can't eat so you are going to call her, ask what food she likes, and then bring it over?
45 minutes is nothing. costco is an hour from me and i haul stuff home in my trunk, just packed with the frozen stuff next to each other. yours will be fine in a cooler. you probably won't even need ice packs if you're putting in several frozen meals, they'll keep each other cold.
lovely thing to do.
khairete
S.
I put the ice things in my cooler to get it cold inside then put fresh ones in it and add the food then put more freezer cooler things on top. This way the food is encased in frozen things.
Another way to do it is put all the frozen things on a bed of ice then add more ice and cover the ice with a damp towel. I always put a bunch of stuff around an ice chest when I'm traveling so the outside temp has less access.
It should keep fine. It's only for 45 mins.
Just make sure you have enough ice/ice packs on the bottom.
I might add cooked ground turkey or beef so they can make up quick tacos.
Or you could pick up a couple of staples nearby her house like a gallon of
milk, few loaves of bread, sliced cheese, lunchmeat, eggs, cereal etc.
So nice of you.
