Home Delivered crock pot meals....for my Pop...

[pklein09]

My Pop is living on his own and his kitchen right now is limited. He has a microwave, toaster oven, and electric skillet, but no formal stove. I wanted to send him some ready-made or almost ready-made crock pot meals for him. We cook from scratch, so ingredients like "cream of <insert vegetable here> is not our kind of food. I'm looking for something with as little processed ingredients as possible.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[Marionnette]

WhatACrockMeals.com

They're local for me but they ship within the continental US. Food arrives frozen and is packaged with dry ice. You just pop it in the crackpot on low in the morning and it's ready for dinner time. Their prices aren't bad when you compare them to other meal services like Hello Fresh but they aren't as inexpensive as cooking from scratch.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/slow-cooker-shepherds-pie
This is one of my family faves. We don't make the mashed potatoes. I just dice up a few potatoes and add them to the mix from the beginning. I always make it with guiness but I imagine you could use any beer or just more beef broth. Freezes well. Reheats well. Hope that helps!

 

[pklein09]

WhatACrockMeals.com

They're local for me but they ship within the continental US. Food arrives frozen and is packaged with dry ice. You just pop it in the crackpot on low in the morning and it's ready for dinner time. Their prices aren't bad when you compare them to other meal services like Hello Fresh but they aren't as inexpensive as cooking from scratch.

Thank you! I saw them online, which prompted this post. I will go take a better look at them.

 

[pklein09]

https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/slow-cooker-shepherds-pie
This is one of my family faves. We don't make the mashed potatoes. I just dice up a few potatoes and add them to the mix from the beginning. I always make it with guiness but I imagine you could use any beer or just more beef broth. Freezes well. Reheats well. Hope that helps!

Thank you for the recipe link. I was hoping to send my Pop a "crock pot kit" so all he has to do is dump it in the crock pot and wait. I will certainly keep in mind for my family!

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

Thank you for the recipe link. I was hoping to send my Pop a "crock pot kit" so all he has to do is dump it in the crock pot and wait. I will certainly keep in mind for my family!

Sorry! I misunderstood what you were looking for. I don't know if you have an ALDI by you but they have a couple of different crockpot mixes that are delicious. Specifically the pot roast and pulled pork. But I know you mentioned you don't like prepared options so I will keep trying to come up with something!

 

[pklein09]

Sorry! I misunderstood what you were looking for. I don't know if you have an ALDI by you but they have a couple of different crockpot mixes that are delicious. Specifically the pot roast and pulled pork. But I know you mentioned you don't like prepared options so I will keep trying to come up with something!

That's quite all right! You were being helpful, which I appreciate! The other piece of information that I didn't include is that I live in FL and he's in NJ. Whatever I do, it's long distance.

 

[Anthony1971]

There are a number of places that ship frozen higher quality meals these days that you put in the microwave and done. Most Men (there are exceptions) meals are last minute and fast. Even a Crocpot is way to much planning for many. If you are looking to make his life as easy as possible and making sure he eats at regular times I would think in most cases better quality frozen meal are the way to go. Another option would be to cook meals for him (make extra for your home meals) and freeze them so he can heat the up. Been down this road and it is always difficult... Being there to have a meal with him or even a phone call so he has someone to eat with a few times a week. If/when he qualifies Meals on wheels if possible.

 

[Arielfan98]

To add, have you looked into Meals on Wheels?

 

[pklein09]

Thank you for the new replies. He does not qualify for meals on wheels, but thank you for thinking about that. I would love to cook for him, but he lives in NJ and I live in FL. He does cook for himself, I'm just looking to lighten the load for him.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Thank you for the new replies. He does not qualify for meals on wheels, but thank you for thinking about that. I would love to cook for him, but he lives in NJ and I live in FL. He does cook for himself, I'm just looking to lighten the load for him.

I think you'd be looking for a Daily Harvest subscription then - smoothies, bowls, soups - all organic and heavily produce inspired. Light on cooking. You could send him a blender if he doesn't have one with it.

 

[pklein09]

I think you'd be looking for a Daily Harvest subscription then - smoothies, bowls, soups - all organic and heavily produce inspired. Light on cooking. You could send him a blender if he doesn't have one with it.

Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[Elephantay]

We like some of the skillet meals from Omaha Steaks. Peanut butter chicken is our favorite, we add extra green beans or other veggies, but it comes with peppers and whole green beans. The rice is also included and just needs to be microwaved. We only buy when its 50% off. For $15 you'd easily get two, or even three, meals out of it. Its a great busy weeknight meal that we eat about once a month. The shrimp scampi is also great!

 

[HeatherC]

Soups are easy to prep for crockpots. Just bag up all the ingredients and seasonings and tell him to add chicken/veggie/beef etc. broth when he puts them in the crockpot.

Some other ones we do are pulled pork…just put the pork in with a sliced onion and jar of bbq sauce.
Meatballs and sauce, sweet and sour meatballs, sausage and peppers, beef tips, etc.

 

[sksjasams]

Would you be shipping these crockpot meal kits to him on dry ice?

I know this is not what you were exactly looking for, but be sure to check out Freshly. They are fresh frozen meals ready to heat up in the microwave. No meal prep involved at all. Be sure to look for a promo code.

You could probably send him a few of those a week and it wouldn’t cost much more than prepping your crockpot meal kits and shipping them safely across the country.

 

[pklein09]

Would you be shipping these crockpot meal kits to him on dry ice?

I know this is not what you were exactly looking for, but be sure to check out Freshly. They are fresh frozen meals ready to heat up in the microwave. No meal prep involved at all. Be sure to look for a promo code.

You could probably send him a few of those a week and it wouldn’t cost much more than prepping your crockpot meal kits and shipping them safely across the country.

The crockpot meals were shipped on dry ice. He's enjoying them, and other people in his office have also ordered from them. Thanks for the suggestion on Freshly...I will look at them as well.

 

[LuvOrlando]

When my kids were in college I would put together simple meals in shopping trips and have them delivered via Instacart with easy instructions. To be honest, I would even put together little spice packets in clearly marked ziplocks and mail them for stuff like stew, chicken soup, cacciatore, tacos.

For example, slow cooker shopping from Wegmans it would be:
Stew: Stew meat, mini potatoes, baby carrots, beef broth, ketchup and egg noodles (my spice packet with paprika & marjoram)

Cacciatore: Minute rice, Chicken thighs, tomato sauce, mini potatoes, capers (my spice packet)

Ground beef or chicken,beans, tomato sauce, frozen chopped onion and Dorot frozen chopped garlic (my spice packet from simple perfect chili)

Tomato sauce can be made in a slow cooker (spice packet is ok too)

I ALWAYS sent 1 or 2 roast chickens with groceries on a Friday and at the end of the week the bones would go in a slow cooker then strained for chicken soup with leftover veggies, my spice blend and pasta of some kind.

Wegmans also has an extensive list of premade things like a stuffed pork chop or a premade meatloaf that can be baked in their metal container, Shop-rite has lots of this too and they are all over NJ. I'd suggest you look online at local stores, you can probably custom make something that works for you. I always used my own phone number and asked they call when things are dropped off so I could keep tabs on it being brought in.

If your dad needs more help ask the local churches, this is how the family found someone to assist MIL, they have a lady that comes in to cook lunch and dinner every day but who is also a sort of companion who keeps an eye on things.