@oldmtwoman best wishes on a quick recovery for you and them.
I make the smaller zip lock freezer bags with chili and thick soup you can boil ready in a few min and if better and cheaper than store stuff. For thick soups I like cream ones or cheesy, making crackers is easy and fun plus they taste better with less rat and insect parts.
You can use a wonder bag boil pot of rice put into bag eat 8 hours later, can do same with stew, think of it as powerless crock pot