Nick - thanks for the kind words. I never in my wildest dreams
thought I would be helping my folks do something as simple as
preparing meals.

And you are right about the appreciation factor. When I first made
them pork loin chops with cooking instructions on the bags, they
thought they were eating gourmet meals.
I put a lot of spices on there stuff to hide the fact they have very
little or no salt, but I tell them they are salted fairly heavy and
they think (like with the 10 noodles deal) they are getting away with
something. The first time I took them about 10 packages of chops that
were ready to go, bless their hearts, they ate pork chops every night
until they were gone, 10 nights in a row!

I grew up in a household where the spices of record were salt and
pepper, and for a flourish, Lawrey's season salt. So when I make them
pork or chicken that has whole fresh basil leaves, fresh rosemary, and
lemon zest in the bag they feel like they have some really fine dining
at hand. It doesn't take much...

I also smoke turkeys, etc. during the season and put some turkey into
manageable sized portions in vacuum bags, and they take that as their
preferred Christmas present. I like it as it keeps them feeling like
they are getting a couple of extra holiday meals during the season
from the "big meal" leftovers, just like they did when we were kids.

Sitting here thinking about it, I guess it's getting to be that time
again, too.

Robert