Mumsnet Talk

I wanted to do some cooking for after the baby gets here as DH will only be having one week off and with 3 DC it will be a big help to have some frozen meals!

But we don't really freeze anything and I have no idea about cooking times from frozen ifswim.

So if I made up some homemade pizza do I just make it as usual, base/sauce/topping and then just freeze like that? I would usually cook for about 12mins from fresh so how do I know how long to cook from frozen

Also is it better so make up just the sauces or the actual meal? So we use the same sauce for spag bol/lasagna/pizza topping so should I just make up a load of that in seperate containers or make the actual meals and if so where is good for tubs to freeze them in and again how long to cook for.

Sorry, lots of questions!

i bought little tinfoil take away containers from the pound shop.
i have a stack of 'shepherds pie mince' a stack of 'chilli' a 'stack of spag bol' and moussaka base' i never have time to do the 'stages' of moussaka/lasagne so make the mince up and just use that and do the pasta bit.
I wouln't make pizza! but always add cheese/jalapenos to them.
I also have in my freezer chicken thighs curried(in portions for 2 adults)and a casserole (currently got a chicken one and a beef one)keep sausages in (they defrost fast)
does this help?

yes v helpful!

takeaway tins v good idea, I was thinking it was going to cost a fortune in tupperware.

I might just do 4/5 pizzas and see how they freeze they are only cheap to make anyway.

i just buy basic ones and add to them-it's always a 'last resort' tea for us but the kids eat it.
I am semi panicking about when i have dc3 in july- we don't eat stuff like that in summer and i've no idea what we'll eat!
we have also go (really tragically) base for fish pie and bean mix (for in enchiladas)
i tend to make a vat of basic tomato sauce up at start of week and then use it with meatballs,on pasta,in sauces-at the point it's going a bit past it's best i turn it into a freezer meal.
i am so boring about this now but have got to save 3k by July and am becoming obsessive now about waste!

I freeze a lot of stuff but don't cook it from frozen : I take it out of the freezer in the morning to defrost in the day.

I use recycled washed plastic food tubs from the Chinese takeaway (ours doesn't do tin foil).

And I just freeze whatever I have made too much of - bolognaise sauce/curry/soup etc.

Then you just need to cook the rice/pasta etc.

But remember there are lost of meals you can make in 20 or 30 minutes from scratch - all you need is a thread on here!

oh i'd be too scared to cook from frozen (unless it came in a box with printed packet explicitly to do so)
i defrost over the day too and make the stuff to go with too.